Chapter 14
"Dare night, seriously?" I stared at Tyler in disbelief while he had an accomplished grin plastered on his face. Then I continued, "How old are you? Five?"
"Games night, Olivia. It's games night," Tyler corrected me, barely withholding his laughter. Because my annoyance was clearly hilarious.
Remember the time I thought it was impossible to dislike Tyler? I officially retract that statement.
"This just keeps getting better, doesn't it?" I scoffed in exasperation. Ethan chuckled beside me while Alexis smilingly shook her head at my words before someone called her over.
We were in Tyler's apartment in Madison Avenue, awaiting the arrival of his "surprise" guests. Like the guests that had already arrived weren't enough.
"Come on, it might just be fun," Ethan said in mocking consolation, and I glared at him.
"Easy for you to say, traitor," I retorted while he smirkingly raised his palms in surrender and left to grab a drink. It was unfair how he got a free pass to bail on this lame event.
"Not for long," Tyler said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"What do you mean?" I asked, momentarily deviating from the topic of my displeasure.
"Let's just say that I have a diabolical master plan," Tyler stated with a sly grin. What was he up to now?
I had no clue, and I didn't want to find out.
"Why am I not surprised?" I deadpanned, but he was unbothered by my tone and maintained his level of excitement.
"FYI dare night is awesome," he said dramatically, and I scoffed again.
"And your opinion matters because?" I asked rhetorically with no intention to entertain his reasoning.
There were a million ways I'd want to spend my break in New York, and this definitely wasn't one of them. My supposed plans had gone down the drain, at the hands of this sadistic devil incarnate.
"Because it's my birthday, so the only valid opinion here is mine," Tyler said with a smug grin, and I rolled my eyes.
Birthday my ass, it had been his bloody birth-week.
A whole week of annoying encounters, with exasperating people.
From his extravagant parties to karaoke nights, I had not protested even once, but I had suffered enough.
Remind me again, as to why had I put up with this?
When I stared at the excited smile on Tyler's face, it was the only cue I needed. He had made my life a living hell by making it exceedingly hard for me to refuse his optimistic persistence.
Piece of advice: Do not succumb to Tyler's liveliness, its all a ploy.
So instead of responding to his dramatics, I just gazed at him impassively before making my way to the kitchen. I just had started walking when I felt a presence behind me.
"Live a little, smartass," Adrian whispered into my ear, sneaking up on me and placing his palm on the small of my back. I barely got time to register his touch before he pulled away and stood beside me, leaving an unsolicited heat in its wake. Great, exactly what I needed.
I regarded him with a raised eyebrow and stated flatly, "If this is your definition of living, no wonder your brain cells are so degenerated."
He chuckled and placed his arm over my shoulder, "Your words hold the key to my heart, Olivia."
He wore a teasing grin on his face that highlighted his dimples. I rolled my eyes at his words but couldn't control the sudden onslaught of tingles that occurred at his touch. Seriously hormones?
The last thing I wanted right now was to feel any semblance of attraction towards Adrian Carter.
"Only you can find my insults gratifying," I paused to stare at his thoroughly amused face. Before adding, "I didn't take you to be a masochist, Adrian." I tsked at him, and he gave out a throaty laugh at my words. His laughter was contagious, and I found myself smiling back.
I had come to terms with the fact that no retorts of mine could offend him. Instead, they amused him enough to provoke me even more.
"Want to test that out? There's a bedroom right there," he grinned down at me and pointed in the direction of the door. His eyes were floating with amusement while mine flared up in disbelief. Leave it to him to turn everything into a sexual innuendo.
"And catch chlamydia, gonorrhea, or the million other STDs you carry? Sure, I'd love to," I retorted sarcastically and elbowed him to get out of his hold.
The musky scent washing over me and the warmth reflecting in his sea-green eyes as they bore into mine wasn't really helping my case.
He clutched his stomach dramatically before grinning up at me. "I knew you couldn't resist me."
"I forget about your comprehensive inadequacy at times," I quipped in reply, and Adrian's grin widened. I had a feeling that his comeback was going to be cheeky and aggravating.
