Dare Game

by Lexi Archer

  She was obviously with that guy, so why did she keep looking at me? I'd made it clear what I thought of her the last time we spoke, even if my angry words at the time and the confusing mix of emotions I was feeling now were at odds with one another. She had no way of knowing about that inner turmoil anyway.

  I shook my head and headed to the bar where I saw a familiar face.

  "Well hello there Jake," I said.

  Jake turned and looked at me, but there was no recognition. If anything there was some outright hostility as he looked me over with the same disdain I recognized from when we were looking at one of the jocks who hadn't exactly made us miserable back in the day, but we'd been convinced they and their entire social order were public enemy number one.

  That was one of the big things I'd had to get over after graduating and going to a new place where I could reinvent myself. Where I didn't have to worry about the past. Where I didn't have to worry about my reputation as the geek.

  I'd gone through life thinking that other people were making me miserable, but it’d taken a lot of self reflection to realize that a large part of it was how we'd acted. We'd pushed people away because we assumed they subscribed to some nerds versus jocks mentality that was reinforced by the movies.

  Getting over that, realizing I was as much of the problem as the people who I thought were giving me a hard time in school, was a big part of coming out of my shell.

  I was sad to see that Jake apparently hadn't had the same realization. Then again, he hadn't left. He'd stayed here and gone to the local community college one town over. He probably never bothered with any self reflection since he'd been stuck in the same world I'd tried my best to escape.

  Pity.

  I grinned at him and he looked me up and down again, that suspicious look is still on his face. I sighed. Apparently he just wasn't going to recognize me, but at the same time it was a little gratifying that he didn't recognize me. I figured if one of my old best friends from school couldn't recognize who I was then that boded well for the rest of the night.

  "Greetings star fighter…"

  His eyes widened in shock and he looked me up and down one more time. I have to admit that him looking me up and down like that wasn't quite as interesting as seeing Sarah looking me up and down from the other side of the room, but it was pretty damn funny.

  "Eric?" he asked, sounding incredulous. "What the hell happened to you man?"

  I grinned and spread my arms wide to pull him into a hug. For a moment it was just like the old days, and it felt pretty good. Sure I hadn't really talked to him aside from a couple of messages here and there.

  "What can I say? I got in shape and got a life man," I said.

  He punched me in the shoulder. It barely registered. Yeah, he was still just as strong as he'd been. Which is to say not at all.

  "Good for you man! You look like one of them!"

  I leaned against the bar and surveyed the room. And as I looked around I saw people who were just chatting with one another and having a good time. Sure some people were chatting with the same cliques they'd been friends with back in the day, but for the most part it seemed like everybody was mingling and interacting like they were old friends regardless of who they ran with when we all still lived here. All those old divisions that’d been in place back when we were kids didn't seem to be a thing at all.

  "I don't know man," I said. "Did you ever wonder if maybe we were the ones who were wrong?"

  "What are you talking about?" he asked. "Don't tell me you've really turned into one of them!"

  I looked at him and grinned. "Think about it," I said. "Can you ever think of a time we were actually mistreated? Were we given a single swirly? It was usually just us walling ourselves off…"

  He shook his head and grinned. "Man, you're just as crazy as ever, even if you hit the gym!”

  I sighed. It seemed like some things didn't change. That didn't mean I couldn't still have a good time with my old friend. It just meant we saw the world in very different ways these days. Not that it mattered since I was only in town for the night.

  I was about to continue our conversation when I was interrupted by the bartender tapping me on the shoulder. I turned around to see a pretty thing with striking eyes looking at me, though actually it would be more accurate to say she was looking me up and down.

  I grinned. What can I say? Getting that sort of attention on my home turf where it’d been rare once upon a time was nice.

  "So what's your poison?"

  "I'll have your best whiskey," I said.

  Although examining the shelf behind her it seemed like the best whiskey they had on offer wasn't all that great. Not that it particularly mattered. All I needed was a little bit of a kick, and the stuff they had would do the trick nicely.

  "So did you see Sarah in here with her new man?" Jake asked.

  "I did, actually," I said, careful to keep my voice neutral. It was hard to keep heat out of my voice when talking about Sarah. Whether or not that was the heat of arousal or anger was anyone's guess, myself included.

  Jake's face split into a huge grin. "What am I thinking? Of course you saw Sarah as soon as you walked in here." He took a sip from his drink and fixed me with an odd look. "If I was a betting man I'd be willing to say the only reason you're out here in the first place is a chance to see her again."

  I hid a grimace in a sip from the drink the bartender brought. I didn't want to let on just how close to the truth he was there. I definitely didn't want to admit that I was still a slave to a ridiculous crush that’d started more than a decade ago.

  "I knew it," he said.

  "No bet man," I said.

  Jake surveyed the room. "Everyone else is chatting with everybody like we're all old friends and not people who were stuck together by geographical circumstance making each other miserable," he said. "Why don't you go over and at least say hi? I'm sure she still remembers…"

  I squeezed my eyes shut and held up a warning hand. "Please, Jake."

