“Yeah, I’m sure that he’s over it by now,” she said, forcing a careless smile when all she wanted to do was to hunt that large bastard down and kick his insensitive ass.

He hadn’t come after her to seek his revenge, texted her, dropped by to check on her, called Jake, her mother, or had one of his relatives ask if she was okay, nothing. Not that she wanted to see him upset or was in rush to find out exactly what he had planned for her, but still…

Would it have killed him to at least pretend that he gave a damn about her?

Bastard.

As she stood up, gasping in pain when the spring got in one last poke, she walked over to the bathroom and shoved her brother out of the way, deciding that it was probably for the best that she confront the heartless bastard now and put an end to this dare before they ended up killing each other.

*-*-*-*

“Let me the fuck go!”

Reese, the biggest fucking traitor in the world, shook his head while Jason and Trevor lounged on the bed on either side of him, finishing off the last of his cereal. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jason said with a soft sigh and a shake of his head that had Darrin yanking harder against his handcuffs, eager to kill the bastard.

“I’d have to agree,” Trevor said absently as he tossed aside the empty box of Lucky Charms and grabbed the box of Twinkies that they’d found hidden in Marybeth’s apartment.

“I’m not going to kill her,” he promised, because killing her was the last fucking thing that he wanted to do to her. She’d betrayed him, used his weakness against him and then ran off before he could get his revenge and he couldn’t remember ever wanting her more.

“Uh huh,” Jason said absently as he stood up and tossed his empty cereal box aside. “Why don’t we go downstairs and give him a chance to cool off before we let him go?” he suggested, already heading for the door and bringing his rage to a whole new level.

“Don’t. Even. Fucking. Think. About. It,” he bit out, emphasizing each word with a vicious yank on his handcuffs.

“It’s for the best,” Trevor said, repeating the same damn phrase that he’d been using since yesterday when they’d all ganged up on him and dragged him up here.

He knew that they meant well. He did. He even appreciated that they were trying to protect Marybeth, but they just didn’t understand what seeing her screw him over like that had done to him. He wanted her so much that he was actually in physical pain. He needed her and as soon as they released him, he was going to find her, bend her over and fuck her until it stopped hurting.

Then he was going to have to come up with a new plan, because clearly this dare wasn’t working the way that he’d hoped it would. He was going to call off this dare, something that he’d never done before, take her to bed, put them both out of their miseries and then he was going to have to regroup and come up with a different plan, because-

“Well, this explains a lot,” Jake drawled as he walked into the room.

Darrin shifted his gaze past Jake, hoping to find Marybeth lurking in the hallway, desperate for a glimpse of her, but she wasn’t there. “Where is she?” he demanded, keeping his attention on the hallway, hoping that she’d magically appear so that they could put this bed and the handcuffs to good use.

“At work,” Jake simply said as he grabbed the chair away from the wall and dragged it over to the bed.

“Then why are you here?” he asked, yanking on the cuffs as he shot a hopeful look back at the hallway, damning his cousins and brother to hell and back when their large backs blocked his view as they filed out of the room.

“We’ll be downstairs if you need us,” Reese said, but he wasn’t listening.

“Because you and I need to have a talk,” Jake said as Darrin continued to glare at the hallway, willing Marybeth to appear so that they could put an end to this dare and move on.

“About what?” he asked absently as he shifted on the bed, trying to get a better look at the hallway so that he could see the exact moment when Marybeth came upstairs.

“The reason why you need to leave my sister alone and move on.”

Chapter 20

“How many nights will you be staying with us?” the cute guy working behind the front desk asked, giving her a warm smile that did nothing to help her frayed nerves.

“I’m not sure yet,” she said, somehow resisting the urge to look over her shoulder, again.

He nodded as he returned his attention to his computer screen. “Very good,” he murmured softly as he continued to type. “Would you prefer two doubles or a king?”

“Doesn’t matter,” she said, giving in to temptation and looked over her shoulder to make sure that the coast was clear.

“Third or fifth floor?”

“Fifth,” she mumbled absently as she looked around the large foyer, making note of all the exits just in case.

“I’ve placed you in room 517 with two double beds at the rate of one-seventeen a night. Is there anything else that I can do for you?” the clerk asked.

“No, I’m good,” she said, forcing a smile that felt a little strained as she accepted the key cards and her license back, “thank you.”

“If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call,” he said, giving her an inviting smile that barely registered in her paranoid mind.

“Thanks,” she said, shooting the double glass front doors a glance as she hefted her backpack over her shoulder and headed towards the elevators.