Page 43 of Dare (Fighting Fate)

Eli

Sitting in the driver’s seat of my parked truck, I stared out at Jess’s apartment building and squeezed my hands on the steering wheel. Somewhere inside me, I knew I should just turn around and go home, but Noah’s words kept echoing inside my head, over and over again, and as much as I still felt the conviction of the promise I’d made to myself, I couldn’t ignore the fact that I was also her friend.

The only drama I had right now, was trying to decide what it was Jess would want me to do. The last time I’d seen her, she’d more or less told me to fuck off and leave her alone, so would she even want me to check in on her? Letting my head fall back against the headrest, I let out a deep sigh. Fuck it. I was going with my gut. It wasn’t always right when it came to Jess, but I knew it would likely eat at me for the rest of eternity if I didn’t act on it.

Grabbing my cell, I pulled the keys from the ignition and climbed from the truck. If she was still pissed at me, I’d leave, but until then, I was taking the chance. I just needed to make sure I kept my distance while I was in the same room as her.

Taking a deep breath, I walked up to her door and knocked. About three heartbeats later, it opened and Jess stared out at me. My body’s reaction to her never stopped surprising me. It didn’t matter how often I saw her. My pulse always quickened.

“Eli,” she said, blinking up at me.

“I know I’m not who you want to see right now,” I said, rushing to get it out before she closed the door in my face, “but Noah told me you reported the drugging, so I just wanted to check and make sure you were okay.”

“Uh,” she mumbled, shifting from foot to foot. “I’m okay. I think. I mean, I was—”

I cocked my head to the side a little. Something about her was off. “What’s going on, Jess?”

Her gaze moved past me, shifting nervously. “Can you come in?”

Okay, she was seriously starting to freak me out. She stepped to the side and tried for a smile as I passed, but it didn’t work.

“Are you okay?” I asked as soon as the door was closed. “I’m getting some seriously weird vibes here, Jess.”

She drew in a slow, deep breath and nodded. Whatever it was she had on her mind, it wasn’t good. I watched her fiddle with her cell as she made her way to the couch, gesturing me to follow.

My mind raced, worry churning my gut. With each passing moment, the possible scenarios grew worse and worse. When she didn’t answer me, I decided I’d reached my limit. “What’s going on, Jess? You’re starting to stress me the fuck out.”

I watched her lick her lips, turning her cell over in her hands. “I’m sorry. I just . . . I have something I want to show you,” she said, gazing straight into my eyes.

“Okay. What is it?”

She bit her lip. “First, you need to promise me you won’t tell anyone what I show you,” she said.

Jesus, I was getting more confused by the minute here. What the hell could possibly be that bad? But I appeased her by nodding. “Sure, Jess. Whatever you need me to do.”

She blew out a breath of relief and turned to unlock her cell. “I was going through my phone yesterday—I wanted to delete some of the pictures I had of Wyatt—and I found this. I think it’s from the night I was drugged, because I can’t remember any of it.”

Unease instantly filled me. I wasn’t sure what it was on her cell, but the slightly nauseated look on her face made me wary. If it showed anyone doing anything to her without her knowledge, I didn’t actually know what I was going to do. I just knew it wouldn’t be good. Taking the offered phone from her, I prepared myself for the worst.

“Press play,” she said.

Steeling myself, I touched the screen and waited, my breath stuck somewhere inside my chest. I squinted at the dark recording, trying to get my bearings. I recognized Jess’s apartment, but I didn’t recognize the sounds that could be heard in the background. But then the recording was moving, swinging around, shaking, until I could see a part of her kitchen. I narrowed my eyes, waiting. The tension of not knowing what to expect was almost unbearable. I prayed like hell that it wasn’t something that was going to make me want to kill someone, because that would definitely be the end of my career.

But then there it was. In full grainy color. “Whoa!”

My gaze flashed up to meet Jess’s before falling back to the screen. My brain struggled to process what it was seeing, but then there it was again. It wasn’t a trick. This was fucking real. Zac was bent over, chest pressed to the fucking counter, while Wyatt went at him from behind. There was no mistaking it. Everything was definitely clear. And I meant everything.

“Okay,” I said, lowering the cell to my lap, relief lightening my entire body. “That was not what I was expecting.”

She shook her head with disbelief. “I think I’m still in shock. I don’t know what this means.”

“It means the dude’s either gay or bi, Jess,” I said, unable to help myself.

Her gaze narrowed with contempt, leading me to believe I’d said the wrong thing. “Yeah, I got that. Thanks.” She sat back and rubbed her hand over he

r mouth. “So, you don’t know anything about that side of Wyatt’s or Zac’s sexuality?”

I shook my head. “Hell no, but after seeing that, so many things make so much more sense.”

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