Truth or Dare (3 page)

Bowie takes me by the hand, leading me out to the backyard. He’s not a bad looking guy, maybe a bit short for my tastes, but he’s nice enough to look at with his neatly styled brown hair and deep brown eyes. As Amanda would say, he’s a good starter boyfriend if I’m going to get myself back in the game.

“Want to go over by the fire pit?” Bowie asks as I try to steady myself. The cool night air seems to increase the effects of the two drinks I’ve had so far. I may not drink often, but I’m not
that
much of a lightweight.

There’s a good fire burning in the corner of the yard, but no one is over there. Bowie’s a nice guy, but I’m not ready to be alone with him just yet. “Nah, I’m in a mood to hang out for a while. Is that okay with you?”

“Sure.” Bowie shrugs, but I can tell he’s not happy with my hesitation.

There’s a picnic table set up just off the back deck, surrounded by a group of guys playing Quarters. In the spirit of celebrating the end of my obsession with Colby Davis, I straddle one end of the bench, pulling a quarter out of my pocket. A few heads turn my direction, but no one says anything. Up until now, I’ve been the good girl around here. I’m the one they think doesn’t do anything wrong. They’re right, but that’s because I’ve been so worried about making an ass of myself that I stay sober most nights. Tonight is most definitely not most nights.

“Look out boys, CB’s actually going to play tonight,” Bowie calls out as he sits behind me. I lean back against his firm chest, wishing there was even a tiny spark between us. “Keep an eye on Eric, he’s really good and will probably see you as an easy mark,” he whispers in my ear. I nod, narrowing my eyes to size up the competition in the low light.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” I assure him, turning my head to give him an innocent smile. Little do these guys know that the countless nights I’ve spent out here sober have allowed me to study how different people play the game.

When it’s my turn, I bounce my quarter off the table and it lands in the half-full pint glass. Although I’m tempted to make Eric drink, I’m no fool. Bowie’s right, Eric is ruthless at this game. I am, by far, the smallest player and the person who drinks the least. I’m an easy target. I order a girl named Dina to down the beer and await my next turn. I miss and the glass gets pushed down the line.

Everything’s going well, until the opposite side of the table is in control. They’re masters at this game and all have their eyes on getting me as drunk as possible. After the third beer, I wish I had never sat down at this stupid table, but I wasn’t ready to wander off to a dark corner with Bowie. As I fight the need to puke, I look up and see Colby leaning against the railing of the deck. He looks pissed off as he glares at me. When I offer him a simple shrug, he mutters something before storming off.

“Hey, don’t let him ruin your night,” Bowie says quietly, wrapping his arms around my waist. I lean my head back, wishing it were so simple to forget about how Colby makes me feel. I’m such a bitch. I have an attractive guy holding me, gently trailing his fingers along my stomach, but my mind is somewhere inside with the surly man of my dreams. “Let’s take a walk.”

When Bowie stands, I realize how much alcohol I’ve had tonight. If not for his quick hands, I would be flat on my ass, likely with a knot on my head that would only amplify the hangover I’m sure to have in the morning. “Look, Bowie,” I slur, my body swaying from side to side. “As much as I want to go with you, I don’t think I’m up for a walk tonight.”

Leaning into him, I deeply inhale his woodsy cologne. It’s all wrong.
He’s
all wrong. I thought that drinking would help me forget about Colby, but it turns out that the only thing it did was make me want him even more. And thanks to the short-circuited brain cells, feeling Bowie’s body pressed to mine and his scent flooding my nostrils only serves to make me want to tell Colby everything I’ve kept from him.

“I get it,” Bowie says, agitated but not making a scene. It looks like I’m on my way from being a prude to being the cocktease of the county, if the looks of everyone watching us are any indication. “Come on, let me get you inside so you can eat something.”

Sinking into his side, I allow Bowie to lead me into the house. Tonight is a disaster. Until he mentioned it, I hadn’t thought about the fact that I skipped dinner, planning on grabbing something with Colby later.

“Thanks Bowie, I’ve got it from here,” Colby says, pulling me away from the man who is only trying to help me. I look up at Colby, momentarily grateful for the fact that he’s getting me out of this situation. But when I look into his smoldering eyes and see the anger welling, I want to cry. I’ve seen him look at other people that way, but never me. “CB, did you eat before we left home?”

