If You Dare (Dare Series Book 3)

by Shantel Tessier

  “What happened the other night?” Lauren asks, sitting down in her seat next to me. “I’ve been calling you all weekend. Did you and Seth break up?”

  “No,” I answer.

  “What was that fight about?”

  “He thinks I’m cheating on him.” I shrug.

  Her dark brows pull together. Lauren and I never talk about my sex life or lack thereof. She just assumes Seth and I fuck like rabbits. He’s a college student, after all. A boy with needs. I’m just not the one who fulfills them.

  “Are you?”

  I give her a big smile. “Well, I wasn’t when we started fighting.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  DEKE

  I STAND IN the kitchen staring down at my phone as it rings in my hand. Becky lights up the screen. I press ignore. And what I now see isn’t any better. It’s Demi’s message.

  Demi: That you took my virginity. In her bed.

  I blink and read it again.

  No!

  She was a virgin? That can’t be … but I know it’s the truth. I felt it. She was too tight. It had been a long time since I’d slept with a virgin, but you never forget what it’s like. It was too good. She felt too unbelievable. I almost had myself convinced yesterday that it was the alcohol. I was drunk and the liquor had enhanced what we did. What I felt.

  I should have known!

  “What’s up with you?” Cole asks, entering the kitchen.

  “I fucked Demi,” I say more to myself than him.

  He nods. “I was there.” He takes a drink of his coffee.

  “In Becky’s bed.” He spits out said coffee. It dribbles down his chin and onto his shirt. I feel it land on my arm, but I ignore it. “And she was a virgin.”

  “What the fuck?” I hear from behind me.

  I turn to see Austin now standing with us. Her eyes are wide, and her hands on her narrow hips.

  “I … I didn’t know …” I stumble over my words. Almost fucking speechless. My thoughts a mess. She was a virgin. I took her virginity. I shouldn’t feel proud about that because she tricked me, but I do. I fucked her first, before any other man. Why? Why would she give that to me? She hates me.

  “You didn’t know?” she asks me skeptically.

  I just shake my head. That’s usually the first thing a girl tells you when she’s throwing herself at you. Hell, I’ve had girls tell me they’re virgins when I knew they weren’t. They never lie about not being one. That’s just another thing about Demi that I’m starting to like. She’s unpredictable.

  She runs her hand through her dark hair. “Does Becky know?”

  I nod.

  Her lips thin, and she steps into me. “Was this part of your game?”

  Was it? I wanted her, yes. Would knowing she was a virgin have stopped me? Probably not. But I would have done it differently had I known.

  “No.” Cole answers her question when I don’t.

  “Did you know this?” she snaps at him.

  He nods. “I thought it was odd that he was in Becky’s room, though.”

  That’s why he looked at me strangely when I exited the bedroom. He knew I was on the wrong side of the balcony. I was too wrapped up in Demi and my dick to think about it. I would have fucked her in the laundry room if that was where she had taken me.

  “I can’t believe this.” She growls. “This is beyond fucked up, Deke.”

  “I didn’t know,” I repeat.

  My phone rings again, and I hit ignore, not wanting to talk to Becky. I don’t have to explain myself. I’m single and can do whoever I want.

  Seconds later, another cell rings, and Austin pulls hers out of her pocket. She sighs and hits answer. “Hello?” Her eyes narrow on me. “I’m so sorry.” She spins around, walking out of the kitchen. Letting me know that Becky has given up and called her best friend.

  “She set you up.” Cole speaks my thoughts.

  I nod. “Seems so.” She planned on me fucking her in her sister’s bed. She wanted to rub it in her face. But how did Becky find out? Did she text her, and Becky just believed it? I’m not sure, but I’m not going to ask Becky how she found out.

  “Again,” he adds.

  I grind my teeth and glare at him. “Why do you feel the need to state the obvious?”

  He shrugs. “Surprised is all.”

  “And what shall I do about that?” I ask, arching a brow.

  He chuckles. “Whatever the fuck you want.”

