Page 57 of Dare (Fighting Fate)

Noah took a tiny step back, turning his body to the side a fraction as he ran his hand over his hair. “Awesome,” he said, sarcasm rife as he met my gaze again. “Well, have fun, because that’s where my brothers are.”

My shoulders slumped as his words slowly sank in. Eli was at The freaking Underground. Dropping my head back to stare up at the sky, I groaned. Awesome definitely wasn’t the word I would’ve used.

Chapter 40

Eli

Nursing a rum in my hand, I gazed around at the Friday night crowd with limited interest. Beside me, Isaac looked as though he was doing the same. If I was in a better mood, I might’ve felt a little bad for dragging him here to The Underground with me, but at the moment, I felt as though the world owed me.

“I thought it would’ve been busier,” Isaac said, disappointment creasing his face.

I had to agree with him there. I knew the band that was scheduled to play were practically nobodies, but The Underground was known for putting on some good up-and-coming artists. The members of Fighting Fate were testament to that.

“If the band sucks, at least you have a chance of picking up,” I said, trying to stir him into a better mood.

He raised one eyebrow at me. “Have you looked at the girls here, dude? I think you’re forgetting that I’m twenty-eight.”

I glanced around the room again, this time focusing more on the women. He did have a point. All the girls seemed like they were barely twenty-one. But I also knew who I was talking to. Shooting him a withering look, I shook my head. “Coming from the guy who recently hooked up with the twenty-two-year-old.”

He smirked a little, but his expression quickly turned pensive. “Amber’s different, though. She doesn’t see age like most girls do.”

I studied him for a little while, trying to work out the odd crease to his brow. “You don’t like her, do you?” I asked, finding myself suddenly surprised. If he did, this was not something I’d been expecting.

Waving me off, he huffed. “Not like that, Bro. I like her more than I’ve liked any other chick, but I’m not dumb enough to think it’s love. She’s a cool chick. She’s confident in herself and her sexuality. You don’t see that too much in girls her age. But we both know the times we’ve hooked up were just a bit of fun.”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure why the thought of Isaac being with Amber weirded me out, but it did. Maybe it was because Noah was with Kaeli, and I already had it bad for one of her friends. It would be super fucking strange for Isaac to want to hook up with another one for life as well. It would be way too cozy for comfort.

“Shit,” Isaac said, glancing toward the doors.

Following his gaze, I found Noah striding in. As much as I loved all my brothers, after the last few weeks, he wasn’t at the top of my list of people I would’ve liked to see right now. “Great.”

Watching him pause his steps to look around, I sighed when his gaze found us and he started moving our way. But any thought of irritation flew out the window when I caught sight of Jess walking in not long after that. Isaac cursed, but I didn’t hear exactly what he had to say, because I was too busy frantically searching for a solution to the imminent problem that was bound to come from her presence.

Noah sighed when he reached us. “I was going to warn you that the girls were coming, but I guess I’m too late.”

Isaac groaned. “Why the hell are they here? I thought Jess was supposed to be laying low.”

“Yeah,” Noah said, rolling his eyes. “She doesn’t listen real good.”

“Amber should know better,” Isaac grunted.

If I wasn’t so focused on what Jess was doing, I would’ve questioned his belief in Amber’s maturity. She may have been less timid and more eager to try new things than other girls her age, but she loved to live in the moment. Danger didn’t impact her the way it did most girls. She took it more like a challenge. And as much as I respected her for that attitude most of the time, there were times it was just outright stupid.

“What do you want to do, man?” Isaac said, concern creasing his brow.

Watching Jess laughing as she and the girls made their way to the bar, I sighed. “I don’t know. Let me just finish this drink and I’ll decide.”

Forcing myself to focus on the movement on the stage instead of what was happening at the bar, I watched the band members taking their place in the darkened stage area. I wondered why the lights weren’t on yet. It looked as though someone wasn’t doing their job properly.

The sound of drums clanging as the drummer settled into his seat, and guitars strumming as both players tested their equipment, echoed across the room. I could just make out the silhouette of the lead singer as he moved to the microphone center stage, the lights growing a little, but nowhere near enough for me to even see the dude’s face.

“Good evening, friends,” the singer said, confidence oozing in his tone. “It’s been a few years since we’ve played here at The Underground, but we wanted to come back to say thank you. You guys took a chance on us when no one else would.”

I frowned. “Who is this again?

”

Isaac shrugged. “I don’t know. Some band called The Fighters or something.”

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