Page 56 of Spite

The brown-haired boy grinned and said, “Okay. Elle, truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Oh, you’re no fun.” Alec let out a sigh. “Fine, let me think of a good one.” A few moments passed, and a thoughtful expression crossed his face. I waited to hear what his question would be eagerly, wondering if he would go deep instantly, or if we’d work up to the big stuff. “Why’d you move back in with your dad?”

Deep stuff it was, then.

After all this time, I suppose I never told them. My mom was one part of me I didn’t want to share, and what happened to her…I didn’t want to think about it. It only made me sad, depressed, and the last thing I needed to be was depressed.

Heaving a giant breath, I said, “My mom died.”

Alec looked guilty, sorry for bringing up something so terrible. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“No, you didn’t,” I said. “Because I never told you. But now you both know. It’s not something I like to talk about. She was…she was everything to me, for the longest time.” Hell, even when she was a drunk, she was everything to me. She was my mom, and I loved her regardless.

Both boys reached for me, each of them holding onto one of my hands. I was okay. I’d be okay, eventually.

“I’ll go next,” Xander said, slowly releasing my hand as he looked at Alec. I couldn’t help but assume he already had something in mind when he asked if Alec wanted to do a truth or a dare. When Alec sheepishly said truth, probably fearing whatever dare Xander would have him do, he asked, “Why’d you ghost me that summer?”

Shit. And I thought Alec’s question for me was deep.

When Alec’s jaw tightened, a muscle in his forehead bulging, I said, “You don’t have to—”

“No,” Xander cut in. “He has to. He has to tell me why. I want the truth, and I want to hear it from him.” To Alec, who was still silent, he spoke, his voice rising an octave, “Were you afraid of what everyone would say? Was it because you thought Christian would disown you? What was it?”

Alec looked like he wanted to get up and walk away, but he didn’t. His green gaze flicked to me, but I already knew the answer, mostly. This was purely for Xander’s benefit. What he would say next would be for him and not me. He eventually broke his silence, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” To say Xander was upset would be the year’s biggest understatement.

“It was freshmen year,” Alec explained. “I didn’t want…I was a stupid kid who didn’t think about his actions, just like I didn’t think about what we were doing to Elle all those years. I know it wasn’t right, and nothing I can say now will make it okay.” He tapped his fingers on the metal below. “I’m sorry, Xander. For whatever it’s worth now, I’m sorry.”

Quietly, almost imperceptibly, Xander whispered, “Do you have any idea how badly it made me want to cut myself again? I almost did.”

“I’m sorry, man. I’m sorry.” It was all Alec could say.

I took over the truth or dare game for a little while, trying to play down the tension that had risen between them. With the deep shit out of the way, the rest of the stuff was pretty light. I chose easy questions and easy dares on purpose, attempting to make the two boys near me happy once again.

And then, me being me, I might’ve taken it a bit too far.

“Xander, truth or dare?” I asked. My back was on the roundabout, its metal cold, even through the fabric of my shirt. I stared at the dimming sky, watching as the stars began to appear. I’d have to go home soon, probably face another lecture.

Xander stunned me by saying, “Dare.”

Dare? That was the first time he’d chosen that option all night. I propped myself up, studying him. He seemed calmer than he did earlier, which was good, because I was about to ask him to do something he probably didn’t want to do. “I dare you to kiss Alec.”

A childish thing to dare? Hell yes, but either it would work and these two would officially get over their issues with each other, or the rift between them would be permanent and we’d have to go from there. One way or the other, we’d know. It made sense, just not when I thought too hard about it.

Alec’s mouth opened, like he was going to argue, and Xander himself looked even paler than he normally did—which was almost deathly pale. With both of their eyes on me, I shrugged and said, “What? It’s not like you haven’t done it before. You guys have gotten over being near each other to spend time with me, but you need to be okay with spending time with each other, too.”

“Fine,” Alec muttered, his green gaze flicking to Xander. “One kiss, that’s it, and then we can all move on. No more bringing up the past.” I sure as shit hoped he meant his and Xander’s past, because my past was still very much important to me, and it would remain so, until I did what I had to do at the dance.

Grumbling, Xander pulled himself along the bar near him, moving closer to Alec. His brown gaze landed on me, uncertainty in their amber depths. I gave him a nod, a strange part of me excited. I wanted to see them together. Anytime they were with me, they were careful to never touch one another. It always felt a tad awkward, but I never said anything.

Here? Now? You could cut the tension in the air with a knife.

Neither boy reached for the other; neither one went to touch the other, grip the other’s face and forcefully bring their lips together. They were both hesitant, both uneasy as their mouths neared. Xander’s eyes closed when he was a few inches away from Alec’s mouth, no longer needing to see to know where he was going. Alec took on this half-lidded expression; I recognized the look.

The moment their lips touched, it was like something ignited inside me. Fireworks in my stomach, my whole body burning up at the sight of two attractive guys attached at the lips, as tentative as they might be about it. It was hot. Something about it stirred me up in all the right places.

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