If You Dare (Dare Series Book 3)

by Shantel Tessier

  His hands clench, and I realize I struck a nerve. Good.

  He steps into me just as we hear the front door open followed by Austin’s voice call out frantically. “Demi?”

  “Here.” I try to holler, but my voice cracks.

  She enters the living room and runs to me, throwing her arms around my shoulders, shoving me away from Deke. Her green eyes look me up and down to make sure I’m not missing any body parts. “Oh my God!” She gasps when she sees my neck. “Deke, what the fuck did you—”

  “She’s alive,” he interrupts her.

  Cole enters much slower and looks over at me. The way he fists his hands, I can tell he’s not as pleased as Austin is that I’m still breathing.

  The guys exchange a look before Cole gestures to the sliding glass door with his head, and Deke follows him out back.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Austin asks me.

  I sniff but nod my head.

  Sighing, she pulls me in for another hug. And I cling to her, wishing she had been my sister. I always wanted to be close with Becky, but it was just never an option. I know it wasn’t just me; she’s that way with everyone—a coldhearted bitch.

  “Come on.” She pulls away from me and takes my hand.

  “Where are we going?” I ask her.

  “Out.”

  I look over my shoulder to the backyard and see the guys standing by the pool. Deke’s head is down, and Cole stands with his arms crossed over his chest. “But Cole—”

  “Fuck Cole.” She interrupts me. “Fuck them both.” On the way out, she bends down and picks up my phone off the floor.

  ________________

  She took me to a bar. Well, I guess that’s what some call it. To me, it looks like a run-down shack.

  “He’ll find you,” I tell her.

  “Most likely,” she agrees. “I’ve heard Deke talk about this place on several occasions. If he can get in, so can we.”

  We enter the old wooden door and look over the small dance floor. Now I understand why the parking lot was so dead for a Friday night. Most of their customers are over sixty. An old man with silver hair is hunched over on the dance floor dancing with a woman who can’t quite get the steps right. He’s got a smile on his face, and she is laughing.

  I follow Austin over to the bar and sit down. The bartender lifts a brow at us.

  “Two shots of Fireball,” she orders.

  “IDs?” he asks.

  I bite my bottom lip nervously, but she pulls her wallet out and shows him one. He looks at it for a long second and then back at her.

  “Problem?” she asks.

  He sets it down and slides it over to her. “Your friend?”

  “Got her purse stolen. That’s why we’re here. Drink away the shitty fucking day.”

  After looking over my face as well, his eyes drop to my neck. I’m sure my bruises match her lie perfectly. I look like a girl who was beaten before robbed. He nods and turns his back to us and begins to make us our shots. I wonder how in the hell her ID is going to get us drinks but then remember the guys giving her a fake ID when they made her join the GWS back in Collins. I read it in her journal.

  “Here you go, ladies.”

  She tosses her debit card on the bar. “Open a tab.”

  She grabs her shot and hands me mine. Without wasting another second, she throws hers back and hisses in a breath. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything to drink. Besides that wine the other night. And I didn’t get to have much since Lilly was home.”

  I swallow mine and try to keep it down when it wants to come back up. I hate this shit.

  “He’s gay, isn’t he?” she asks.

  “Yes,” I answer honestly, knowing who she’s talking about.

  “I figured. I saw the way he was checking out the guys at Silence. And you guys weren’t very affectionate with one another.”

  I never paid attention to who and what he was looking at. I wasn’t jealous, and Seth isn’t out in the open. He plays straight very well because he’s been doing it all his life. He once told me his dad would disown him if he ever found out, and he feels he has to hide it from his team members. I once thought it was very sad and depressing, but after what he tried to do to me tonight, I no longer care what he’s going through.

  “There were things he did here and there. Very subtle, but I picked up on them. How did you guys hook up?” She lifts her hand to signal for two more.

