I Dare You (Dare, #1) — Chapter no 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

COLE

I square my shoulders as the door opens, and I’m not surprised to see Deke opening it. His SUV is outside, after all. Yesterday while in fifth period, I read Austin’s text out loud to him and Becky. She immediately told me to reply that they would come too. Deke wasn’t happy, but he didn’t argue.

I go to enter, but he steps outside, making me take a step back. “You

better have a plan to fix this shit.”

“Deke …”

“This is getting in my way now, Cole. And if you don’t do something, I’m going to kill Kellan myself.” Then he spins around and walks inside, slamming the door shut behind him.

I shove it open and storm inside. But I come to a stop when I enter the kitchen. Deke and Becky aren’t present, but Austin stands over at the counter. Her back facing me. Her hair is down in big curls, and she has a black dress on that stops mid-thigh. It makes me instantly hard.

I walk over to her, and she stiffens when I pull her hair off her shoulder. I lean down, kissing her delicate neck. “Hello, sweetheart,” I say softly.

I’ve got to kiss ass! There’s no way around it.

She turns around in my arms and looks up at me. She’s not smiling, but she doesn’t look like she wants to tear my head off. So things are getting better already. Then she leans up and gently kisses my lips. I can’t stop myself; I slide my hands in her soft hair and demand more from her. And she gives it. Her arms wrap around my neck, and her mouth opens for me. I press her back into the counter and moan into her mouth. Fuck Kellan! He isn’t gonna fuck up my plans with Austin. She is the one I want to destroy.

But she’s already destroyed.

She pulls away and runs her hands down my button up. She licks her wet lips and then turns back around, giving me her back.

We all sit at the table, an awkward silence falling between everyone. It reminds me of dinner with her dad last month. And just like then, I haven’t

eaten much. I’ve just sat here and stared at her, ignoring all the glares Deke has thrown me.

“Do you guys have plans afterward?” Austin looks at Becky.

“No.” Her answer is clipped.

Deke tightens his hold on his fork like he plans to stab me with it. “I thought you wanted to go see that movie—”

“Not anymore,” she interrupts him.

He slams his fork onto the table. Deke never has had much patience.

“Why am I being punished for something Cole is doing?” he demands. “I’m

not fucking Kaitlin.”

My teeth clench. Here we go.

“Because that could very easily be you,” she snaps back. “You guys play this stupid game as if your life depends on it. And it’s ridiculous.”

He opens his mouth, but Austin stands from the table. The room falls silent when she looks at me. “I spoke with Kellan yesterday.”

Deke jumps to his feet. “About what?” he demands.

She looks toward him. “He helped remind me what kind of game this is.

And although I don’t agree with it either, I’m not a quitter.”

“What did he say to you?” I snap. I saw him at practice yesterday afternoon and not once did he tell me he spoke to her. He actually avoided me like he has all week.

“He said that he would retract the dare if I pulled out.”

Deke frowns, and my jaw tightens. “That isn’t allowed. He lied to you,” I growl.

She nods to me. “I figured. That’s why I don’t plan on pulling out.”

“So what are you gonna do?” Becky asks, looking up at her.

She tilts her head to the side. “Have you guys thought about Kellan?”

She ignores answering Becky’s question. “Like really thought about him? ’Cause I have this week. And after our talk yesterday, things started to make

sense.”

“Like what?” Deke asks.

“First—who is Kaitlin to Bryan?”

I frown, not understanding where she’s going with this.

“She is his ex,” Becky answers. “They had a bad breakup last year. But no one really knows why.”

She brings her hand up to tap her finger on her chin in thought. “Don’t you find it odd that just weeks ago, Kaitlin came up to you and said that I

was a dare? That Bryan had told her Cole had a month to play with me.

Then she literally becomes his dare?” She looks at me. Deke frowns confused. But I get what she’s saying. “It could be a coincidence, but then she says the rumor came from Bryan. Who I now know is her ex. And he’s also a guy who you already got in a fight with over me once before then.

Where would Bryan hear that from? It came to me. Last Sunday after you drew your dare and Deke was questioning him about it, Kellan’s words were why not? We all know he’s just playing with Austin.” Deke shakes his head with disgust. “And you guys both jumped Bryan and his best friend Christopher at the beach party after he dared his friend to fuck me. Where

Kellan wasn’t at.”

“I don’t get it,” Becky says.

She looks at Becky. “Kellan is trying to fuck them at their own game.”

Then her eyes meet mine. “I can’t figure out where Deke fits in, but he’s trying to set you both up. He wanted you guys in trouble for laying your hands on Chris and Bryan, but they didn’t rat you guys out ’cause they’re

more afraid of you than him.”

“Son of a bitch.” Deke hisses.

“How long ago did you sleep with her?” She looks at me.

“Freshman year.”

“See. And now he’s daring Cole to fuck Bryan’s ex.” She shakes her head. “He’s playing very dirty.”

