Bound to You

Chapter 19: Dare

He waved a bunch of bank notes at the bouncer and the heavily-tattooed man stepped aside to let them in. He was a regular after all. Ileana whispered as she followed Jace, "Is that even legal?!" 

He grinned, "Technically no for you." 

She gasped, refusing to step further, "I'm not eighteen. I'm not doing anything against the rules." 

He hushed her brutally, "We're playing by my rules." 

She stopped following him through that corridor and insisted, "Well, I'm not playing. I don't want to go to jail! I'm heading back." 

He glanced at her boringly and tossed his bike key at her, "Sure." She caught it in panic, stared at the key as she just realised that...there was no going back. She needed him to take her home. She looked up again to see him opening a door and disappearing away. 

She ran to him, he held the heavy door for her and a cacophony of loud music exploded in her body as she felt the electro vibes. She was blinded by the surge of lights that were dancing around the area and it was so crammed with people that she held her breath. This was...stressful. That was not what she expected. 

She instinctively pressed her hands against his back as he forced his way through the dancers. She looked up to see a real DJ. She had never seen a professional so close before. He was standing on a high platform, behind a table where his equipment were lying, four large speakers at his two sides and the area was flooded by laser lights. She was in awed. This was a completely different world. 

Jace pulled her out of the crowd and she stared in amazement as she recognised a few boys from her own class. Sam, Danny, Steve, Mark and Drake. She actually felt intimidated, "Hi guys!" 

They grinned at her, whistling at her outfit, making her flustered. Sam gave her a quick hug and laughed, "Ignore em... Just lost twenty dollars because of you. Man, thought you were not the party type!" 

Ileana joined them at the large table and exclaimed, "I wouldn't be here if he didn't behave like such a jerk." Sam released her to hand the cash to Jace who smirked victoriously, not hiding his pride as he pocketed it.

"Ugh, what is she doing here?" 

They turned to the irritated voice who belonged to none other than Quincy. Ileana couldn't help but stare at her dress. It was actually so short and revealing. Her own blue dress look extremely tame compared to hers. And that make-up was quite overloaded. 

If it was not for her voice, she might not have recognised her at all. And the worst of it was that she was accompanied by two of her pretentious friends, Elena and Hayley. This was going to be such a nightmare.

Elena eagerly sat beside Jace and Quincy c****d an eyebrow, telling her to get away from her place. Once she shoved her friend away, she smoothly plumped down beside Jace, tossed her arms around his neck and glared at him, "Don't tell me you brought her here." 

Jace detached himself from that living glue and said, "Sam challenged me to do so...and I never turn down a damn challenge." 

So she was just a bloody stupid challenge? Else, she knew that Jace would probably never have even considered her. Ileana tried to smile as much as she wanted to hit him on his handsome face. She wondered in what foolish mess she had gotten herself into this time!

God, socialising was the least thing she wanted to do right now. Such a strenuous effort. The others looked so comfortable in that setting as they chatted over the loud music and she just felt like a fish out of water. 

She caught sight of Quincy's menacing glare and she ignored her by directing her eyes to her other classmates. 

As the other girls settled down, Quincy stood, grabbed the empty bottle of Heineken and said, "Let's heat things up with the traditional game of Dare or Dare."

Ileana asked quietly as she leaned to her side by Steve, the class-captain of her class, "Dare or Dare?" 

Steve chuckled, "It's like Truth or Dare except that you only have to choose dare. It's much better. Believe me." Ileana didn't think so. She watched as Quincy spun the empty bottle of Heineken and widened her eyes as its tip gradually stopped at her. She was baffled. Nooo... Was she allowed not to play?

Quincy would have loved that it landed on Jace instead but sure, getting Ileana at her mercy wasn't half bad after all. She would make a ridicule of her. Tonight. Definitely. And then, the boys would see that she didn't belong to the club with them. She wasn't cool and classy like them.

