Lie To Me

Lie To Me-Chapter 40

Not giving Harry a chance to respond, Louis' smile widened. "It's like this, Riley... Instead of betting money, we challenge each other to dares, and when you lose, you have to complete the dares that were added to the pot."

I gave him a look. "What...kind of dares?"

It was Liam's turn to laugh. "We played this on tour last year, and Niall had to streak through the lunch room screaming, 'I'm a tomato!!!' And then..." He laughed harder. "Harry had to..."

"Don't say it..." My eyes flicked to Harry before turning back to Liam. Oh, now I REALLY wanted to know!

"He had to..."

"Liam..."

"Dress up like a woman, make-up and all, and harass the band!!"

Louis busted out laughing at this point, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from joining him.

"You did what?!?"

Covering his face, Harry shook his head. "It wasn't one of my best moments..."

"Oh, come on... You made a very beautiful lady..." Louis was near tears, as was Liam, and I couldn't close my eyes without picturing Harry all dressed up.

"Oh my God, I wish I could have seen that!!"

"I think Zayn got a picture of it!"

"He... What?!?" Grabbing his phone, Harry sent what I can only assume was a frantic text message to Zayn, while the rest of us continued to crack up.

When the oven timer went off a few minutes later, I excused myself to go check on the chicken. Surprisingly enough, all three of them entered the kitchen after me, offering to help set the table, carry things out, and get everything plated.

Wow... They must really want those cookies...

Sitting down to eat, the guys all dug in, moaning around their bites, and praising my cooking skills. I, however, wanted to know more about their "special" poker game...

"So, how does this game work? My uncle taught me years ago how to play poker, but we'd never played like this before."

Liam smiled as he cut into his second taquito. "Well, yeah, it is a bit different than regular poker... I don't even remember how we came up with this. Basically, before we start playing, everyone gets to write down three dares. One for each game."

Louis took over, "Now, each game has three rounds. So, we don't anti, or anything like that, but, if you think you have a good hand in that round, toss out one of your dares. If you win that round, you have the option to remove your dare for a later hand, or just leave it in the pot."

Then Harry spoke up. "At the end of the three rounds, a winner is declared and is permitted to remove one of his opponent's dares. Then at the end of the entire game, the winner is freed from any dares that involve him, but all the 'losers' still have to complete their dares."

Louis spoke up again, "But you don't have to put in all of your dares. If you don't want to, you can leave them all out entirely. It's up to each individual player. Liam here, is notorious for holding back... Unless he's drunk. Then all of his dares come out in the first game."

I laughed, nodding in understanding. It was all about the dares. The poker was just a means of delivery. "Okay, I think I get it. And, am I allowed to play? Or is this just a boys thing?"

Louis smiled at me. "Of course you can play!" At the same time, Harry shook his head, "I don't know if that's a good idea..."

I shot Harry a look of challenge. "I'm playing. I just have one more question. For my dares, am I allowed to include two of my opponents, or just one?"

"I plan on including two, so I think you can too..." Louis' eyes darted between Harry and I, and I had to hold back a shiver. Something told me this was not going to be a simple game...

As we finished up dinner, Harry helped me clear the table, while Louis and Liam got things set up in the living room.

"You don't have to play, Riley. It's a stupid game, really... It's just a way for us to embarrass the hell out of each other."

Stopping in front of him, I turned around, putting a hand on his arm. "Harry, I said I'm playing. I'm a big girl, you know. I can handle a little embarrassment."

"Yeah, but Louis can be ruthless..."

"Oh yeah? Well, so can I..."