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Chills erupted on my skin. There was no breeze, but it felt as if I was standing in the Arctic Tundra naked. Goosebumps pebbled on my arms.

“Secrets,” Dylan scoffed. He languidly kicked back in his chair, boots resting on the table. Heath stared at the offending limbs as if he wished to cut them off. Oblivious or just plain stupid, Dylan added, “I’m an open book.”

“Really?” Heath’s cadence contorted, turning darker as the seconds dragged on. “Have you ever raped anyone before, Dylan?”

My breath caught in my throat, and Dylan’s eyes widened slightly, almost imperceptibly. He quickly tried to school his features into one of indifference.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t you?” Heath whispered. Before Dylan could deny it, Heath held up a deck of cards. That smile returned, once more causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. The hot and cold attitude Heath had perfected was creepy as fuck. “Let’s begin, shall we? Five cards stud.”

With nimble fingers, he dealt the cards.

I had played poker before, back in high school with Beau, and the rules of the game were simple enough. With stud, you weren’t allowed to exchange cards. Best hand won the pot.

Glancing at my cards, I spotted two black sevens, a king of diamonds, a five of hearts, and an ace of spades.

“I bet one secret,” Maria said softly placing a white chip onto the center of the table.

“It’s early,” muttered Dylan, adding his blue chip. Heath added his green chip as well, face carefully impassive.

After a moment of hesitation, I added my red chip.

“Show your cards,” Heath instructed. I waited with bated breath as the other three revealed their cards to the table. Maria had a three of a kind, Heath had two pairs, but Dylan had a straight. His smile was smug as he acquired all the chips.

The game continued like that. Chips moved from hand to hand until even I had a hefty pile of blue, white, and green chips. I was able to gain most of my own chips back from the other three after they had stupidly bet against me.

After an hour of playing, Heath announced it was time to cash in.

Five secrets from Maria.

Five from Dylan.

One from Heath.

I could ask them anything, and they would be forced to answer honestly. Of course, there was no guarantee that theywouldanswer honestly, but I had to try.

“I’ll go first,” Dylan said, flipping my red poker chip like you would a coin. He flashed me a tremulous smile. “Bianaca, darling, are you a virgin?”

My teeth gritted at the intrusive question he obviously knew the answer to. Anger, hurt, and something akin to fear caused my heart to ricochet up a notch. I leveled him with my best glare, but I knew it would do nothing to deter him. My anger was only fuel to the fire. He relished in my pain, my fear.

“No,” I answered, my voice drum-shattering loud in the suddenly quiet room. Maria shifted uncomfortably, almost as if she felt the palpable tension cloaking both of us, and Heath’s eyes narrowed further.

“My turn,” I said stiffly. I held up Dylan’s chip. “Dylan, have you ever raped a girl or touched a girl without her permission?”

My satisfied smile dimmed slightly when the asshole didn’t even squirm. He met my gaze steadily, hungrily, lips curling into a scowl.

“Yes,” he answered without preamble. Without shame.

Yes.

That one word coated my skin like a dark, sticky tar. I couldn’t escape from it, from him.

Heath growled under his breath, but Maria either didn’t understand what he’d just admitted to or didn’t care. She giggled softly, indolently taking a sip out of her beer bottle and burping.

“My turn!” Her words slurred together. “Bianaca…which one of those guys are you dating? You know, the yummy ones. The sexy as hell ones. The ones I want to lick until they’re nothing but a popsicle stick—”

“None,” I cut her off.