Truth Be Told

i

t e a s e r

Colin sees her, but he isn't nearly prepared for what comes next. One second, he's about to shoot her, and the next, she's suddenly charging at him, tackling him with such force that he nearly falls back on his ass. He catches her, taking a few steps back until he feels his back touch the wall.

She has him backed up in a corner, startled, but he quickly recovers and readjusts his right hand, attempting to shoot her. Sadie seems to realize this, her eyes widening in panic, but before Colin can make a definite move, she makes hers.

Only it's not what he expects.

Her lips are warm against his and she tastes vaguely like strawberries. It's intoxicating, so fucking intoxicating, that his eyes slowly flutter close, almost involuntarily, and though his confusion intensifies, his lips seem to make up his mind for him as they begin to move in sync with hers.

She runs her tongue across the bottom of his lips and he shivers, leaning back against the wall, growing unsteady as she deepens the kiss. He mirrors her movements, his thoughts jumbling up as his heart pounds against his chest, loud enough to drown out the sound of the laser tag game going on around them.

She pulls away first.

He blinks rapidly, dazed, and before he can even get ahold of himself, she's already stepping away from him. He realizes, belatedly, that she's pointing a gun at him. That she's pointing his gun at him. Realization dawns on him and his eyes dart to his now empty hands. When he looks back at her, she shoots him square in the chest.

His jaw drops open as he looks down at his chest. He hears her laugh and looks up to see her tossing her head back, looking happier than she'd ever been in the past few weeks.

When she catches his eye, she flashes him a mischievous grin. "Wanna go for another round?"

*****

Truth Be Told

Sam Madison 2017

*****

s u m m a r y

Sadie has always enjoyed pissing Colin off. And the worst part?

She knows exactly how to get on his nerves.

Colin was less than thrilled when he found out he and Sadie ended up going to the same university, and in the past two years of their college life, he has successfully avoided her to the best of his abilities.

But then he finds her crying outside the burger joint just ten minutes away from campus and he realizes with a sickening twist in his gut that if there's one thing he hates more than Sadie herself--it's seeing Sadie cry.

*****

a u t h o r ' s  n o t e

I always thought myself to be strong and independent. I've never been confident or sassy (not in person anyway), but I have never been particularly weak. Not until college came around. It has come to a point where I find it difficult to believe in myself. How do you force yourself to believe in someone who always lets you down?

This story is for the people whose weaknesses have worn them down. I'd like to think we're a lot stronger than we allow ourselves to think.

*****

w a r n i n g

(1) mature themes

(2) foul language

(3) adorably awkward male character who is different from all my smooth-talking, banter-loving mcs

(4) kissing (among other things)

(5) other things (and lots of it too)

*****

a b o u t

Truth Be Told is a spin-off to No Hard Feelings. It explores a different dynamic of the love-hate relationship. The love-hate relationship trope is a classic--the one where the main characters can't stand each other and constantly insult and argue with each other, until they're (gasp!) forced to spend time with each other and (gasp!) end up falling in love (!!?!?!).

While love-hate relationships are one of my guilty pleasures, Truth Be Told isn't like that. This one is more subtle, I think, with only one party actively hating on the other, and with the characters reacting and interacting differently.