Page 121 of Shattered Silence Duet

“Hmm, sure you do. What do you say, Jasp? You in?”

“Definitely,” he says calmly, making me peel up at him. The heat in his eyes has me rubbing my legs together.

“Alright, Mina, you go first,” Max says as I move forward a bit so I can lie on my back. Max shifts down to lie on his side facing me, and Jasper mirrors him on my left.

“Truth or dare, Jasper,” I whisper.

“Truth.”

“What scares you?”

“A lot scares me, Angel. But my biggest fear is probably losing someone I love again.”

I turn my head to watch him and grip his hand with mine, as Max grips my other one.

“Losing our parents was rough. I think it brought Max and me even closer. I couldn’t imagine losing him. Or even living without him.”

“Yeah, man, that’s why we’re a package deal now,” Max adds. I turn to him and catch the end of a wink he gives his brother. What did he mean by that?

“Mina, truth or dare?” Jasper asks, not giving me a chance to voice my question.

“Truth.”

“What is something you’ve always wanted but never had?”

I think about it for a minute. The list is pretty long. I want to say it’s to have someone love me, but I don’t want to talk about it with these two, or, if they don’t respond the way I hope, it could make things really awkward.

“A dog,” I say with a smile, thinking about all the dogs I’veseen recently in real life and on tv. I’d love to have a dog to love me unconditionally while I take care of them.

“Really? I thought you’d be more of a cat person,” Jasper says thoughtfully.

“No, cats smell and shed. I’d want a hypoallergenic dog, not too big so I can pick them up if I needed to, but not too small that I’d worry about stepping on them.”

“I see you’ve thought a lot about this.”

I shrug in response, then turn to Max. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” he says with a smile.

“I dare you to steal Atlas’s phone and change his ringtone to ‘I’m Too Sexy,’” I tell him, giggling. It was one of the songs on the mp3 player he gave me and I loved it, I thought it was hilarious.

“Oh my god, you’re gonna get me killed!” he says, looking at me in horror.

“You don’t have to do it now, but within the next week, okay? Unless you want to bail on your dare?” I ask with a raise of my eyebrows, knowing he won’t want to back down.

“No, I’ll do it, within a week, scouts honor!” I nod at him. “Alright, trouble, truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“What is your favorite thing about me?”

I start laughing. “Hmm, only one thing? I’d have to say…” I look him up and down. “You.”

“That’s not an answer,” he says, chastising me.

“But my favorite thing about you isyou. I love your long brown hair, I love your beautiful green eyes, I love your…” I gulp and glance down the length of his body. “Body… I love the way you make me smile and laugh. I love the way you care about your family. But to name just one thing? Nope. Can’t do it,” I say, shaking my head.

He pushes himself up on his elbow and leans over me, gripping my chin lightly, and turning my gaze towards him. He gives me a heated look, then leans in and presses his lips to mine firmly. But he pulls back just as fast. “Your turn,” he whispers, his breathwarm against my skin as he slowly lets go of my chin and takes my hand again, giving it a squeeze.