I Dare You (The Hook Up 1)

I glance back up at him. “So…why is the big guy on campus sitting in the back of the auditorium with me? Isn’t there a football groupie somewhere crying because you aren’t next to her?”

“Because I can.” He pauses. “And you aren’t dating Alex anymore.”

“What does that mean?” I can’t believe I asked, but something about him has me feeling reckless.

He gets a tight look on his face. “Just an observation. You’ve been with him since freshman year, and everyone thought you guys were the perfect couple.”

“I didn’t think you cared—you know, with the twins and all.”

“You remember the bonfire.” It’s not a question.

“Kinda hard to forget.”

His eyes find mine. “I gave you your first kiss at the bonfire. Legend says you’ll never forget me.”

I tilt my head. “What’s your name again?”

He laughs, but soon a cloud seems to settle on the planes of his chiseled face. “Alex isn’t over you.”

“Why do you say that?”

His shoulders shift, the movement barely perceptible yet giving off a visceral impression of suppressed power.

“He’s my teammate, and I see how he looks at you. He wasn’t happy to see us standing together on Monday, and that was just an accidental run-in. Imagine how he’d react if there really was something between us.” His eyes slide over to my face. “He’d probably freak out and get pissed at me, and it would definitely screw up his game, and then poof, there goes our chance at a championship next year.” He gives me a teasing look. “Kickers are rather emotional…”

I wrinkle my nose. “Regardless if any of that’s true or not, I do what I want.”

He studies me intently. “So you’re dating again?”

“Why do you care anyway?” I ask.

“Hey, Mav, aren’t you going to come sit with us?” It’s a sleek-looking girl with dark hair and a lot of hot pink lipstick speaking from behind the railing that lines the back of the auditorium. Miss Brunette trails her finger along his shoulder, giving him a soft caress.

She sends a half-smile my way, clearly not worried about me being any kind of competition. I don’t reciprocate.

He flicks his gaze at her, showing even white teeth as he smiles at her, but it doesn’t ring true. They chat about class, and I’m fascinated, watching his reaction to everything she says, taking in the way he nods, the non-interest in his gaze. His eyes find mine as she rambles on and on about some big off-campus mixer between the frat houses, and he smiles ever so slightly.

He isn’t into her, and I know it.

I don’t know how I’m able to read him, but it’s as if we have a connection and I get him.

She walks off, hips swaying as she does another little wave over her shoulder.

“You sleep with her?” I ask casually.

He shrugs. “A few times last year.”

Ah. “You’re just a playboy, aren’t you?”

“I’ve had relationships.”

I narrow my eyes at him, feeling prickly. “Yeah? What’s the longest one?”

He cocks a smile. “Dated a sweet girl back in high school for a year…” His voice trails off. “Then things got messed up and I came to Waylon. Football’s been my muse ever since.”

“Doesn’t that get, I don’t know, lonely?”

He stares at me. “Is this an interview?”

“No. I don’t even care.” Total lie. I’m dying to know the scoop on Maverick.

A gruff laugh comes out of him. “I just know when a girl’s a keeper and when she isn’t. She wasn’t.”

“Ah, a keeper—I see.”

“Yeah, you know, the one girl who makes your heart pound like crazy every time she walks into the room.” He’s looking at me with an intensity that makes me breathless.

Does he mean me?

Don’t be ridiculous.

Just then the professor enters and begins his lecture, so I pull out my iPad to bring up the class website and get to work.

I try really hard to ignore how close Maverick is sitting, how his leg occasionally brushes against mine…and I remind myself that getting interested in a cocky-as-hell football player is the last thing I need right now.

Maverick

It’s the same dream again. I try to pull myself out of it, but it’s no use.

Maybe the outcome will be different this time.

Rain slaps at the car and Def Leppard blares on the radio as my father drives our old van. My mother yells at him, her mouth moving in slow motion, the sound disembodied, as if my brain doesn’t want to hear her words. I look over at my little sister and curl my hand into hers. She’s scared, and I have to protect her.

Dread snakes down my spine when a diesel truck’s horn blares at us as we fly past it, our headlights reflecting off his grill.

It’s coming.

My body tenses…waiting.

Just around this hairpin curve.

I have to stop him.

I yell at Dad to slow down.

I scream at Mom to shut up.

But I never say it in time.

There’s a deer in the road, its brown face turning to look straight into our headlights.

There’s a horrible metallic sound, like tin foil wrapping around a piece of meat, and then stifling silence, thick with smoke and fumes. Gas…I smell gas and oil, and it makes me frantic. I’m just seventeen, but I’ve seen movies—I know cars blow up. Maybe it would be better if it did, I think to myself in my dream. If we all just died, everything would be okay.

No, I tell myself. Get out. Live.

I touch my skin, feeling glass. Blood covers my fingers. Dangling from the seat belt, somehow I fight to break free and manage to crawl out of the mangled heap. Mom lies on the pavement, her body twisted like a pretzel.

I hear a whimper and find Raven, a broken doll, her eyes shut as I turn her over—

God, make it stop. Fuck!

I jerk myself awake, my body in a full sweat. Rubbing my hands through my hair, I glance at the clock and exhale heavily. It’s five o’clock in the morning, and there’s no way in hell I can go back to sleep after that nightmare.

My bedroom door opens, and it’s Ryker, one of my roommates and my best friend. We live in an apartment-style suite in Byrd Hall, also known as the athletic dorm. He squints at me with bleary red eyes. “Dude? Heard you thrashing around—you all right?”

I scrub my face one final time and get out of bed, willing my heart rate to slow down. “Same old shit.”

“Car wreck?” He leans on the doorjamb and gives me a concerned once-over. He’s our quarterback, a big dude with a heart of gold, and he knows the fucked-up childhood I lived through.

I nod quickly. “Every time February rolls around, it brings it all back. It’s like I’m in the dream and I keep thinking I can stop it from happening, but I never do.”

He nods, studying my face. “It doesn’t help that you’re worried about Raven. Your dad needs to get his shit straight.”

A muscle ticks in my jaw. Just thinking about him makes my blood boil. He’s lost his latest job as a mechanic…again.

“How’s she doing?” he asks me.

“As best she can.”

A sigh comes from him, and I know he’s got an opinion. “You’re wearing yourself out going to see her every afternoon. Hell, it was midnight before you got in last night. Between practice and her…something’s got to give.”