I Dare You (The Hook Up #1)(85)

Was he crazy? Didn’t he know what he’d done to me?

My gut churned as the entire world tilted on its axis, and the only way I was able to stay upright was by leaning against my door.

Panic beat at me.

God. Don’t pass out.

“Get away from me. Now.” I panted, the air growing thin. My heart thundered.

Had he been waiting for me in the parking lot?

Even if I wanted to scream, I couldn’t seem to muster up the air to do it. Somehow I managed to bend down and snatch my keys.

He smiled, raking his eyes over my body. He came closer. “You’re still as pretty as ever, Elizabeth. I hope we can catch up real soon.”

My hand clutched my keys as the fear escalated higher. I made a fist with my keys and showed him. “Don’t come one inch closer.”

He laughed and placed his hand up on the wall behind my head. “You’re not going to do a damn thing. You’re too scared. Besides I’m not here to bother you, only to get a welcome to Whitman from you. Does everyone here know what a sexy little thing you are? How you like it? Hmm?”

I snapped away from him, using my hands to push off his chest.

If I could just get to Declan’s door.





Chapter 12


Declan


A female’s raised voice penetrated my brain and in my half-asleep state, I pictured Elizabeth in my bed, lying back against my sheets …

Her voice came again.

Shit.

This was no dream.

I sat up from the couch where I’d fallen asleep after the gym and glanced at the clock on the telly. I groaned as I clicked on the lamp. Barely eleven. I scrubbed my face, my muscles screaming. I’d been at the gym most of the afternoon working on sets and sparring with Max. Dax had come by to watch, and later on we’d ended up catching dinner together.

A male’s voice came next, and I perked up

Who was that?

The greasy guy from the truck stop came to mind.

I jerked up, not bothering to put a shirt on.

As soon as I stepped out the front door and into the breezeway, I caught a clue. A guy I didn’t recognize had Elizabeth cornered with his body, a hard look on his face.

“Get away from me,” Elizabeth yelled at him, her face ashen.

I saw red. Bloody hell, I saw every fucking color imaginable.

Without pausing, I rushed and ripped into him with a palm strike straight to his face. Hard. His neck snapped back and blood splattered in the air.

His body got airborne as he lost his balance and landed on the concrete of the breezeway, nearly toppling over into the carpark below.

Elizabeth gasped, but I didn’t look at her.

With tightly clenched fists, I loomed over him, doing a mental checklist: five eleven, blond hair, newly broken nose, a Rolex on his wrist. I fished around in his pockets, but his wallet wasn’t there.

“Don’t hurt me, man,” he said, opening his eyes with a wild look on his face as he took me in. He swallowed, wiping at the blood that dripped from his nose to his mouth. “I was just saying hi to an old friend. Nothing’s going on.”

I didn’t like the look of him, from the expensive cut of his clothes to the petulant droop of his mouth. And then his eyes slid over to Elizabeth as if drawn there. Incensed, I kicked him in the ribs with my bare foot. “Don’t look at her. Get out of here before I rip your throat out.”

He scrambled up to his knees and crawled away a few feet until he jumped up and took off running. I watched him dart across the carpark and then cross the street to Minnie’s Diner where he’d parked in a darkened area.

He squealed out onto the street and drove away in a black Porsche with tinted windows.

I turned back to Elizabeth.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” I rushed over to her and tilted her chin up.

She took a deep breath, her lashes fluttering as she tried to gather herself. She gasped in air then slowly let it out.

“Panic attack?” I asked softly, careful to keep my distance from her as she inhaled and exhaled.

She nodded and spoke around her breaths. “Yeah. Only happens when I feel out of control.”

I gave her a few minutes to gather herself and watched as she took deep breaths, her color slowly coming back to her face.

“Who was that guy? Did you know him?”

Her eyes flared wide and then she looked hurriedly away. “Just—just someone I met tonight at the bookstore. He—he followed me home, I guess.”

She was lying. But why? Was she protecting him?

“He said he knew you.” I clenched my fists. Was he one of her one-night stands gone wrong?

She blushed a bright red and clamped her lips shut.

Why wouldn’t she confide in me? God, I didn’t want to upset her when she was already freaked out.

I sighed and looked around the breezeway. Okay. Changing gears. “Can you tell me what happened?”

Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. She nodded. “One minute I was thinking about getting into my apartment, and the next he was just there. He didn’t touch me, but if you hadn’t come out …” She shuddered. “Thank you. Again.”

“You get a name?”

She stiffened. “Why?”

I shrugged. “I have a friend with campus police. Wouldn’t hurt checking in to see if any complaints have been filed about him.”