  DEMI

  I lie on my bed doing homework and listening to music. “Nightmare” by Halsey plays softly in my room. My phone vibrates, and I ignore it. That’s what I’ve done all day. Deke and Becky could have messaged me a hundred times, and I wouldn’t know.

  A knock comes on my door. “Go away,” I call out. If it was my sister, she’d just charge right in, so it’s either my mother or Isabella, and I don’t want to speak to either of them.

  The door opens, and I sit up when I see it’s Austin.

  This can’t be good.

  “Hope you don’t mind. Your housekeeper said you were up here. May I come in?” she asks, standing in the doorway.

  I wasn’t able to get rid of Isabella for long. After my sister found out what I had done, she called our mother and told her that I trashed the house over the weekend. So my mother called Isabella and told her to get back to our house and clean it. Thankfully, Isabella didn’t rat me out and tell my mother that I paid her to stay away. She kept the cash I gave her and her mouth shut.

  I cross my arms over my chest. “Depends. Are you here on behalf of Becky or Deke?” Neither one matters.

  She sighs heavily. “I’m here for you, Demi.”

  “I’m not sure what that means.”

  Without asking again or waiting for permission, she enters my room and closes the door behind her. She sits down on the edge of my bed and tilts her head while she looks me over. She frowns when her eyes run over the faint marks left by Deke. They’re fading, but I don’t wear much makeup, so you can still very much make them out.

  “I’m not in the mood for a lecture,” I tell her. I’m not sure which one told her what I did with Deke, but it doesn’t matter. It’s done.

  “I’m just worried—”

  I laugh, cutting off her words. “About Becky? She’s a big girl. She can handle herself. Trust me.”

  “No.” She reaches out and pats my leg gently. “About you.”

  Austin has always been nice to me. I didn’t get to see her much back in Collins. She didn’t come around my father’s house very often, but when she was there, she would go out of her way to say hello to me or ask how my day was going, but she never invited me out with them. At the time, I thought it was because Becky filled her head full of lies and made her hate me. Now I know it was because Austin was dealing with her own demons—the GWS.

  “Why would you be worried about me?”

  She runs a hand through her dark hair. “I don’t know what kind of game Deke is playing with you, but I’ve been a part of a game before, and it would have been nice to have someone on my side.”

  I look down at my hands sitting on my lap, unable to meet her eyes. I already know what she went through. And I hate that my sister wasn’t there to help her. She was too wrapped up in Deke to see what was really going on. Or maybe she did and just didn’t care.

  “I’m nothing like her,” I find myself saying.

  “I didn’t say you were.”

  My eyes meet hers, and she gives me a soft smile. I highly doubt she knows what Becky is really like. No one does. No one among the living anyway.

  “I’m not here to judge you, Demi. I only came here in case you needed to talk to someone.”

  I snort. “And to go tell my sister.”

  “No.” She shakes her head quickly. “I want to be your friend. And to me that means something. I would never betray your trust.”

  I fist my hands. “Then you’re here for Deke.”

  “No, Demi—”

  “I don’t
believe you, Austin,” I shout, interrupting her.

  Silence follows my outburst, and she nods her head once before standing. She turns to leave, and I look down at my backpack next to my bed. It’s open, and the top of her journal peeks out.

  “Wait,” I call out.

  She comes to a stop and turns to face me. I reach down, pick it up, and walk over to her. “I told you I’m nothing like her, and I mean that.” I hold out her journal. “This belongs to you. You should be the one to have it.”

  Her green eyes widen when she looks down at it. Slowly, she takes it from my hand like it’s a grenade that can blow up any minute. “Where did you get this?” she asks clearing her throat.

  “I found it.”

  Her eyes snap up to mine. “What do you mean you found it?”

  “I went looking in Becky’s closet for something to use against her, and it was in a box she brought with her from Collins.”

  Her eyes drop back down to it, and she grips it tightly.

  “I read it,” I admit.

