DARE SERIES COLLECTION

by Tessier, Shantel

  “They were right outside her door.” The cops may have allowed her a few minutes to gather herself, but they didn’t go far.

  “They’re not now.”

  “What all did you say to them?” Jacob asks her, not even bothering with introducing himself.

  She sits on her bed, her eyes narrowed. She cried at first, but now, she’s pissed. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that Cole told her he was safe or the fact that she didn’t already know he would have covered his ass. I gotta give it to the girl. When push comes to shove, she will knock your ass down.

  “They asked me to start from the beginning. I told them I had just gotten home from a movie date.” I watch Cole’s shoulders stiffen at her words because he was not the guy she was out with. And it’s my fault. I blame myself because I told him to push her away. “I walked in, and they were already arguing. They brought me into it, and I said I just wanted to go to bed, and that’s when Kellan started telling me all this stuff. He pushed her down the stairs, and when I tried to save her, he threw me to the ground.” Cole’s hands fist. “Choked me. He had dropped a knife next to my head, so I grabbed it and stabbed him.” Her narrowed eyes move to Cole’s. “And that’s when they told me they had a tape. A recording with evidence on it that what I did was in self-defense but not the cause of death. He was murdered.”

  “Bullshit!” Cole snaps. “They lied to you.”

  Jacob gestures for him to quiet with his hand. “Go on.”

  “Deke told them to get the fuck out. I started crying. Shelby made them leave.” She sighs.

  Jacob pats her leg softly over the blanket. “Don’t say another word to them. I will take care of it. They have all the evidence they need.” He looks at us. “What did you guys do with his car?”

  We both frown. “What do you mean?” I ask.

  “He was at the Lowes’ residence, so he must have driven there.”

  “We never saw his car,” Cole admits.

  The old man’s brows crease. “Then how did he get there?”

  Cole and I look at one another. “The fuck if we know,” I answer.

  “I didn’t see it either,” Austin adds. “When I pulled up, there was no other car in the driveway. Just mine.” Cole looks at me, and I can tell what he’s thinking just by his fisted hands—we’ve missed something. “Maybe Celeste picked him up and brought him back to my father’s,” she offers.

  “Maybe.” Jacob agrees, but he doesn’t sound convinced.

  Cole jerks his head toward the door, and I get up to follow him out. “I didn’t think about it,” he growls.

  I sigh. “There was so much going on. It’s not like how he arrived there was our first thought.”

  He runs a hand down his face. “We missed something. Goddammit.”

  I place my hand on his shoulder. “I’ll look into it.”

  He nods, then his eyes meet mine. He looks exhausted. Cole has never been someone to get a lot of sleep, but it’s catching up with him. Once he finally crashes, he’s going to be out for days.

  “I have to tell you something.” Cole sighs.

  “Okay.”

  “Becky knows that you helped me kill Kellan.”

  I shake my head. “I lied to her.”

  He rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, she knows that too.”

  “How?”

  He lets out a long breath. “I told her I killed him, and then when she asked if you were involved, I lied and said no. Well, then when I was talking to you on my way here, I had the Bluetooth on in the car.”

  “But why would that make her think …?” You could tell the cops know what we did, and they think she knows what we did. Fuck!

  “I’m sorry, Deke.” He sighs.

  I wave him off. “Don’t worry about it. Not your fault.” Just another thing for me to take care of.

  He runs a hand through his hair nervously. I frown. Cole doesn’t get nervous often. “What is it?” I ask. Whatever it is, I’ll make sure it goes away.

  “There’s something else I need to tell you …”

  The door to Austin’s room opens, and Jacob walks out. “She wants to see you,” he tells Cole.

  He nods.

  “It can wait,” I tell him. He looks like he wants to argue, but I give him my back and walk away. Austin needs to be his main priority right now.

  Entering the waiting area, I see Becky and Bennett sitting by one another, neither one of them speaking. He had run to do a few things but was back before Cole and Becky arrived. He’s looking down at his phone, and she is staring straight ahead at nothing.

