The Dare (North Woods University 2)

Which leads me to wonder what he thought had happened? Why he was so mad at me? What did Henry tell him? Obviously it had something to do with me, but what exactly, I have no idea and right now, I have no time to ask him not with our parents back.

I slip into my own clothing in record time, brushing through my hair with my fingers, and splash some water on my face in the bathroom before rushing downstairs. It feels weird to have Vance’s cum inside me as I walk down the hall and toward the staircase to talk to Henry and my mother.

Vance is already standing at the bottom of the stairs, chatting with our parents when I appear at the top of the stairs. Neither one of them notices how tense he is. How hard he’s trying to make polite small talk when all he probably wants to do is confront them. I don’t know why he hasn’t said something yet, if I was him, I would be coming unglued, bursting at the seams for answers. Not Vance, he’s cool, casual, acting as if he didn’t just find out the most tragic lie of all.

It might be pitiful, but even after all my mom has done, I still want her to spend time with me without fighting. All I want is my mom back, and bringing up what happened five years ago is not going to be pleasant for any of us right now, so even though I know Vance is dying for answers, I hope at the very least he waits until we leave.

“We didn’t know you guys were going to be here today.” I force a smile, even though I feel more like crying.

“It wouldn’t have been a surprise if we would have called in advance, would it?” My mom beams at me. “And for you, young lady, I have one more surprise.”

“You do?” I perk up even though I feel shameful about it.

“Yup, we are going to the spa! Just the two of us for the rest of the day. I felt bad leaving as soon as you got here, so I thought we could spend the day together.”

My mom gives me a genuine smile and now I feel like crying for an entirely different reason. This entire thing is a shit show. It’s hard to hate someone that gave you life, but it’s even harder to know that your life would probably be as it was supposed to be had that person not made a selfish choice.

“Yes, that sounds… it sounds great,” I tell her, but I can’t help it when my gaze moves to Vance. His body language all but screams the pain he’s feeling on the inside and the people that are the cause of that pain are right in front of him, and sadly they don’t even notice.

“I’m guessing you kids got along just fine while we were gone? Seeing as we got no phone calls, and you both are alive and well?” Henry jokes, slapping a hand to Vance’s back.

“Yeah, everything was great,” Vance grinds out.

“Good, good. Well, the ladies are going to the spa, we should go play some golf. What do ya say, son?” Henry asks.

Vance shrugs. “I don’t golf, but if you want me to go…”

“Perfect. I’ve got some calls to make, but we can meet up after lunch.” Henry turns to my mother and presses a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll be seeing you later,” he whispers, and then his eyes flick to mine. “Have fun, ladies.”

I stand motionlessly as my mother looks between Vance and me as if she’s trying to fit the missing pieces back into place to solve the puzzle.

Finally, after she’s flicked her gaze between us twice, she says, “I’m going to go and change really quick and then we can head out.”

I nod my head and watch as she walks away, leaving Vance and I alone all over again. That seems to be a reoccurring thing in this house.

Staring at him, I feel the need to reach out to him, to soothe him, so I do. I place my hand on his shoulder and let his warmth seep into me. It’s a simple touch, but it feels like I’m sticking my hand into the sun.

“I don’t know what to say,” he admits.

“You don’t need to say anything. I’m just glad you know the truth now.” I still want to ask him what he thought I lied about, but seeing how troubled he is already, I decide to bite my tongue. I can always ask him later.

His eyes are transfixed on mine for a minute, and a regretful shadow cloaks his face. Somehow, I get the feeling he wants to tell me that he’s sorry, but the words never come. I’m hyper-aware of him now, my body buzzing when in his presence. Having sex changed something between us, but it wasn’t just the sex, it was the truth coming out too.