Just a Dare

Chapter Twenty-One

I opened the front door and stepped inside, my jacket thrown over my arm. The door clicked shut behind me as I ran a hand through my hair, my brows drawn together and my lips pulled into a frown.

I had been thinking about what happened since I climbed into my truck.

I loved her.

Fuck.

I loved her.

"Trey?"

I turned my head toward the voice to see my mom standing in the living room, smiling over at me.

My heart thudded in my chest as I stared at that smile, my thoughts working overtime as everything crashed down on me.

The dare. Scribner. Make her fall in love with me. The roof. The apology. The accident. Rob. Mel. Sex. Six hundred dollars.

I blinked.

Six hundred dollars.

Was I really willing to sell her virginity? Was it really something I wanted a profit from?

My stomach lurched. The back of my eyes burned. My head throbbed.

That smile. My mother had the kind of genuine warm smile that let you know you did something very good, especially when her eyes crinkled at the edges.

Flashes of my childhood darted like quick, wriggling fish through the river of thought at the forefront of my mind just at the sight of that smile. It was a different time then; the days were lighter, laughter was fuller, eyes brighter, and my mother's face was less time-worn. The lines around her mouth were from smiles like that instead of from her lips being pulled into quivering frowns that led to sobbing for days on end. My father was there, always, to support her, his arm around her waist and a grin of his own overtaking his face.

The ghost of summer sun from my memories faded away as I waded out of the current and stared at that smile that I didn't deserve.

"Mom," I said, my frown never faltering as I began to push past her. I couldn't stand to be given that smile and I had to figure out what to do about the bet. I was in deep and I needed to find a life-preserver to cling to before I sank.

"Trey," she repeated, and I could hear the worry in her voice behind me.

I stopped mid-step, considering my actions for the past two and a half minutes and realizing that I was being a little bit unfair to her. She hadn't done anything.

No, that was all me.

I knew that the only way I would get out of this was to give Jon the money and be done with it, but I only had enough to pay about half of it since I had spent quite a bit of my savings on fixing up the roof for Mel.

"I did something really bad," I told her quietly, ashamed. I couldn't even look at her.

"What do you mean?" She asked, and I felt her place her hand on my shoulder. She turned me around and I let her despite the fact that I could have easily overpowered her and jerked away from her hand. I didn't meet her eyes once I was facing her.

I glanced up briefly, swallowing hard, and said, "We should probably sit down."

She gave me an anxious look as she cautiously said, "Okay," and led us over to the couch. We sat on opposite ends and I stared at the wall while her gaze never left me.

A moment of silence passed, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "Do you know how many dares I've done, Mom?"

I saw her shake her head out of my peripheral vision. "No, but I remember a few that you've told me about." She whispered. I could tell by the trembling of her voice that she could tell where this was going because my dares usually involved girls, sex, and alcohol. There were a few that required me to do a stupid stunt, but not very many.