Starlight Shadows — The Dare Box
“No,” Evan said.
Jae-Min stopped in the doorway. “You haven’t even seen what I’m holding.”
“It’s a box. You’re smiling. No.”
“It had biscuits in it,” Claire said.
“Thank you.” Evan held out his hand. “We can still save the evening.”
Jae-Min tucked the tin under his arm.
Ten minutes later, members of Lucid and Infinity Line were sitting in a crooked circle on the hotel lounge carpet. Shoes had been abandoned beneath the coffee table. Drinks occupied every available surface.
Imogen collected everyone’s phones in a fruit bowl.
“No filming.”
“What about evidence?” Dominic asked.
“Especially evidence.”
Claire shook the folded slips in the biscuit tin. “Truth, dare, or pass.”
“What happens if you pass?” Blaze asked.
“You take a sip,” Jae-Min said.
“Of whatever you’re already drinking,” Imogen added, watching Uriel raise his mug. “Yes. Tea counts.”
Uriel settled back, satisfied.
“And nobody leaves this room,” Evan said.
Jae-Min looked offended. “One security incident.”
“An alarm is not an incident. It’s an announcement.”
Claire pushed the tin towards Jae-Min before he could defend himself.
“You brought it. You start.”
He drew a slip, unfolded it and smiled.
Then stopped smiling.
Imogen leaned forward. “Read it.”
“‘Let the person on your left style your hair. Keep it that way for three rounds.’”
Everyone looked at Evan.
For the first time that evening, Evan appeared interested.
“Claire,” he said quietly. “Do you have those little clips?”
She was already reaching into her bag.
Jae-Min endured the styling with his arms folded.
“Nothing childish.”
“Of course,” Evan said, fastening a pink butterfly above his ear.
“Nothing that pulls.”
“Stay still.”
“And remember we have an interview tomorrow.”
Evan added another butterfly.
Claire inspected his work. “Needs height.”
“You stay out of this.”
She handed Evan a hair tie.
By the time the tin reached Imogen, Jae-Min had two short ponytails and the expression of a man waiting for his lawyer.
Imogen read her slip.
“‘Imitate someone in the circle until they recognise themselves.’”
She placed her glass carefully on the floor.
Then she turned to Claire.
“Have you eaten?”
Evan closed his eyes.
“Your hands are cold,” Imogen continued. “Where’s your jacket?”
Claire pressed her lips together.
“Who’s driving? Send me the address. No, the actual address. ‘Near the big building’ isn’t an address.”
“I know,” Evan said.
Imogen leaned forward. “Text me when you get upstairs.”
“I said I know.”
She paused, glanced at an imaginary phone, then began typing with both thumbs.
Claire folded over her knees.
“What’s that bit?” Blaze asked.
“The second message,” Imogen said. “‘Are you upstairs yet?’”
Even Evan laughed.
Jae-Min reached towards the fruit bowl.
Imogen caught his wrist without looking.
“No filming.”
“I was checking the time.”
“On Claire’s phone?”
Evan chose truth.
Jae-Min sat up so quickly that one ponytail bounced.
“What is the most ridiculous thing you’ve done to get five minutes alone with Claire?”
Evan looked at the tin.
“That wasn’t on a slip.”
“It says the person opposite asks.”
“Show me.”
Jae-Min held it up.
Evan read it twice.
Claire watched him over the rim of her glass.
“Well?”
He rubbed his jaw.
“I volunteered to collect the laundry.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Dominic frowned. “You volunteered?”
“It needed collecting.”
“From reception?” Claire asked.
“Yes.”
She lowered her glass.
“That took you forty minutes.”
“There was a delay.”
“You came back with one shirt.”
“It was my shirt.”
Imogen turned slowly towards Claire. “And you went down to help him carry it.”
Claire studied her drink.
“It was on a hanger.”
Jae-Min slapped the carpet.
“A hanger! Evan, you should have called us. Four men, we could have formed a chain.”
Claire drew a dare.
Her expression changed.
Evan noticed immediately. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Claire.”
She held the paper against her chest.
Jae-Min leaned sideways to see.
“Read it aloud.”
“‘Choose someone. Deliver your best pickup line without laughing.’”
A small, delighted silence settled over the circle.
Claire looked around.
Evan waited.
She looked at Blaze.
Evan stopped waiting comfortably.
She considered Dominic.
Dominic straightened his shirt.
Then Claire turned to Jae-Min.
“Oh, absolutely,” Jae-Min said.
“No,” Evan said.
“You don’t get a veto.”
“I’m protecting her from the hair.”
Claire shuffled across the carpet until she was kneeling in front of Jae-Min.
