Page 2 of Dare You to Love Me

If she doesn’t, I’ll—

She tosses a mischievous glance over her shoulder before flashing a sly grin. “I’ll let you know if things go really well, and I spend the night elsewhere.”

What?

Oh.

Hell.

No.

A tortured groan escapes from me at the idea of her having sex with someone else when her ass should be in my bed.

Her brow furrows as she sends another glance over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”

I clear my throat. “Just that you should bring him by afterward.”

So I can pummel his ass.

With her clothes for the evening in hand, she pops back up before swallowing the distance between us and pressing a light kiss against my cheek.

“You’re the absolute best, know that?”

Unfortunately for me, the absolute best apparently isn’t what she’s looking for.

Before I can suss out the situation any further, she disappears through the bedroom door and into the bathroom to change.

STELLA

The front porch of the hockey house is strung with colorful lights that blink in the darkness, giving the dilapidated old Victorian a festive appearance. There’s a six-foot evergreen shoved in the corner. It’s decorated with pucks and white hockey stick tape. Upon closer inspection, there are also metal beer caps with holes punched at the top and threaded with string that dangles from branches.

Even though the windows are closed to keep out the frigid air, music pours from the house. It could be heard from down the block where we parked. Riggs wasn’t kidding when he said the guys were throwing a party. From the looks of it, half the university showed up to help celebrate how well the team is doing this season. Everyone’s excited for them to make it to the Frozen Four and bring home another championship title.

Go Wildcats!

Ever since Riggs started playing hockey in first grade, I’ve been a diehard fan. I’ve only missed a handful of games over the years and love watching him on the ice. He looks larger than life on skates and with the shoulder pads. His dark hair, longer than usual, peeks out from the back of his helmet.

It’s sexy.

As soon as a shiver dances down my spine, I shove those disturbing thoughts from my head and refocus my attention on my date. Nick keeps pace with me as I ground to a halt outside the front door. I’m more than ready to say goodnight.

This date has turned out to be a total bust.

I give it two out of five stars along with a solid would not recommend.

Only wanting to put an end to this evening, I mentioned several times on the way over that he didn’t need to walk me to the door, but he insisted.

Nick nods toward the house as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “So, you live here?”

“Nope. A pipe burst in my apartment this morning, so I’m staying with a friend for a couple days.” My fingers wrap around the door handle as I pop it open a few inches. “I mentioned it earlier when you picked me up.”

His gaze flickers my way before he cranes his neck to get a better look at the mayhem ensuing inside. “Oh, yeah. Right. Must have slipped my mind.”

Or you just didn’t care enough to pay attention.

Instead of inviting him inside, I force a smile. It took less than fifteen minutes in his company to realize it wasn’t going to work out. The only thing we have in common is that we’re both hockey fans. But there’s zero attraction to speak of. He’s the exact opposite of what I’m usually attracted to.

Full disclosure—this little experiment was intentional on my part.

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