If You Dare (Dare 3)

“I should have never said a fucking word to you about it.” Cole growls.

“I’m glad you did,” I tell him, trying to reassure him that he did the right thing.

“Why the fuck didn’t he tell me the truth?”

I could ask the same thing. Why did he choose to parade Becky around, knowing that I would be pissed at him? He knows I would have broken his nose over her. I can’t say if he was wrong or right about me believing him if he had just told me what kind of girl she was. Would I have believed him? I was in love with her. Or so I thought. Definitely obsessed. I guess in a way I do understand because I would have cut her off right then and there for fucking my best friend. That was a line I wouldn’t allow her to come back from. “We’ll never know.” I sigh.

“Fuck, what else do we not know?” he asks.

That’s a loaded question that I don’t even want to get into right now. Too much shit has happened to dig any further tonight. I look at the cigarettes and no longer want one.

“Do you think it’s a coincidence that we got in a fight with Peter and his friend over Demi about how they would share her and then Seth tries to rape her? Saying he had no choice?” he asks.

I’ve thought about it. “How would they know about what we’ve done? How would they know Evan Scott is me?”

“Becky,” he answers and shrugs “She’s pissed at Demi. I don’t think that any of us should underestimate what she’s capable of doing.”

Isn’t that the truth. “Maybe we should pay them a visit?”

“I think so.” He nods. “And Seth?”

I just give him a smile, and he chuckles.

Standing up, I go to walk inside when I hear a phone beep. I turn back to look at Cole, and he shakes his head. “Wasn’t mine. It’s upstairs.”

I look down at mine. Nothing. Then I open Demi’s, thankful she doesn’t have a passcode on hers. “It’s from Evan Scott.” I growl.

Cole comes over to me, and I open the PM.

Evan Scott: You should have let him fuck you. It would have been far less painful than what’s to come.

“Fuck!” Cole hisses. “Guess whoever it is knows that Seth didn’t succeed tonight.”

“What the fuck?” I bark out.

I type back.

Demi: Try to touch her … If you dare.

Cole runs his hands over his wet hair, and I fist mine. “This fucker …” I screenshot the message and then back out of it. I go to my old spam page and block it. Then I go to our GWS PM and drop the screenshot.

Bennett reads it immediately. Seconds later, my cell rings. I place it on speakerphone. “Hello?”

“What the fuck is going on?” he demands. “And what does he mean by let him fuck her? Who?”

“Seth.” I growl.

“Her boyfriend?” he asks.

“He’s not her boyfriend,” Cole answers. “He’s gay. She’s his cover.”

“Oh, well that changes things.”

“There’s more.” I sigh.

“What is it?” he asks, sounding irritated. Aren’t we all?

“The cabin on Lake Travis …” I start.

“Yeah?”

“His parents own it.”

A long silence follows my words.

When he finally speaks, he sighs. “Hang on. I’m gonna call and wake up Shane. We all need to be in on this conversation.”

DEMI

Sophomore year

I pace my bedroom at my father’s house. I’ve called Eli a hundred times by now, but it keeps going straight to voicemail. And I don’t know why he would turn his phone off. His Facebook says he hasn’t been active in over thirty minutes. I dial it again.

“Come on … pick up. Pick up.”

“Hey, you’ve reached Eli. Leave me a message …”

I yank the phone from my ear and scream out of frustration. I told him not to do it. That it was fucking stupid! He should have listened to me. I hope Deke didn’t catch them …

My bedroom door flies open, and I spin around to see my sister running in. Her blond hair is a tangled mess. Her crop top and shorts are covered in dirt and blood. Her makeup is streaked from tears.

“Becky? What the hell?” I ask.

She’s sobbing. Her bottom lip trembling. I stay where I am, not sure what the hell is going on. “Where’s Eli?” I ask, looking behind her. Is this some trick she talked him into? It can’t be. He wouldn’t do that to me. He may be ignoring my phone calls, but at least I know she’s here and no longer with him.

“Help me.” She sobs, falling to her knees in the middle of my room.

“What the hell happened to you?” I ask, watching the blood and dirt get on my white rug.

“There was an accident.” She swallows. “The car flipped. Cole …”

I fall to my knees before her. “What?” I grip her tear-streaked face and force her to look up at me. “What do you mean an accident?”