  When she just stares at it with terror in her eyes, I feel bad for giving it to her. I should have just thrown it away. I’m sure she wants to forget many events in there. Cole may have fallen in love with her in the end, but there’s more than just him and the sharks in there. There’s a lot of Phillip—her mom’s boyfriend. He touched her. Hit her. And I have no doubt he would have done much harsher things if she hadn’t moved to her dad’s when she did.

  I’m not going to apologize for reading it because I’m glad I did. It taught me a lot about Austin and helped me understand her more. Not only is the girl beautiful, but she’s fierce. No wonder Cole fell for her. What guy wouldn’t? I believe her when she says friendship means something to her. And that she is loyal, but I’m just not sure she considers me a friend.

  “I …”

  The opening of my bedroom door cuts her off. She spins around to face it, and I look up to see my sister barge into my room. “You fucking bitch—”

  “What the fuck were you doing with this?” Austin interrupts her. And the look on my sister’s face tells me all I need to know.

  She’s fucked!

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  BECKY

  I STAND IN Demi’s room. My plan was to come in here and beat the shit out of her, but that is clearly not going to happen for two reasons.

  One, because I’ll have a witness, and two, because my best friend looks like she will be the one beating some ass.

  I swallow nervously, looking at her journal in her hand. How did she find that? “Where did that come from?”

  “Why did you fucking have this?” Austin demands, taking a step toward me.

  I take a step back out of the bedroom. Austin and I have never had a falling out; she’s always been nice to me, but I’ve read her journal. And you don’t want to be on her bad side. “You asked me to take it.”

  “No. I told you to fucking burn it!”

  Five months ago

  I walk over to her hospital bed and sit down. We weren’t even sure Austin would survive the shooting, and now here she is, wide awake and asking for a favor three days later. She just asked me to go back to her father’s house with Cole. By myself. Not sure what the hell she wants me to do for her, but no was on the tip of my tongue when she asked the guys to leave the room so she could talk to me alone.

  “I need you to grab something for me.”

  “Can’t Cole get it?” I ask, not wanting to be left alone with him. The last time I was alone with him, his hand was wrapped around my throat, and he told me that I’d owe him a favor. Then Austin showed up. And being her friend was my favor. What started out as payment for my sins ended up becoming my best friend. Although I have a bad way of showing it.

  “No.” She sits up better in her bed and flinches from the pain. “I have a journal.” I frown. “I need you to get it. He can’t see it.”

  “You want me to bring it to you?”

  She shakes her head. “Burn it.”

  “Burn it?” I repeat.

  She nods. “Yes. It’s in my nightstand.” She grabs my hands and squeezes them. “One more thing. Don’t read it.”

  “Okay …”

  “Promise me you won’t read it and will destroy it. Immediately.”

  I nod slowly, wondering why in the fuck she wants me to burn a journal. What could possibly be in there that she doesn’t want us to see? Him especially. “I promise.”

  “You promised me.” She growls.

  “I didn’t get the chance.” I lie.

  She doesn’t believe it. “How in the hell did you not get the chance? It’s been five months.”

  I don’t answer.

  “Did you read it?” she demands.

  “No.” Another lie. Of course, I did. And I haven’t looked at her the same since. I always knew Cole was a fucked-up kid, and her journal just proved I wasn’t wrong. And honestly, she’s not far off from him. That’s probably why they are so good together.

  “Demi?” she snaps. “Did you read it?”

  “Yes.” She answers without hesitation, but I have a feeling that Demi already divulged that information.

  The more important question is how the fuck did she find it? What was Austin doing in my room? I had it hidden in a box. I knew I should have left it in Collins.

  “You know what, Becky? I thought we were friends, but I guess I was wrong.” She shoulders past me.

  I’m already in a pretty shitty mood. Your sister fucking the man you love in your own bed and leaving your sheets stained with her blood and her words written in black Sharpie will make you irrational. That’s why I’m not proud of the next thing that comes out of my mouth. “Cole read it too.” That fucker outed me that I was the one driving the car. Why the fuck should I keep his secrets?

