Do You Dare? (Truth And Dare Duet #1)

by Lylah James

Maddox Coulter was still an asshole behind a pretty mask. And I was the stupid girl who fell in love with her best friend.

Maddox Coulter. Berkshire Academy’s Star Quarterback. Reckless bad boy. Infamous playboy. The Casanova of the senior class and its golden boy. And yes, a Class-A jerk, with unparalleled levels of douchebaggery.

Maddox was on the top – the pack leader. He was the King, and he wore his crown with a cocky grin. He was untouchable to his rivals,

I was starting to believe there was no escaping Maddox Coulter once he checkmated you.

“Why don't you have a proper jacket on?” I hugged myself, rubbing my hands up and down my arms. “I didn't think it was going to be this cold. I thought the sweater would be enough.” Before I could finish my sentence, and before I knew what was happening, he shrugged off his jacket and pushed it toward me.

“I'm not going to be your Knight because I know you aren't a damsel in distress. You’re more like the dragon in the fairy tale.”

If you google Maddox's name, Cocky will be his definition. Maybe that should be his middle name. Maddox 'Cocky' Coulter.

To everyone, I was Maddox Coulter – the golden boy, star quarterback and Berkshire’s king. To my parents, I was a disappointment. To myself? I was just the boy trapped in the closet.

I embraced him. He didn’t let go. His breathing smoothed out, and his pounding heart slowed. “I got you,” I soothed, running my fingers through his soft hair. His arms clenched around me, and he nuzzled his nose into my neck. Hold me tighter, he said without any words. I got you.

There was an unreadable gleam in his eyes when he spoke. “You’ll bring Berkshire to its knees, Sweet Cheeks.” I’m going to bring you to your knees.

“I solemnly swear not to be an asshole, but I’ll still think of sixty-nine ways of how I can dick you down every time you look at me or shake your ass my way.”

smh

“Friends?” I breathed. “Friends,” he agreed.

Maddox was on my side now. His friend. His only friend who was a girl. I had more power than any of the girls he slept with. He was king, and as much as I hated it, that made me the unofficial queen. Berkshire Academy was my kingdom.

“Because I need the world to know they can’t mess with what’s mine.”

I realized Maddox Coulter was a little bit ruined, a little bit messy, a little bit broken -- a beautiful disaster. Like me.

“She didn’t tell you. I’m not surprised. My Lila always suffers alone.” Suffers… alone? Fuck, no. She would never. Not alone. Lila had me.

But she meant more. We had each other – she got me and I got her.

She was the calm in my reckless life. I was the chaos in her peaceful one.

“Now, I have someone to lose, and I know it will break me. I know what it means to fear losing the person who means the most to you. That person has the power to destroy me.”

Pinky swear, me and you... forever.

“Friends?” I asked, showing him my pinky. It was something so silly to do, but it was us. He grinned and hooked his finger around mine. “Friends.”

I didn’t have to confess my undying love to Maddox. What we had; it was an unspoken understanding with unsaid words and a feeling we couldn’t explain. Love was too simple of a word to describe it because love was black and white. Love or don’t love – there was not really an in-between. What we had… it was a kaleidoscope of colors.

“It’s ugly,” she whispered, trying to hide a grimace, but her face said it all. “You’re beautiful,” I confessed, my voice strained. And she truly was.

“Me and you?” I breathed. Maddox and I against the whole world. Partners in crime and best friends. “Me and you,” he agreed,

Fate really had a way of playing with us. I used to despise him. And now he was the most important person in my life.

I didn’t need a girlfriend. Lila Garcia was already the best thing in my life.

“I love you,” I whispered. His arm flexed around my hips. “I know.” His hold tightened around me in the slightest bit. His lips feathered over my forehead in a whisper of a kiss, before he placed his cheek on top of my head again. “I love you, too.”

“If I love you, I give you the power to destroy me. I’m not strong enough for that. I can’t be just another girl to you, Maddox. I need to be more; I deserve more, and I don’t think you can give that. I can’t risk us and what we are. We’re beautiful… just like this. Friends.”

“If there’s a God, He doesn’t want me to be happy. Maybe it’s my fault because I pushed you into the arms of another man. But He won’t let me have you even though I begged him to let me love you freely. I can’t remember the last time I asked Him for something. I guess... I’m not meant to have what I want. My parents. A family. You. You. You,”