  “His mother was my mother’s real estate broker. I first met him when she got the house five years ago, and we became friends. My mom has made me spend a few weeks with her here in Texas every summer, and I always hung out with him ’cause our mothers were friends. So when she made me move here for my senior year, he asked me for a favor, and I said yes. Wasn’t like I planned on getting a real boyfriend.” I shrug.

  She nods her head, and her cell rings. She shuts it off.

  “Cole?” I ask.

  “Yep. Let him feel what it’s like when you’re worried about someone, but they ignore you.”

  I frown, not knowing what she is talking about. The bartender sets two more shots down.

  “Make it four next time,” she tells him.

  I drop my head to stare at my shot; she’s already downed hers. “I’m sorry you guys are fighting because of me.”

  She looks over at me. “It’s not your fault, Demi.”

  “Wanna talk about it?” I ask.

  She runs her hand through her dark hair and lets out a sigh. “I … I couldn’t stand by and let Deke hurt you. I understand they have this unwavering loyalty, but Cole shouldn’t have let him hurt you. He dragged me out of the house and put me in his car. I was screaming at him. He was just gonna leave you there with him, knowing he was going to do something to you. But I opened up the door and ran back inside before he could get out of the driveway. I had to make sure you were okay.” The bartender sets four shots on the bar now, and she throws back one. “I used to be scared of them. The sharks. But now, they’re like fucking flies that I just wanna swat with my bare hand on most days.”

  I laugh at that. She looks over at me and laughs as well. Then I pick up my shot, and we clink them together.

  She slams her glass down as I try to swallow mine. “She wasn’t wrong,” she whispers.

  I don’t say anything, confused by what she means.

  “I think about it too,” she admits softly.

  I begin to understand. “Austin, don’t …”

  “What if he gets bored with me?” she whispers.

  “Cole is madly in love with you,” I say, placing my hand on hers.

  She looks over at me. “We can’t fight forever. We both can’t be this stubborn. One of us is going to have to give, or it will end.”

  “Cole would never leave you. Ever.”

  She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “He’s here.”

  “Who?” I take a quick look around the bar. Did Seth follow me? My heart pounds at the thought. The odds of me fighting him off twice are not good. I’m already weak and tired.

  “Cole,” she answers, opening her eyes.

  “How do you know?” I ask.

  She lets go of my hand and takes another shot. “I can feel him watching me.” She throws back the shot and a smile appears on her face before she whispers, “I dare you.”

  Just then, a man walks up behind her and places his hands on her hips. I watch Cole lean down and whisper in her ear. “Hello, sweetheart.” He’s no longer the pissed-off guy he was thirty minutes ago, but I can’t tell if it’s a front or real. He’s put a shirt on and now wears jeans instead of his board shorts and has his hair spiked.

  She wipes the smile off her face and stands, turning around to face him. “I didn’t want to be around you.”

  He tucks her hair behind her ear. “And I didn’t care.”

  She huffs. “Cole …”

  He cuts her off with a kiss. One hand cups her cheek while the other goes to her ass, and he kisses her.
It’s passionate. Slow and sexy. I watch his tongue enter her mouth as he pushes her back into the bar. I’ve never spent much time with them, but I’ve read about their passion, anger, and sex life in her journal. And the words she wrote don’t even compare to the real thing. To what he feels for her.

  He pulls away, and she licks her lips, her eyes slowly opening. “I’m not leaving,” she states.

  “I didn’t expect you would.” He lets go of her, grabs her hand, and says, “Dance with me,” before pulling her away from the bar.

  I sit on my stool and watch them take their place on the mini dance floor. There’s no grinding. Nothing to show that he once used her for his own sick game. He makes love to her out there. Slow and sweet. He holds her to him and kisses her while they dance to their own song. It’s beautiful.

  I realize I want that. The fighting. The passion. The love. I want someone to love me so much that I make them crazy. Anything less would be boring. Lifting my hand to my throat, I flinch when I realize that’s exactly what Deke and I have. I wanted him to fuck me, and now I want him to love me.

