If You Dare (Dare 3)

“Where are their parents?” she asks.

“Never around. They are all socialites in this town with big careers. Always busy and not enough time for their children.” I’m rambling and possibly telling her too much. She obviously knows nothing about Cole and the guys, and she said she is new to town. I take a drink to try to calm my nerves.

Where is Cole? He throws these parties all the time, but he stays up in the game room with the rest of the sharks. They very rarely grace us with their presence, and if they do, he ignores everyone. He thinks he’s fucking God.

“I see.” She nods once.

How does he know her? I’ve grown up with the GWS, and he’s never lived anywhere else. “Where are you –?”

“Austin?”

I look up to see Kellan standing in the kitchen. His brown eyes are narrowed on her, and she arches a brow at his tone.

Fuck …

“Cole is looking for you,” he snaps. “Let’s go.”

She turns back to look at me, rolling her eyes. Her eyes meet my surprised ones, and she asks, “What?”

I just shake my head ’cause I’m not sure what to say to her. Whatever she’s done, it wasn’t good. And they will make her pay for it. She ditches her cup and grabs the bottle of Fireball and walks out behind him.

A phone ringing brings me out of that memory, and I look over to see Austin press answer for her hands-free. “Yes?” she asks in greeting.

“Have you dropped her off yet?” Cole’s voice fills the SUV.

I roll my eyes and block out their conversation. While Cole told her and Deke that I was driving when we wrecked, he also told them I was forced to befriend her. She might have easily forgiven me for that, but if she knew the other things I did, she’d probably kill me. If Cole didn’t beat her to it.

“Thanks,” I mumble as she drops me off. I walk up the stairs to my mother’s house and walk inside. I make my way up the left staircase to my room when I hear a man whispering.

“Yeah, I told you later.”

I come to a stop and look over the balcony to Demi’s room. Her bedroom door is cracked open. I tiptoe over to it and peek in. Seth stands at the end of her bed, pacing with his cell to his ear. “I’m only gonna be here for an hour. Then I’ll meet you there. Okay. See you then.” He pockets his phone just as my sister exits her en suite bathroom. Looking over at her, he plasters a smile on his face.

I yank back so they don’t see me and run over to my room, softly shutting the door with a smile. Well, isn’t this interesting?

CHAPTER FIVE

DEKE

I SIT AT the kitchen table with my head down and the lights off. It’s got to be almost two a.m. After the incident at Silence, we all decided to go home. Well, I stormed off to my Range Rover and the ones who rode with me followed. No one argued or asked what was wrong. I think they could feel the tension and the change in my mood.

I didn’t say one word on the way home.

And thankfully, Becky didn’t linger. I didn’t want to be around her. My plans for the night had backfired, and I had a hard time wrapping my mind around that.

I went straight to my bed, but when I couldn’t sleep, my ass came down here and sat. My mind’s running circles around itself, getting me nowhere.

The lights come on, and I lift my head to see Cole walking to the fridge wearing his black board shorts with a towel hanging around his neck. His shorts and hair are wet, letting me know he’s already been in the pool.

Grabbing two bottles of water, he sets one in front of me before falling into the seat across from me. I refrain from sighing. Usually when he’s up late like this, he heads straight back up to his room to be with Austin as soon as he’s done with his laps.

But once again, tonight proves to not be on my side.

“What’s going on?” he asks.

“Nothing.”

He snorts and twists the lid open on his bottle. “Really? You think I’m gonna believe that bullshit?”

I don’t answer.

He takes a drink and then sets it back down. “You’re fucking Demi.”

Jesus! My teeth clench, and my eyes meet his, but I don’t say anything to that. It wasn’t a question.

He nods once, taking my silence as confirmation and then takes another drink. “Does Becky know?”

If I wasn’t so pissed, I would laugh at that. Instead, I shove my chair back and jump to my feet. “It was an accident.” Was it? Even that sounds like a lie to me. I knew something felt different, felt off, but I kept going with a smug smile of satisfaction on my face, thinking I was really winning and had got one over on her.