  “Becky?” I get her attention, coming up to stand in front of her.

  She looks up at me through her eyelashes but says nothing.

  “May I speak to you for a moment?”

  She stays seated, and Bennett ignores us.

  Finally, she speaks. “I think I heard all I need to know.”

  I refrain from yanking her out of her seat and dragging her ass outside and into my SUV so we can talk. She knows. One of my secrets is out there, but I need to know she can keep her mouth shut about it. I can’t help Cole and Austin if she goes and gets my ass in trouble.

  The GWS aren’t stupid. We know what we are up against every time we fight. The adults in this town think we’re just stupid kids who do stupid shit, but they’re so wrong. Their heads would spin if they knew half the shit we’re capable of. And it would scare Becky to death if she knew just how much I could hurt her. I could ruin her, just like Cole wanted to destroy Austin. But our story would be different because I wouldn’t stop like Cole did. I have very few limits when you cross me.

  “Why are you still standing here, Deke?” she snaps, getting my attention.

  I smile down at her, and her eyes widen in fear. Then, without another word, I walk away. I take the elevator down to the first floor. As I walk out of the hospital, I pull out my cell and dial up a number to a friend of mine. I need to find Kellan’s car. My plan to crush my ex can wait.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  BENNETT

  I SIT BACK onto my couch and prop my right foot on my left knee. I take a long drag off the joint before passing it off. School and swim are officially over, so I can smoke as much as I want since I’m not going to be drug tested. Well, for a couple of weeks until I start college anyway.

  “You covered their tracks?” Shane asks, sitting in the recliner across from me. He looks like shit! I’m not even sure when he showered last. And he showed up with a bottle of vodka.

  I nod. “They were sloppy, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Kellan was going to die no matter what. Austin had stabbed him.”

  I’m surprised the bitch put up such a good fight. Her size compared to Kellan’s—I figured he’d win without any trouble. But who knows, the guy could have been wasted. He’d done nothing but drink for the past couple of months. He was always on edge, especially since finding out Celeste was pregnant with his baby. When she told him, he called me freaking the fuck out. Of course, I didn’t help by telling him he was a fucking idiot.

  “You shouldn’t have altered the tape. Nothing about us was on there. Not like we would have gotten into trouble. Cole and Austin would have been locked up behind Bruce.”

  I shake my head. “Austin has recordings.” Or she did at the time Deke and Cole killed Kellan. Now Cole has them. “If I hadn’t altered it, she would have had enough to take us all down.”

  Shane’s head falls back, and he looks up at the crystal chandelier that hangs from the ceiling. “This can’t be happening.”

  “There’s nothing we can do about it now. It’s done. He’s dead.”

  “Because he fucked up!” he snaps.

  “Again. Nothing we could have done with that.”

  He fists his hands. “How the fuck did it get this bad?”

  “Well, we all underestimated Austin, for one,” I offer. “You should have known she was gonna be more trouble than we bargained for when she pulled the fire alarm so you could go do your da
re. And two, who would have guessed Cole was gonna fall for her?”

  He snorts. “That’s what we wanted.”

  “No.” I shake my head. “If I remember that first night in the clubhouse correctly, when she showed up in his car, you said she won’t turn on someone she loves. We wanted her to fall for him, so she would take the fall. Cole was never supposed to be on her side. He was supposed to use her. We needed him too much to get caught for Bruce’s death. We needed him ’cause he knew too much about us.”

  “Whatever.” He stands and begins to pace in my parents’ family room. “I should have known he was gonna fall for her the moment he found out she had been abused.” He snorts. “Cole started feeling sorry for her … and then shit went downhill from there.”

  My brows pull together in confusion. “Austin was abused?” He nods. “Like sexually?” He doesn’t respond. No one has mentioned this. Was that why Cole kept her so close? Maybe he knew Kellan’s true intentions from the beginning. Cole can be ruthless, but no one knows how dark Kellan could go. How dark his thoughts went. “By who?” I dig.

  “Doesn’t matter. Now it’s all fucked.” He waves me off.

