I Dare You (Truth And Dare Duet 2)

He turned over onto his side and propped up on one elbow. The muscles of his bicep bulged, and the blanket slid down to his hips, barely covering his crotch. His bare torso and v-line were on display. That simple move shouldn’t have looked this sexy, but Maddox made it downright sinful.

His ocean blue eyes flickered to my bare thighs, before he looked up. “You look good in my shirt,” he said, his voice laced with something akin to… affection? Adoration? Something more…

“And you ask way too many questions, woman.”

“But–”

Maddox shook his head. “Get in the shower, Lila. Or we’ll never leave this hotel room.”

Huffing back a response, I stomped to the bathroom. I locked the door, just in case he got any ideas. I needed some time alone to think, to prepare myself and my… heart for what Maddox had planned. Because, regardless of what I said or did… or how hard I tried to push Maddox away and to keep my heart in a cage, he made me weak.

I found my disheveled reflection in the mirror and groaned. The end result of a sex marathon.

Rubbing a hand over my face, I leaned against the sink. Everything was happening too fast. Two days ago… the mere idea of sleeping with Maddox was forbidden, almost taboo.

Now, I was so tightly entangled with him, there was no way out.

I didn’t even know how to step back, how to go back to how we were before. My throat tightened with a choked sound.

Before Maddox, I didn’t know how to fill in the missing piece. I didn’t even know I was missing a piece of my puzzle until he sauntered into my life, with a dirty smirk. I didn’t know I was incomplete until he made me whole.

Before Maddox… I didn’t really know me.

I covered my chest with my hand, and my scars tingled as a reminder. After the death of my parents, I went on with the motion of life. I woke up, went to school, reminded myself to breathe, smiled because I was expected to, slept while praying the nightmares stayed away. And repeat.

I breathed.

I lived.

But I wasn’t… alive.

Not until him.

My fingers grasped my necklace, feeling the weight of it, chasing the same soothing feeling it always brought me. The pendant, our dreamcatcher, felt heavier than it was before.

How could I risk losing him – losing us?

A soft knock snapped me out of my thoughts, and I swiveled around, glowering at the door. “What?”

“I can hear you overthinking, Lila.”

“Shut up,” I muttered to the door.

The door chuckled, well, Maddox chuckled. “Don’t make me come inside. You know damn well a locked door will not keep me away if I want to get in. Better remember that next time.”

“Is the word ‘privacy’ not in your vocabulary?” I shot back.

Maddox was silent for a short second before he replied, “No. Now, hurry. Our date awaits, milady.”

“I’m not a lady or a princess.” And yes, I was smiling because, damn him, I was falling for it again. His charm. His stupid attempts to woo me.

Even with a door separating us, I could imagine Maddox standing outside the door, smiling. “No, you’re not, little dragon.”

Little dragon.

My cheeks heated up. Damn it, was I… blushing?

Oh no, I was in big trouble.

Thirty minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom to find our master suite empty. Maddox was nowhere to be seen, but he did leave me a present. On the bed, there was a white dress.

With a single… dead rose.

A dead rose? What the hell?

And then I remembered why.

Maddox and his stupid pranks. The last time he offered me roses – dead roses – he was on his knees, making a grand proposal to my ass.

This was his messed-up way of being romantic, but still staying true to us.

Next to the dress, there was a blue Post-It Note. A handwritten note, with Maddox’s not so elegant penmanship.

You look beautiful in white. Wear the dress.

Ah, this was Maddox. He didn’t even bother to ask me to wear the dress or say ‘please.’ He ordered me to wear it.

And where the hell did he even get this dress? It was pretty and elegant. A simple white, spaghetti strap silk dress.

I grabbed the dress and walked over to the mirror, before slipping it over my head. It came down to my calves, a few inches above my ankles. The dress was backless, with crisscross straps to a tie a knot.

“I’m beginning to think I made the wrong choice.”

I gasped at the voice and swiveled around to face the intruder. “Maddox! You scared me!”

He stood at the entrance of the room and closed the door behind him. My gaze traveled the length of his body, slowly taking him in. Yes, I was taking my time to appreciate the view.

There was nothing wrong with eyeing your best friend, right? The same best friend I slept with last night…