Yellow Thorns (Thorns Duet 0.50)

“You think I won’t be able to do it?”

“Show me what you got then.”

“Oh, I will, babe. In fact, you’ll love my dick so much, you might dump that loser Asher for it.”

“Maybe I will.” She smiles, and unlike Brianna, it’s not plastic, but it’s still as fake as mine.

A hypocrite does recognize a hypocrite after all.

We dig into our food—we order pasta while the cheerleaders settle for salad, as usual.

While I eat and indulge in the humor, I wait for the other shoe to drop or explode or whatever the hell Reina does in these types of situations. There’s a reason she convinced Owen to drag us all here.

“Don’t you think it’s time for another dare?” she asks nonchalantly.

There.

The reason Reina has perfected her fake smiles and facial expressions. The real Reina hides beneath the surface and subtly toys with everyone around her.

How do I know? I do the same sometimes. The difference is, she does it for ambiguous reasons that don’t usually benefit her. In fact, all the dares she’s issued so far seem cruel but actually end up helping her victims.

In my case, I participate to get them off my back, not harm them. Unless they turn out to be annoying pests, which is when interference is necessary.

“Hell to the yeah!” Josh, one of my teammates, exclaims. “Loved playing a prank on our history teacher that one time.”

“And I loved helping.” Morgan, a cheerleader, winks and he licks his lips.

“We should take it up a notch, Rei,” Brianna says in her slightly squeaky, hyperactive voice.

Prescott, the only male cheerleader present, takes a sip of his beer. “Or else, it’ll get boring.”

I can relate.

But at the same time, Reina’s childish dares were never my thing. She’s been amping them up from high school as if she’s trying to prove a point.

Still, I need to keep up appearances and pretend that I belong to their holy circle. Partly because Owen becomes really grumpy when I ruin his fun. Partly because I have no intention of being trapped in my head.

That’s not a very comfortable place, last I checked.

“I agree. We should spice things up a little.” Reina meets my gaze. “Are you up for it, Bastian?”

I leisurely finish chewing, trying to figure out why she singled me out from everyone present.

It’s a first, and I learned from the best to never ignore such deviation from the ordinary.

However, I can’t put my finger on the reason for it.

“Is that a yes?” she insists.

“Hey, Queen Bee. I thought we would be sex partners.” Owen pouts, hitting his chest. “I have a black hole right in the middle of my heart.”

“Pass,” I say. “Asher would serial kill me if I come near you. I still need my life.”

It’s not a lie. The ever-so-calm Asher Carson turns into a violent motherfucker when it comes to Reina and often beat up guys for merely looking at her the wrong way in high school. Even though he’s currently away, if he catches wind of this, he’ll barge back in as if he never left.

But I’m merely using that as an excuse.

The actual reason? There’s no way in fuck I’d let Reina or anyone else use me as a pawn in their game.