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Ethan gave me a look that said I was a wimp. “Come on. Are you really going to let him scare you off over a little game of truth or dare?”
“If it means keeping my clothes on, then, yes,” I said eyeing everyone around me.
Ethan snorted. “You’ll be fine. You only go if someone picks you. Just choose truth,” he said with a shrug.
I groaned and begrudgingly followed Ethan and took a seat on the floor in front of the sofa. Everyone but a couple kids, several of which were making out in the corner, took a seat.
Carson turned and adjusted the volume of the music on the surround sound unit. I remembered the day they got it. When we were thirteen, Mr. Brooks came home with a giant television and the stereo system. By the time he figured out how to install it, the sky outside turned to dusk, but Ethan and I waited patiently, then stayed up late watching Jaws with the sound blasting. The next day, they drove us more than an hour to Virginia Beach where we’d been so paranoid about a shark being in the surf, we kept running onto shore. Carson called us babies.
Everyone gathered around the room in a circle, taking their places. Olivia sat several seats away from Carson, giggling and flipping her blonde locks over her shoulder in the most obnoxious way. Only when Maddie took the spot on my right, did I sigh in relief. A lot of guys liked her. Surely, she was more interesting than I was. With her next to me, I’d probably be left alone. Or at least I hoped.
Ethan squeezed my arm as Carson briefly went over the rules, which, of course, everyone already knew. When he finished, he glanced to Ethan and added, “Also, let’s keep it semi-clean, folks. My baby brother’s here tonight.” He winked at Ethan before turning his gaze away.
“Idiot,” Ethan muttered like it didn’t even faze him, but I could feel him tense slightly beside me, and when I turned my gaze back to Carson, he was watching me, gauging my reaction.
“Mia, you start,” Carson announced.
“What? Me?” I pointed to myself. “But I—”
“You gotta pay to play. Come on,” Carson said, grinning.
I wanted to punch him in the nose he looked so smug. Of course he wasn’t going to let me blend into the background. That would benice. This was his way of reminding everyone I was there.
“Fine.” I clutched my cup out in front of me and shot Maddie a look of apology as I said, “Maddie, truth or dare.”
She didn’t seem to mind as she bit her lip and debated, then said, “Truth.”
“Okay . . .” I hedged, mostly because I had no clue what to ask. After a long silence, I went with the only thing I could think of. “Is it true you and Liam Wolfe went skinny dipping at his going away party during the summer?”
Maddie laughed, eyes sparkling. She looked confident as she said, “Well, I had to give him something to remember me by, didn’t I?”
Alrighty, then. . .
Maddie took a sip of her drink as she scanned the room, looking for her next victim, while I had the luxury of relaxing since the rules stated she couldn’t turn around and choose me.
When her gaze landed on Ethan beside me, I wondered if he was nervous, but he looked fine. “Ethan, truth or dare.” A grin snaked over her girlish features, and suddenly, I had a bad feeling about this.
With confidence, he said, “Truth.”
Maddie merely grinned wider. She didn’t seem displeased in his selection. “Have you ever liked Mia as something more than friends?”
I snorted.Nice try.
I glanced to Ethan, shooting him a look. The question was so ridiculous, it was laughable. Ethan and I had never been anything more than the best of friends.
Beside me, Ethan cursed. “Yes.”
I froze. My heart banged against my ribs.
I misheard. It was the only explanation.
Slowly, I shook my head as if to clear my hearing, then turned to him, sure I had gotten it wrong. Ethan was the peanut butter to my jelly. We just worked well together, were always on the same page. But we were never anything more than friends. Not even close.
I heard someone snicker and mutter, “Oh, snap.” And then the room grew utterly silent. Probably because I stared at the side of Ethan’s face— now fire-engine red—for what felt like a millennium, waiting for the “gotcha moment” where he laughed and said he fooled me.
Finally, he turned to face me and rolled his eyes as he leaned in, so no one else could hear, and whispered, “Relax, Mia. It was when I was like ten or eleven and for like two months.”
When he straightened, I squinted at him, like my narrowed lids could detect lies. He was telling the truth. I knew this because Ethan had a tick. When he lied, he blinked and scratched his nose.