  I let it go because Austin’s past doesn’t concern me. “I disagree. The plan still worked. Bruce may not be dead, but he’s in jail.”

  “But Kellan is dead!”

  “Because he jumped the gun,” I remind him with a sigh. “I listened to the recording, and he was planning on doing something to Celeste that night. Maybe not Austin, but he went there with a plan. He paid the price for being so foolish, and I can’t feel sorry for him over that.” Shane throws me a glare before he continues wearing out the carpet in front of the fireplace. “He shouldn’t have fallen for her too. He got greedy.”

  He throws his head back laughing. “He liked her back when we were kids. That’s why he wanted her here in the first place. To piss off Celeste. Hell, he had been following Austin for the past few months on Facebook before she even moved to Collins. Ever since her mother called. She just never knew it ’cause it was under a different name.”

  We all have spam accounts except for Cole. It took Austin challenging him for him to even make one Facebook account. But I don’t think the fucker has ever used it.

  I roll my eyes. “He was out of control. And careless. Two things that in no way were gonna get him what he wanted. We saw the red flag when he gave Cole the dare to fuck Kaitlin. Then when she showed up at the party with Bryan, and he told Cole he still had to fuck her, even if that meant rape, Kellan was out of his fucking mind,” I remind him. At that point, Kellan was desperate to get Cole out of the picture. Even if that meant getting his ass throw in jail.

  “And you …” He stops pacing and points down at me. “You were supposed to get Cole away from her. We agreed to slow it down when Kellan attacked her the night of her birthday party. She was no use to us if he killed her too soon.”

  “I did,” I argue. “But by then, he was in too deep with her. I had to go behind his back to Deke. When he was on our side prom night, Cole backed off. Or pissed her off. Either way, she walked away from him.” The sorry bastard walked around school and practice like a lost little puppy without her. I actually felt sorry for him. He had finally found a woman he could tolerate while dressed, and we took her from him. “I’m not sure how he and Deke got involved the night Kellan shot her.” Well, that’s not true. After listening to the recording, I know she called him. But I’ll keep that to myself. The less Shane knows, the better.

  “At least Cole won’t go to the police. Not now.”

  “He wasn’t ever going to.” Cole isn’t that kind of guy. He takes care of shit himself. “You are panicking over nothing. He just wanted revenge on Bruce for raping his mother. Austin was just a bonus.”

  “So now what?” he asks.

  I sit up. “We drop this. The group is done. School’s over. They will move to Texas as soon as Austin is well enough. Cole will want her long gone from here. We all take our money that we collected from JJ’s Properties and never look back. They’ll never know what we had planned.”

  He nods his head quickly before running a hand through his hair nervously. “If that’s what you think we should do.”

  “It’s exactly what we should do.” I stand. “Go home, Shane. And let it go.”

  I walk out of the family room and down the long hallway to the back of my parents’ house and enter my bedroom, not even bothering to see him out. He knows his way around the house. I remove my shirt and undo my jeans. I kick them off and remove my boxers before I crawl into my bed. It’s late, almost two a.m., but my window to the right allows light from the outside to filter in, giving the room a soft glow.

  I wrap my arm around the naked body asleep in my bed. She snuck in about an hour ago. I should let her sleep. She’s had a long day, but no man could deny themselves with her naked in their bed.

  I kiss her bare shoulder while my left hand snakes around her side to her stomach. I slide it down between her thighs and find that sweet spot I’m addicted to. “Wake up, baby,” I whisper into her ear.

  She moans and shifts, rolling to her back. I rub her clit, and her legs fall open for me. “Bennett.” She sighs.

  “Yeah, baby. Wake up for me.”

  I crawl to where I’m between her legs, and I slide my arms underneath her ass and prop it up in the air to get her pussy closer to my mouth.

  “Please,” she begs. Her hips buck as her hands run down over her flat stomach, letting me know exactly what she wants.