  He held up his hand. "Sorry man! I just figured considering…"

  "I'm serious," I said. "The less said about that, the better…"

  I had to hold one hand against the bar to steady myself as memories came flooding back from that night almost five years ago. I felt lightheaded as I thought of it. My cock immediately sprang to attention and was throbbing in my pants in a way that forced me to readjust myself and then finally take a seat on the barstool next to Jake so I didn't risk showing off my suddenly turgid state to the entire room.

  I thought back to the gentle whisper of a T-shirt lifting up. I thought of two of the most beautiful breasts in the world that I'd never expected to see outside of jerk-off sessions suddenly on display before me as she bit her lip and looked uncertain but so fucking sexy.

  I'd seen tits since then, but nothing had ever matched the intensity of that moment when I pulled her bikini up. I thought about gentle sighs, caresses, feelings I never thought I'd ever get the chance to enjoy, and more.

  All that was nice, but overriding all those memories was another emotion that was still white hot after all these years. Stronger and more white-hot even than the undeniable arousal I felt whenever I thought about that night, which I admittedly I tried to avoid thinking about considering how it ended.

  Anger. Pure anger. Every time I thought about that night I wanted to break something, and that wasn't a good mood to be in when I was supposed to be friendly and getting along with everyone.

  Of course thinking back to that night, thinking back to that anger, thinking back to the score I felt I still had to settle after all these years, did give me a little bit of courage. Courage that may or may not have been augmented by some of the liquid courage I'd been enjoying while chatting with Jake. I set the glass down and looked to Jake. I grinned.

  "You know, I think you're right," I said. "Maybe it is time I go and say hello to Sarah. Catch up on old times."

  "I was just joking, but it's your funeral if you w
ant to go over there,” he said.

  "You never know," I said. "After all, I look like a brand-new man!"

  "You look like a brand-new man, sure," he said. "I'm more worried about the brand-new man she has with her though, and that ring around her finger."

  I chuckled and shook my head, my decision made. "The ring on her finger is just a piece of metal," I said.

  And that was true. I'd been with a couple of girls who I later discovered were spoken for. I’d felt bad when I realized they were engaged, but I had to admit there was a thrill of knowing I was pulling a girl who was supposedly dedicated to another man.

  Not that I figured anything like that was going to happen tonight. No, I'd just do a quick walk by, let her have a look at me now, and let her think back to that night and eat her heart out. That was all I planned on doing.

  Honest.

  So against my better judgment and, in the spirit of good old fashioned spite, I headed over to her table.

  It's funny. Back in the day I'd been terrified at the idea of talking to Sarah. I'd thought I wasn't even worthy to share the same space as her. I’d thought a single look from her would be enough to fry me to a crisp.

  A single look from her back in the day had certainly been enough to have a very noticeable effect on certain parts of my anatomy, let me tell you. Not that I was favored with a look from her all that often. It’d taken every ounce of what little courage I had to work up the balls to ask her to go to prom with me.

  I shuddered as I thought of that debacle. I'd asked her three times. I figured the first couple of times she was just being polite and putting me off, and that had pissed me off. I hadn't realized she'd been dating another guy and she was being honest when she said she already had a date.

  I tried to push those memories out of my head. That was the old idiot me. That was a different time. This was the new me.

  The new me had learned a valuable lesson over the past couple of years. The lesson that no matter how beautiful, a woman was just a woman with the same wants, needs, and desires as anyone else. And putting them on a pedestal was counterproductive. You could be respectful, doting even, but at the end of the day nothing was going to happen if you didn't go up and say hi.

  It was something I'd done countless times in bars, at parties, at the gym, at any number of places. And yet it felt weird now. As I approached Sarah's table I almost felt like the old me again. The guy who was afraid to approach the beauty who'd been my crush for so many years, even if she didn't return the feelings. My palms were sweaty, my breath was picking up, and I was actually nervous!

  I quickly clamped down on those pesky old emotions. I needed to get my head in the game. I could do this. I wasn't that old nervous guy anymore.

  She was just another girl, no matter how mind-bogglingly hot she was, and she was taken anyway. It's not like I was actually trying to get with her or anything.

  No, this was just a quick drive-by and then go on to talk with people I was actually interested in seeing. With people who hadn't taken my heart and crushed it, completely shredding and destroying my confidence until I got away from this hellhole.

  I smiled down at her as I reached the table. I had the satisfaction of seeing Sarah look up at me, and then look away with a nervous blush. That was a good start.

  "Hi Sarah," I said. "Long time no see."

  12

  Todd

  Well now. This was interesting. The very man Kylie and Sarah had been talking about all night, and now he was over standing at our table smiling down at my fiancée and saying hello.

  I glanced over to Sarah to gauge her reaction. She had a sickly smile on her face as she looked up at this Eric guy.

  She didn't look anything like a confident girl who was dealing with a guy who had an annoying crush on her years ago. The way she was looking at him now made me wonder if there wasn't more to this story. If there wasn't another part they were leaving out.

