A part of me really wanted to blurt out thatyes, yes he absolutely was—then tell Lara all about how therestof my night had gone. Although I trusted her more than anyone else not to spill my secrets, there was still that tiny inkling ofshe might accidentally say something, and the risk was far too great.
Plus…I wanted to keep it to myself for a while longer.
“I’m not hurt, just pissed off. You’re right. I shouldn’t have brought him at all. Next time, you better not be busy. How was filming?”
“It was really cool. I wish you’d have auditioned too.” They had called the showMemphis Rising, after the main character Memphis. It centers around a group of students in music school, and Lara had scored the part of Memphis’s best friend, Katrina. ”I think they’re still looking for actors…”
“Yeah, not going to happen. I’ve got enough on my plate with school,” I yawned, feeling exhausted from all the non-sleep I got last night.
“How wasDare?” Despite my best attempts at concealing my attraction and affection for him, Lara had picked up on it and forced me to admit I’d had a thing for him.
“His usual self.” I shrugged, looking out the window.
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Lara said knowingly, sending me a searching look before her eyes returned to the road. She pouted, “What aren’t you telling me?”
I opened my mouth, the truth sitting on the tip of my tongue, but I closed it a moment later.
Dare was deeply private, always had been. A few times the media had attempted to spin stories about him, but he normally had an aversion to drama. He was the “boring” one to write about, whereas Calum and Evan were always up to something. Evan had been linked to many beautiful women over the years. He fell in love frequently, only to have those feelings fizzle out in a couple of weeks.
Lara wouldn’t make it public knowledge, but she might change how she talked about Dare around me. All of the reasons why we shouldn’t have hooked up in the first place were still there, and I didn’t need anyone prying into our night together, exposing us for what we’d done before we had a chance to do it again.
Because, Lord, I wanted to do it again. My body ached for his touch. I’d been given the gift of what true pleasure felt like, and I didn’t want to let go.
“Well, he did offer to kick Jason’s ass,” I supplied hopefully.
“Dare probably wanted to kick his assbeforehe cheated on you,” Lara replied, shaking her head. She’d been saying for years that Dare had a thing for me, ever since the first time she’d witnessed us around each other. I hadn’t believed her—assuming it was completely one sided on my part.
After our night together, I was looking back on our encounters over the last few years especially, and coming to the realization Lara was right.
“He did admit that, but I think it’s because he saw through Jason’s pompous act. He knew he was a fame chaser.”
“You knew too,” Lara called out, arching her brow at me. “But still, you took him. I think you were hoping your brother and his friends would chew him up and spit him out, so you’d have a reason to dump him.”
“I had so many reasons to dump him,” I sighed, shaking my head at my own foolishness.
“What happenedafteryou found Jason nailing Brighton Wells? What did you do?”
“I…left and let them finish?” She blinked at me.
“Seriously?”
“What else was I supposed to do? Walk over and tap him on the shoulder?” I huffed, crossing my arms and sulking. It was easy for Lara to judge; she’d never been in a predicament like that. She’d have to actually get in a relationship for that.
“Where did you go after?”
“Upstairs. Then I told Tank to remove him from the list so he couldn’t come up to the room,” I replied.
Lara snorted, likely envisioning the look on Jason’s face when he realized he was no longer a welcome guest. “Harsh, but I like it.Thenwhat did you do?”
“Hung out with Dare for a bit.” I felt my cheeks heating, but Lara was too busy flipping off a taxicab that cut her off to catch it.
“At least one good thing came of it,” Lara said once she’d refocused her attention on me. “You got to spend a little one-on-one time with Dare!”
You have no idea. I kept the thoughts to myself and nodded, an uneasy feeling settling over me I just couldn’t shake.
I’d seen how my brother and his friends conducted themselves over the years. Well, not Dare so much as the other two, but still. They were kings of the one-night stand, they had to be. They had no time for relationships. Scandals, maybe, but a relationship took more time and focus than a scandal.
I think it’s why Lara hit it off so well with them; she had an aversion to relationships too. Her attention never lingered too long on the same person. Once, she’d told me she had “relationship ADHD.” She was more addicted to the getting-to-know someone stage than the actual being with them. She was the one who lost interest easily and didn’t waste time beating around the bush. She’d just move on to her next conquest.
