I Dare You (The Hook Up 1)

I clear my throat, easing over the awkwardness. “Anyway, my Nana took me in and raised me. I’d just graduated high school when she passed from a bad heart. Sometimes I think she waited until I was old enough and then just let go.” I don’t know what it is about this guy, but suddenly I’m opening up to him.

He nods. “That must have been tough.”

I shrug, playing off my grief, but when I look back up, there’s this look on his face like he gets me…like he’s been there a million times before and—

God.

Stop, Delaney. Just stop. No more football players.

I recall the words Martha-Muffin just spoke to me: Athletes screw around—it’s what they do.

I clear my throat and move closer to my cart, wrapping my hands around the handle, anchoring myself, because Maverick makes me feel like I might toss aside everything I think about football players and give him a chance. “Look, you’re a great guy, and thank you for the offer of hanging out, but it’s best if we keep it simple.”

He studies me. “You’ll change your mind.”

My chest rises rapidly, and before I can formulate a snarky reply his sister’s voice drifts toward us from down the aisle, calling to him, and he waves back at her.

“Guess I have to run. Later,” he says, and then just like that, he’s walking off—and damn if his ass isn’t fine.

I let out a sigh and push my cart to the front to check out.

Maverick

“She’s…pretty,” Raven says as we get in my silver truck, ten-year-old Toyota I bought with my own money when I was sixteen. It’s seen its fair share of dings and scrapes, but it still runs like a well-oiled machine. Someday when I’m playing in the NFL, I’ll buy something sharp, but for now, I can’t think about that. One day at a time is all I can handle.

“Who?” I ask, helping her with her seat belt. Her eyes follow as I clip it into the buckle.

“Have…you…kissed…her?”

Raven’s eyes are turned up to me, and the light from the streetlight illuminates her sweet face. Emotion slams into my chest, reminding me that she’s not the same, not even close.

“No,” I say tersely as I start the truck and drive out of the parking lot.

“You…like…her?”

“Apparently, she’s just a friend.” I roll my eyes. “This isn’t one of your Disney shows where everything has a happily ever after.”

She shrugs and looks out the window. “You…should…ask…her…out.”

I shake my head at her, not telling her that I practically had. “Thanks for the dating advice, sis.”

Delaney…where do I even begin with her? Sure, we met at the bonfire, but I cocked that up, and by the time I tried to find her, she was with Alex. Once a football player has a girl, you can’t mess with them. It’s the bro code, not to mention the fact that Alex is the kicker and any small thing can freak them out.

I recall the first time I saw her after the bonfire: at a football party, on Alex’s arm, looking like she just stepped out of the pages of a geek girl magazine with her glasses, tight jeans, and a Walking Dead t-shirt she’d turned into some kind of halter top. What I liked about her was how she never looked at me any different because of who I was. She never put me on a pedestal or kissed my ass. In fact, she always fucking ignored me.

But now she isn’t with Alex.

The question is…what am I going to do about it?

I pull up at Dad’s doublewide, wishing like hell I had the money to get Raven out of here and in at Pineview Retreat, a state-of-the-art facility near Jackson, Mississippi. I’ve been eyeing it since she left the home where she was staying.

I put the groceries I bought in the cupboard and wake Dad up. He’s fallen asleep watching one of my old high school football games. It brings back memories of when Mom was alive and we were a whole family. Sure, we never had much, not with a dad who couldn’t hold down a job and a mom who railed at him constantly, but for me, it had been better than this.

He stirs in his recliner and looks up at me with bleary eyes. Smaller than me with thin shoulders and a haggard face, he’s in his fifties but looks older.

“You been drinking?” I ask sharply, feeling more like the parent than the child.

He stands and stretches. “No, just tired. I worked at Bill’s today changing oil on some cars he had.”

I exhale, staring at him. That’s good. As long as he works, everything is fine. I nod. “Just keep it that way.”

Dad gets up to make us dinner: leftover meatloaf and potatoes from last night. While he finishes up, I wait outside the bathroom while Raven takes a shower so we can talk through the door. I’m paranoid she’ll fall even though her balance has improved. I wish we could afford more than three days a week of a nurse who comes in to do these things.

After dinner, Dad loads the dishwasher and I tuck Raven in her bed. As requested, I make up a random story about a princess and her one true love.

She sighs as I stand up to turn off the light, careful to make sure her butterfly nightlight is still on.

“Mav?”

I pause at the door and hold in my exhalation, not wanting her to see how bone tired I am. I’ve been going since eight this morning when I hit the gym to box.

“Thank…you.”

“You don’t have to thank me every time I come see you, goofy.”

She sighs. “It’s…hard…for…you. Do…me…a…favor?” Her voice is small.

“Anything.”

“Kiss…Delaney.”

That wasn’t what I expected. I thought she’d ask for another cookie from the cupboard or another story.

“Why would I do that?”

She shrugs under the covers as she tucks her chin in, her eyes droopy. “You…just…need…to.”

“I’m not sure Delaney wants me to kiss her.”

“She…does,” she says. “I…have…a…TBI…but…I’m…not…stupid.”

I huff out a laugh. “Okay.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Guess this means I’m kissing her whether it’s a good idea or not. I mean, I’d do anything for my sister.

Delaney

“What you need is a fresh start with a rebound guy,” Skye says with a toss of her long red hair as we sit inside Buffalo Bills, a rowdy restaurant and bar near campus. We’re in the back in a leather booth, munching on peanuts from a pail as we wait for Tyler and my—shudder—blind date to show up. We came a bit earlier than the guys so we could catch up, and so I could get my nerve up with a drink. I haven’t been on a date with anyone but Alex since freshman year, and it feels weird.

I take a deep breath. “Tell me more about this Bobby Gene guy—which is a really weird name, by the way.”

Bubbly and eager, she waves me off and starts in. “Just ignore his name. You’ll love him. He’s on the baseball team but not a horn-dog. He’s nice—like you requested. No athlete floozies chasing him, no fetishes that I know of.”

“Key words being that I know of.” I smirk.

“You’re just anti-guy right now. At least he isn’t a football player.”

That is true.

She straightens her red halter top, which matches her hair. “Plus, Bobby Gene’s Tyler’s friend, so this is important.”