She walks out of the formal dining room, and my eyes fall to my plate.

She’s right.

What are you gonna do about it, Cole?

There’s nothing I can do. My hands are tied. Literally.

She reenters with what looks like cupcakes on a tray. She sets them in the center of the table and turns to face me. “You told me to trust you. And I’m going to give you one chance, Cole.” Her green eyes hold my stare without an ounce of fear. “And don’t you dare try to fuck me over.” With that, she pulls her seat back and sits down. Placing the cupcakes in the center of the

table, she takes one.

She’s trusting me.

A part of me hates to fail her. Like everyone else in her life. The other part reminds me this is what I’ve wanted. But I’ve learned a lot about Austin Lowes since I met her. Whatever you dish out, she can throw back in

your face ten times over. She is karma wrapped in a gorgeous tan and an innocent smile.

Deke and I slowly sit back in our seats.

“What time was that movie, babe?” Becky asks him.

“Eight thirty,” he answers her but smiles at me. They both reach in and devour the cupcakes, and I watch Austin smile as she talks to Becky like nothing ever fucking happened. It makes me wanna know what else Kellan said to her. She’s obviously choosing my side, but why? Did he threaten her? Blackmail her? Does she think I’m the easier one of the two? I’m gonna find out.

“Yeah, I’d love to go.” Her voice gets my attention.

“Go where?” I ask.

Becky answers. “To your guys’ swim meet next weekend. It’s only an hour away.”

“If it’s okay, we could bring Lilly,” Austin adds. “I know she would love to watch you.”

Deke smiles through his cupcake, and I can see the chocolate in his teeth.

I refrain from throwing one at his face.

She’s getting to you.

Yes. She is. And I’m not sure what to do about that anymore.

_________________________________

I close the door after telling Deke and Becky goodbye to find Austin in the kitchen washing dishes. I lean back against the wall, watching her rinse them off before placing them in the dishwasher. “You know your father pays people to do that, right?”

“When living with my mom, we didn’t pay anyone. If something needed to be done, I did it.”

“Stop,” I say, coming up behind her. I spin her around and grip her hip with my right hand. My left hand pushes her hair from her face. “What did Kellan say to you to make you change your mind? Did he blackmail you?”

She laughs at that. “No, but he is a lot like you in other ways.”

“How?” I ask, my hand pausing in her hair.

“He pinned me against the lockers.”

“He what?” I bark.

“Told me to end it with you and drop out of the group before you make

an even bigger joke out of me.”

“Austin …”

“If you’ve learned anything about me, it’s that I don’t like being cornered. I don’t like being told what I can and can’t do.”

I smile softly down at her. Glad to see that fight back in her gorgeous green eyes. “Yeah.”

“He gave me until tomorrow to make my decision.”

My teeth clench at that. “And what if you don’t choose what he wants?’ She shrugs. “He didn’t say. But I remember hearing you say that you like to perform.” My brows rise. “So …” She wraps her arms around my neck.

“We are going to give them all a show, baby.”

I laugh at the way she calls me baby. It’s the first time she’s ever said it, and I hate how it makes chills run up my spine. “What do you have in mind?”

She reaches up and gently kisses my lips. “Right now, I want you to take me upstairs and rip this dress off my body. And fuck me like they’re watching.”

AUSTIN

Sunday evening, we pull up to the barn at nine o’clock. We were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. We spent all day in my bed, then took our time getting ready. Cole walks around and opens the passenger door for me.

I smile up at him, and he has a smirk on his face.

He takes my hand in his and opens the barn door for me to enter. We come in, and all chatter comes to a stop. Deke sits on the couch texting on his phone. Shane and Bennett lean up against the table to the right, and Kellan stands facing them.

“Hello, everyone.” Cole says cheerfully.

I watch Kellan’s brown eyes narrow on him.

“Finally.” Deke jumps up. “Let’s get this over with. We shouldn’t even be meeting tonight. We don’t have a dare to do.”

“That’s because Cole is taking his sweet ass time fucking Kaitlin,”

Kellan says, looking at me. “Not sure why. She’s a guaranteed lay.”

I tighten my hold on Cole’s hand. He ignores Kellan.

“I called the meeting,” Bennett says and turns around to dig into a black drawstring backpack. Identical to the one that lies under my bed. He opens

it up and pulls out five white envelopes. “Here you guys go.” He hands one to Shane and Kellan. Then he walks over and hands Cole two. He tosses Deke the last one, and he catches it midair.

“What is that?” I ask.

Cole hands me one of them. I take it and feel the thickness.

“This …” Deke holds his up and smiles at me. “Is payday.”

“Payday?” I ask confused. “I don’t—”

“That laptop you stole from Jerrold’s,” Bennett interrupts me, “had several accounts on it. I’m draining them one at a time into an account I set up. This is the smallest one. And this is your cut. We each got ten thousand.”