  To say my conversation with Kylie had been educational would be an understatement. There were parts of my fiancée's life I'd never guessed at before, and being filled in on them was interesting, to say the least. Sarah's reaction had been even more interesting.

  She was trying to play it off like she didn't mind that Kylie was spilling all of her secrets from what was apparently her wilder days back in school, particularly the summer after they'd all graduated, but I could tell she was annoyed. I saw the way she flinched every time Kylie launched into a new story.

  As though she was afraid of her friend revealing too much.

  I could tell that if I encouraged it too much, if I looked like I was too interested in what Kylie was spilling, then I wasn't going to hear the end of it later. Not that I had to act too terribly interested to get Kylie to talk. No, she seemed interested in nothing but spilling all their old stories, and I was more than happy to sit back and enjoy the tales.

  Of course now I was being treated to something far more fascinating than any of the stories Kylie had spun. Here was a blast from the past right in front of us. Here was an example of a guy who had a major crush on my girl, and for some reason that notion excited me far more than it pissed me off.

  "Hello yourself Eric," Sarah said, her voice surprisingly cool and controlled. "I didn't think I'd see you here."

  "Yeah, I almost didn't show," Eric said with a shrug. "I can't say there are many people I wanted to see considering…"

  Something was being left unsaid here. Something that caused Sarah to blush and look away. I watched the interplay with fascination. The only thing that was missing was some popcorn I could enjoy while watching this conversation that seemed to have unspoken depths.

  "You look like you've done well for yourself since graduation," Sarah said.

  I saw her eyes take in his broad shoulders and the way that shirt clung to his muscular body. He definitely was a guy who’d stayed in shape. He was actually even bulkier than me, and I was no stranger to the gym or an active lifestyle.

  He was also totally Sarah’s type. Maybe he hadn’t been back when they were in school together, but he definitely was now. I wasn’t sure if I should be worried or turned on by that thought.

  If he wasn't a dude who made my future wife act all weird then I might’ve cornered him and asked him for some tips. Being who he was, though, it didn't seem likely that was going to happen. S

  Sarah was already annoyed enough at my conversation with Kylie. Something told me if I tried to have a chat with this guy it’d be the end of the world, and probably not even later tonight when we were alone.

  No, the blowup would probably come here and now. Something I definitely wanted to avoid since I was on unfamiliar ground and the last thing I wanted to deal with was an argument.

  "You haven't changed a bit," Eric said.

  His eyes ran up and down Sarah. As they did a chill ran up and down my spine. I paused. Now that was interesting. Sure just a few moments ago I'd felt that same chill as I was thinking about her getting with Kylie, but this was different. This was another guy checking her out, and I was getting a thrill from it.

  That was weird, but it was also kind of hot so I decided to roll with it.

  To be perfectly honest, if I was being introspective about things then I had to admit I'd also gotten a thrill from Kylie talking about Sarah flashing this guy. Sarah hadn't mentioned any of that when I asked her if there were any guys I should be worried about.

  I'd gotten turned on hearing her talk about this man salivating over my woman and getting the chance of a lifetime. I'd been rock hard as she talked about this guy's hands running up and down my girl's body, even if it was back before we knew each other.

  I shivered again as I thought about everything Kylie had described. At the same time I still had the feeling there was something they weren't telling me. There was something that was being left out of those old stories.

  I was suddenly very interested in Sarah's past and present. In this man standing there looking down at her. In the way that she
was checking him out. Interesting things were afoot at this reunion, and I was more interested in seeing where things went than playing the jealous fiancé and putting a stop to it.

  No, for the moment I was more intrigued than anything else. Intrigued to the point that I figured I’d let things happen. See where this went. It was crazy, but no crazier than some of the things Sarah had done if Kylie was to be believed.

  I told myself the fact that my cock was throbbing under the table had absolutely nothing to do with it.

  I thought that brief tense conversation might've been the end of things, but then an old slow song, a love ballad really, from the band Promises Forever came on. It reminded me of the summer after my own graduation, but it must have some other meaning for my fiancée and Eric. Actually, it seemed to have some more significant meaning for everybody at the table but me. Their reactions definitely piqued my interest.

  Eric got a faraway look in his eyes and then he looked angry of all things. That was odd. I turned to Sarah who was blushing. Her entire top half had turned red. She was looking anywhere but at Eric. Finally there was Kylie, the free spirit who seemed to love chaos. She was covering her mouth and trying very hard not to giggle.

  "Wow, does this sound familiar Sarah?" Eric asked.

  "Maybe," she muttered.

  She looked pissed off. On any other day I would've taken the hint and leapt to her defense, but not today. No, I was still interested in the parts of the story I wasn't being told, and I wondered what the hell was so significant about this song that it would prompt that extreme reaction from these three.

  So once again I sat back and watched. Let things happen. Waited to see where this was going.

  Eric smiled and looked down at Sarah. It wasn't an entirely unpleasant smile, but it wasn't entirely pleasant either.

  "Does the song remind you of anything Sarah?"

  I looked over to my fiancée who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but sitting at this table talking with this guy.