9 Years Later

Chapter 23 - Truth or Dare

HER

ALL OF US STARED AT TRISTAN AS IF HE WAS A GHOST. Raine was so excited to see Tristan and hugged him.  He was grinning at him when suddenly his eyes caught me and Raffy.  The smile from his face instantly vanished.

I removed my head from Raffy's shoulder as if I did something wrong. I avoided his gaze and fidgeted on the sand in my hands.  Carla who is sitting beside me pinched me on my side.  I glared at her and she chuckled.

          "You are definitely not late! We are just starting! Come on Tristan Dear, sit beside me!"  Raine said. He obliged and sat between Raine and Jill.

He is wearing a plain white cotton shirt and board shorts. I can see his well defined chest outlined on his shirt.  I remembered way back when we would have our weekend getaways.  We loved going to the beach and we would always cuddle in the sand.  I would lay my head on his chest and feel it against my hands.  He probably noticed that I was looking.  I immediately lowered my gaze.  I felt my cheeks getting flushed.

           "Where are you staying? I have the keys for the Villa, you can stay with us."  Jill offered nicely.

          "Thank you.  Don't worry about it, I rented the Villa over there."  He pointed at the big villa adjacent to where we were staying. 

"Ok!  Enough of the chitchat!  Join us Tristan, we're going to play, Truth or Dare! Rules of the game, you can only pass once. If you pass, you drink a shot of jagger! Is that clear?" Raine said excitedly.  He nodded acknowledging that he played the game before.

Raine spun the empty soda bottle and it pointed to Jake. He chose "dare." Raine dared him to kiss the first girl that will pass by our group which he did without hesitation. It was good the girl that Jake kissed was a sport. She actually seemed to like what Jake did.

"Great job Jakey! Did you enjoy it?" Raine teased for which he just laughed.

Jake spun the bottle next and it pointed to Jill. She chose "dare," too. Jake asked her to kiss the hottest person in our group. Jill stood up and kissed Carla! I chuckled. I was right, Jill really finds Carla attractive.

"Hey, what was that!?" Carla said surprised.

"Why? I find you hot. Is that a problem?" Jill teased her. Carla brushed it off and rolled her eyeballs.

It was Jill's turn to spin the bottle and it pointed to Tristan. He chose "truth."

"Have you ever had sex or make love in the beach?" Jill said pointblank. Everybody was waiting for his answer.

Tristan looked at me. I lowered my gaze and looked at the sand. I felt my cheeks getting hot. During our weekend getaways before, we would build a makeshift tent near the seashore and make love under the moonlight.  We were so crazy about each other back then.  We didn't even care if somebody sees us making love in the beach. 

"Yes." He said truthfully.  Everybody screamed at his answer. Raine stood up and clapped so hard. Carla nudged me repeatedly on the side trying to tease me.

Tristan spun the bottle and it pointed to me. I chose "truth."

"Do you still have feelings for your Ex?"  He asked while staring intently at me.  I returned his gaze, my eyes questioning him, do you really have to ask me that? I didn't want him to assume anything.

"Pass." I said bluntly.  All of them yelled and complained that I am a party pooper. I didn't mind them and just laughed at their reaction.  I got the shot glass, poured jagger and drank it fast. Tristan just smirked at me.

"Coward!" Raine shouted and mocked me. I just grinned at him. I went ahead and spun the bottle and it pointed again to me! Sh..! Two in a row!

"That's what you call Karma for avoiding to answer truthfully!" Carla said laughing.

I chose "dare" this time. Jake requested to be the one to dare me. Everybody agreed to let him do it.

"Remember, you cannot pass this time. I dare you to kiss the person on your right. I want a real kiss." He grinned mischievously.

Of course, Raffy was on my right side. He is probably trying to play Cupid for his friend. I saw on the corner of my eye the grim look on Tristan's face. Being a sport, I did the dare and gave Raffy a real kiss. 

            They were all screaming after I did that.  I saw Tristan stood up and said, "it's already late.  I have to go. Great seeing you all."  And just like that, he turned around and left. If the two boys were clueless, the girls, of course had an idea why he abruptly left.

"Hey Alecx, you should say sorry. He came all the way here just to see you do that." Carla whispered in my ear.

"Why will I say sorry? We're not even together. And he's probably just tired that's why he left." I whispered back at her rationalizing what Tristan did.

But deep inside, I felt guilty. Like I did something wrong. I remembered the look on his face. I know he just wants us to be friends but he acted like a jealous boyfriend a while ago. I should just shrug it off but I care on what he thinks about me. It still matters to me.

After Tristan left, we didn't feel like continuing the game so we all went back to the villa and called it a night. All were tired from our eventful day except for me. I just laid on the bed thinking what I should do. Carla who is trying to sleep beside me sensed that I couldn't sleep.

"You know what, you should talk to him. Set the record straight so you will have peace of mind. He is giving you mixed signals and it is not fair for you, him and Sam. Come on, just do it now. You are not going to sleep anyway." Carla advised.

I think Carla is right. We are grown adults and we need to communicate. I carefully tiptoed so Raine and Jill won't wake up on the other bed.

I went to his villa and knocked on his door. He immediately opened the door and I saw the surprised look on his face.

"Tris, can we talk?" I asked him.

He looked at me and with one swift movement, he pulled me towards him and closed the door behind us. Our bodies are pressed against each other and I could feel shivers traveling all over my spine. 

"Later." He said huskily. I can smell his alcohol breath on my face. His lips lowered to  claim mine.  It started gentle at first and eventually turned into a passionate kiss. I could feel his hunger with every movement of his tongue in my mouth. I kissed him back with the same yearning he had. I let my body succumb. I don't even care if this is right or wrong.  All I know is I badly want to be with this man tonight.