Page 54 of Offside Attraction

The noise dies down, anticipation buzzing through the crowd. Cups are lined. Hands hover. My heart thuds harder than it should.

Across the table, Hayes meets my eyes and smirks.

“Ready to lose, Miller?” he asks, voice smooth, taunting.

“Not a chance, Griffin,” I shoot back. “You’re going down.”

He chuckles, slow and deliberate, then licks his bottom lip—like he knows exactly what he’s doing.

“You wanna make this interesting?”

Something tightens low in my stomach. Heat creeps up my spine.

Snap out of it, Dakota. He’s a jerk. Remember?

I clear my throat. “With what?”

“A bet.”

I arch a brow. “A bet, huh?”

“Just you and me,” he says, eyes dark, unwavering. “One-on-one.”

The room seems to fade.

“If you lose,” he continues calmly, “you do whatever I want. Anything I ask.”

A murmur ripples through the crowd.

“And if I lose,” he adds, lips curling, “whatever you want—I’m game.”

My pulse spikes.

“Shouldn’t I know what your dare would be?” I ask carefully.

Hayes’s smirk deepens, slow and taunting.

“Now where’s the fun in that, Dakota?”

His voice drops—low, dangerous, and far too tempting.

I don’t trust him. Not after what happened four years ago. Everything about Hayes Griffin is corny and terrifying all at once—and for reasons I can’t explain, he keeps pulling me in.

I shouldn’t agree. I should back down, laugh it off, walk away.

But I don’t.

Because a part of me wants to prove something. To him. To myself. To show him I’m not that scared kid anymore. That he doesn’t control me. Not now. Not ever.

“Okay,” I blurt out.

Hayes’s eyebrows lift, genuine surprise flickering across his face before it’s replaced by that slow, dangerous smirk.

“Deal?” he asks.

“Deal.”

The game kicks off immediately, the room erupting into cheers and shouting. My heart pounds as the competition tightens, every flip met with gasps and groans. We’re neck and neck, refusing to give the other an inch.