Page 31 of Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

“You eager for a dicking, babe?” Max pushed up on his elbows. The smile he flashed had me rolling my eyes.

“This is serious, Max. Does no one care that he’s not here.”

“You’re the one fucking him. I’m surprised you only just noticed he’s missing,” Alice sneered, breaking away from Nate’s mouth.

Ignoring her, I scrubbed at my face, smearing the clown makeup. I felt fucking weird.

“We should play a game,” Max suggested, nudging my knee with his.

“What do you have in mind?”

He lifted his chin to the cupboard. “Seven minutes in heaven.”

“Are you for fucking real? What are we? Twelve?” Alice snorted, leaning back in to kiss Nate, who kept staring at me.

“Has someone tried to phone Dustin?” I asked.

“Calm down,” Max replied with a sigh. “Let’s have some fun.”

“Nate,” Lewis called out while his girlfriend sucked on his neck. “Truth or Dare.”

The asshole in question tapped Alice’s ass in a silent demand to stop kissing him and she leaned back, wiping her blood-red lipstick off the corner of his mouth with her thumb.

Grinding my teeth, I stared up at the ceiling, refusing to let him rattle me.

Nate shrugged. “Truth.”

“Boring.” Lewis pretended to think, rubbing his lip with his thumb, face painted like Pennywise. “What’s the sickest thing you’ve done with a girl?”

A slow smirk formed on Nate’s lips as he tapped a finger on the armrest, tracing the grooves in the fabric. “I fucked a girl with a loaded gun.”

My cheeks instantly heated, and I was grateful for the white makeup hiding my blush.

“Holy fuck,” chuckled Max, craning his neck to look at Nate over his shoulder. “For real?”

Alice tried so fucking hard not to look annoyed, but she failed spectacularly. Something akin to smug satisfaction pressed against my sternum when her eyes landed on me.

“Skyler,” Nate called out, lifting his chin, and I tore my gaze away from Alice. “Truth or Dare.”

I blinked, my sluggish brain trying to catch up with his words. It was a trick. If I said Truth, he’d make me embarrass myself or admit to something sick in front of everyone. “Dare.”

“Oh, shit,” Max blurted out around a disbelieving laugh.

Nate raised an eyebrow in challenge, his tongue darting out to swipe over his bottom lip. His smudged makeup made him look even deadlier, and the urge to squeeze my thighs together struck me out of nowhere.

“Take the gun out from beneath your skirt and empty it of bullets—all except for one.”

My eyes widened and Evelyn stiffened beside me.

“What’s the matter?” Nate asked, his head tilted to the side. “Did you think I couldn’t see it peeking out from beneath your skirt?”

“What are you doing, Nate?” Lily asked carefully, but Nate ignored her, bringing his bottle of beer to his lips and taking a swig before lifting his chin at me. “Do it.”

My fingers fumbled with the gun and I pulled it out, removing the bullets. His eyes never left mine while I slid a single one back in, wetting my dry lips.

“What now?”

Excitement and fear danced around each other, waiting to see who would gain the upper hand.

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