Page 119 of Maximum Dare
“I’m glad.” He pushed to his feet, peering over toward the door. “That guy’s familiar. Do you know him? He keeps staring at you.”
I followed Ted’s line of sight, and swallowed hard.
“That’s Nick Banham,” he said in awe.
I hurried over to greet Nick. “What are you doing here?”
“Didn’t want to miss your big night.”
“I wasn’t expecting you.”
“My girl’s graduating from the Dare Club. Of course, I want to be here.”
When he reached for my hand, I pulled away. His gaze narrowed as he processed my need to take things slow.
I wasn’t ready for any show of affection. I needed more time. I felt like I was betraying Max, even though we were over now.
Within minutes, a crowd had gathered around us, football fans who had recognized Nick. Ted was beside himself, acting like the biggest fan boy, throwing me glances that said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I let Nick have the limelight. It took the pressure off me. I sat sipping my white wine quietly in an armchair.
On the back wall, the Dare Club’s logo lit up a big-screen TV. It was a man’s silhouette taking a leap off a cliff.
“What’s that?” I asked Ted.
“We’ve put together a montage filmed during the dares.” He nodded toward the screen. “This should be fun.”
There came a continuous flow of images, edited with dramatic music as a backdrop to our adventures, as the team members moved through each dare.
There was me sliding down the glass chute, me heading in for a night of ghost hunting, sharing my feelings on Instagram about my challenge being thwarted by the swimming pool incident. And then there I was dressed as a clown.
I put my hands over my eyes when that segment came on.
The last dare saw me elbow-deep in dirt as I dragged my body along a ditch and then clambered over a wall. I crawled under a barbed wire with my face covered in smudges of green camouflage.
Everyone featured in the footage cheered when they saw themselves. The images rotated to show each dare, coming back around to me and Max…
Both of us stood side by side atop The Shard. The chemistry between us was more pronounced than I’d realized. The footage had been filmed when neither of us had known the cameras were on us. It showed the affectionate glances we’d shared, those quiet moments where we touched hands, our fingers intertwining.
Nick had taken a seat to watch the montage. Now he pushed himself up out of the chair and grabbed his crutches.
I rushed after him as he hobbled towards the door.
When I caught up, he shot me an annoyed look. “It just kind of happened, I take it?”
“You were with Morgan.”
“Daisy, do you love him?”
“We’ve only known each other a few weeks. But he made me feel like I was worthy of happiness.”
Nick sneered. “So very Max.”
“I love him,” I blurted out. “I do.”
“And you felt like keeping it a secret?”
“I was waiting for the right time to tell you,” I said hoarsely.
