The Four of Us | On Hiatus

Chapter 37

      I had no idea where his shirt was, but wasn't surprised that he'd lost it considering how many other people in this place had a lack of some type of clothing—be it shoes, pants, or shirts. I remembered this one kid who'd managed to lose his socks but still had his shoes on. I don't think he ever found them.

      Suddenly Jay started laughing, and I temporarily feared for his sanity before I realized he was slightly stoned. "Oh my god," he groaned. "I just had the best sex in my life."

      I snorted out a laugh as he dropped to the floor with his legs crossed, hands splayed out behind him to prop himself up. The grin on his face suddenly dropped, though, as he seemed to realize something. "Son of a bitch."

      "What did you forget now?" Cyrus shook his head at his friend, clearly used to his antics and knowing exactly what the problem was.

      Jay scrambled up off the floor and stumbled away shouting, "I forgot to get her number!"

      Everyone laughed as Cyrus stood up, Selena following immediately after. "I should probably go check on him," he said.

      "I'll go with you," she said with a laugh, shaking her head. "Lord, he's a mess."

      "You're not wrong," I joked.

      As Selena's smile dropped, I realized that might have been the first time I'd actually attempted a real conversation with her since the day we met. She nodded at my words and continued on with Cyrus.

      Ryder's hand reached over to squeeze mine reassuringly for a moment before he pulled it back. And, unfortunately, I'd been so caught up with what was happening around Jay and Selena that I didn't notice the spinning bottle coming to a slow stop on me.

      "Skye," Ryder said quietly, catching my attention. When I looked over at him, he gestured down towards the bottle on the table. "You're up."

      My eyes shifted reluctantly to the bottle I knew would be facing me, but hoped would have been pointed at anybody else. Usually, I would have loved the attention, but this time I just wanted to be left to my own devices. I was, unfortunately, out of skips.

      "Truth or Dare," came the accented voice I instantly recognized as Julian's.

      My eyes lifted to meet his dark ones, and I debated the answer. Either way, I figured I'd regret it, but one could be worse than the other.

      If I answered truth, he could ask me about who I was. About me being the mystery girl everyone wanted to discover.

      On the other hand, if I answered dare, there's any number of things he'd make me do.

      And, either way, Ryder would be pissed.

      I took a deep breath before blurting out, "Dare."

      He paused, surprisingly seeming to not have expected that answer. Or maybe he just didn't expect an answer at all. Either way, I wasn't one to back down easily, and this certainly wasn't going to be the night I decided to.

      "Skye," Ryder warned quietly.

      The look on his face told me he already didn't like where this was going. I shook my head. "It'll be fine."