truth or dare - game on series #1

Cameron

I lay on my bed, staring at my phone, the screen's glow the only light in the dark room. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, debating whether to send another text. But what was the point? The last few were already sitting there, unread.

Stella, please. Just talk to me.

Nothing.

I clenched my jaw, tossing my phone onto the nightstand and rubbing my face with both hands. The silence from her was worse than anything she could've said. I fucked up. Badly. And now she wanted nothing to do with me. My chest felt tight, like there was a weight pressing down on it, and no matter how hard I tried to shake the feeling, it wouldn't go away.

The door burst open without warning, and Drew stepped in like he owned the place, followed closely by Luke and Liam. Their voices filled the quiet, but I barely registered what they were saying until Drew flopped onto my bed with an exaggerated groan.

"Oh, come on, man. You're seriously still just lying here? This is depressing."

"Yeah, dude, you look like shit," Liam added, crossing his arms. "Worse than usual, which is saying something."

I let out a humorless laugh. "Thanks. That helps."

"We're being serious," Luke said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "You look like a guy who got dumped and never recovered."

I shot him a glare. "I didn't get dumped."

"Yeah? Then why do you look like a kicked puppy?"

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Not in the mood, guys."

"Well, too bad," Drew said. "Because we're going out."

I shook my head. "Pass."

"Nope." Liam leaned against the wall. "You don't get to just sit here and wallow. You need a drink. Or ten."

"I don't need anything."

"Dude, you haven't eaten all day. You haven't showered. You look like you lost a fight with a trash can." Luke smirked. "You're coming out with us. No arguments."

I exhaled heavily, glancing at my phone one more time before locking it and shoving it into my pocket. Maybe they were right. Sitting here wasn't going to change anything. Stella wasn't going to text back. I had ruined everything, and no amount of sulking would fix it.

"Fine," I muttered. "But I'm only going because I need a drink."

Drew grinned, slapping me on the back. "That's the spirit."

Liam clapped his hands together. "Let's get you wasted."

I rolled my eyes but forced myself to my feet, grabbing a hoodie from my chair. Maybe a few drinks would numb the ache in my chest, even if only for a little while. Because right now, anything was better than sitting in my room, staring at a phone that wasn't going to light up with her name.

...

The bar was chaos, loud and suffocating, but I sat there at the counter, my fingers wrapped around a glass of whiskey. The amber liquid stared back at me, as if it held the answers to everything. It didn't. It just burned when I took a sip, but maybe that was the point—feeling something, anything, other than the hollow ache in my chest. That ache had settled there ever since Stella looked at me like I was a complete stranger.

Drew slapped me on the shoulder a little too hard, a little too eager. "Come on, man, lighten up. We brought you here to forget about her, not mope around like some lovesick idiot."