"Do you want to make a stud, Olivia?" He asked, and I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Cause I got the STD, all I need now is you," Adrian finished with an obnoxious smirk, and I controlled the urge to smack him. How could someone make you lose your composure so effortlessly?
"You're an imbecile," I muttered with a haughty glare.
"Only for you," he responded with a roguish grin, and I rolled my eyes. Framed by a pair of disarming dimples and emulating such warmth, a grin like his should be forbidden.
Snap out of it, Olivia.
"My bad, I must have offended your limited brain cells. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've had my fair share of stupidity for the night," I countered and turned away from him.
"The night's just started, Olivia." He shot after me, and I wanted to groan at the implication of his words.
One night filled with stupid games, what could possibly go wrong?
I shook my head and made my way back to the lounge to find Zoey talking to Brian, one of Tyler's friends.
That's when I noticed a livid looking Ethan heading in her direction with Tyler hot on his heels with a satisfied expression on his face. Uh oh.
Ethan had borrowed her library access card with the excuse to procure books for their group assignment. But had used it to make out with some girl during class hours and got caught, which lead the librarian to revoke Zoey's membership. To say that she had been pissed would be a massive understatement. It had caused a heated argument between both of them, which hadn't ended well.
Zoey, who had been unaware of his impending arrival, finally took notice of him when he stepped right between her and Brian. He shot Brian a lethal glare who backed away while Zoey narrowed her eyes in annoyance.
Both of them didn't acknowledge each other, instead faced Tyler with accusatory expressions.
"What is he doing here?"
"What is she doing here?"
They asked at the same time. If the atmosphere hadn't been so tense, I would've chuckled at the absurdity of the remarks.
"We're all here to play, of course," Tyler innocently shrugged his shoulders in explanation."Let the games begin," he hooted additionally, and the crowd cheered along.
I hadn't foreseen just how insane this night was going to get. Going by the astonished expressions on Ethan and Zoey's face, neither had they.
"Spill it, Lex," I told Alexis as we sat inside the limousine and made our way to 1 Oak Nightclub for our second round of dares. Despite all the fun we had, there was this dazed look in Alexis' eyes that I couldn't overlook. Something was definitely on her mind.
We had just completed our first set of dares in the streets of Fifth Avenue. Alexis had been dared to let an amateur give her a haircut with their weaker hand. She had chosen me for the task despite my reservations on destroying her beautiful hair, but luckily it had turned out well.
Whereas I had gone to a store and returned the dress, I had been designated to wear, leaving me in my lingerie. Paired with my thigh high boots, I looked like the perfect hooker. Well played, Tyler.
As expected, I had received scandalized glances from everyone at the store. Alexis came to my rescue when she persuaded some random guy for his hoodie that I was now adorning.
Tyler had planned this night down to the detail. There was no room for us to back out. He had taken away everyone's phones and wallets and given us cue cards and materials for the first dare. It was a solo task, but Alexis and I had undertaken it together because our first venue had been the same.
As for the transportation and other arrangements, let's just say Tyler was a meticulous genius. With the completion of each dare, he had procured a rental service which assigned the subsequent dare and dropped us off at the next location.
Thus, by following each cue, we would reach the final destination where god knows what else was in store for us. Whoever arrived first and finished all dares correctly could either avail what Tyler had planned or make their own demands.
However lame the concept of dare night had been to me, once we had commenced with it, my competitive side had kicked in. And I knew what I wanted: to make Tyler suffer worse than I had.
He wasn't even playing because apparently, he was the 'ringmaster' and the ringmaster doesn't participate in the circus, he rules it. Too bad, he was about to be ruled out of existence.
"What?" Alexis murmured after breaking out of her reverie.
"What's on your mind?" I asked, and when she tried to interject, I added, "And don't bother denying it, you've got a horrible tell."
"It's honestly not that important," she said while rubbing her nose. Told you she was predictable.
"Well, let me be the judge of that," I replied, and a faint blush settled on her pale face, "Now spill."
She reinstated with a small smile, "Trust me, you'd rather not know."
"Tell me, what part of my expression says I'm uninterested?" I questioned rhetorically, and she rolled her eyes.