They cheered, "So what's up, Ileana?" "What do you choose?" 

"Er...do I even have an option?" 

"Good answer." 

She could see Jace's brief grin on the corner of his lips. The i***t! Was it why he brought her here?! Danny exclaimed, "Wooo...Quincy. You go easy on her, girl." 

Quincy tapped her chin pensively with a finger and then proudly said, "Oh yeah. I dare you to take in five shots of vodka in less than 1 minute and if you fail, you get on the table and do a sexy dance for us." 

The group cheered at that dare, nodding their heads in approval. Ileana coughed, wondering if they were all mad. They all seemed totally okay with it. Her hands rested on her laps and she creased her dress. There was no escaping it seemed. 

She defiantly exclaimed, hiding her nervousness in the clutch of her fingers, "Bring it on!" 

Jace grinned, "Pretty good dare, Quincy. Lemme get the drinks. Be right back."

Quincy eyed her with satisfaction. She would watch that loser crumple under her eyes when she'd probably end up getting mad drunk or actually dance on the table. Hah. She could already savour her victory and that pest would think twice before trying to steal his hot babe.

Ileana gulped as she saw Jace coming back within a minute, carrying six mini glasses of vodka and setting them carefully on the table. He raised one of them, gulped it down rapidly and smiled mockingly at her, "Your turn, Ileana. It's quite easy." 

Quincy smirked, taking out her phone to launch the stopwatch, "You're in. In three, two, one! Go."

Twelve seconds per shot...she mentally calculated. Ileana lifted the mini glass, smelt the drink, tasted it and decided it didn't feel that bad...at all. Under the shocking eyes of the group, she gulped down the drink at one go, imitating Jace.

Jace relaxed, trying not to smile as the others watched in shock as his girl, took in the vodka without hesitation. 

Sam exclaimed, a little bit worried when she was already on her third shot, "Oh my God. You're tenacious!" 

Drake shouted, "Get it, girl!" 

Quincy couldn't believe her eyes as the group clapped encouraging, tapping the table excitingly as Ileana lifted the two last mini glasses at the same time in the remaining fifteen seconds to down the vodka fast. 

Ileana stood, let out a shout of victory and slammed them on the table. "Wooo! Take that, Quincy!" 

The cheerleader was somehow impressed as she paused her stopwatch at the last three seconds, "Wow. You're actually...good. I'm kinda impressed!" 

Ileana wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stuttered, "Pretty damn good, eh? Better—get back—home before I— vomit." She clumsily pushed her chair back, faltered back into the dancing crowd and Jace chuckled, "And I better look out for her. You guys go on without us." 

Quincy winced, "But Jace..." But he paid no heed to her and already weaved his way through the throng of amateur dancers.

He wondered where she went as he walked through the crowd and someone actually clasped his wrist. He turned and saw himself facing her, her hair dishevelled, her breathing irregular as she ordered, shouting at him, "Get me back home. I hate it here!" 

He suddenly placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him, bringing his mouth to her ear to prevent the loud music from being a barrier, "You're a hilariously pretty good actress, cupcake." 

She bit her lips, looking into his eyes as she stood on her toes to lean against him so that she could speak to him, "I guess...I owe you a thanks? That was water, right? Not vodka or whatever..." "Definitely." 

Jace rested his hand on the small of her back. It felt nice to hold her so close and watching the lights flash various colours on her face. Ileana couldn't understand him, "Why did you do that?" 

He tugged her even closer to him, her whole body pressed against the length of him and he said in her ear, ignoring her sweet gasp, "You're my responsibility. That's why." 

"Hmpf." She was half-convinced. He did...save her image back there...but then, he also brought her to a silly place like that. "Let loose, Ileana!" 

Unknowingly, she saw herself moving to the sick beat with him, dancing with him as if others did not exist... Right now, at this moment, there was only him and his devilish grin. 

Maybe...just maybe, she might not be just a challenge after all.

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