One Choice (Hogan Brothers 2)

The heart will fight for what it wants above all else.

Brett and Lys were picking Hayes up for Levi’s fight that night. His lips had said no to her spending the night with him, but his eyes had screamed yes. She wouldn’t force herself on him. She wasn’t going to be that needy girl, but she wanted to spend time with him.

There was no doubt they had an electric chemistry, but every time they were together, they were basically supervised. Baring her soul to him at the gym wasn’t exactly easy.

When Levi spoke about fighting, he had a look in his eyes. Haunted, pain-filled. Hayes wanted to learn more, except she knew that if he were anything like her brother, he would hide the pain from everyone. Getting him to talk about it in front of his competitors wouldn’t exactly be a cakewalk.

“Mom, Dad, I’m leaving!” she called to them as she ran down the stairs from her room after seeing Brett pull up.

“Have fun, honey,” her mom answered.

“Call if you need me to pick you up.” Her dad gave the same response he did whenever she went out.

“I may not be home tonight.” She held her breath waiting for them to say something.

“Staying at Alyssa’s?” her mom asked walking into the entry way.

Most kids would lie to their parents and say yes, avoid the lecture. She’d never lied to her parents about her actions before and knew if she did now, she’d regret it.

“I’m staying the night at Levi’s,” she told them honestly. Even if he hadn’t agreed yet.

“Come again?” her dad asked.

Taking a deep breath, say said, “I’m staying with Levi tonight.” Her gut was in knots as they looked at each other.

Silent communication was spoken as they maintained eye contact. “Alright, honey,” her mom finally said with a bright smile. “Be safe,” was her subtle way of saying use protection. She kissed Ha

yes on the cheek and went back to whatever they’d been doing.

Her father stayed behind. “You sure you’re ready for that, Hayes? He had you shattered for days.”

Pushing her embarrassment to the side, she told him, “I’m not ready for that yet, Dad, but I need to learn more about him. We’re always with a crowd, and I just want to know if this feeling he evokes in me is real, or rather me wanting it to be real.”

He studied her for a moment, his voice low when he answered. “Be true to yourself, Hayes, and you’ll be fine.”

Grinning, she hugged him and kissed his cheek. “I’ll text you his address later.” He nodded his approval, and she was out the door.

Lys squealed like the excited girl she was, and for once, the sound didn’t annoy Hayes. So, she did something to shock the heck out of the girl and squealed right back and hugged her as she stood on the sidewalk. The poor girl went silent, in shock. “Geez, Lys, if I knew that’s all it took to calm you down, I’d have done it months ago.”

“You squealed,” she pointed out still unmoving.

“That’s the high-pitched frequency you use, right?”

Shoving Hayes, Lys pointed to the car and scowled, saying, “Get in,” before breaking out into a fit of laughter.

They talked the entire way there about all the stupid little things Hayes had always wanted to be part of but didn’t have the energy to be involved in. They talked football and prom, who was dating who, and Dustin’s bruised ego after Levi gave him a piece of his mind.

“I still can’t believe he claimed you like a caveman in front of the whole school.” She sighed. Hayes would never admit, but he wormed his way into her heart with that move.

When she was younger, Ryder had always told her that real love, the love that consumed your entire mind and soul would bring out a person’s baser instincts. That when she found that, she’d turn into something she’d never recognize.

She would act stupid and foolish. Pull all the wrong moves and likely push him away. When Levi had literally knocked her on her ass, she had. He’d tried flirting with her, and she’d become offended and run off. She did it the second time, too. Third time, he was the dick and hurt her.

Ryder’s words, we hurt the ones we love, even before we love them, flashed through her mind as she thought about his reaction to her age. She hoped it were true. She would give anything to have Levi feel even half of what she did for him.

Levi saw Brett arrive with the girls, but because of the crowd and their short statures, he hadn’t actually seen Hayes. He wanted to go out there and bring her back to his locker room, but he knew if the crowd had seen him, they’d go crazy.

The night was louder and busier than normal, and Casper was having a field day trying to take bets without the MMA sponsors seeing him. Even if they chose to sign on with Levi, they’d never take Casper because of it.