  I lower my face to her pussy and lick my lips before licking her smooth cunt. She begins to pant. My arms stretch up and over to grab her large tits. Fuck, she is incredible. I’ve always had a crush on her, and I’ve dreamed about fucking her for years. I can’t count how many times I’ve jacked off thinking about her. Finally, my dream came true last year, and I wasn’t disappointed.

  She cries out as my tongue fucks her pussy while my hands massage her breasts. Her legs tighten around my head, locking it in place.

  Seconds later, she comes all over my tongue with my name on her lips. I hover above her, placing my hands on either side of her head. She opens her heavy eyes and looks up at me.

  I smile down at the blue-eyed blonde. I wonder what Deke would think if he knew I was fucking her. Would he kill me? Most definitely. He’d torture me first, though—possibly cut off my fucking dick and make me eat it—but it would be worth it because I’m in love with her. And I think she loves me, too.

  She wraps her still shaking legs around my hips and pulls me into her. “I want you.”

  I lean down and run my tongue along her parted lips, and she moans into my mouth when she tastes herself on me. “Fuck me, Ben.”

  “I’m going to, baby.” Then I kiss her.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  COLE

  “HERE.” I GRAB Austin’s hand and help her out of my car.

  She gives a little laugh. “Cole, I know how to walk.”

  “I just wanna help you,” I offer, shutting the passenger door. The doctor finally discharged her after two weeks in the hospital, but he told her to take it easy. However, her definition of easy is not the same as mine.

  When I turn around, she’s facing me with a big smile on her face. Fuck, I never thought I’d see that again. “Thanks, but you don’t have to treat me like glass.”

  My face falls at the mention of glass. That was what her journal said about how Martin treated her. And although I no longer want to break her, I also don’t want to treat her like her piece of shit ex did. I’m nothing like him. He tried to feed her full of bullshit and make her think he was there for her. If he were any kind of a man, he wouldn’t have tried to feed her drugs and forget the sick bastard she had to live with. Instead, he would have killed that motherfucker.

  “Everything okay?” she asks with worry, noticing my change of mood.

  I nod. “Fine. Come on, let’s get you inside.” Taking her hand in mine, I help her to the door of the cl
ubhouse. Once inside, I drop her bag on the table in the corner while she takes a seat on the couch.

  And it reminds me of the last time she was here—prom. The night before I allowed her to walk out on me.

  I turn the lock, and then I’m spun around. My back hits the door, and I look down into a set of very heavy, very gorgeous green eyes. “Are you okay?” she asks.

  “Of course,” I lie, running the back of my scarred knuckles down her soft cheek.

  “You don’t seem like it. You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder ever since the guys pulled you to the side at prom tonight.”

  That’s because they want me to give you up. And although I know they’re right, I’m not sure I can do it. I’m gonna have to force you to leave. And it’s gonna kill me ’cause I’ve fallen in love with you.

  That’s the first time I’ve allowed myself to think that, and I hope she’s too drunk to notice the way my knees shake as I finally admit it to myself.

  “Was tonight as bad as you thought it was gonna be?” she questions at my silence, and I frown at her words. She giggles, assuring me that she’s so drunk her thoughts are all over the place. “You don’t have to lie. I know you didn’t want to go tonight.” She flattens her hands on my chest and runs them down my tux.

  I want her nails digging into my skin. Her breath on my neck. I want to bury my face between her legs and eat her all fucking night. “That’s not true …”

  “And you hated that I wanted to go to the after parties.” She bites her painted red lip, and my cock begins to harden. I’ve been looking forward to this part of the night since this morning.

  I straighten my back, pushing my hand into her dark hair. I know she wore it down just for me. I spin us around, pinning her back to the door now. I push my body into hers, caging her in.

  Her heavy eyes close, and her lips part. A soft moan escapes them when she leans the back of her head against the door as well, exposing her neck to me. I lower my head and run my lips across her jawline.

  She’s right.

  I didn’t want to go to those lame ass parties. I wanted her here. Alone. But I’ll never admit that. Never let her know that all she had to do was bat her fucking eyelashes and I’d give her what she wanted. That I’m so weak for her, I’d cave that easily.