by Morse, Jody
I gulped. If I chose a truth, they may ask me questions that could make them realize that I was a werewolf. But if I chose a dare, there was a chance they would dare me to do something that was completely crazy. I wasn’t sure which to choose.
After a few moments of hesitation, I decided to go with the seemingly safer of the two options. “Truth.”
Amanda met my gaze evenly. “Are you really over Gage after what happened tonight?”
“Yes,” I replied firmly.
A smile tugged at her lips. “Very good. Now, it’s your turn to give someone a truth or dare.”
I turned to the other girls. “Jenny, do you want a truth or a dare?”
“I’ll take a truth,” she replied, seeming very sure of her answer. “The last time I accepted a dare, I ended up breaking more than one nail.”
“I still don’t see how,” Kristina said, shaking her head. “All you had to do was prank call everyone in our class.”
Jenny narrowed her eyes. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to dial all those numbers in one night?” She shook her head frustratedly. “I’m never accepting a dare again.” She glanced over at me. “So, what’s my question, Skye?”
I hesitated for a few moments. I had no clue what to ask her. It took me a few moments, but I finally decided on something that I’d been starting to wonder recently. “Now that you’re starting to get to know them better, who do you like better: Chance or Hunter?”
“That’s a good question,” Jenny murmured. “I sort of like Hunter more sometimes, mostly because he’s slightly more mature. Then, on the other hand, I like Chance better, because he’s more fun.” With a sigh, she met my eyes. “Does it make me sound like a horrible person if I actually like both of them?”
Amanda snorted, tossing a pillow at her. “No, but it makes you sound like a total slut.”
I ignored her comment. “I don’t think it makes you a horrible person.”
“Maybe one of them just needs to prove he’s the better fit for you,” Kristina agreed. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Amanda rolled her eyes at us. “If you all seriously think that, you have issues. Of course it’s wrong for her to like both of them, especially considering they’re twins. They look alike and, if you ask me, they act way too much alike. They’re like Tweedledee and Tweedledum.”
I had no idea who these Tweedle people were, but I knew exactly what she meant. The twins did act too much alike sometimes. I sort of wished they didn’t.
“The question is, which one’s Tweedledee and which one’s Tweedledum?” Kristina joked with a laugh.
“For starters, neither of them is dumb,” Jenny said, putting her hands on her hips defensively. “And I really don’t appreciate you guys comparing one of my future boyfriends to Alice in Wonderland characters.”
“I’m only kidding,” Amanda replied, rolling her eyes again. “You seriously need to lighten up, or neither of them is going to be your future boyfriend. They could have their pick of any girl from school. Why would they choose the one who gets offended so easily?”
Jenny shot a glare in Amanda’s direction, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she turned to Kristina. “Truth or dare?”
Kristina didn’t answer her, though. With her eyes fixated on the walls, she whispered, “Did you guys hear that?”
“Did we hear what?” I asked, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I heard what she was talking about. There was a loud scratching sound coming from somewhere inside my bedroom. I stood up, my supersonic werewolf hearing kicking into full gear, and moved closer to where the sound was coming from.
As I stood in front of my closet door, I glanced back at the other girls. They all heard the noise by now, too—and they nodded, urging me to open it.
My heart thumping against my chest, I pulled the closet door open and found Hunter and Chance staring back at me, their fingers curved as though they were claws, ready to scratch up the door again.
“Damnit,” Hunter said.
“You weren’t supposed to open the door, Skye,” Chance replied.
I gaped at them. “What are you doing inside my closet?”
They just stared back at me blankly. All traces of a smile on their lips quickly disappeared.
“Why aren’t you guys out with the rest of the pa—” I caught myself mid-sentence. “With the rest of our cousins?” I asked, correcting myself.
Hunter shrugged. “We didn’t feel like going with them. Ashton was being annoying.”
“Yeah, he’s been acting like an ass. Ever since he joined the poetry club, it’s like he thinks he’s a God, or something,” Chance agreed. “We figured we would stay here and try to get a sneak peek of your pajama party.” He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.
“That was the plan,” Hunter agreed with a nod. “But then someone had this bright idea that we should try to scare everyone.” He glared at his twin.
“Don’t blame it on me! You went along with it, too,” Chance shot back at him.
“Wait, wait, wait. You guys were trying to spy on us?!” Amanda interrupted, looking beyond angry.
“Way slow reaction,” Chance said.
Hunter shrugged. “Don’t worry too much. We weren’t trying to spy on you.”
She frowned. “And why not?”
“You’re not really our type,” Chance explained, stepping out of the closet. “We prefer blondes.” He glanced over at Jenny with a smile. “I’ll be your future boyfriend.”
Hunter tugged at his arm. “I thought we agreed that we weren’t going to say anything to her,” he told him quietly.
Chance shrugged. “I just thought she should know. After all, we know how she feels about us now. I’m the fun one.” He grinned proudly.
“But I’m the more mature one,” Hunter pointed out, also grinning.
Deciding not to bring up Chance’s infatuation with Jade, even though I wanted to, I rolled my eyes at them. “You guys need to get out of my room.”
“But we were thinking…” Chance began.