Colby mutters something under his breath as I shake my head. He’s probably pissed off that he’s playing babysitter to me while he could be getting into the blonde bimbo’s pants.

“If she wanted to be with you, she would be, Davis.” I look from one man to the other, feeling the testosterone rolling off their bodies in waves. “But she doesn’t. She’s with me tonight.”

Before these two men turn me into a human tug-of-war rope, Amanda steps in. “Bowie, back off! Cowboy’s just trying to get her to eat something before she winds up puking all over the place.”

“What the fuck ever. CB, when you’re ready for a real man, come and find me.” He puffs out his chest at Colby before storming off in the other direction. If I didn’t feel all fuzzy, I’d kiss Amanda for handling that so well.

“Amanda, take her to the living room and I’ll fix her a plate.” He hands me off to my friend before turning away from us. She leads me to the front room of the house, cursing at anyone who won’t get out of her way. By the time we get through the dining room turned dance floor, I can feel every eye assessing me. Judging me. Mocking me.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Amanda scolds after kicking someone off the couch so I can sit down. Tossing my arm over my eyes, I groan, wishing I could go back in time a few hours. Being the fun-loving girl is highly overrated. “You’re playing with fire, flirting with other guys when you knew Colby was going to be here.”

Across the room, I see the blonde from earlier shooting daggers in my direction. Even through my beer goggles, I can see that she is here with a single goal in mind: to find someone to throw her down on a horizontal surface and screw her brains out. That won’t take long, seeing as she’s dumber than a box of rocks. Fueled by more beer than I’ve consumed in any given week before tonight, I lift my hand, wiggling my fingers in her direction. If Colby’s going to be pissed off at me, I might as well give him a reason.

“Fuck him,” I say defiantly. “I’ve been in love with him for four flipping years, and he’s never once made a move on me. I’ve tried dropping hints, but he’s so busy looking at the bimbos throwing themselves at him that he doesn’t even know I exist. I’m nothing more than one of the guys to him!”

It’s not until Amanda stiffens next to me that I realize how loud my slurred words are as they fall out of my mouth. My head lolls to the side to see Colby looming over me, his jaw clenched tight. Damn it. That’s it, this is officially the last time I drink!

Chapter 4

Colby

Handing the plate to Amanda, I turn on my heel to get out of the house. It’s suddenly way too warm in here. I hear Cricket calling out behind me, but I don’t turn around to look at her. Hearing the pain in Lea’s voice when she talked about my flirting doused any desire for any woman here. If I can’t have Lea, I would rather go home alone than hurt her again.

“Dude, where the fuck did you disappear to?” Robby yells as I walk through the dining room, trying to avoid anyone bumping or grinding into me. I push my way through the crowd, hopping up on one of the barstools along the wall.

“Just had to get away for a while, sorry.” I grab Robby’s beer, hoping to refresh the buzz I had going on before I saw Lea cuddled up to Bowie.

“You about ready to man up and talk to her?” Robby asks, swiping the bottle away from me, nodding toward Lea. He’s the only person I’ve been honest with about my feelings. Whether or not he agrees with my reasons for keeping her at a distance, he’s usually pretty good at keeping quiet about it. “Look, I get that you don’t want to fuck up your friendship, but wouldn’t it be better to hook up with someone who gives a shit than these whores who want a night or two before another shiny cock comes along?”

Leave it to Robby to call it exactly like it is. His crude comments cause me to spit beer all over a couple who look like they’re about ready to start fucking right in front of us. Taking a moment to actually see what’s going on around me, I’m starting to understand what Lea has been saying about growing up. This life doesn’t fit anymore. I don’t want to hold onto my youth, partying every weekend. It’s time to start busting my ass if I have any hope of making my dreams come true.

“I can’t. She’s in school, and we both know that I’m going to have to let go and move away if I’m going to take the next step. Am I supposed to ask her to run off to Tennessee with me?” Not even Robby knows that I’m ready to go, as soon as I can come to terms with everything I’m leaving behind. I’ve been saving up for this trip since the first summer I worked for my dad. And last year, while Robby and Lea were both in school, I was working with a homeschool co-op, giving music lessons to kids who weren’t in conventional schools.

“You afraid she’d say yes?” Robby asks, point-blank. He leans back against the makeshift bar secured to the wall, settling in for as long as it takes to hear what he wants to from me.

