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But if I do that, I’ll never find out who in my family got tangled up with these people, and no one has asked me to do anything horrible so far. Actually, it feels like I’m in high school because of how unserious and childish this seems.

“Truth or dare?” the man asks.

Right. If I pick truth, they could ask me something weird, and I have no idea how much they know about me. What if they asked someone from my family, especially if they are or were a member? If I lie, maybe they have a way to tell. As for dare, I could do that, I guess. I already decided I’m not joining, so it doesn’t matter how ridiculous I look doing whatever they ask me to.

My heart pounds as I glance around the table. The girl who danced on the table earlier is watching me carefully. Whatever I choose, they’ll see me squirm through it, but whatever. Even if they recognize me despite the mask, it’s not like they’ll be allowed to tell anyone about it. Unless the whole thing is a trap meant only for me and all this is fake, but why would anyone go to so much trouble? Nah. Too much work for nothing.

“Dare,” I say.

The man tilts his head. “Kiss your partner.”

“What?” I blink at him, sure I heard it wrong.

Kiss Jayden? But why? Okay, this is actually some silly high school party, because why dare me to do something so... lame?

I look at Jayden.

“I’m fully on board with whatever you decide,” he whispers.

I glance at his mouth and then back at the man. It’s just a kiss. People kiss all the time at parties or on stupid dares, and it means absolutely nothing. How bad can it really be? If doing a dare gets me a step closer to figuring out who dragged me into this mess, then fine. I can handle a small, insignificant kiss.

I turn to Jayden. His gaze holds mine, and I lean in. The second my lips touch his, he kisses me back, his hand coming up to the side of my face, careful of the mask. A zap of electricity surges through me, and I forget that everyone’s probably staring. My fingers curl into the front of his dress shirt, and he deepens the kiss, his tongue parting my lips. I should totally pull away, but I don’t. And neither does he.

Actually, he kisses me as if he’s got all the time in the world and nowhere else he’d rather be, which feels inappropriate, but I guess he’s getting what he wants. Wait, he’s getting exactly what... No!

I lean back, totally out of breath, and his mouth curves into a grin. Someone across the table giggles, and I press the back of my hand to my lips and lower my gaze to the table. Oh wow. I really didn’t think kissing Jayden would feel this good.

As I glance up, I catch Jayden watching me with amusement in his eyes that makes me want to kick him under the table. He’s enjoying this way too much. My lips are tingling and my heart is pumping way too fast, and he’s looking super smug about it all as if he can tell. So damn annoying. Maybe this whole thing was his idea, anyway, but I can’t be sure.

The man reaches for the spinner again. It whirs around before it stops, pointing at the guy two seats away from me. The guy picks truth, and the man asks him something about the last person he cheated on and got away with it. I barely hear the answer, because Jayden’s knee is pressed against mine under the table, and for some reason, that’s super distracting.

The spinner goes around again, and it’s Jayden’s turn.

“Dare,” he says.

The man tilts his head toward me. “Kiss her neck until she tells you to stop.”

Oh come the fuck on now! This has got to be some kind of prank or a joke. And interestingly enough, it all sounds like something Jayden would want to do. I mean, first the kiss and now kiss my neck? Why mine? Why not some other girl? Or is the man behind the mask some kind of pervert who enjoyed our kiss so much he wants to see more?

Oh hell. But then again, if Jayden wants to kiss my neck, let him. He turns toward me, and I give him a small nod. His lips press against the side of my throat, and I close my eyes as his hand settles on my knee. Warmth spreads through me as he gently sucks on my skin, his mask grazing my skin, and a soft moan escapes my lips. Why is he so good at this? Why am I enjoying it?

Someone whispers that we should get a room, but I can’t even bring myself to glare at them, because my whole body is buzzing and all I can think about is Jayden’s mouth on my skin. Is this really what the society wants? Do they expect us to crack or make us uncomfortable?

Or they want us to think all of this is silly and leave, which would prove that we don’t have what it takes to become members. Maybe thinking a game is childish and not being willing to do it is exactly what they don’t want, since their members are probably expected to do everything the society requires of them.

“Enough,” I force myself to say, and Jayden pulls away from me, licking his lips.

Fuck. Why can’t I stop staring at his mouth? There’s too much heat pooling low in my stomach, and I’ve never reacted to any guy like that before. Usually, I need to get to know someone before all this, but with Jayden it’s different. I don’t even like him. Hell, maybe I even hate him, but when he touches me, everything just... I don’t know.

I can barely focus as we keep playing. Some of the others fold over the next few spins, though, because a girl won’t answer a truth and a guy refuses his dare. But my whole body is warm all over, and I press my thighs together under the table. I want to blame the room temperature or the stress of it all, but now I’m just all worked up.

What’s wrong with me? I’m supposed to be trying to figure out who in my family got mixed up in this, but all I’m thinking about is how I’d like to continue where Jayden and I left off. I catch myself staring at his mouth again. Fuck! There’s a high chance this whole thing is his game, or at least that he sabotaged my presentation, so I shouldn’t be all over him. But then again, all proof I have so far tells me that I’m wrong about that.

After what feels like forever, the man raises a hand. “Enough for tonight. Those of you who made it this far did well. You’ll hear from us about the next task soon. Same rules apply, so no matter how much you want to tell someone about this, don’t.” He turns and heads through a door at the back of the room, and everyone gets to their feet, pushing their chairs away and going for the stairs.

When I get up last, Jayden places a hand on the small of my back. I glance at him, my lips parting as he watches me carefully.

“We’re all alone in here now,” he whispers, leaning closer as he removes his mask, his mouth brushing my earlobe and sending a wave of heat through me.