Dare Series Collection - Shantel Tessier Page 0,218

beside me. She too is upside down because she was wearing her seat belt. “You okay?” I ask, coughing again. It makes me flinch.

Her blond hair touches the roof of the car, and her nose is bleeding. Her crop top is ripped and also has blood on it. “I don’t know … what happened,” she cries.

“We gotta get out of the car,” I say as my bearings begin to come back. “Eli? Landen?” I scream. My throat burns, and I try to swallow, but it’s painful.

She sobs.

I place my right hand on the roof and hiss in a breath when a pain shoots down my side and upper chest. So I place my left hand on the ceiling while I undo my seat belt. I try to hold myself up, but I fall flat on my face. Right into the broken glass. “FFFUUCCCKKK!” I growl between clenched teeth. I manage to get my body out of the broken passenger side window and stumble over to the driver’s side of the car. I get down on my knees and see her window is also missing, but pieces of shattered glass are still in around the edges. “Cover your face,” I order and kick the big shards out of the way. “I’m gonna have to undo your seat belt,” I tell her. “Put your hands on the ceiling.”

I get her out through the window, and we both stumble. She falls to her knees, holding her stomach.

“Eli? Maddox? Landen?” I call out, placing my hands on my knees. Nothing. “I gotta call 911.” I pat down my pockets, but I don’t have my phone. I was texting on it when we crashed. Who knows where the fuck it’s at. “Fuck!”

She continues to sob, and I drop to my knees before her. “Are you okay? What hurts?”

She looks up at me and tears run down her face, smearing her once flawless makeup. “I … I …”

“What is it?” I ask, needing her to tell me so I can find my friends.

She wraps her arms around her stomach.

“That’s not enough, Cole!” Deke shouts, interrupting my story. “Why did you tell her to run?”

I look at my best friend and my chest tightens. “Becky was pregnant.”

Austin gasps. Deke just stares at me like he’s not really seeing me. “I …”

He punches me in the face, knocking me back. I trip over my own feet and fall to my ass. I should have seen it coming. He comes for me, his body landing on top of mine, and his fist connects with my jaw. My face starts throbbing, and I taste blood. Usually, I would enjoy this but not like this. Not now. I hate to see him hurting. And the worst part is I did it to him.

“Stop!” Austin cries out. “Deke!”

“I was trying to protect her,” I growl between his punches.

He hits me again, and this time, I land a fist to his side. He grunts, and I do it again. He pulls back, and I kick him off me.

We’re both breathing heavily as we sit on the floor. I stand slowly, and he jumps to his feet as if I’m going to attack him.

He raises his fists, and I do the same. “I don’t want to fight you.” He snorts like he can’t believe me. I lick my busted lip and try to catch my breath. “I told her to run. Do you know what that would have done to her? The baby? She would have been held responsible for something that we now know was never even her fault.” Becky’s parents have money, but I wasn’t sure they would bail her out like my father would me. I couldn’t let that happen to her. Couldn’t put her through that.

“And you did it for Deke,” Austin says. We both look at her, and she’s crying. Tears run down her face, and she licks her wet lips. “You didn’t want Deke to know she was involved at all. Let alone pregnant with his best friend’s baby.”

My chest tightens, and my stomach drops.

“Is that true?” he demands.

I drop my fists. “I’m sorry, Deke.” My voice shakes, and he swallows “I wanted to tell you. But—”

“But you saved her.” Austin interrupts me.

“Stop,” I say when I see the look in her eyes. It’s the same one she gave me up in the loft when she realized I wasn’t driving. Like I’m a fucking saint. I’m not.

“You protected her, Cole. That’s not something very many people would do.”

My