If You Dare (Dare 3)

She looks at me when she realizes he’s not saying shit. “What did you guys do?”

“We just had a little fun,” I decide to say in answer.

She looks back and forth between Cole and me for a second. “And?”

“We were just playing. Harmless fun,” I tell her.

She rolls her eyes. “Oh God, not this again.”

“What?” I feign innocence while Lilly pounds her little hands into my cheeks excitedly, her feet still splashing me.

“You know what?” she snaps and then bends over to remove her shorts. “I know what your definition of play is, and it’s not fun.”

Yeah, Austin was once something Cole played with. The moment he laid eyes on her, she became his prey.

Nine months ago

I stand in an abandoned cemetery over the bloody dead guy who my friends and I just killed. He was our revenge. Cole wanted him to pay, and we all played our part in making sure he got it.

A phone ringing slices through the silent night. “Hello?” Kellan answers. “Yeah.” He nods to himself. “Be there soon.” Hanging up, he pockets his cell. “I gotta go.”

What the fuck? Where in the hell does he have to go that is so important right now? He’s been acting fishy for days. More than he usually does. He didn’t even want to be a part of this tonight. But I think Bennett talked him into it at the last minute.

“Get out of here,” I tell him, trying not to show my frustration toward him at the moment. “Cole and I will wrap this up.” Where did he go anyway? We heard a noise, and he went to check it out. It was probably some wild animal. No one comes up here anymore.

“Let us know when it’s done,” Bennett tells me, turning on his flashlight to light the way back to his car.

“Will do.” I nod, and they turn and begin to walk down the hill to where we parked our cars. I wait a few seconds before I call out his name. “Cole?”

“Over here,” he answers. His voice doesn’t sound far away from me.

I pull out my flashlight, making my way down the hill so I don’t trip over any tree limbs. I see him down on his knees, straddling someone dressed in a pair of jeans and a black hoodie.

“You sorry son of a …”

“What did you find?” I ask, cutting off the girl as I come up next to them. My light shines down on her. A pretty brunette lies on the wet ground. Cole straddles her hips, pinning her arms under his legs. “Oh, a toy. Where did she come from?” What the hell is she doing in this abandoned cemetery this time of night?

“Not sure,” he answers.

“Are there more?” I ask, taking a quick look around but don’t see anything. He has one; I want one too.

“Fuck you,” she spits out.

I laugh. “I like when they have a dirty mouth.”

She arches her back, letting out a scream of frustration that rings out in the dark, rainy night.

“No one can hear you out here,” he tells her, his free hand coming up and wrapping around her throat. The blood from the guy we just killed on his hand covering her sun-kissed skin. “There’s no one to come save you.”

She whimpers.

“I love it when they scream. Go ahead, sweetheart,” I say softly. “Scream for me.” I kneel next to them. Reaching out, I wrap her brown hair around my bloody hand, and I jerk her head to the side to face me. She bares her perfect teeth, sucking in a breath, but she doesn’t cry out from my force. Both of our lights stay on her face, and she squints her pretty green eyes, trying to see.

In the distance, I hear an engine roar as Shane, Kellan, and Bennett leave. “What were you doing out here all alone?” I ask her.

“Watching you murder someone,” she snaps.

I throw my head back, laughing at the fucking bitch. I find her truth refreshing. “Like to watch, do you?”

She bucks her hips, trying to throw Cole off, but no such luck. He’s twice her size, so she’s not going anywhere.

“What a coincidence. So do I,” I continue with a dark laugh.

She stiffens, and I look at my best friend. “Go ahead, Cole. Give me a show. I earned it. We gave her one, after all.”

“Don’t,” she whispers as her lips part, and she sucks in a ragged breath.

Cole smiles down at her, his hand loosening around her neck to run along her collarbone, pulling down her oversized hoodie in the process. His bloody hand leaves a trail. The sound of her ragged breathing fills the cold night.

“You know how much I love to perform,” he tells me, fucking with her.

“Please,” she pleads while his finger runs over her shoulder, pushing her black bra strap off and watching it disappear into the sleeve of her hoodie.