Truth or Dare

**Kaelen**

I watched her carefully, waiting for the inevitable breakdown. Every memory I held of Sloane painted her as a terminally shy, quiet girl who was always pathetically glued to Rowan’s side, a dynamic that deeply annoyed my sister, Vanessa. My sister constantly complained to the family that her dates with Rowan were ruined because Sloane was always hovering nearby like a permanent shadow.

But tonight? Looking at Sloane now, I finally understood why my sister might feel a sudden spike of insecurity. Seeing Sloane look this breathtakingly gorgeous—her long, toned legs on full display in those killer heels—would shock anyone. This confident, striking woman standing in front of me was entirely foreign. It wasn't the pitiful version of her that everyone in our circle knew.

While I definitely enjoyed the view, the overwhelming urge to call her out on her visceral, heartbreaking reaction to the engagement announcement was just too strong to resist. I simply couldn’t help myself.

Instead of shrinking away into a puddle of tears like the old Sloane would have done, she squared her shoulders. She stood tall, placing a hand firmly on her hip, and met my mocking gaze with absolute confidence.

"You must be completely irrelevant at this party to come all the way out here just to mock me," she fired back, her voice dripping with sharp venom. "Do you seriously have nothing else to keep you occupied?"

Damn.

She wasn't just pretty now. She was incredibly feisty. That sharp rebuttal was the absolute last thing I expected to come out of her mouth. She didn't even need to raise her voice to make sure I felt the sting of every single word.

I let out a low chuckle, genuinely amused. "I didn't know you had that kind of—"

"Hold on," Sloane interrupted sharply. She boldly held her palm up directly in front of my face, cutting me off completely. "It has just come to my attention that you and I are still speaking."

Did she really just brush me off like I was completely beneath her notice?

Before I could even fully register this unexpected feistiness, she smoothly walked right past me. She didn't look back, leaving me standing alone in the dark. I stared after her, thoroughly intrigued. It had been a long time since someone spoke to me like that, completely unintimidated by my presence or my family's money. College had clearly changed everything about her, and I suddenly found myself wanting to uncover exactly what those changes entailed.

"Everyone shut up! We're about to start the game!"

Vanessa’s piercing yell cut through the heavy bass of the party music, demanding everyone gather in the living room. I rolled my eyes. We had lived under the same roof for years, and I still couldn't stand the shrill pitch of her voice.

**Sloane**

I refused to let my visible hurt over the engagement isolate me in the dark backyard. Hiding out here like a wounded animal wouldn't change the fact that Rowan was marrying someone else, and it certainly wouldn't make the painful tightness in my chest go away. Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I smoothed down my dress and headed back inside.

When I rejoined the party, a chaotic game of Truth or Dare was already commencing in the center of the massive living room. Guests were settling into a large circle on the plush rugs and oversized sofas. I immediately spotted Kaelen lounging nearby. I forcefully ignored him, though the memory of how easily he had seen right through my composure still grated on my nerves. A cluster of girls sitting near him were already swooning, shamelessly whispering about his chiseled jawline and how his wealth had skyrocketed after inheriting his father’s multibillion-dollar empire.

On the opposite side of the room, Rowan stood rigidly by the expansive drinks table. He looked entirely uninterested in joining the juvenile game, but Vanessa was relentless. She had both hands wrapped tightly around his muscular arm, jutting out her bottom lip in a persistent pout until he finally sighed and gave in.

As the newly engaged couple took their seats together on the main sofa, Vanessa’s gaze swept the room and locked directly onto me. Her eyes instantly lit up with a malicious, calculating gleam. I knew that specific look intimately. She only ever smiled like that when she was preparing to orchestrate something cruel.

Rowan sat securely on her right side, while her equally vicious best friend, Blair, claimed the spot on her left. It figured. Even after all these years, Blair still loathed my very existence just as much as Vanessa did.

Since it was Vanessa’s idea to gather everyone, she naturally took the first turn. She angled her body toward her fiancé, completely ignoring the rest of the room.

"Truth or dare?" Vanessa asked, her tone sickeningly sweet.

"Truth," Rowan replied, playfully rolling his eyes at her antics.

Vanessa giggled, leaning in closer. "Did you fall in love with me at first sight?"

Rowan raised his eyebrows in pleasant surprise. My own heart began to race violently in my chest, a masochistic part of me hanging on his every word. He lifted Vanessa's hand, pressing a gentle kiss to her knuckles.

"Yes," Rowan answered smoothly, his voice carrying over the quiet room. "As soon as I saw you, something in my heart told me you were the one."

The collective gasp of adoration from the crowd felt like a physical blow. Vanessa rested her head securely on his broad shoulder, shooting a triumphant, gloating look straight at me.

"My turn!" Blair announced loudly, breaking the sickeningly sweet moment. She dramatically pointed a perfectly manicured finger across the circle, singling me out as her primary target. "Sloane, truth or dare?"

My eyes widened slightly at the sudden ambush. The entire room shifted their attention to me. The suffocating pressure was instantaneous.

"Uh... truth," I replied, forcing my voice to remain steady.

Blair leaned forward, her eyes practically shining with predatory excitement. "Are you currently in love with someone?"

I froze. My mind instantly flashed back to my raw, devastating reaction when I first walked into the party and heard Rowan announce his engagement. Hiding the truth now would make me look cowardly, but admitting it felt like walking right into a trap.

Keeping my eyes firmly glued to the coffee table—intentionally averting my gaze from Rowan—I bravely answered, "Yes, I am."

"Who’s the lucky guy?" Blair pressed immediately, feigning innocent curiosity.

Before I could even open my mouth to deflect, Vanessa aggressively stepped in. "Is it Rowan?"

