Do You Dare (Truth And Dare Duet 1)

I blew out a breath. He was absolutely impossible. “Does everything have to be sexual for you?”

Maddox took another bite of the sandwich. “We were born to be sexual beings. Why not embrace it?”

I leaned against the window, watching the cars drive by, as Maddox devoured his sandwich in big bites. He was obviously hungry. Once he had polished the last bite, I broached the forbidden topic.

“That day… in the storage room,” I started.

I didn’t have to look at Maddox to feel the change in him. When he spoke, his voice said it all. “Speak of this again, and I will mess you up so fucking bad–”

“Why are you so full of anger?” I cut him off before he could finish his threat. “I’m not your enemy.”

He let out a humorless laugh. “That’s a pretty ironic thing to say considering our relationship, if you’d even call it that.”

“It is ironic, isn’t it?” I finally turned to look at him. He had a shoulder against the window, facing me. His eyes were bright blue in the sunlight, glimmering and hiding something darker.

Who was the man behind this mask?

“But I’m not going to hurt you. That was never my goal. I’ve only been trying to get even with you.”

Maddox and I had been playing a game of cat and mouse. It was infuriating but harmless.

He cocked his head to the side. “So, you’re saying, you won’t hurt me unless I hurt you first?” he questioned with a rough, gravelly voice.

“Yeah, it’s only fair. If you hurt me, I’ll make you regret it.”

“You’re the first girl who hasn’t fallen at my feet and begged me to fuck them.”

“What does that make me?”

He grinned, wolfishly. “My prey.”

I let out a laugh, instead of being offended like I would have been two months ago. “You have a one-track mind, Coulter.”

“You’re running circles around my head, Garcia.”

Was that a… confession?

I backpedaled away from him. “Gran will expect us back to work in two minutes.”

Swiveling around, I went to walk away but then stopped. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach, a gut-wrenching feeling that I was about to do something so fucking stupid. But I couldn’t stop myself. I had always been a girl who planned ahead, never doing something so… reckless. After life punched me in the face and left me scars, I vowed I would never be foolish.

Always in control.

Always cautious.

But apparently Maddox’s reckless habits had been rubbing off on me.

I marched back to Maddox, standing a mere foot away. So close I could feel his warmth.

“You know what? I think me and you can be really good friends,” I announced, the words spilling out before I could stop myself.

Yeah. Stupid, right?

His eyes widened a fraction before he scoffed. “How does me wanting to get in your panties equal to us being good friends?” He eyed my hand, the one stretched out between us. “And are you really waiting for a handshake?”

Goddamn it, what was I thinking?

Heat burnt my cheeks in embarrassment. “I’m trying to be civil here,” I said through clenched teeth. “I just think… if we’re so good at being enemies, imagine us being on the same side?”

It was true. I was tired of fighting with Maddox, day after day, over and over again. It was time to call truce, to end this war and to start over.

There was an unreadable gleam in his eyes when he spoke. “You’ll bring Berkshire to its knees, Sweet Cheeks.”

I’m going to bring you to your knees. I kept that tidbit to myself.

Maddox looked thoughtful for a second. He rubbed a thumb across his square jaw before giving me a simple nod. “Fine.”

Wait…really? I blinked, waiting for him to laugh and call me pathetic.

He didn’t.

Maddox stared at me expectantly.

Holy shit.

I swallowed past the nervous lump in my throat, and this time, I showed him my pinky. “We solemnly swear to not share any animosity between us anymore and we’ll play nice.”

If Maddox thought I was being stupid, he didn’t show it on his face. “I solemnly swear not to be an asshole, but I’ll still think of sixty-nine ways of how I can dick you down every time you look at me or shake your ass my way.”

“Maddox!” I hissed, heat blooming in my cheeks at his crude words. I was no saint, but damn it, he knew how to make a girl blush.

He let out a throaty chuckle, the sound coming deep from his chest. Maddox wrapped his pinky around mine, squeezing it the slightest bit.

My lungs burnt, and I realized I’d forgotten to breathe.

This is it, I reminded myself.

The end of something; the beginning of something else.

I didn’t know how serious Maddox was or if he’d keep his words… I didn’t know if he knew the meaning of friends, I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring us, if he’d be back to his usual asshole self, but I knew one thing – I no longer wanted to be on the opposite side of Maddox.