Quiet vs. Loud

Truth or Dare

Rayne's POV

We all settled down in a circle in the living room to play Truth or Dare.  I had to make sure that Jackson and Jayce were sitting where we could see each other sign.  I knew that my brothers and I could be quite ruthless during this game, but from what I had seen of Riker's family, they could handle anything we could dish out.

"Ok, who wants to go first?" Ryland asked.  "I say we start with the oldest and just go from there." Rydel answered.  "That seems like the fairest way to me."  "That souds good to me too." Rocky said.  "So Riker, that means you go first."

Riker looked around the group and finally his eyes settled on Ross.  "Ross, truth or dare?"  "

"Crap" Ross said.  "Dare I guess."  "OK," Riker said with a grin. "I dare you to go to the corner and stand on your head for the next 5 minutes." Everyone from Riker's family started to giggle as Ross went to the corner and stood on his head.  "What's so funny?" I asked Riker.  "Ross hates to be upside down for a long period of time.  When he finally gets down, he won't be able to sit up without fallng over. 

Once Ross was standing on his head, he said "Rocky, truth or dare."  "Truth" Rocky replied quickly.  "OK, who was the last person, outside of our family, that you kissed?"  "Alexa" Rocky answered with a smile.

Rocky looked around and settled on Jayce.  "Jayce,truth or dare?"  Jayce look at me and signed "dare." which I translated.  "OK, I dare you to let me mix any 3 drinks from your fridge and you drink it."  I started to laugh.  They didn't realize that Jayce has an iron stomach, and he does stuff like this on his own all the time.  Rocky went in the kitchen and came back with a glass and the bottles of OJ, tobasco sauce and soy sauce.  He mixed up a big glass and handed it to Jayce.  Jayce looked at me, grinned, and downed the entire glass at one time.  Then smiled and signed "Ryland, truth or dare?" 

"Dare" Ryland said.  "Ok, I dare you to kiss someone in this room." Jackson signed.  When I translated this, I looked at Jayce with a confused look.  The only two girls here are me and Rydel, and while I knew Ryland would probably give Rydel a kiss on the cheek since they are family, I didn't know what to do if he chose to kiss me.  Ryland looked at me and Rydel and then stood up and walked over to me.  He knelt down beside me, put his hands on my cheeks, and kissed me.  I thought i would be a quick kiss, but he lingered for a minute.  When he pulled away, I looked at everyone but my eyes stopped on Riker.  He looked like he could bury Ryland where no one could find him.  But Ryland just looked at him and smirked.  The he went and sat down in his spot.  "OK," Ryland said "Ratliff, truth or dare?"

Ratliff thought for a second then said "Dare."  Ryland grinned.  "I dare you to take off your shorts and sit in your boxers for the next 15 minutes."  Ratliff hesitated for a second, but he stood up and took off his shorts.  As soon as he did, everyone started laughing.  Ratliff was wearing a pair of dark green boxers with kittens on them.  Then he sat down and said "Jackson, truth or dare?" 

When I signed the question to Jackson, he looked at me and signed "Truth."  Ratliff thought for a minute then said "If you could do one thing in the world that you can't do now, what would it be?"  I translated the question, and Jackson just looked at me.  I could tell that he was scared to answer, so I just told him to be honest, no one would care.  So he signed "If I could do anything, I would love to be able to write stories like Rayne can.  I can draw pictures or take photos that tell stories, but I can't put the stories into words."

I smiled at Jackson after I translated, then waited for him to pick the next person.  But before he could pick anyone, Ross yelled from the corner "Riker, can I please get up now? My head hurts." 

"Sure," Riker replied.  While Ross was making his way back over to us, Riker leaned over to me and said "I actually forgot he was over there."  I smiled and looked at Ross.  He was laying on the floor holding his head.

"OK," Jackson signed "Riker, truth or dare?"  "Dare" Riker answered.  "OK, I dare you to kiss Rayne."

I gasped and looked at Jackson.  "What do you think you are doing?" I signed.  Jackson signed back "Trust me, I saw his face and your face when Ryland kissed you.  This is a good thing, trust me."  So I looked at Riker and signed Jackson's original dare while I translated out loud.  Riker looked shocked but Rydel was grinning.  I turned to Riker, and we both leaned towards each other.

As soon as our lips touched, I felt my heart start to race.  This was the best thing I had felt in a long time, and I never wanted it to end.  Evidently, Riker felt the same way.  While our lips were still connected, he slid even closer to me and wrapped his arms around me.  I wrapped my arms around him, and wove my hands in his hair.  We just sat there and kissed until I heard someone clear their throat.

Embarassed, Riker and I pulled away from each other and look around.  Everyone was looking at us, and they were all smiling.  Rydel's grin was the biggest of all.  "I knew it" she shouted. "I knew that you two had feelings for each other, but I knew it would take Riker forever to make the first move.  I guess Jackson knew the same thing."

We played a few more rounds of the game, then Ryland said that it was time for them to go home.  They had an interview and photo shoot the next day, and I needed to spend some time with Riley.  We cleaned up our mess, and Whit, Jayce and Jackson all went upstairs while I walked everyone to the door.  I hugged everyone, and Rydel said "Next time, we do this at our house so we can have the pool."  I agreed and they all left, except for Riker.  When we were alone, he looked at me and said "I had a great time tonight.  I really like  your brothers, and I can tell that my brothers and sister like them too."  

"I'm glad everyone got along. I was a little worried."  I replied.  "And you're right, I had a great time tonight too."

"Rayne, I don't know how you felt about that kiss, but I really liked it.  I was a little nervous at first, but as soon as our lips touched, I felt something magical.  I really hope it didn't make you uncomfortable."

I looked at Riker and smiled.  "No, I wasn't uncomfortable.  I mean, I was a little embarassed to do it in front of everyone, but as soon as we touched our lips, I forgot about everyone."

Riker looked releived.  "I know I have a full day tomorrow, but would you like to go out with me one night next weekend?"

"I would love to." I told him.  "I'm sure we will see each other during the week, so we will plan something this week."  

"Great" he replied.  "Well, I better get home, or my brothers will lock me out of the house I will have to climb in my bedroom window, which I hate doing.  I will see you soon."  After another hug, he ran towards his house, and I turned and went in my house.  I set the alarm, then I headed up to my room.  After I completed my bedtime routine, I climbed in bed and snuggled under the covers.  Once I was comfortable, I just laid there and replayed my kiss with Riker over and over in my head.  That night, for the first time in a long time, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.