Page 53 of Echoes of Us
Sarah's eyes gleamed."What was your first impression of Eddie?"
Color bloomed across Lisa's cheeks, visible even in the dim lighting."I thought he was trying too hard to be serious.Always wearing those button-ups to the lab..."She glanced at Eddie, whose ears had turned red above his collar.“Don’t worry, I don’t think you're stuck up anymore.”
Mike sprawled on his stomach next to them, his feet kicking up behind him like an oversized kid.When the bottle chose him, he chose to dare and was forced to dance what he swore was a traditional courtship ritual of some rural country.His sock-clad feet nearly knocked over Dale's carefully organized stack of journals, sending James into fits of laughter.
The bottle spun again, lamplight sliding along its curves.When it stopped on Ashley, her heart leaped into her throat.But James just asked about her favorite physics concept.
"Quantum entanglement," she answered, watching Cole's throat work as he swallowed, his jaw tightening.She wondered if he remembered explaining it to her, his voice low in that study room, his breath warm against her ear.
As the night wore on, the questions grew bolder.The pizza grew cold.Dale kept refilling drinks with careful precision, ice cubes cracking in fresh glasses.Lisa admitted which TA she'd crushed on before Eddie, her face buried in her hands while Mike acted out increasingly dramatic interpretations of her confession.
Then, the bottle found Ashley again.
"Truth," she said, the word tasting dangerous on her tongue.
Cole's voice cut through the pleasant haze of the evening."Why Yale?"He sat forward, shadows playing across his face."When Harvard was your dream school?"
The room went quiet enough to hear the ice melting in glasses, the soft indie music suddenly too loud.Ashley met Cole's eyes across the circle and saw the challenge there, the hurt he tried to mask with cruelty.
"Sarah and I made a bet.Yale if it’s heads, Harvard if it’s tails.She won.”It wasn’t untrue.It wasn’t true either.
“I’m glad you’re here with us,” Dale broke the tension.“Yale is better in almost every way!”He smiled at her reassuringly.
“Sometimes the wrong path leads you exactly where you need to be," she added softly.Something flickered in Cole's expression before he looked away, his fingers white-knuckled around his bottle.
She knew it wasn’t the answer he was searching for, but Cole let it slide.She wondered if he thought she came here to get away from her parents.
She also wondered why she hadn’t.
From that point, each truth felt more loaded, each dare more daring.When Sarah's turn forced her to sit on Eddie's lap for the next three rounds, the atmosphere shifted subtly.The music had also changed to something darker, more insistent, or maybe that was just her imagination.
Ashley's palms grew sweaty as she watched the bottle slow, then stop, pointing at Mike.
"Truth," he declared.
Cole's smile turned predatory."Ever been in love with someone you shouldn't?"
The room went quiet.Mike's usual grin faltered as he glanced quickly at Lisa, then away."Pass.Dare instead."
"Coward," Cole said softly, but his eyes were on Ashley.
The bottle spun again.And again.Ashley's heart jumped each time it neared her, but somehow she kept escaping.She watched Dale's steady hands as he poured more drinks.Watched Cole's fingers drum against his knee with growing impatience.
Then, finally, inevitably, the bottle stilled.Pointing directly at her.
The air left the room as Cole leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his shadow stretching across the coffee table between them."Well, Ashley?Truth or dare?"
CHAPTER20
"Dare."The word fell from Ashley's lips before she could think better of it.Maybe it was the wine humming through her veins or the way Cole's eyes had turned predatory in the lamp's low light.Maybe she just wanted this game of cat and mouse to end.
Time seemed to slow as Cole straightened, setting his beer bottle on the coffee table with deliberate care.The soft clink of glass on wood echoed in the sudden quiet.Even Mike had stopped fidgeting, sensing the shift in the atmosphere.
Cole's smile was all edges when he finally spoke."Kiss my brother."
The words hung in the air like smoke.Ashley felt Dale go very still behind her, and his warmth at her back was suddenly overwhelming.On her right, Sarah sucked in a sharp breath.
"Cole."His name was a warning on Sarah's lips.
