If You Dare (Dare 3)

Cole walks farther into the small house, and I shut the door behind me.

I follow him into the kitchen, and we all come to a stop. In the middle of the kitchen table sits a glass bowl, just like the one we used to draw our dares from. My heart starts to pound in my chest when I see a folded-up piece of paper inside it.

“Shit!” Bennett hisses softly.

Cole walks over to the table and removes the paper from the bowl. Unfolding it, he looks down at it for a few long seconds. Then he wads it up in his fisted hand and throws it to the floor. “Goddammit!”

“What does it say?” Bennett asks.

Shane just stands there, staring at it on the floor.

I pick it up and swallow when I see it’s been typed. Smart fucker.

“First, there was eight. Then there was five. But you chose to add one more. Now you’ve killed one of your own. Putting you back to where you were before. What would you do if you lost any more?” I read it out loud.

Then our names are typed one by one, but Eli, Landen, Maddox, and Kellan have a black line through theirs. Then Austin is after that. Her name is also marked out but in red. And below hers, the last name is Demi. Typed black letters but with no line.

What the fuck …?

“Cole …”

He reaches up and grabs the glass bowl off the table and throws it into the nearest wall, shattering the glass.

We all stand silently, and Bennett grabs the crinkled-up paper from my hand and his shakes as he reads over it.

Cole places his fisted hands on the table and leans over. His shirt sleeves strain against his taut muscles, and he’s breathing heavily.

Shane shakes his head, clearing his foggy mind, and takes the letter from Bennett. He swallows nervously as he too reads over it. “Cole …” He starts.

But Cole doesn’t allow him to finish. He spins around and shoves Shane’s back into the closest wall. “Whoa!” Shane throws his hands up in the air. “What the fuck, man?”

Cole grips Shane’s shirt. His eyes murderous, and I’m just waiting for him to punch him. Cole loves to handle his problems with his fists. But instead, he takes in a deep breath as though he’s trying to calm himself. “If anything happens to her, you’re the first one I’m going to kill. Do you understand me?”

Shane’s eyes narrow on him. “I wouldn’t …”

“Do you understand?” Cole yells in his face.

He gives Cole a curt nod. “Understood.”

“Who the hell is Demi?” Bennett asks, looking over the paper again.

Cole lets go of Shane and answers. “Deke’s new fuck buddy.”

“I’m not screwing her.” I sigh. I just dream about killing her. No big deal.

Shane brushes his hand down his shirt. “You’re fucking Becky’s little sister?” He obviously remembers her.

“No.” I growl. “It’s not like that. And she’s with Seth.”

Cole snorts.

The rest stare at me with hard jaws and narrowed eyes.

“What?” I snap, not in the mood to play some game with a new psychopath.

“What all does she know?” Shane asks.

“Noth …” My words stop when I realize that’s a lie.

“Fuck!” Shane growls. Throwing his hands up in the air, he knows I’ve run my mouth.

“What does she know, Deke?” Bennett asks, stepping forward.

“Enough.” I growl.

“How much is enough?” Bennett snaps.

Cole begins to pace with his head down. Shane drops into a seat at the table and places his head in his hands.

“She knows I’ve killed five people,” I admit.

“Of course, she does,” Shane mumbles to himself. I’m about to let Cole knock the shit out of him.

“Why the fuck does she know that?” Bennett shouts.

“After Cole told me that Becky was driving the car when the accident happened, I confronted her at her house and told Becky what I had done. I was pissed. My intentions were to scare her. Demi overheard us talking …” I pause when his eyes widen.

Cole has stopped pacing, and Shane is looking up at me from the table with the same look Bennett is giving me.

“What?” I ask again. “Quit looking at me like that and use your fucking words.”

“Becky was driving?” Shane asks breathlessly and then looks at Cole. “Becky was driving the night our friends died?”

Fuck!

Cole says nothing, and Bennett takes a step back from me, running his hands through his hair. He looks stressed but not surprised. “You knew she was driving,” I accuse him.

We all suspected that Cole wasn’t driving. We thought he was covering for Eli, but he wasn’t. Cole took the fall for Becky. I thought Austin and I were the only ones who knew that.

Silence fills the room. And his eyes drop to the floor. “Bennett?” Still, he looks down. His body rigid. My heavy breathing fills the small room, and I take a step closer to him. “Did you know she was fucking Eli too?” I demand.