"Fine, don't say I didn't warn you," Alexis huffed out, and I prodded her to continue.
"So before arriving at Tyler's apartment, I went to meet Jace. Not exactly meet but to put an end to his unnecessary gestures. After I got his name removed from the visitor's list, sorry for that, by the way, he kept sending me stupid gifts. Okay, they weren't really gifts, nor were they stupid, they were genuine and thoughtful, but that's not the point," she rambled, and I held back the smile that was trying to creep across my face.
When they both cared so much for each other, why did they keep running in circles?
"Anyway, when I went over to your place, I encountered Renee Davidson, the rom-com queen, at the gate demanding to be let inside. I guess, when I arrived, it drove her a little over the edge. She thought I was another one of Jace's hookups, who was probably replacing her or something. So when Gerard was letting me through, she pushed me aside to let her herself in. To sum up, my lack of balance and her aggression wasn't really a good combination." Alexis lifted her shirt slightly, which made me notice the large bandaged wound on her abdomen, and I winced.
If I ever got my hands on that bitch, I would make sure her pretentious girl next door act would be ruined with the permanent bruises I'd leave on her.
"She barged inside the house while I was getting up with Gerard's help. I thought I'd come again later, but Jace took that very moment to sprint outside and act like an overprotective idiot. He carried me inside despite my protests, told Renee to "fuck off" and "never show up again" if she knew what was right for her," Alexis tried imitating Jace. For once, I agreed with his words. I knew she was trying to make light of the situation and not divulging real details.
She continued, "Then he called over a bloody doctor, have I highlighted how overdramatic your brother is? Moving on, when she concluded that it wasn't serious, he called another and then another doctor who also gave the same bloody diagnosis. We fought a little after the doctors left, then one thing lead to another and hikeesedhmeinikeesedhimbck."
She rushed her words, and I couldn't catch the last bit. I questioned her with an incredulous expression, "What?"
Alexis cleared her throat, "He kissed me, and I kissed him back. In my defense, he looked so damn attractive at that moment-"
"Wow, I want to know more, Lex, I really do. But please spare me the details of your make-out session with my brother," I interrupted her before she loaded me with too much information.
"I warned you, right?" She sassed and added, "Anyway, my senses came back, and I pushed him away. He apologized for the kiss and called it a mistake. So in the heat of the moment, I said some really mean things."
She elaborated, "I said that I agreed with him because he was an "unreliable, selfish, and good-for-nothing person" who I was better off without. The words have been playing over and over in my head, Liv. I regret saying them. But I felt so scared and vulnerable when he apologized that I resorted to pushing him away than admitting my feelings when he clearly didn't reciprocate them. Nor was I willing to trust his intentions and put my heart on the line when he still wouldn't give me an explanation."
People in love could be really delusional, I realized.
They misunderstood each other's words, ran away from their feelings, and picked fights for all the wrong reasons. To be in love, you had to conquer a myriad of meaningless reasons of why not to be in love.
"You know for one of the smartest people I know, you can be painstakingly dense sometimes," I told her and stared at her confused expression. "I don't blame you, Lex, for pushing him away or for not trusting him right now. But if you regret being so harsh, you should tell him that. Not because Jace is my brother, but because it's not who you are. And nothing haunts us more than the things we didn't say."
That was when the car came to a halt, and the driver lowered the partition of the limousine to hand over our cue cards. We got out and made our way to the VIP entrance of the club.
"You're right, I will. Even if I have to handle the whole awkwardness of the situation." She said in agreement, and we were effectively ushered in.
"Do you regret the kiss?" I asked her softly as we stood behind the door of the back entrance.
"Honestly, I don't know, and I really don't want to think more about it. For now, I just want to forget that it even happened in the first place," Alexis sighed and gave me a reluctant smile.
"Let's get colossally fucked up," I said sarcastically and raised my cue card. Alexis laughed at my theatrics, and we entered the club.
Sorry for the extremely long wait, this chapter has a part two, which will be updated tomorrow. It will definitely have more Olivia and Adrian scenes, anyone has ship name recommendations?
Hope you guys liked it!
Also, if you guys could message me regarding the books you've updated so I can catch up with them, it'd mean a lot :)