Truth or Dare - Danielle Allen Page 0,11

eyes. “She smiles!”

“Kingston is not going to date someone who frowns for a living,” Tisha added on as we all dissolved into giggles.

Chloe sighed happily and then a worried look crossed her face again. “Weddings can trigger people, so I just want to make sure everyone is okay. I think the wedding experience will be better for Corrine if she had some fun. Kingston hasn’t said anything about a love interest in a while so why not see if sparks fly?”

Maria had crackers in her mouth, but she started speaking anyway. “Why don’t you just see if it happens organically? You need to be focused on you this weekend, not someone else. Let it flow. Why not just let it floooow?” She moved her arm like a wave and then giggled.

Chloe looked at Maria with a horrified expression. “Did you not feel all those crumbs falling out of your mouth?” She shook her head. “Nope. We’re not doing this. The photographer will arrive tomorrow afternoon and will start capturing all of our moments and we will not look like hot, hungover messes.” She pointed. “Tisha, finish your crackers. Simone, finish your drink. Maria, clean that shit up. We have to get at least eight hours of sleep, so we have to wrap this up.”

“Yes, Mom,” Maria huffed comedically, causing all of us to crack up.

As much shit as we’d give her for being our mom, we needed her just as she was.

Who else would think to make us hangover prevention baskets?

Maria stood up and made a lot of noise while doing so.

I nodded. “Yeah, I think Maria’s beyond tipsy.”

“No, I’m not,” Maria whined.

“The moment those crackers started flying out of her mouth, I knew,” Chloe grumbled.

“It was that last shot. Her, Tyler, Dom and Omar were taking shots as we got off the yacht,” Tisha reminded us.

I shook my head. “I missed that.”

“I wonder why that was?” Tisha mumbled under her breath.

With a look of confusion, I cut my eyes to her. But I didn’t say a word.

“Omar of Simone and Omar!” Maria exclaimed in a muffled cheer.

“Maria,” Chloe laughed. “You’re not sleeping in here!”

“He took my last shot. I didn’t take it. I’m not drunk,” she warbled.

I turned my head and saw that the shortest member of the group had gotten cozy on the loveseat near the balcony doors. Her face was turned into the cushion and muffling her words.

“I finished all of my crackers and I’m fully hydrated”—I lifted up my empty bottles— “I’ll take Maria to her room,” I offered as I pushed myself from the chair. “And then I’m going to my room for a full eight hours.”

“Per the itinerary, you’re eligible for eight to nine hours,” Tisha corrected me, wagging her finger. “Don’t deviate from the plan.”

I chuckled as I crossed the room to pull Maria from her sleeping position. “Come on, Maria. We have to hurry so we can get our eight to nine hours of sleep.”

“We need to be worried about getting eight to nine inches of dick,” she responded, resisting my attempts to pull her up.

“You are not wrong about that,” I snickered, tugging at her limp body.

She was five feet tall and maybe one hundred and fifteen pounds, but with her refusal to cooperate, I couldn’t move her no matter how hard I tried.

Without warning, she leaped to her feet. “Whoa, that was way too fast,” she said, steadying herself. “I need to go to my room.”

“Yeah, that’s where I’m taking you,” I told her, holding on to her arm as she slipped back into her shoes. I turned to Latisha who was collecting the bottles and Chloe who was picking up the crackers. “See you beauties in the morning! Have a good night!”

“After I help straighten up, I’m right behind you,” Tisha called out.

Chloe waved. “Downstairs at ten thirty! Goodnight!”

I walked Maria down the hall at a snail’s pace. She kept stopping to talk and shift her weight from one foot to the other. We hadn’t even made it to the room when Tisha came out of Chloe’s room.

“Damn, you two are walking slow,” she commented, causing me to look back at her. “I hope she sleeps it off. I told her ass not to go back and take that shot. You need help?”

“No, I got her. She’s just taking very, very tiny steps and when I try to speed up, she acts like she’s going to collapse,” I said loudly.

“She can hear you two talking about her and she