“Fuck yes! I know she’ll have her shit in the car before I can finish asking her.” Heading south is going to be hard enough for me, there’s no way I’m going to let her give up her own dreams for mine.

“Failing to see the problem. She can go to school there as easy as she can up here.” He tips back his beer, draining the amber liquid before tossing the empty bottle into a barrel in the corner. “And you two have worked harder at avoiding one another than most couples do at staying together. It might sound pussy, but that girl is your soul mate.”

He hops off the stool, asking me if I want another beer while he’s up. I nod, straining to see through the crowd to where I left Lea. She’s curled up on the end of the couch, struggling to stay awake, despite the thumping bass filling the room. As soon as I can shake Robby, I need to get her home. She’s usually the responsible one who drives me home, but tonight it looks as if it’s my turn.

“Fuck dude, you really do have it bad.” Robby laughs as he hands me a beer. I set it on the bar and stand to get back to check on Lea when I see Amanda whispering something in her ear.

“You’ve known this for a while. I’m not going to deny that, but it doesn’t mean I can do anything about it, either.” Robby follows me into the living room, which is a good thing, just in case I need him to run interference with the catty bitches who look like they’re about ready to pounce.

“Hey, I’m going to pour her into the car and head home. If you want to get some of our crew together and follow me, that’s cool, but I think CB needs to be somewhere comfortable to sleep this one off.” Robby helps me get a very inebriated Lea off the couch, clearing the way as I lead her to the door. This is more than just the few beers I watched her pound during quarters. A pit forms in my stomach as I wonder what the fuck happened before I got here.

“Give me your keys, I’ll grab the Cutlass so you don’t have to carry her down the block.” I turn to the side and Amanda reaches into my pocket for the keys so I don’t have to let go of Lea, who can barely stand on her own by this point.

Robby sinks onto the top step next to me while we wait for Amanda to get back with my car. I can’t remember the last time I let anyone other than Lea drive it, but I have to trust that she’ll be able to drive the beast without hitting anything.

“How much did she have?” Robby asks, putting voice to the question running through my mind. It doesn’t escape me that Robby and Amanda are the only two who even seemed to notice how bad off Lea is. The rest of them either don’t give a shit or don’t care and that pisses me off.

“No fucking clue, but not this much. I swear, if that fucker slipped her something before I got here, I’ll kill him.” It’s not a threat, it’s a promise. Bowie’s lucky I have no intention of leaving Lea’s side once I get her home tonight.

“Don’t worry, bud. You take care of your girl, I’ll see what I can find out,” Robby promises me, slapping me on the back as he stands.

Sitting in the darkness with the muffled sounds of the party continuing inside, I stare at Lea’s limp body on my lap. In four years, I’ve never seen her like this. “We’ll get you home, CB. You’ll be fine tomorrow.”

She doesn’t open her eyes as her head flops against my chest. “I love you, Colby. Thank you for taking such good care of me.” Her words are so quiet and slurred I can almost convince myself she didn’t say them. Chances are good she won’t remember this moment tomorrow morning, but I know I’ll never forget hearing those three little words passing her lips.

**

By the time we get home, Lea is straight-up passed out. Carrying her into the apartment, I don’t bother turning on any lights. Even though she can’t weigh more than one-twenty soaking wet, it’s hard to hold onto her limp body while I pull back the covers on her bed. I remove her sandals off, tossing them toward the closet before reaching for the buttons on her denim shorts. She lifts her hips as my fingers curl around the waistband, allowing me to slide the material down her long legs. It’s the first sign I’ve had in nearly thirty minutes that she has any fucking clue what’s going on around her.

“Don’t go,” she pleads with me when I move to walk away. I’ve dreamed of this moment more times than I can count, but not like this. “Please stay with me.”

As I slide into the bed next to her, I tell myself I’m only staying with her so I can keep an eye on her. Not because she asked me to while she’s all fucked up, not because I’ve wondered since we moved in together what it would be like to wake up with her in my arms. Every time I breathe in, my nose is filled with the scent of apple blossoms, causing an uncomfortable bulge to form behind the zipper of my jeans. It’s going to be a long fucking night if I have to try to sleep with a case of blue balls, but that’s my only option because I can’t leave her and I can’t do anything about this not-so-little problem.