Page 50 of Maximum Dare
I wasn’t’ sure that was a good thing.
“How long have you been with Morgan?” I studied him carefully.
“Three months.”
I sat up straight. “You were cheating on Daisy?”
“She really has gotten under your skin, bro.” He looked concerned. “You’re not still in contact with her, are you?”
I gave a shrug. “There’s no reason to be.”
I felt a dull ache of longing for all the times I’d stood in her presence and felt like a different man.
Nick had failed to notice my melancholy tone.
He inhaled sharply. “At the end we were living together like roommates.”
“I didn’t know,” I whispered.
“You’re way overdue for a steady relationship, Max.”
“I’m fine. I just want to see you both happy.”
“Morgan and I are happy in our own way.”
I was talking about him and Daisy, but I didn’t correct his thinking.
“You’re coming over tomorrow, right?”
I gave a wry smile. “When I’m here, Mum just tells me my itinerary. Obligingly, I turn up.”
“Did she spill my news?” At my look of confusion, he added, “You’re going to want to sit down for this.”
I flinched. “I am sitting down.”
An uneasy feeling settled in my gut, but my forced smile hid my reaction. I knew what came next—the news no one was ready for.
This one was personal. No sliding down glass chutes. No hanging off buildings. This dare was about going after what you wanted with all your heart and making that dream a reality.
Earlier today, Ted had delivered his motivational speech in the Kings Head Pub in Kings Cross to us members of the Dare Club. The place had also been packed with regulars—a typical atmosphere for a Tuesday lunch crowd.
“Tonight, there will be no second guessing,” he’d told us. “No turning back. No backing out.”
In that very moment, I’d decided what this new dare meant to me.
Chasing my heart was all I had left—even if it made my stomach twist into knots, even if it made me question my worthiness.
Don’t think about Max.
Don’t.
Anyway, he was back in São Paulo. Not to mention the fact that every time he saw me he was only thinking about damage control. Hoping for there to be something more between us was wishful thinking. That same naivety had kept me from seeing my relationship with Nick was about to implode.
But I was becoming a new person, someone I could be proud of.
Driving out of London and all the way to Hampstead had taken a full hour. I’d watched the city give way to the countryside, blasting Billie Eilish out of the speakers, a proper soundtrack for the Shakespearian drama my life had become.
The dare plan: gatecrash the cocktail party at Nick’s family home. This newfound confidence had me all revved up and ready to do what had to be done to turn my life around. This dare felt different, because it was so personal.
