I Dare You (The Hook Up #1)(81)

“What’s new with Nick? You got anything?” I asked a bit later. Nick was the guy who ran the underground fights in North Carolina.

“Yeah. I’ve got some small fights lined up in the next few weeks for you, but Nick wants to schedule a big one for Halloween. He’s got a warehouse lined up as the venue with heavy spenders coming, not just college kids.” He slapped down a portfolio and then slid it over to me with two fingers. “Don’t be afraid to say no.”

Dax shifted in closer, peering down to take in the photos of a blond behemoth posing next to a makeshift octagon. “Bugger.”

Max rubbed his whiskers. “They call him Yeti. He played linebacker for UNC Charlotte but got kicked off for hazing freshmen players. Third strike.”

“Nice lad,” Dax murmured.

I studied him analytically. “It takes more than bulk to beat me. He needs skill. What’s his record?”

“Three knockouts and one tapped out.” Max sent me a rueful look. “Don’t be fooled by the football. He’s been working with a mixed martial arts trainer, hoping to hitch a ride to the UFC. He’s not like these pansy boys you’ve been grappling with on the weekend. He’s serious.”

“Style?” I asked.

Max grimaced. “Signature move is a guillotine choke until you black out. If you don’t, he pounds your face till you do.”

Nice.

“What’s the purse?”

“Two thousand if you lose,” he said.

“I won’t lose.” I couldn’t.

He grinned at my confident manner. “If you win, you get twenty-five percent of the purse, not to exceed fifteen grand. And bragging rights, of course.”

Fuck. That was the most I’d ever fought for.

“Take a look at this.” He pulled out his phone and handed over a YouTube video of Yeti and another man. “The guy he’s fighting is Lorenzo, a Cuban from Miami. Tried to go pro in boxing but opted out to make some fast cash first. Yeti nearly killed him a month ago.”

We watched the blond monster tear the Cuban apart in less than five minutes using his Thor-sized fists to pound him into the pavement.

Dax shook his head. “No way. He’s bigger than you and you’re a giant. Let me give you any extra money you need. I have my half of Mum’s inheritance.”

I shook my head. We’d already had this conversation. “That’s yours, and if Father found out, he’d disown you. You don’t want to piss him off anymore.”

It’s funny, but Dax had cleaved to the new family while I hadn’t. He adored Clara and Blythe, and losing family after Mum would kill Dax.

I rubbed my hands across a coffee stain on the table and stared down at the video.

Raised voices came from a booth in the back of the restaurant and we turned to stare.

A blond girl stood up from the booth, her shoulders stiff, hands clenched at her side.

Elizabeth.

What the hell? I squinted, taking in her companions.

Dax’s eyes followed mine and then came back to me as I rose up from the table.

“You’re going over there?” he asked. “Why?”

“Because she looks like she needs help—and I happen to like her.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You just met her.”

I ignored that.

He shrugged. “Fine, I’m not missing this.” He made as if to stand, but I pushed him back down.

“You stay here. If we both show up, it looks pushy. Give her some space. Plus, she’s probably still angry with you.”

He held his hands up. “Alright, I can take a hint when I’m not wanted. I’ll chill and watch from across the room.”

“Who is she?” Max asked.

“A girl we met at one of the frat parties,” Dax answered, his eyes scrutinizing me oddly, as if he were trying to suss me out. “Declan seems to have a crush on her.”

“Fuck you.”

He chuckled. “I don’t blame you. I do too.”

Max grunted. “Huh. Well, anyone’s better than Nadia. I never liked that girl. All she wanted was to ride your coattails.”

Dax’s eyes shifted over to Elizabeth. “You better hurry if you want to talk to her. She’s about to bolt.”

I ate up the distance between our tables. She turned, her face planting itself in my chest, her body flush against mine.

Heat ran through me, my groin tightening at the contact. Since the night in my flat, she’d weighed on my mind. Mostly with visions of me pounding into her. Against my wall. On the kitchen table. On the floor.

“Whoa,” I said, taking her shoulders to steady her. “You okay?”

She peered up at me, and my fingers itched to smooth out the worry lines I saw on her face. “Declan? What are you doing here?”

“Just having breakfast. Small world, huh?” I smiled down, resisting the urge to question her about the shadows in her blue eyes. She nodded, still visibly upset, as I stared over her shoulder at the table she’d left behind. A woman who resembled Elizabeth gaped at us while the man’s eyes narrowed in on me.

I glanced back down at her and spoke softly. “Do I need to kick anyone’s arse?”

“No,” she said, a look of desperation flickering across her face. “Just get me out of here before I say something I’ll regret.”