“And we would like to get in on this game of Truth or Dare that you’re playing,” Hunter said, finishing his sentence. “It seems real interesting.”
“And we love interesting things,” his twin agreed.
“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I started to say, recalling that Amanda had mentioned that Truth or Dare was a game that girls typically played together, not with boys. But, to my surprise, Amanda said, “Actually, this is a great idea.”
I raised my eyebrows at her. “It is?” I questioned.
“Yeah, well, no offense, Skye, but you’re sort of boring. I know you’re going to just keep choosing truths, because it’s safer than the alternative,” Amanda explained, running a hand over her curly brown hair. “But this could be really fun with the guys here.”
“Awesome,” Chance said, taking a seat in the circle that we’d created on the sleeping bags on the floor.
“Yeah, who gets to go first?” Hunter asked, as he sat down next to his brother.
“We could draw sticks to find out,” Chance said, glancing over at him.
“Sticks?” Amanda raised her eyebrows. “You mean straws?”
“Yeah, that’s what they mean,” I lied, as I closed my closet door and sat down at the circle again. “That’s what we call them back in Alaska.” I waited for the boys to object to my lie, but, luckily, they didn’t.
“Oh. Interesting.” Amanda paused for a moment before saying, “There’s no need to draw straws. I’m going to choose Chance to go first.”
“I thought it was my turn to go next,” Kristina protested.
Amanda shot her a glare. “You can go later. It’s Chance’s turn to go now.”
Chance turned to Hunter and sneered. “See, just because you’re the oldest doesn’t mean you get to go first all the time.”
I knew that Chance was in his glory. This was probably the first time he’d ever gotten chosen to do something first, since Hunter b
eing the slightly older twin usually was taken into consideration when it came to choosing one of them to do something first with the rest of the pack.
“Do you want a truth or a dare?”
“Dare. Definitely dare,” Chance said, nodding matter-of-factly.
Amanda stared him in the eyes. “I dare you to kiss Jenny.”
I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, but from his spot on the floor next to Chance, Hunter let out a low, guttural growl.
Kristina raised her eyebrows at him. “Did you just growl?!”
Oh, no.
Chapter 30
“Yeah, it sounded a lot like a growl to me,” Amanda agreed, eyeing Hunter curiously. “Why are you growling over there? Are you jealous that I didn’t dare you to kiss Jenny?”
“What? No. No, not at all,” Hunter replied. “I didn’t growl. I was just clearing my throat. I have a bit of a cold.” He coughed, but it was obviously forced. “See? I’m sick.”
Amanda’s lips twisted, as she seemed to consider whether or not he was telling the truth. “Hmm.” She turned back to Chance and asked, “So, are you going to give her a kiss?”
“Hell, yeah!” Chance scooted across the carpeted floor so that he was inches away from Jenny’s face. She closed her eyes and puckered up. Chance gave her a tiny peck on the lips.
“Okay, that was lame,” Amanda commented. “I mean a real kiss.”
“But…I don’t like kissing in front of other people,” Chance protested. “It gives me anxiety.”
Amanda snorted. “Okay, then. The rest of us will close our eyes. Just let us know when you’re done.”
“You can’t just close your eyes. Someone could peek. We’ll have to find some place more private.” He stood, offering his hand to Jenny.
She let him pull her up and lead her out of the room.
“Can you get us some more popcorn on your way back?” Amanda called to them after they’d slipped out into the hallway.
“I’ll get it,” Hunter said, grabbing the empty bowl and heading out of the room.
“Well, since everyone else left, I’m going to take a bathroom break. Is there more than one, Skye? In case this one is, um, occupied.” Kristina asked me as she rose to her feet.
“Yes, downstairs next to the kitchen. Just ask Hunter if you can’t find it.”
After she left the room, Amanda got up, poked her head into the hallway and glanced in both directions. Then, she shut the door.
“I think I might be a better match maker than I thought,” she told me, chuckling as she sat back down. “I’m glad we did this tonight. Though, I wish you clued me in about Gage. The only reason I was so judgmental of the two of you together is because I know what he’s like. Don’t tell the other girls this, but Vinny was sort of controlling, too.”
“He was?” I asked with raised brows. It shouldn’t have surprised me; Vinny would have been a werewolf if he’d lived.
“Oh, yeah. No one would believe me anyway, since he seemed like the perfect boyfriend.” Amanda shook her head, staring around my bedroom. “When things were good, they were perfect...but when things were bad, they were horrible. He used to scare me sometimes.”
“What made you stay with him then?” I questioned. It was hard to imagine Amanda putting up with any guy’s crap.
“I don’t know. I used to think it was because of those rare times when things were perfect. But now that I think back on it, I think it was because of how much people seemed to envy me,” she admitted. “You know…all the girls wanted Vinny. He was gorgeous. And his family had money, and he just seemed perfect until you got to know him. So many girls were jealous of our relationship, and I think that I loved being the one everyone was envious of.”
“Do you know who was jealous of your relationship?” I questioned, wondering if that could somehow lead me to who had killed him.
Amanda laughed. “Everyone. I don’t think there was a girl in school who wasn’t. Though Charlotte Turner always seemed to be especially jealous of us.”
