Page 41 of Dare (Fighting Fate)

“All right there, Brother?”

I started at the sound of Noah’s voice. I’d been so deep in my own thoughts, I hadn’t even heard him approach. Giving him a nod, I held up my beer. “I will be soon.”

His gaze narrowed a fraction before he disappeared into the man cave, reappearing a second later with his own brew. Taking a seat beside me, he tapped the neck of his bottle against mine. “Want to talk about it?”

I stopped to consider his words before deciding I wasn’t ready. “I’d rather not,” I said, shooting him an apologetic look.

“Fair enough,” he said, taking a sip. “I just came to say thank you. Whatever you said to Jess, it worked.”

At the mention of Jess’s name, I tensed. There were lots of things I said to Jess, but as far as I could remember, none of them were good. “You’re going to have to clarify.”

Suspicion narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t press it. “She came in to report the drugging. We can start looking at surveillance now.”

My head instantly started searching through the events of the day. I was pretty sure I hadn’t even brought up the issue of going to the police. I’d been too busy tormenting her like the scum I was.

My jaw clenched as I thought about the guy. Trent. I wondered if he was the one to convince her. Would she have told him about it? My body’s reaction to the thought of that wasn’t good. I wanted to be the one she confided in. I wanted to be the person she listened to.

“What’s going on, man?” Noah asked. “I’ve never seen you like this. You’re worrying me.”

Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I pressed my lips into a tight smile. “I’ll be all right, Bro. I’m just not real happy with myself right now.”

Noah groaned a little. “Do I want to know what you did? Am I going to hear a never-ending barrage of women being all pissed off?”

I chuckled a little at that, but there was no humor in it. “There’s a high possibility, so maybe I should say sorry now.”

He watched me as I drank deep, sympathy evident in his silence. After a few more minutes, he nudged me with his elbow. “Things might seem shit now, man, but they always work out in the end. Just try not to get too messed up over it in the meantime.”

“I kissed her,” I said, leaning forward and staring into the fire. “Again.” Shaking my head, I pressed my lips into a tight line. “I keep fucking up with her, man. I know I need to leave her alone, but I keep proving that I’m just a selfish asshole.”

“Jess is a strong woman, Eli,” he said carefully. “I know we’ve been raised to be honorable and chivalrous, but that also means giving the women we care about the power to make their own choices. Jess isn’t the kind of girl who’ll take shit if she was feeling manipulated.”

I laughed sourly. “You can say that again. She may have told me to fuck off.”

“Really?” he asked, surprise etched in his voice.

I shrugged. “She may as well have. She told me not to touch her again unless I was prepared to take a chance with her.”

Noah chuckled a little, making me turn to question it. “That’s exactly what I mean. Man, it’s so obvious she likes you. What’s really stopping you?

Rubbing my hand through my hair, I sighed. “You of all people should know where I’m coming from, Bro. I might not be in a life-or-death situation like you were, but I’m in a place where I’ve put a lot of time and energy into reaching my end goal, and I just don’t want to see it all fucking crumble around me because I can’t stay focused.”

His gaze narrowed with thought before he nodded. “You’re right. I do understand. But what I missed at the time—and you’re missing right now—is the element the right person can bring when you’re on the last leg of the race. Because when you’ve got someone there beside you—someone who needs you and supports you—it does the exact opposite of distract. It makes you want to work harder for them. To be better. To succeed.”

I blinked at him with surprise. How could that go against everything I’d been working around, yet make so much sense? Something told me it was a trick—something to catch me out.

I shook my head, pushing it aside. All I knew was that for the last three years since I’d started law school, I’d worked to this one goal with success. With less than five months to go until I reached the end, it wasn’t a risk I could take. I needed to stay strong and focused.

Giving Noah a slight nod, I held up my beer in thanks, but I wasn’t ready to give up on my plan just yet.

Chapter 29

Jess

Scrolling through my cell phone, I let out a low groan. “What’s the protocol with pictures of exes on Facebook?”

Amber looked up from the box she was unpacking and smirked. “Depends on how good they were in bed.”

I rolled my eyes and studied the picture of me and Wyatt at one of Zac’s parties a few months ago. “I’m serious here. Do you keep them or delete them?”

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