The living room plunged into a suffocating, dead silence. Almost everyone sitting in this circle knew the history I had with Rowan. They knew I had followed him around for years before Vanessa even entered the picture.

"That's enough," Rowan snapped sharply. His jaw tightened as he glared at his fiancée.

Vanessa merely shrugged, playing the innocent victim. "What? It's a valid question and—"

"Cut it out."

His voice was noticeably louder and harsher the second time, but Vanessa relentlessly pressed the issue in front of the entire room. She thrived on this kind of sadistic theater.

"We all know that you used to love Rowan," Vanessa stated loudly, making sure every single person in the room heard her. "I just think that the truth would be refreshing."

I was completely cornered. The heavy, suffocating anticipation of the crowd pressed down on my shoulders, pinning me in place. I finally risked a glance at Rowan. He was staring at me intensely, unblinking. He wasn't trying to stop the game anymore; he was waiting for my answer just like everyone else.

I dug my fingernails into my palms, forcing my expression into a mask of pure indifference. In a cool, clear voice, I delivered the most crushing lie of my life.

"No, it's not Rowan."

Rowan's expression remained completely unreadable as the guests immediately broke into hushed, gossipy whispers, dissecting my response.

The sheer emotional weight of the lie hit me with the force of a freight train. It hurt so profoundly to deny the one truth that had defined my life for years. I couldn't bear to stay in this room for a single second longer, surrounded by their prying eyes and Vanessa's smug satisfaction. I abruptly stood up and excused myself, not daring to look at the man I was never going to have.

I escaped back out into the lightless backyard, the heavy glass door clicking shut behind me. The cool night air hit my flushed skin, but it did nothing to calm the raging storm inside my chest. I wrapped my arms around myself as I desperately fought back the hot tears threatening to spill over my lashes.

The crunch of approaching footsteps on the stone path interrupted my brief solitude. For one stupid, pathetic, fleeting second, I wished it was Rowan coming out to check on me.

"I would have thought that after giving such definitive answers to my sister and Blair, you would have stayed to enjoy the rest of the game. Why leave?"

The deep, arrogant voice instantly ruined my foolish hope. I clenched my jaw tightly.

I didn't turn around. "Don't you have a game to get back to?"

"Nah," Kaelen replied smoothly, his footsteps drawing closer. "I have something significantly more interesting going on out here with you."

I finally turned around, narrowing my eyes at his shadowy figure. "And what's that?"

"First of all, what happened back there with those two in front of everyone? You handled it perfectly." He offered a slow, easy grin that reeked of practiced playboy charm.

I shook my head, a bitter smile tugging at my lips with pure disbelief. "Are you always this charming?"

"It only happens when I'm actively trying to get a girl to forget about another guy."

My fake smile vanished instantly. "You need to leave."

He didn't move an inch. Instead, his dark eyes drifted hungrily down my body, taking in the tight fit of my dress before slowly traveling back up to meet my gaze. "I saw you curl your fingers on your way out of the living room. It's a physical tell. To me, that proved you lied about not being in love with Rowan."

He bluntly stated exactly what I was trying to hide. "You're angry. You've been bottling up your feelings for years, and I can help you forget about him."

I tilted my head, challenging him. "Yeah?"

Kaelen stepped even closer, his gaze dropping shamelessly to the deep plunge of my neckline, staring openly at my cleavage. "It's pretty simple. I'm already done with this party. Let's go back to my place right now. Leave the rest entirely to me. I promise it will be the best night of your life... and it doesn't have to end there."

My blood boiled over. The sheer, unadulterated audacity of this man. It wasn't just the crushing reality of Rowan’s engagement tearing me apart. It wasn't just Vanessa's triumphant, sadistic smirk replaying in my mind. It was Kaelen standing here with his cocky mouth, his predatory gaze, propositioning me like I was just another easy conquest to stroke his ego.

The suffocating social pressure and the agonizing heartbreak I had endured all night suddenly twisted into something dark, reckless, and explosive.

Something inside me finally snapped.

In a split second, I closed the tiny distance between us. I boldly slid my hands up his solid chest, feeling the hard expanse of his muscles beneath his expensive shirt. My fingers gripped his shoulders tightly, and before Kaelen could even process what was happening, I forcefully smashed my lips onto his.

He was taken completely by surprise for a fraction of a second, his body going rigid. But his reaction was instantaneous. Kaelen's large hands clamped onto my waist, his grip almost bruising as he impatiently slid them down to my hips. He yanked me flush against his body until there was zero space between us.

The kiss was scorching, hot, and wild. Kaelen opened his mouth over mine, his tongue aggressively sweeping past my lips to tangle with mine. I held desperately onto the collar of his shirt, gasping sharply when he backed me up with forceful, dominating steps until my shoulders hit the exterior wall of the house, perfectly hidden in the absolute dark.

Kaelen's hands moved frantically. He gripped the hem of my dress and roughly rolled the fabric up my thighs, exposing my skin to the cool night air. My breath hitched right against his hungry lips. I could feel the thick, rigid hardness of his cock straining heavily against the fabric of his dark trousers, pressing intimately and hard against my highly sensitive inner thigh. The raw heat of his hard erection ground directly against my bare skin, sending a dangerous jolt straight to my core.

His hand gripped the back of my thigh, his large fingers digging into my flesh as he prepared to physically lift me entirely off the ground to deepen the encounter. The overwhelming reality of what was about to happen slammed into my brain.

Just as his weight shifted to hoist me up, I abruptly tore my mouth away from his. I slammed the palms of my hands flat against his solid chest and forcefully shoved him away with every ounce of strength I had.

Kaelen stumbled backward into the dark, his hands falling away from my exposed thighs. He caught his balance after a few unsteady steps, his chest heaving violently.

"What?" he asked, his breath heavy.