Dare You To(9)

 

They were too different. They were best friends. Dare would never in a million years settle down with anyone, and despite the kiss and sexy comments, he obviously wasn't interested since he'd pushed Austin away.

 

"Do I need to take you to the hospital? Or get a bowl? If you're going to hurl, hurl the other way. I can deal with a lot of things but vomit isn't one of them."

 

That pulled Austin partially out of his thoughts. Dare stared at him, wide brown eyes and perfect fucking hair and really looking a little nervous at the thought of vomit.

 

"I'm fine," he rushed out. Maybe he laughed a little too, because his previous thoughts were crazy. He didn't want Dare. It had been a moment of delirium and nothing more. "My thoughts are all over the place. I'm not sure what's going on with me, but I'm okay. I just … think I need something different. Want to be something different." But that didn't feel right either. He liked who he was. He worked hard at being a good person.

 

"Don't do that-especially not for an asshole like Brian. I like who you are." Dare's words mirrored Austin's own thoughts, making him smile again.

 

"Yeah … yeah, I do too. I still feel like I need something different, though. I'm in this rut. Brian saw it and-"

 

Dare's growl cut him off. "I really don't like that guy. Fuck him. You want to make changes, that's fine, but do them for you, not for him."

 

And it wasn't for Brian. Brian might have kick-started this, but it wasn't because Austin loved him, or needed him. He just … "I need an adventure. I do the same thing every day. I spend all my spare time at the center or with you."

 

 

 

        

          

        

         

 

"Hey! You love the center, and I'm fun as hell." Dare nudged him before crossing his arms. They were sitting side by side, their backs against the couch again. "Sorry. You can finish now."

 

"I think I just need something new. To test myself, to step out of my shell. Like Friday night, I thought about going to Wild Side, but I came home instead. Saturday I went to the coffeehouse and they knew what I wanted and I spent the weekend at the center, even though I was off. I had nothing else to do. You're always having fun. You don't play by the rules. I want to test what it's like to color outside the lines."

 

Dare sat up straight, leaned forward and then turned to look at Austin. His eyes were a light brown, almost gold in some spots, and for the first time since Austin had met him, he didn't know what Dare's look meant. It wasn't light and funny. It wasn't adventurous. There was a seriousness there that Dare didn't often have but there was more, and damned if Austin couldn't feel his gaze.

 

"Personally, I think you're fine the way you are. You're steady, steady is good. Not everyone can be that. I can't, but we all need some of it. But if you want to color outside the lines, color outside the fucking lines, Austin. You can do anything you want. Not everyone can say that."

 

Dare stood. Shoved his hands in his pockets and Austin continued to sit there, looking up at him, that confusing want working its way through him again.

 

"Have fun, but be good. Just no bank robbing." Dare winked at him. "I'm tired. I'm going to cut out early tonight. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

 

In the six years they'd been friends, Dare had never walked away from him the way he had Friday night and now tonight.

 

What the hell was going on with them?

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER FIVE

 

 

 

 

 

Dare was losing his fucking mind.

 

He'd worked his cock to thoughts of Austin last night. Came all over his own hand with red hair, a soft face and vivid green eyes in his mind.

 

He needed to get laid.

 

Or to get some fresh air.

 

To lose himself to the world because he'd always been able to trust nature more than he could trust people.

 

Except for Austin. He trusted Austin. Fuck. Why was he thinking about Austin again?

 

The thing was, he'd always seen Austin as the stronger of the two of them. Sure, Dare would do anything. He'd done nearly everything. He lived life to the fullest because it was his life and he would experience it however he wanted, but he'd still always seen Austin as being stronger than him. He was steady, and steady took a confidence not everyone possessed. He was secure in who he was. He didn't need to get a fix by doing something wild.  

 

There had been a vulnerability to Austin the last two times he'd seen him and that vulnerability was fucking with his head.

 

He didn't know why or how, but it made him want to be stronger for Austin. It almost made him feel like Austin needed him, and Dare didn't know what to do with that. Austin had never needed him because he had a stability that Dare would never have.