Page 131 of Dare To Break

Unknown number: Guess you’re not done sulking yet. You know where I am when you remember what you really want.

What I really want.

To feel the way I had when he’d had his head between my legs. The pleasure had overwhelmed me until I’d been nothing but sensation. To feel desired and wanted. I need him to taste me, touch me.

I want to forget Eli.

Replace the kiss he gave me with something else, so it’s no longer burned into my brain.

But can I trust my darer? What if he hurt Zoey?

I reread the messages. A tiny seed of an idea takes root. What if I set out to prove if he did or didn’t have something to do with her death? I could ask him questions when we meet. See if he lets anything slip.

You’re just trying to justify meeting up with a stranger in the dark to make yourself forget what you did with your stepbrother.

I silence the voice in my head, and slowly type out a message.

Me: I wasn’t sulking. Last time I got hurt, and it scared me.

My finger hovers over the button, my stomach twisting with nerves. None of his messages mentioned my fall. He has to know about it, if he’s really been watching me.

What if he doesn’t reply?

Before I can let the thought take hold, I press send. I curl my fingers tightly around the phone. It buzzes a minute later.

Unknown number: And now?

Doubt and need war within me for a minute before I respond.

Me: I want to play.

Unknown number: Why?

Me: I’m not scared anymore.

A lie because I am scared. Terrified of rejection, of making the wrong decision. But I need to forget what Eli made me feel. Once I’ve forgotten that there’s anything other than hate between us, I’ll stop with the dares.

Unknown number: Usual place, usual time, usual rules. Red or green?

I respond with one word.

Me: Green.

Chapter 84

Eli

I stare down at the cell.

Why has she broken her silence after all this time?

“Your dick just got harder.”

I barely register Kellan’s words, just the amusement in his voice. “What?”

“Your dick is so hard I could use it as a baseball bat.”

“Hmmm.” I’m still not really paying him any attention as I tap out another message.

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