Dare to Dance
The Maxwell Series
S.B. Alexander
Raven Wing Publishing
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
1. Kross
2. Ruby
3. Kross
4. Ruby
5. Kross
6. Ruby
7. Kross
8. Ruby
9. Kross
10. Ruby
11. Kross
12. Ruby
13. Kross
14. Ruby
15. Ruby
16. Kross
17. Kross
18. Ruby
19. Kross
20. Ruby
21. Kross
22. Kross
23. Ruby
24. Kross
25. Ruby
26. Kross
27. Ruby
28. Kross
29. Ruby
30. Kross
31. Ruby
Epilogue
Dear Reader
Want more books by S.B. Alexander?
Acknowledgments
Dare to Dance Playlist
Copyright
Dare to Dance
Book Four: The Maxwell Series
Copyright © 2016 by S.B. Alexander
All rights reserved
First Edition: September 2016
E-book ISBN-13: 978-0-9969351-5-9
Print ISBN-13: 978-0-9969351-6-6
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Visit: www.sbalexander.com
www.facebook.com/sbalexander.authorpage
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Editor: Red Adept Publishing, www.redadeptpublishing.com
Cover Design by Streetlight Graphics, www.streetlightgraphics.com
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons-living or dead-is entirely coincidental.
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Adult Content Warning: The content contained is the book includes adult language and sexual content. This book is intended for adult audiences 18 years of age and older.
Dedication
To anyone who has struggled in life.
Prologue
RUBY LEWIS
You’d filled that hole inside my life
With things I thought I needed.
As fast as you had hooked me
Was as fast as you retreated.
* * *
Did love become a transient thing
To transfer at your will?
All you took from me that day;
It leaves me empty still.
* * *
You were the sun that ruled my sky,
Now no more exists.
You plunged me into darkness
With my hatred and my fists.
* * *
Perhaps it would’ve helped
If you’d not left me broken-hearted.
I’d kill for the half dignity I had
When this all started.
* * *
But that was then, and this is now.
I’m fighting to stay whole.
I’ll forget the way I loved you
And that part of me you stole.
* * *
Your face still haunts my memory
So I let it settle there,
‘cause it serves to stoke my anger
And reminds me not to care.
* * *
So pull your chair up ringside
And you’ll see a thing or two.
The dancing that I’m doing,
Yeah, it’s now because of you.
1
Kross
The rolling green lawn of Greenridge Academy spanned both sides of the private high school. I drove down the winding road that led to the large campus of buildings scattered around the property.
“Boy, does this bring back memories,” my brother Kody said from the passenger seat.
Some memories I didn’t care to remember. Kody and I, along with our brother Kelton, had spent our sophomore year at the academy. Everyone at Kensington High thought we’d been shipped off to a military school. Greenridge was far from military, although the atmosphere had sure seemed like it at the time. Regardless, our old man had been furious about all the fights we’d been in at Kensington High during our freshman year. The final straw had been the fight with Kade’s enemy Greg Sullivan. Kody and I had beaten the boy to a pulp.
“So, is this guy good?” Kody thread his fingers through his thick black hair.
“We’ll see.” My boxing coach, Jay Crandall, sent me to Greenridge to check out an up-and-coming boxer who just happened to be a student there. I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down for joy to revisit the place, but I wanted to get paid. While I built my boxing career, I was working for Jay at the gym, helping to train and coach members.
I parked in a visitor’s space, studying the century-old structure that was the anchor of the campus. The graying stone façade reminded me of a castle, complete with two corner towers, red pointed peaks, and a large portico. The beauty of the campus wasn’t the main building but the surrounding mountains, the dense trees, and manicured rolling lawns that seemed to go on for miles, lending a cozy feeling to the property. The environment was a stark contrast to the cold classrooms and sterile halls of the school and dormitories.
The year I’d attended was a time of firsts, lasts, good, bad, and everything in between. But mostly, I’d been angry with my father for disrupting our lives, for separating us from Kade and our barely lived in home in Ashford, Massachusetts, only to move us into a dorm that felt like a prison.
The double wooden doors of the main building burst open, and students filed out as though someone had disrupted a hornet’s nest.
“Best part of this school was being close to Mom,” I said as we watched the throng of students disperse in all directions. Mom had been in a mental health facility not far from the school.
Kody unstrapped his seatbelt. “I thought for you it was Ruby Lewis.”
