Truth or Dare - Danielle Allen Page 0,57
first choice socially. We bonded over that fact.
We vowed that if we were ever going to survive undergrad, we needed to stick together, and The Trifecta was born. We were a team and we were always going to be a team. We didn’t want to ruin that so they’d sworn that if they broke up, it wouldn’t negatively impact the group.
And it didn’t.
Carter moving into the house with the cheer squad negatively impacted our group. Those bitches got their hooks into her and she was never the same.
I shook my head and let it fall back.
Carter was smart, funny, outgoing, and loyal. She had big, hazel eyes that could convince anyone to do anything. She quit the swim team to join the cheerleading squad at the end of sophomore year. Even with their reputation, I thought Carter would be the one to make them better people. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. They reeled her in and by the end of the summer, she was a completely different person.
Even though we’d drifted apart and barely talked, we didn’t hate each other. We just weren’t friends anymore. And when the dance and cheerleading teams were forced to merge and form the pep squad, we were cordial. But when my housing assignment got messed up due to a financial aid error, I didn’t have many options. I was going to have to either get a job to rent an off-campus apartment or stay in my car until I could get housing straightened out. But my coach convinced me to take the available bed at the squad house until I could get permanent housing. I initially said no, but later agreed when Carter convinced me to take the available bed in her room.
Staring at the ceiling, my eyes filled with tears and my mind raced.
I was hurt. I was confused. I was emotional. My mind, body, and soul were exhausted.
I turned the water on with my toes to create more bubbles and used my arms to ensure maximum breast coverage. I heard him put the toilet seat down before sitting. With my head reclined against the shower wall, I was in perfect position to see him and with the shower curtain drawn, he could see my face but couldn’t see my body.
Leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands laced in front of him, Jay stared straight ahead. I could tell he was trying to restrain himself and reel in his anger.
“What happened?” he asked, his deep voice low. “It’s five o’clock in the morning and you’re banging on my door looking like someone... You have bruises all over you. You’re dirty. You’re bleeding—your legs, your feet. You collapsed in the middle of my living room.” He took a long pause. “You have to tell me what happened.”
Struggling to articulate how my night went from bad to worse, I opened my mouth and then closed it a few times. I stared at him helplessly for a second before my eyes filled with tears again. I blinked slowly and turned my head away. My thoughts were rushing around because nothing made sense. I’d been thinking about it for hours and I couldn’t piece together what happened or why.
“Who did this to you?” he barked, startling me.
I gasped, shifting in the water. My eyes darted to his and while his body language teemed with anger, his dark brown eyes were brimming with sadness.
I shook my head. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“Then tell me what happened. Complete honesty. No bullshit.” He paused, fidgeting uncomfortably. “Now, Brook!”
“Okay, I—I don’t know…it’s just that I don’t even understand it.” I turned the water on again with my toe. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
My face was so damp from the bath that I didn’t realize tears were streaming down my cheeks until I noticed Jay’s expression changed.
Wiping my face, I turned my head. “Give me ten minutes to wash the dirt off me and I’ll tell you everything. I’ll start at the beginning. I just want to wash this night off me.”
“You weren’t…sexually—”
“No, no.” I shook my head as I made eye contact with him. “I swear, it’s nothing like that.”
His body deflated as my words hit his ears. He exhaled audibly and his shoulders slumped. “Thank God.”
“I know I’m worrying you and I promise I’ll tell you everything. Just give me ten minutes. I promise.”
He stared at me with narrowed eyes. “You have ten minutes.”
I knew he would seriously be back in ten minutes by the way he stormed out of the bathroom. But I just needed some time to get my thoughts to slow down.
Pushing a different button with my toe, making the water pour into the tub louder and faster, I allowed myself to give in to the tears that had been threatening to come for hours. My whole body shook as I silently sobbed. I was in pain from head-to-toe, but nothing compared to the emotional pain I felt.
As I replayed the events of the night in my head, the only thing that made sense broke my heart into a million pieces.
Carter was in on it.
Truth or Dare Playlist
Truth or Dare Playlist
Music inspires me. The artists mentioned below wrote songs and lyrics that depict the mood of Simone and Kingston’s journey. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to any of these songs, you should purchase them immediately and listen on repeat.
The Need to Know
Wale ft SZA
Can U Handle It?
Usher
Getting Late
Floetry
Breathe
Raheem DeVaughn
All I
Jill Scott
High Off You
alayna
Body
Sinead Harnett
Make You Feel
Alina Baraz
Pendulum
FKA twigs
Late Nights & Early Mornings
Marsha Ambrosius
Any Time, Any Place
Janet Jackson
When We
Tank
40 Shades of Choke
Ari Lennox
Deep
Summer Walker
Would You Mind
Janet Jackson
Acknowledgments
Truth or Dare was such a fun project to create. It started as a short story for a secret project and grew into a short novel that I had so much fun writing. It was a sexy and refreshing summer writing experience and I hope it was a sexy and refreshing summer reading experience.
To my family and friends who have loved and supported me and my work, thank you. I am blessed to have you in my life. I love you all to the moon and back.
Amy Queau—thank you for creating my beautiful covers time and time again.
Virginia Tesi Carey—thank you for your editing and your feedback.
Kumiko—thank you for being my assistant and friend. Always.
Authors, bloggers, readers, thank you. You have changed my life with your love and support. It truly means so much to me. I am floored when I hear people say that they know me and love me and/or my work. I am honored when I read reviews that get it—my stories, my characters, my point, my message. The knowledge that I’ve moved people with my words is huge to me. I don’t take it for granted. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I can’t begin to explain how much it means to me to be able to write and publish my novels and to have you take the time to read them. Sending you all hugs and love.
More Books by Danielle Allen
Truth or Dare
Trouble's What You're In
Annabelle and Lee
V is for Villainous (The Women of V Part One)
V is for Vicious (The Women of V Part Two)
V is for Vengeful (The Women of V Part Three)
The Art of Being Love
Tell-Tale
Cuffing Season
Sweatpants Season
Broken Clocks
Disasters in Dating
Brink of Disaster: That One
Brink of Disaster: This One
The Art of Being
Nevermore
The One
After The One
Work Song
Heartache
Heartfelt
Love Discovered in New York
Autumn and Summer
Back to Life
Back to Reality
Back to December
Hot Holiday Hookup Novellas
Slow News Day (A Groundhog Day Hot Holiday Hookup)
Fool In Love (An April Fool’s Day Hot Holiday Hookup)
The Delay (A Juneteenth Hot Holiday Hookup)