He attempted to lean casually against the sofa. A butterfly clip caught in the upholstery.
“Wait.”
She waited while he freed himself.
“Ready?”
He nodded solemnly.
Claire took his hand.
“Do you come with a receipt?”
His smile faltered. “Why?”
“Because I think I’ve made a mistake.”
The room erupted.
Jae-Min stared at her.
“That is not a pickup line.”
“I picked you up. I’m returning you.”
Evan’s laugh escaped so loudly that Uriel nearly spilled his tea.
The next slip required Evan to maintain eye contact with someone for thirty seconds while the others tried to distract him.
“Claire,” he said immediately.
Jae-Min pointed at him. “Convenient.”
“You wanted me to choose you?”
“Not with that attitude.”
Claire settled opposite Evan, their knees almost touching.
Imogen started the timer.
For the first few seconds, nobody spoke.
Evan’s expression softened.
Claire’s did too.
Jae-Min looked between them.
“Oh, I hate this.”
“Then be quiet,” Blaze murmured. “I’m learning.”
Dominic began humming wedding music.
Neither of them moved.
Uriel held a crisp beneath Evan’s nose.
Nothing.
At fifteen seconds, Jae-Min leaned close to Claire.
“He practised that look in the lift.”
Her mouth twitched.
Evan narrowed his eyes at her, which made matters worse.
“He did,” Jae-Min insisted. “Mirrored doors. Very convenient.”
“Twenty seconds,” Imogen announced.
Jae-Min dropped his voice.
“He said, ‘Is this too intense?’”
Claire made a small, strangled sound.
Evan broke first.
“That was about an interview answer.”
Claire collapsed against him laughing.
Jae-Min threw both hands into the air.
“Context is everything!”
By the time Jae-Min’s three rounds were over, nobody reminded him about the hair.
He drew another slip.
“‘Demonstrate how another member flirts.’”
Evan reached for his drink.
Jae-Min got to his feet.
“Oh, don’t look so worried.”
He crossed the circle, sat beside Claire and left an exaggeratedly respectful space between them.
Then he looked at her.
Looked away.
Looked back.
“Long day?”
Claire nodded, already smiling.
Jae-Min lowered his voice.
“You tired?”
“A little.”
He shifted one inch closer.
“Want to go somewhere quieter?”
Evan stared at him.
Jae-Min picked up a cushion and placed it behind Claire’s back.
“Comfortable?”
She nodded.
He handed her a bottle of water.
“Hydrated?”
Imogen had both hands over her mouth.
Then Jae-Min stood and extended his hand.
“Shall we inspect the laundry?”
Evan lunged for his ankle.
Jae-Min tried to escape, forgot he was standing on a discarded jacket, and sat down abruptly in Blaze’s lap.
Blaze caught his drink.
“Careful. I haven’t checked your hydration.”
Eventually, the tin reached Imogen again.
She unfolded her slip.
Then looked at Jae-Min.
He recognised the expression.
“No.”
“You haven’t heard it.”
“I know your face.”
She read aloud.
“‘Call hotel reception and politely request something unusual that is currently in this room.’”
“Phones are banned,” he said quickly.
“For filming.”
“You’re doing the dare. You make the call.”
“I will.”
Imogen retrieved her phone.
The circle fell silent as reception answered.
“Hello. Sorry to trouble you. Do you happen to have a comb we could borrow?”
Jae-Min relaxed.
“Yes,” she continued. “And perhaps some help removing a butterfly.”
His hands went to his head.
Claire slid sideways against Evan, shaking.
“No, not a real one,” Imogen said. “It’s attached to our friend.”
A pause.
“Two, actually.”
Jae-Min mouthed something furious.
Imogen nodded sympathetically.
“Yes. He is distressed.”
The knock came before they finished the next round.
Everyone froze.
Evan pointed at Jae-Min’s head.
“Take them out.”
“I can’t. You’ve engineered them in.”
Claire opened the door.
A hotel attendant stood outside holding a small toiletry pouch.
“The comb, miss.”
“Thank you.”
“And these.”
He handed her two shower caps.
Claire looked down.
Behind her, someone made a choking noise.
The attendant remained perfectly professional.
“In case your friend would prefer to cover it until morning.”
Claire managed to close the door before laughing.
Jae-Min held out his hand.
“Give me the caps.”
“Why?”
“One for my hair.”
He pointed at Evan.
“And one for him. I’ve just written another dare.”
The dare box may be closed, but there’s plenty more trouble—and temptation—waiting beyond the lid. ✨
Discover Claire, Evan and the world of Starlight Shadows. Find the trilogy on Amazon by searching Starlight Shadows C. Lee Javier.