“I guess.” Back then, Ruby had been a refreshing ray of sunshine. The moment I laid eyes on her, the anger I held firm slipped to the wayside. We bumped into each other after school one day, not paying attention to where we were going. I’d been reading a text from Kade, and she’d been looking for her keys in her purse. I tried to speak, but my tongue wouldn’t move. All I could do was stare at her like a boy who had just discovered girls for the first time. Maybe I had. Up until the tenth grade I hadn’t paid much attention to girls. I didn’t care to. Girls had always chased my brothers and me, probably because they thought triplets were hot or something. They ogled at us and giggled when they passed us in the halls at school. After a while, I got tired of all the attention, especially if the girls interrupted our conversations. That was a norm for girls during lunch in the school cafeterias. But Ruby was different, shy, not to mention beautiful with her shiny auburn hair, porcelain skin, and blue-green eyes. As cheesy as it sounded, I seriously thought I had run into an angel.
“Whatever happened to her?” Kody asked.
I inhaled the air of the truck, which was stinky tha
nks to Kody’s burps of garlic and onions. “Not sure.”
We’d dated for five months before I had to move back home to Ashford. Then I lost touch with her. Actually, I ignored her repeated calls. I’d gotten spooked when she told me she might be pregnant.
My old man had explained the birds and the bees to all us boys. “Protection,” he’d said. “Not only to prevent pregnancy, but sexually transmitted diseases.”
I’d heard him, but I hadn’t listened. Ruby and I got caught up in the moment. Even though she later conveyed to me that she’d finally gotten her monthly girl thing and wasn’t pregnant, our relationship changed, or rather I changed. It was as if that one incident had been a wake-up call to real life, and I hadn’t been ready to deal.
Kody nudged me. “Are you taking a trip down memory lane?”
I chuckled. “You could say that.” I opened the door of my truck. “Let’s go.” I didn’t need to think about Ruby, although I had wondered over the years, and more lately, how she was doing. Part of me wanted to apologize for being a dick. Another part of me wanted to see her. She had to be more beautiful now.
The cluster of students quickly dispersed as Kody and I started for the path behind the school that led to the gym.
Kody stabbed a thumb toward the main entrance. “Aren’t we supposed to check in at the office?”
“Are you still obeying school rules? You’re not in high school, dude.” The last thing I wanted to do was run into teachers who might remember us. Kody and I hadn’t been good students that year.
Kody fell into step with me. “Worried about Mrs. Munoz?”
“I made amends with her. Remember? I wrote I was sorry a hundred times for calling her a witch in Spanish. You concerned about Ms. Sharp?”
“I do want to apologize again.”
I raised an eyebrow. Mandy, Kody’s girl, had died a few months before we started at Greenridge. So Kody had more of a chip on his shoulder than I did. “You don’t think she’s forgiven you for breaking her nephew’s nose?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t if I was her. But I do remember she was hot.” His grin was mischievous. “It’s only been four years. I believe she’s probably, what, twenty-seven now?”
If she were still teaching there, I wouldn’t mind seeing if she was still curvy with long legs and shapely breasts. “Are you into older women?”
“Dude, they know what they want. Besides, they’re not up for a serious relationship.” Most of the girls screaming his name at Rumors when he sang and played the guitar were college age, and most were on the hunt for a steady boyfriend.
“Tell me more, brother,” I said.
He laughed. “Another time. We got company.”
Two high-school-age guys swaggered out of the gym as we approached. One was stocky, and the other was tall and lean.
“Hey, you’re here to see Liam,” the stocky dude said a little excitedly. “You’re Kross Maxwell.”
Kody and I exchanged a surprised look. We expected girls to get all giddy, but not the guys.
The tall and lean dude extended his hand. “I’m Miles. I’ve seen most of your bouts. I hear you’re trying to sign with Gail Freeman. Man, hottest promoter in the country.” He waggled his eyebrows.
I smirked as I shook his hand. Not only was Gail the best boxing promoter around, she was definitely a sexy lady. Her physique aside, she was picky in her selection of boxers to sign. Their records had to be almost perfect. She rarely gave a second look to boxers with several losses.
“You’re a legend, Bro,” Kody said.
Maybe I was a legend at Greenridge, but I had work to do if I wanted to sign with Gail. Out of nine bouts in three years, I’d lost once, and that loss had come last week. My head was up my ass, which was one reason I’d gotten knocked out. However, the main reason was because my footwork had been sloppy. I was still irritated with myself. “Liam inside?”
“He’s in the ring,” Miles said.
“Come on,” Stocky Dude said. “We’re going to be late.”
They walked off as two girls glided toward them.
I pulled opened the side door, which led into a hall. The warm air breezed over me.
“I’ll meet you later.” Kody slapped me on the back. “Wish me luck.”
“Don’t get us thrown out.” Back in our day, the principal had threatened to suspend us and would have done it if it weren’t for my father smoothing things over.
Kody shuffled backward, his blue eyes alight with pleasure or mischief or both. “I’ll be sweet.”