  Spinning around, I hold up two fingers to the bartender. “Vodka,” I state. I’ve had enough of that cinnamon shit.

  “Here you are.” He sets them down.

  “Thanks,” I mumble as a man slides onto Austin’s seat. I look over to see a new set of blue eyes. Ones that make my breath quicken and my thighs tighten.

  Fuck!

  “If you’re here to force me to leave, I’ll make a scene.” Not a good idea on my part since I’m underage, but he doesn’t want to push me on this.

  Deke shakes his head. “We’ll go when you’re ready.”

  “We?”

  He nods once.

  “Waiting for me to get drunk before you try to kill me this time?” I ask. He doesn’t answer.

  I reach out for the shots and throw one back. Tears sting my eyes, and I hold up two fingers for more. I’m going to do exactly what Austin said—drink this fucking day away.

  I hear him release a sigh. “Demi …”

  “Don’t.” I choke on the single word.

  I swallow the knot that has formed in my throat. My fake boyfriend tried to rape me because he said he had to. Cole and Deke mentioned that I’m on some list. And Deke has taken it upon himself to babysit me. But just thirty minutes ago, he wanted to kill me. Hell, maybe he still does. Why not drink myself into a coma tonight?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  DEKE

  “HEY, WE’RE GONNA head home,” Cole announces, coming up to me.

  I look over at Austin, and she sways even though he has an arm over her shoulders. The girls probably got quite a few shots before we got here, and that was over an hour ago.

  “Okay. We’ll see you guys back at the house.”

  Austin steps up to me. “Don’t you dare—”

  “I’m not going to hurt her,” I interrupt her. “I promise.”

  She looks like she wants to argue, but Cole doesn’t give her the chance. He pulls her away and out the front door.

  “What’s the damage?” I ask William, the bartender.

  “The brunette had a tab open. The guy already covered it, Deke.” The guy knows me by name. I come here when I want to drink alone. The music isn’t too loud, so you can actually hear yourself think. No one bothers you.

  I let out a sigh and look over at Demi sitting next to me, staring down at an empty shot glass. She hasn’t spoken to me since I arrived. Not that I blame her. I throw down a hundred anyway. “Let’s go, princess.”

  She doesn’t argue as I help her to her feet and out to my Range Rover. Cole and I drove together so he could drive Austin’s car back. I buckle her into the passenger seat. Getting in, I start it. I avoid the highway and take the backroads.

  She’s notices. “You’re going the wrong way.”

  “We’re just taking the long way.” I’m giving Cole and Austin time alone to dish out whatever issues they’ve got going on right now. And I know they’ll do that in their bed.

  He acted like he wasn’t mad at her when we arrived at the bar, but when we entered the house to find them gone, he was furious. He tried calling, and she ignored it. I instantly knew she was paying him back for the night we went to the cabin, and he turned his phone off. He was not happy. But no surprise, he has a tracker on her car. She has no clue. After she bought her Range Rover, he took it to have her windows tinted and had them add a tracker. He’s so paranoid of something happening to her. Of losing her. It just happened to come in handy tonight.

  “Giving Austin and Cole some time together,” I tell her.

  “Can you keep a secret?” she asks.

  She has no idea. “Yes.”

  “She’s worried he’ll get bored with her.”

  I snort. “That’ll never happen.”

  “You and I know that, but Becky got in her head.” She sighs. “That bitch gets in everyone’s head.”

  Can’t argue that. But I say, “That’s just the alcohol talking.” Referring to Austin.

  “What’s that saying? A drunk man’s thoughts are a sober man’s words. Wait …” She pauses, her drunk self having to think about it. “A drunk man’s words … are a sober man’s thoughts.”

  I smile. “Oh yeah? What are your drunk words?” I’ve never been around her drunk before. She was tipsy at her Halloween party and the other night, but nowhere near gone like this. I watched her have six shots on top of what she had before we got there.

