Tristan,” Zed says. Tristan chooses dare, so I give him the least creative dare and have him take a shot.
“Zed, truth or dare?” Tristan asks as he chases his shot.
I down the rest of my drink, and the more I drink, the more numb my emotions become.
“Dare,” Zed answers, and Steph whispers something in Tristan’s ear that makes him grin.
“I dare you to take Tessa upstairs for ten minutes,” Tristan says, and I choke on my breath. This is too much.
“That’s a good one!” Molly says and laughs at my expense.
Zed looks at me as if asking me if I’m okay with it. Without thinking, I stand up and grab Zed’s hand. He looks as surprised as everyone else, but he stands up, too.
“This isn’t part of Truth or Dare, this is . . . um . . . well, it’s fucking dumb,” Hardin says.
“Why does it matter? They are both single and it’s all in good fun, so why do you care?” Molly asks him.
“I . . . I don’t care. I just think it’s stupid,” Hardin answers and my chest hurts again. He obviously had no plan to tell any of his friends that we are . . . were . . . whatever we were. He has been using me this entire time, I am just another girl to him and I was foolish, beyond foolish, to think otherwise.
“Well, good thing it’s none of your business, Hardin,” I snap and pull Zed by the hand.
“Burn!” “Damn!” I hear a few voices say, and Hardin swears at them as Zed and I walk away. We find a random bedroom at the top of the stairs and Zed pulls the door open and turns the light on.
Now that I am away from Hardin, I begin to feel much more nervous being alone with Zed. No matter how angry I am, I don’t want to mess around with Zed. Well, I wouldn’t say I don’t want to, but I know I shouldn’t. I’m not that type of girl.
“So what do you want to do?” I squeak.
He chuckles a little and leads me to the bed. Oh Lord.
“Let’s just talk, yeah?” he says and I nod and look down at the floor. “Not that I wouldn’t love to do many other things with you, but you’re intoxicated and I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
I gasp.
“Surprised?” He beams and I laugh.
“A little,” I admit.
“Why? I’m not a jerk, like Hardin,” he says and I look away again. “You know, I thought you and Hardin had something going on for a little bit.”
“No . . . we are just . . . well, we were friends, but not anymore.” I don’t want to admit how stupid I was for believing Hardin’s lies.
“So are you still seeing your boyfriend from high school?” he asks.
Relieved not to be talking about Hardin, I relax and say, “No, we broke up.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. He was a lucky guy,” he says with a sweet smile.
Zed is so charming. I find myself staring into his caramel eyes; his eyelashes are fuller than mine. “Thanks.”
“Maybe I could take you out sometime? On a proper date? Like, not into a bedroom at a frat party,” he says, then chuckles nervously.
“Um . . .” I don’t know what to say.
“How about I ask again tomorrow when you’re sober?” He is much nicer than I thought he would be. Usually guys as attractive as him are jerks . . . like Hardin.
“Deal.”
He takes my hand again. “All right then! Let’s go back down.”
When we walk back downstairs, Hardin and Molly are still on the couch, but Hardin now has a drink and Molly has moved so her legs are draped over him from the side. When Hardin’s eyes dart down to where my hand is intertwined with Zed’s, I jerk away without thinking, but then grab it again quickly. Hardin clenches his jaw and I look away into the crowd of partiers.
“How was it?” Molly smirks.
“Fun,” I answer and Zed stays quiet. I will thank him later for not correcting me.
“It’s Molly’s turn,” Nate announces as we sit back on the floor.
“Truth or dare?” Hardin asks her.
“Dare, of course.”
And Hardin looks right into my eyes and says, “I dare you to kiss me.”
My heart stops, literally. It stops beating; he is a bigger asshole than I ever imagined. My ears are swimming and my heart is pounding as Molly shoots a boastful glance my way before she latches herself to