I gaped at her. “Charlotte?”
She nodded. “Yeah, funny, isn’t it? She was with Johnny, who’s his cousin, but she still seemed to have a thing for Vinny.”
I was about to ask her more questions about Charlotte and Vinny when the door swung open. Chance and Jenny stumbled back into the room. I looked at her flushed face. There was a slightly star-struck look in her eyes—one that I’d never seen her get before.
“It’s about time you two finished. That was, like, the longest kiss ever.”
Then Kristina came back into the room and said, “I didn’t know you had a dog, Skye.”
Chance looked at me with wide eyes. I knew that we were thinking the same thing: Hunter was jealous that Chance had kissed Jenny, and he’d lost control of his inner wolf.
“Yes, and I just remembered I forgot to feed him. I’ll be right back,” Chance announced.
Once Chance left the room, Amanda’s cell phone chimed loudly. She picked it up and groaned. “Ugh, seriously?” she asked after she read the text message on the cell phone screen.
“What is it?” I asked.
Amanda shrugged. “Some creep keeps sending me all these text messages. He says I should stop ignoring his texts, or he’ll show up. As if he really knows where I am right now.” She snorted. “I hate immature high school boys. They really need to grow up.”
“Maybe it’s Ashton,” Kristina joked. “Maybe he’s interested in you after that poem you read tonight, after all.”
“No, this guy has been texting me way before I even met Ashton,” Amanda replied. “It’s probably just some loser who wants me to send him naked pictures he can get off to.” She laughed and then set the phone down on the floor next to her.
The twins stepped back into the room, an overflowing popcorn bowl in tow. Chance shot me a toothy grin, and I knew that Hunter must have recovered from his bout of jealousy.
“So, who gets to be dared or truthed next?” Chance asked.
“It’s Hunter’s turn,” Amanda said. “Do you want a Truth or a Dare?”
“Let’s think about this for a moment.” Hunter tapped his chin dramatically. “I’ll take a dare.”
“Perfect.” Amanda grinned. “Okay, Hunter. I dare you to kiss Jenny.”
Next to me, Kristina’s lips spread into a wide smile. “You are bad, Amanda.”
Amanda grinned, seeming proud of herself.
When I glanced over at Kristina confusedly, she whispered, “She’s trying to help Jenny make up her mind about who she likes best.”
“Oh,” I replied, just as Hunter pressed his lips against Jenny’s. I glanced away from them, feeling a little uncomfortable about having to watch them kiss.
This time, it was Chance’s turn to release a low growl. When my friends stared at him with raised eyebrows, he explained, “Relax. I’m just getting Hunter’s cold. We share everything. Duh.”
Amanda smiled knowingly. “If you say so.” A moment later, when Jenny and Hunter broke their kiss, Amanda said, “Okay, so now it’s your turn, Jenny.”
“I’m not doing anymore kissing tonight. As nice as it’s been,” she replied, shooting Chance and Hunter both flirty looks. “I’m going to go with truth.”
“Who’s a better kisser: Chance or Hunter?” Amanda questioned.
Jenny hesitated for a few moments. “It’s a really tough call. There’s something really sexy about Chance not wanting to kiss in front of everyone else, but at the same time, I like that Hunter was more confident about it. But Chance’s kiss lasted slightly longer.” She sighed. “I don’t know. I liked kissing both of them. I can’t choose.”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Well, those dares were pointless, then. This was supposed to help you make a decision between the two.”
Jenny sighed. “No, unfortunately, I still can’t decide which one I like better.”
Chance raised his hand. “Is it okay if we ask the next question?”
Amanda shrugged. “Sure, why not?”<
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“Amanda,” Hunter said. “Truth or dare?”
“Well, let’s see. I hate sharing my secrets, and I’m always up for a challenge.” She grinned. “Dare.”
“Awesome!” Chance replied. “Okay, give us a second.” He and Hunter stood up and went out of the room for a few moments, whispering in the hallway.
When they finally came back in, Hunter was the one to speak again. “We dare you to strip out of your clothes and run through the forest.”
“Consider it done,” Amanda replied, rising to her feet and heading down the hallway. She’d already pulled her shirt off and tossed it onto the stairs.
I noticed that Kristina seemed a bit annoyed. She huffed, picking Amanda’s shirt up from the floor and followed after her. The rest of us followed, too. I couldn’t help but feel sort of surprised that she was actually going to follow through with the twins’ stupid dare, which was obviously meant to just give them a chance to see her naked.
Once we were outside, Amanda took the rest of her clothes off and, glancing over her shoulder at us with a laugh, darted across the backyard and slipped into the woods.
“I can’t believe she’s actually doing this,” Kristina muttered under her breath.
“Me, either,” I replied.
“I can,” Jenny replied. “Amanda is a slut like that. She probably just wanted the twins to see her naked.”
Surprisingly, the two of them didn’t seem too interested in the fact that Amanda was naked, though. They were both stealing glances at Jenny, who was fully clothed. Clearly, they really liked her. I just hoped that it wouldn’t put a wedge between the two of them for good once she decided which one she liked better.