DARE SERIES COLLECTION

by Tessier, Shantel

  “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 ’cause 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 wanna 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.”

  Present

  “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 gonna 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 gonna 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 only 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 ’cause 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!

  She’ll pay. No matter what I have to do or who I have to fuck, I’ll get my revenge. I always do.

  I enter my room, slam my door, and run over to my desk. Yanking open the drawer, I pull out a pair of scissors and crawl onto my bed. I scream as I slice the sharp edges through her hurtful words. Through her innocence. I fucking stab it over and over, imagining it’s her face.

  She will pay! Even if I have to have someone else do it for me.

  DEKE

  “So what are you gonna do?” Cole asks as we sit at the kitchen table.

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

  I read over the text Demi sent me earlier this morning for the hundredth time. The more time that has gone by, the more pissed I’ve gotten. “I’m not sure,” I say honestly. I wasn’t able to concentrate in my classes today or during swim practice. My mind was completely consumed with everything Demi. And it’s literally gotten me nowhere. I’m like a dog chasing my own tail.

  “What do you wanna do?”

  “Strangle her,” I grind out. “She fucking played me.” I sit back in my seat. But how did she do it?

  “Have you heard from Becky?”

  “I did earlier.” She stopped calling when she realized I wasn’t gonna pick up.

  “And what does she have to say about it?”

  I glare at him. “Since when did you become a nosy little bitch?”

  He chuckles. The bastard has been in a good mood today for some reason. And I know it’s not because he got laid last night. They do that every night, and he’s still always a moody fucker. “Just wondering what you’re gonna do to pay Demi back. I could use some excitement.”

  “I’ve been thinking the same thing. I can’t kill the bitch, and I can’t physically torture her.” I mean, I could, but then what? I’d have to get rid of the body somewhere. And I’d look suspicious. Too many people know I’ve slept with her now. I doubt Becky would mind if I offed her sister, though. Hell, she’d probably help me.

  “You could make her fall in love with you,” Cole states.

  I throw my head back, laughing at that. “Funny.”

  He levels me with that blank stare he does so well.

  “You’ve got to be joking?” I ask when he says nothing.

  “Why not?” He leans forward, placing his forearms on the table. “Isn’t that the best kind of payback? Make her fall in love with you and then leave her for Becky?”

  My brows pull together. “You make it sound like you have experience in this department? We both know you’ve only ever loved one girl.” Austin. And he’s marrying her.

  He looks away from me, and his jaw clenches as though he’s thinking of a similar situation. When he looks back at me, that blank stare is back in place. “Austin said it the other night. A jealous woman is irritational.”

  “How in the fuck would I get Demi to fall in love with me? She hates me.” And why would I want her to love me? The girl is fucking crazy.

  He snorts. “Obviously not. She just gave you her virginity.”

  My teeth grind. “It was clearly to piss off Becky. Not for her benefit.” Fucking bitch.

  “She’s young. Naïve. A rich little girl who has been sheltered all her life.” He smirks. “You’re Deke Biggs.”

  “You say that like it means something.” I growl.

  He arches a brow. “Doesn’t it?”

  I let out a long breath and lean back in my seat. “There’s only one flaw in you plan. It’ll never work because I will never get back with Becky.”

  We hear the front door open seconds later. “Cole?” Austin shouts his name.

  We both jump up at the same time as she enters, all but running in. “What’s wrong?” he asks her, already rounding the table.

  Breathing heavily, she slams down a black and white notebook on the table. He looks at it and then at her. “Did you read this?” she demands, pointing at it.

  “Yes,” he answers, crossing his arms over his chest, and I know this isn’t gonna be good.

  She picks it back up, waving it in his face. “All of it?”

  “No, just a few pages …”

  She storms over to our junk drawer and yanks it open. I frown when she pulls out a lighter. Is she gonna smoke? Austin doesn’t smoke cigarettes. But instead of pulling a pack out, she walks over to the sink and lights the corner of the book on fire.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Cole demands.

  “What I should have done a long time ago,” she answers, still holding the lighter to it even though it’s already up in flames.

  “What the fuck, Austin?” He snatches it from her hands and turns on the faucet, putting it out.

  “I told her to burn it.” She reaches for it, but he holds her back with his other arm. “And she didn’t. And she lied to me. Told me she didn’t read it. Fucking bitch.” She’s shouting, and her fists shake. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Austin this pissed. And we’ve put her through some very sketchy situations in the past.

  “Who?” I ask, confused by what the hell is in that notebook and why she wants to burn it.

  She looks at me as if she’s just realized I’m also in the room. “Becky.”

  I frown. “What’s in it?”

  She opens her mouth, but her phone begins to ring. She pulls it out of her pocket, looks at it, and then silences it. “Fuck!” she shouts.

  Cole turns off the water and drops the now soaked notebook into the sink. He places his hands on her shoulders and looks down at her with concern in his eyes. “Sweetheart, what’s going on?” he asks softly as though he’s talking to a child.

  She takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “I went to go see Demi, to tell her that she could talk to me, and she had my journal. When I was in the hospital, I asked Becky to burn it. I didn’t want you finding it,” she tells him. “But she kept it. She read it. She told me that you read it.” She pokes him in the chest. “And neither one of you ever told me. Then she tried to tell me that I’m with you for money.” She pushes Cole away with disgust. “Like I give a fuck about that shit.” She starts pacing the kitchen. “Then she began to tell me that the only reason I fell in love with you was pretty much because I was broken and enjoyed abuse.”

  Oh, shit. I can’t believe Becky would say that to her.

  He runs a hand through his hair nervously. “Austin—”

  “I slapped her,” she interrupts Cole.

  My eyes widen. “What?”

  She looks back at me. “And I tol
d her that she is not welcome here.”

  “Austin ...”

  She ignores Cole and walks over to me. Her green eyes have tears in them, but I can’t tell if they’re from sadness or anger. She licks her lips and the look on her pretty face makes me think she’s about to break down and sob. “I’m sorry, Deke, but I cannot forgive this. I will never tell you who you can and can’t date, but she’s not allowed back in my house.”

  “Sweetheart?” Cole steps up behind her.

  She spins around and looks up at him. He opens his mouth to speak, but whatever he sees written on her face makes him pause. He reaches out to cup her face, and she shoves him away. “How could you?” she asks, and her voice breaks.

  “I—”

  “No,” she interrupts him. “That was private. You had no right.” Then she turns and storms back out of the kitchen just as fast as she entered, but I don’t miss the tears running down her face.

  “What the hell is in that damn thing?” I ask.

  Cole runs his hand down his face, releasing a sigh. “Things her stepdad did to her. And everything we did to her. From the point she saw us on New Year’s night committing murder in the cemetery up until the night before Kellan shot her.”

  Fuck! No wonder she’s mad. “You told her you only read a few pages.” Had he been lying?

  “I read enough,” he says through gritted teeth, knowing none of it was pretty. “I gotta go talk to her.”

  “Good luck,” I offer, thinking he may be the thing she sets on fire.

  He slaps me on the back as he exits. “Austin will forgive me. You’re the one who needs luck. Two women equally hate you at the moment.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  DEMI

  SETH BRINGS HIS car to a stop in front of my mother’s house. “You okay?” he asks.

  I nod my heavy head. “Yep.”

  He chuckles. “Need me to carry you upstairs and put you to bed?”

  I snort. “I didn’t drink that much.”

  “I know, but you also haven’t eaten anything.”

  I open the door and look over at him. “I’m fine.”