Page 102 of Truth or Dare

“Is it beautiful there? I’d love to go. I’ve always wanted to do loads of traveling.”

“It is. We should go.” I smiled and squeezed her hand. Suddenly she paled. We were walking by a crowded restaurant patio and she froze in her tracks.

“What’s the matter?” I frowned.

She shook it off and resumed walking.

“You okay?”

“Uh huh,” she replied but she clearly was not. I was hoping this wasn’t another panic attack coming on in the middle of the street.

“Tell me,” I said, eyeing her seriously and giving her hand a squeeze.

“I thought I saw someone I used to know. It probably wasn’t them. It’s okay.”

“Where? Who?”

She dared to glance back over her shoulder and then visibly relaxed. “I don’t see them now. I must’ve been mistaken.”

“You sure? You’re all right?”

She took a big breath and beamed at me. “Yes. I’m sure.”

“Who was it?”

She shook her head, still smiling, not wanting to tell me. I glared. She was not about to get away with a dazzling smile to get me to let it go.

“Now, baby,” I insisted.

Her smile slipped.

“Jason,” she replied softly. “The guy who asked me to marry him in Thailand. But it wasn’t him, obviously.” She shrugged.

I thought I’d seen him at a table for two sitting alone, looking right at me over a menu. I’d been afraid to look back, afraid to find out whether or not it’d really been him. But when I looked back there was no one there. That table was empty. Either it was a lookalike, or my mind was playing tricks on me.

I pushed away thoughts of him and just focused on the footsteps Dare and I were taking, heading back toward his building. He didn’t go back to his funny story; instead he was quiet the rest of the walk back and the vibe coming off him was tense.

As the doors closed inside the elevator, Dare’s phone made a sound. When he read the text, his expression dropped.

“Awe shit,” he grumbled.

“Everything okay?”

“No. That was Tess. They took Lisa to the hospital. She started bleeding. Had a miscarriage.”

“Oh no.” My stomach dipped and I felt cold envelop me. Lisa would be devastated. Absolutely gutted. My hand covered my mouth.

“Can we go see her?”

“We’ll go tomorrow. Give her today. Okay?” He was replying to the text, his jaw tight.

I nodded.

We got to the apartment and he went to work in his den for a bit. I curled up in bed and watched TV but thought about Lisa. Poor Lisa. She wanted that baby so badly, was already in love with the idea of being a mother before she’d even started to show.

Poor Shayla.

I pulled up the driveway at the farm and watched Tia’s face as the house came into view.

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