“What?” My mouth falls open in a gasp. I shove my envelope into Cole’s chest and let go of it. It falls to his feet. “I can’t take that.”

Kellan snorts. “Surprise, surprise. The princess doesn’t want it.”

“That’s blood money,” I snap.

“It’s whatever you wanna call it.”

“It’s illegal,” I argue with him.

Cole reaches down and picks up my envelope.

“What you did to get laptop was illegal too. Or did you forget that?”

Kellan arches a brow in challenge.

I look away from him.

“That’s what I thought,” he adds.

“Find anything else on the laptop?” Cole asks Bennett.

He shrugs. “Nothing useful. The guy is in some pretty sick shit when it comes to sex. But besides bank accounts, there was nothing useful.”

“What about cell phone records?” I ask.

“What about them?” Kellan snaps.

Everyone’s eyes turn on me. “What about them?” Deke asks in a much nicer tone.

“A lot of people don’t like to log in every time they go to a site they frequent often, so they keep their passwords remembered. If you knew his carrier and typed it in, maybe it will still have him logged in. You could go through his phone records. See who he has spoken to.” They all just stare at me, and I shrug, feeling awkward. “It could be nothing …”

“No. It’s a good idea. I’ll check into it,” Bennett says.

I nod once.

Cole takes my hand and turns us to face Kellan. I square my shoulders, knowing what is about to happen. “She’s not pulling out of the group,” he

growls.

“Who said she was?” Bennett demands.

“Kellan.” Deke crosses his arms over his chest.

“What?” He and Shane both speak at once.

Kellan’s jaw sharpens, and he narrows his eyes on me. “Even if you could retract your dare, which I knew you couldn’t, I still wouldn’t pull out.”

Cole surprises me and jerks me to face him. His hands go to my hair, and his lips crash down on mine. My lips part on a gasp of surprise when his tongue slides into my mouth. His hands tighten in my hair, and my eyes close on a moan. My hands grip his shirt as he kisses me like he’s desperate for me. Needs me. He tilts my head to the side, and I allow him to take my breath away. The man could kill me if he wanted as long as his hands were on me at the time. My pussy tightens, and my legs threaten to buckle as he

fucking takes what he wants.

Giving Kellan a show.

My eyes slowly open as he pulls away. His blue eyes look over my shoulder, and he smirks. “And she’s mine. Stay away.”

The room falls silent as I regain myself and pull out of Cole’s hands. I turn around to face them. Kellan glares at me, but his brown eyes start to burn brighter as a sinister smile spreads across his face. He takes a step toward me, and Cole yanks me back by my shoulder, ready to jump between us.

His eyes go to Cole. “If this is how you guys wanna play it.” Then he walks past us and out the door.

_________________________________

Monday morning, I walk into the Reynolds house and see Lilly already coming down the hallway toward me. She wears a pair of jeans and a pink shirt that has a kitty on it, and her blond hair is in pigtails. She opens her arms. “Austin,” she squeals and jumps into mine.

“Hey, princess. You ready to go to school?”

She nods excitedly.

“Do I need to pack you a lunch? Or do I need to give you lunch money?”

I know Blanche is away this week, and I’m not all sure what she eats for lunch. Cole didn’t give me any instructions.

“Cole made my lunch this morning before he left. It’s already in my backpack.”

“Awesome,” I say. “Let’s get going then.”

“Austin?”

I look up to see a man coming toward me, and my eyes widen at how much he resembles Cole. He has his blue eyes, a straight nose, and high cheekbones. His broad shoulders fill his expensive looking charcoal suit, and he’s smiling at me. “It’s been a long time.” He looks me up and down, and it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand at the way his eyes linger on my legs.

“I’m sorry. Do I know you?” I ask. Even though I know who the man is.

I’m not sure what he means by a long time.

He reaches out his right hand. “Liam Reynolds. Cole’s father.”

I got that much. He looks just like him. I shake it. He tightens his grip to the point it’s painful, but I don’t flinch.

“Good to see you again.”

“Again?” I ask, sliding Lilly to my left hip. She’s heavier than she looks.

He nods, placing his hands in the pockets of his dress slacks. “Yes. I believe the last time I saw you, you and Cole were seven.”

I frown.

“Your father and I have been best friends long before he … dated your mother.”

I almost snort at how he chose dated to describe their weekend hookup in a hotel room in Reno.

“Last time you stayed with him, he had a cookout, and you and Cole swam together. You actually played together a couple of other times too.”

My frown deepens because this guy must have me confused with someone else. I’ve never met Cole before.

“Anyway,” he continues at my silence. “I must be going into the office.

And you must be getting to school. Don’t wanna get in trouble.” His eyes rake over me again, and I take a step back toward the door, tightening my hold on Lilly.

“It was nice meeting you,” I say, bending over to grab Lilly’s bag and then heading out the door.