  “I’ve got all kinds of secrets.”

  I arch a brow. “The ones you say you know about me?” Which I now know came from Austin’s journal.

  “No. Everyone else,” she whispers.

  I frown. “Like what?”

  Her head falls to the side, and she looks at me. “I know more than you think.”

  “Whatcha got?” I ask. She can’t know much.

  “I know that Becky lost her virginity to Shane.”

  “What?”

  She closes her eyes and nods. “Yep. She was acting weird for a couple of days, and I was in her closet looking for a shirt of mine that went missing. I heard her enter her room on the phone. She was crying. Told Shane that she had been bleeding for two days and it wouldn’t stop. He asked what the fuck was he supposed to do about it?” She laughs. “That was when I realized a girl’s virginity didn’t mean anything. Which is crazy, right? We’re told it’s supposed to be special. You’re supposed to give it to someone you love.” Her drunk laughter grows. “Such bullshit.”

  I shift in my seat because I didn’t make anything about her first time special. “What was the second?” I ask, fully taking advantage of her intoxicated state.

  “When my sister drugged me and didn’t care if I got raped.”

  What? “When the fuck did this happen?” I growl.

  “You were there.” She gives me a smile, and that’s how I know she drank too much. Because nothing about what she is about to tell me could be anything worth smiling about. Her eyes are still closed. “The beach party. You handed me a bottle of vodka. That was actually my first drink. Anyway, Cole took it from me, and I wanted to leave. So I went over to tell David I was going to wait in the car, but he told Becky to make me a drink. After that, I ran into Eli, and I left with him. He took me to the cemetery. But then I started feeling weird, and I couldn’t open my eyes. He tasted my drink and said I had been drugged.” My hands tighten on the steering wheel. “How was I supposed to know it didn’t taste right? I hadn’t had a drink before that night. Anyway, he had to carry me to his car. Then he took me to his house where I got sick. The next morning, my sister showed up to get me, and when he confronted her about it, she said she and Maxwell did it. He called her a bitch and said that he could have raped me. That’s when we learned that was their plan all along. That bitch knew I was a virgin. She didn’t fucking care.”

  I come to a red light and clear my throat. “Demi …”

  “That’s one of the reasons I slept with you.”
>
  I look over at her, and her head falls toward me, and her pretty blue eyes look up into mine. The same ones I watched the life slowly drain out of while I choked her earlier. I hate that I hurt her. Now that I know the truth of how much shit she has been through. It seems someone is always wanting to hurt her.

  “I know I lied to you. Tricked you. We set you up. But …” She licks her lips. “I wanted you to take it, Deke. Don’t think for one second that I didn’t want you.”

  I hate how much I like the sound of that. But I find myself saying, “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  I reach out and cup her face. For wanting to kill you. For fucking you? My list just seems to keep growing, but I pick. “Your first time should have been different …”

  She snorts. “I didn’t want different. And I don’t regret it.” She closes her eyes.

  I watch her lips part slightly and her chest rise and fall slowly. She’s so drunk, she won’t be with me much longer. But I still have questions. “If Eli knew what she did to you, then why did he fuck her?”

  “I lied about that too the other night. On the back porch.”

  “What?”

  “He never slept with her.” She yawns, and I know I’m losing her.

  “Demi?”

  “Hmm?”

  “What do you mean he never slept with her?” Cole told me that they were sleeping together. He wouldn’t lie to me.

  “He faked it.”

  “How do you fake fucking someone?” I growl.

  “He set her up. For you … just like I set you up.” She’s beginning to mumble her words.

  “You’re not making any sense, princess.”

  She digs into the pocket of her jeans and produces her cell phone. She goes to hand it to me but drops it to the floor. “It’s all on our FB chat,” she manages to say before she passes out on me.

  DEMI

  Sophomore year