I Dare You (The Hook Up #1)(26)

Oh.

I get it—he wants to flirt with me, but I’m not quite important enough to go against his teammates for.

Fine. Football is king, and nothing else matters.

Disappointment hits me. “So you’re just giving up?”

His lips flatten and he doesn’t meet my gaze. “Later,” he says, and then he’s walking away from me.

I stalk back into the house, my hands clenched, disappointment churning. Part of me is…hurt. Just when I’d been softening to the idea of a football player, he goes and blows me off.

It’s been almost an hour, so I decide to go upstairs and meet He-Man. Careful to avoid Alex, I head upstairs to the hallway to wait outside the bathroom while a myriad of people come and go.

I’m anxious to see He-Man, but when he’s fifteen minutes late, I’m starting to look like a bathroom stalker. I pull out my phone.

I’m here and you’re not. Are you standing me up?

No reply.

You suck, I send, typing the words.

I can’t make it, he replies. Sorry. Something came up.

My stomach drops as I suck in a breath. Why is everyone letting me down?

Feeling more devastated than I should about a guy I’ve just been texting with, I shove my phone back into my clutch.

Alex is a cheating dick, Maverick ditched me, and now He-Man is a no-show.

All men are jerks.





Maverick



“I’m sorry I had to call you to come get him,” Mick says as I march up to the counter of a local bar, aptly named Mick’s. It’s a rather seedy, dusty place that plays old country songs, and it’s my father’s favorite, even though he’s been kicked out of it at least half a dozen times that I know of.

My hands clench. I didn’t see Mick’s voicemails until two hours after he left them because of football practice.

“What happened?” I ask, looking around and assessing, not seeing Dad or Raven. It’s a Monday evening and the place is dotted with a few worn faces.

His head nods to a back booth and my eyes follow, landing on my father. “He’s been here drinking since six. He fell pretty hard and hurt his hand. Nothing too serious, I don’t think, but Jackie played nursemaid back in the office.” I see the large white bandage. “He begged me not to call you, but I knew you’d want to know.”

Anger curls inside me. “Where’s Raven?” I ask, my eyes scanning the room once again.

“In the office with Jackie.” Mick sends me a sympathetic look. “Look, I know things are busy at school, but something needs to be done.”

My entire body tightens. “I’m doing the best I can.”

What I don’t tell him is that I’m driving out to the trailer multiple times a week to take care of her, even though it’s half an hour from campus. In a perfect world, I’d just move back in with Dad and Raven, but Coach Al requires us to live in the dorms.

I deal with my dad first, walking over to his booth and shaking his shoulder. “Dad!”

He reeks of bourbon and stale cigarettes, making bile rise up in my throat. It’s a smell I recall from my early days as a kid, coming home from school to see him passed out on the couch.

“Mav,” he slurs, raising his head up as spittle slides out of his mouth. “I’m sorry…didn’t mean to…all my fault.” The words are low and barely decipherable through the whiskey.

“I can’t believe you brought Raven here,” I snap, my gaze brushing over the patrons at the bar. “Anything could have happened to her.”

“Didn’t have money for a sitter.” His eyes blink up at me, bloodshot and runny with a wetness I don’t want to decipher. I don’t care, I tell myself.

“You’re a son of a bitch,” I mutter as I lean down and pull him to the edge of the booth so I can swoop him up in my arms.

His chin falls down to his chest.

I brush past the bar and carry him out the front door. Ryker is waiting for me, his arms crossed against his chest. Same as me, he’s dressed in workout clothes, and he straightens up from leaning against my truck. Normally I wouldn’t have asked him to come down here with me, but he was with me when I listened to the voicemails. I motion for him to open the door so I can prop Dad up in the backseat.

He watches me with a grim face, his gaze brushing over my father. “What the hell? Shit,” he mutters.

With a withering glare at my dad’s lowered head, I head back inside with Ryker following me.

Mick ushers me to the back office and we sweep inside. Raven is sitting in a recliner watching Family Feud, her face pale and her cheeks stained with tears. Jackie is sitting at the desk working on a laptop, and she gives me a soft nod and a pat on the shoulder. “She’s okay, love, just feeling out of sorts.”

“Mav!” Raven lights up as she rushes over to me.

She bursts into tears as she jumps toward me, her thin arms wrapping around my shoulders. God, I need to do better by her.

“I’m sorry. I never dreamed he’d bring you here.”

Cupping my face, she searches my eyes then gives a little knock to her head. “I…have…headache.”

I kiss the top of her head. “Come on, Rav. I got you. Let’s get you home.”