Normally, I wouldn’t be worried. Kody wasn’t Kelton, who would have had the teacher splayed out naked on top of her desk. But after our conversation a minute ago, I was learning a new side of my brother. At twenty years old, Kody was slowly opening up to dating. He sure had his pick of the litter when he sang his brooding songs. Or maybe he had been dating for years. I had never seen Kody with a girl, though. It didn’t matter. We were adults. So what if he got caught with his pants down.
I ducked into the gym, and memory lane came screaming back—in particular, Ruby and I making out behind the bleachers. Actually, this was the place where we had both lost our virginity.
A familiar voice cut through my brain. “Come on, Liam.”
Blinking away the image of Ruby and me naked on a mat, I padded across the hardwood floor. My boots thudded, sounding hollow above the grunts and groans coming from the boxing ring center court.
I sidled up to Coach Scott, who stood a head shorter than me. “Which one is Liam?”
Both boys were the same height and same build. It was hard to decipher the differences since they were wearing helmets. But one did have blood around his bottom lip.
“You’re late,” Coach said without breaking his attention away from the ring. He still had gray hair, although it appeared he’d lost some on top. “The one with the busted lip.”
Coach hated when people were late for anything. He reminded me of my father, who despised the same thing. The pet peeve was a product of both of them being ex-military. Regardless, I would be wasting my breath if I gave him the excuse that traffic out of Boston was brutal. His response would be, “not my problem.”
The two boys in the ring jabbed and punched, dancing around each other, bobbing every now and then.
“Liam reminds me a lot of you. Look how quick he is on his feet.” The gruffness in Coach Scott’s voice changed to a more pleasing tone.
I agreed with him. Liam’s footwork was smooth, which would please Jay all the more. “His partner doesn’t look too bad.” The boy knew how to keep up with Liam, throwing some direct jabs to Liam’s face.
“So, what happened at your last fight? You rarely get knocked out.” Coach Scott crossed his arms over his chest. “Liam,” he shouted. “Don’t let Chip ruin that pretty face of yours.”
Liam was tiring, which wasn’t surprising for his boxing style. He was what the industry called an out-fighter. Out-fighters, like the famous Muhammad Ali, were regarded as the best boxing strategists since they knew how to control the fight. Liam was still learning, and therefore, tired easily from all the footwork, much like I had when I first started.
“Bad night,” I replied. I hadn’t been sleeping well. It had all started several months ago when Kelton had gotten the scare of his life. He’d thought he was the father of Chloe’s baby, an ex-girlfriend of his. It was then that my sophomore year reared its ugly head, hence the reason Ruby was in my thoughts nonstop. Kody wanted to make amends with a teacher. I had the urge to do the same with Ruby, and maybe more.
After about thirty minutes of making mental notes on Liam’s style, I said good-bye to Coach Scott. I had to get back to Boston to train a client. I also wanted to make one stop before Kody and I got on the road.
“You don’t want to chat with him?” Coach Scott asked.
“I don’t need to. Liam looks good. His footwork is quick, and his style will appease Jay.”
Frankly, it was a wasted trip in my book. Jay coul
d’ve brought him down to the gym in Boston if it weren’t for the meeting he had with Gail Freeman. Jay also didn’t want to get the kid excited until he knew for sure.
After a few more minutes of chatting with Coach Scott, I made my way out, texting Kody and told him it was time to go. When I got to my truck, Kody was waiting for me with a shit-eating grin on his face.
I pressed the key fob, and two beeps sounded. “I take it you found Ms. Sharp.”
“I gave her my number,” Kody said as he climbed in. “My image of her was spot on. She’s curvy, stacked, and sexy as hell.”
I choked as I slid behind the wheel and started the engine. “Maybe I should be hanging out with you more often.” I could get into dating a woman who didn’t want to sink her claws into me, like the girl I was dating seemed to be doing. Penelope wanted my nuts in her hand at every turn. The sex was great, but I was building my career and didn’t have the time or the interest in a steady relationship. I’d already lost one fight because my thoughts were on a girl.
I wheeled out of the parking lot.
“You get plenty of attention at your fights,” Kody said. “Besides, Penelope isn’t doing it for you?”
“I’m not ready to settle down with the picket fence, wife, and kids.” I wanted someone who didn’t complain about a broken nail or whine about having to watch a football game.
“I feel you, Bro.” He fiddled with the radio, tuning into a country station before he sat back. “Wait. The highway is the other way.”
“I have to do something first.” Since I was in the area, maybe I could catch Ruby at home, or at least get her number from her parents. Not to mention, I needed to get her out of my head, especially with an upcoming fight. I couldn’t lose another one. Not with a signing deal with Gail Freeman looming.
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