Chapter 56 Truth Or Dare (1)

• The night draped itself over the sprawling mansion like a velvet curtain, heavy and warm, the kind of darkness that invited secrets. Inside one of the sleek bedrooms, six young adults—barely into their twenties—sprawled across the plush carpet, their laughter and low murmurs blending with the faint hum of the red neon lights that bathed the room in a sultry, crimson glow. The walls seemed to pulse faintly with the hue, casting shadows that danced over their skin, highlighting flushed cheeks and glinting eyes. The air smelled of tequila—sharp, heady, and reckless—mingling with the faint musk of expensive cologne and the sweet tang of perfume.
• The dinner party downstairs had been a lavish affair, their rich friend’s sprawling house dripping with excess—marble counters, crystal chandeliers, a dining table groaning under plates of truffle-dusted steak and glistening desserts. But now, the six of them had slipped away, abandoning the polished formality for something rawer, something closer. They’d raided the liquor cabinet, bottles of tequila clinking in their hands as they stumbled upstairs, shedding jackets and inhibitions along the way. The bedroom was cozy despite its size—thick rugs, a massive bed with rumpled silk sheets pushed to one side, and a wide window framing the moonlit sprawl of the estate beyond. But it was the neon lights, buzzing faintly, that turned the space into something else: a den of heat, a playground for whatever the night might unravel.
• They sat in a loose circle on the floor, legs crossed or stretched out, the carpet soft against their bare feet. Three boys, three girls, all of them teetering on that edge between youth and something wilder. Ethan, with his dark hair mussed and shirt unbuttoned just enough to show a sliver of tanned chest, tipped the tequila bottle to his lips, the liquid catching the red light as it slid down his throat. Beside him, Lila leaned back on her hands, her tight black top riding up to reveal a strip of smooth stomach, her blonde curls spilling over her shoulders like a dare. Across from her, Noah sprawled lazily, his broad shoulders flexing under a fitted tee, a smirk playing on his lips as he passed the bottle to Zara—dark-eyed and sultry, her lips stained red from earlier wine, her skirt hiked up her thighs as she shifted closer to the center.