  I turn to face her, giving my sister my back.

  Austin stands at the top of the stairs and spins around to glare at me. “What?” she snaps.

  “Back at your father’s house. I left him alone in your room to get some trash bags. I was gonna be a nice friend and pack up some of your belongings, and when I returned, he was sitting on your bed reading it.” I was going to have to grab it without Cole questioning me. I figured if I threw some shit in a trash bag, he wouldn’t notice me trying to sneak a journal out.

  “Why didn’t you tell me this?” she grinds out.

  I cross my arms over my chest. “I think the real question is why hasn’t he told you?”

  “Don’t turn this around on him, Becky. I asked you to do one thing for me, and you couldn’t even do it.” She looks down at the journal and then back at me. “I will never forgive you for this.”

  The words hurt more than knowing my sister fucked Deke. I can win Deke over. I cheated on him; he paid me back. He got to have a little fun, and now we can move on. But her? Austin was all I had left. “Why is it you forgave him?” I glare down at her journal. “Huh? He can hurt you, fucking blackmail you, and you forgive him so goddamn easily?”

  “He never lied to me!” she yells. “He never pretended to be someone he’s not.”

  I snort at that sorry excuse for an answer. “Be honest, Austin, it’s just us. It’s because of the money. You let him treat you like shit because he has money?” Her nostrils flare. “You saw a way out and took it. I get it …”

  “I couldn’t care less about his fucking money!” she shouts.

  I believe her. I do, but I can’t stop. I have to hurt her. She hurt me. She is abandoning me. “So, it’s the fact that he’s the first guy to ever show you any kind of love then? Your mother hated you ’cause her boyfriend wanted to fuck you. Your father didn’t want you, and then Cole Reynolds comes along.” I give her a smile. Our friendship is over, so I might as well go out with a bang. “The devil as you called him in your journal. Girls like you disgust me. A man shows a broken girl a little bit of attention, and you fall in love with them. He can never love you.” I lie. The truth is, he’s beyond in love with her. That man
has killed for her. He’d do anything for her, and I’m jealous of that. I want that with Deke. “He’ll only use you. You’ll become a frumpy housewife, and he’ll get bored of you …”

  She slaps me across the face, knocking me into the railing of the balcony. The force was so hard it takes my breath away. My hand comes up to touch my tender cheek when she steps into me, pressing my back into the railing. “You bitch …”

  “I’d rather be the girl who fell in love with the devil, than the whore who jumps from man to man because she can’t stay faithful.” She growls in my face. “I don’t care if Deke comes to me tonight and tells me that he is taking your sorry ass back and plans on marrying you tomorrow. You are never welcome in my house again.”

  My teeth grind at her words and the tears sting my eyes. But I manage to say, “The truth hurts.”

  I think she’s going to slap me again, but instead, she laughs in my face. “The truth? The truth is that I’ve always been a fighter. And I would have fought for you, no matter what, but you lied to me and you betrayed me. So you no longer have my loyalty.” Then she turns, and storms down the stairs and exits the house, slamming the door behind her. The sound echoes up the stairs, and it makes me flinch. My chest aches, and my stomach sinks at the loss of my best friend.

  “Sucks, doesn’t it? Losing everyone who you thought cared about you?”

  I turn to look at my sister leaning up against the doorway to her bedroom. She has a smile on her face and not a care in the world. My eyes go straight to the hickeys on her neck. Deke never gave me any because I wouldn’t let him. I couldn’t chance David seeing them. I told him not to give them to me so many times that even after we were out in the open together, he still didn’t leave any.

  I fist my hands and push away from the railing. “You did this …”

  “No, you did.” The smile drops off her face. “You fucked everyone over. And now you’re completely alone.” Then she steps back and slams her bedroom door. I hear it lock, and I let out a scream of frustration because I know she’s telling the truth. I just lost Austin and any chance I have of getting Deke back. And it all started with fucking Demi!