Dare to Dance: The Maxwell Series (3 page)

He bowed his head and slid to one side. “You look hungry. Would you like some food?” His gravelly voice turned sweet.

My stomach growled for the fiftieth time that day. “What’s the catch?”

He gave a slight shake of his head. “None.”

There was always a catch, but Norma needed some soup or sustenance, and I did too. Another wave of hoots and hollers singed the air. My gaze tracked down to the active crowd, but I still couldn’t see what all the excitement was about.

The wiry man followed my line of sight. “You’re welcome to go down and check out the festivities.”

“Do you have any soup?” I asked.

“If that’s what you want.”

“Actually, I’d like two plates of food and a bowl of soup to go. But I have no money.” If he asked for sex as payment, I was hightailing out of there as fast as I could. I would find food in some dumpster on my way back to Norma.

He waved a crusty hand down the stairs. “I offered you food, so don’t worry about the money. Head down and enjoy the show. I’ll be right back.”

I sized him up like he’d done to me. He wasn’t a bad-looking man. I would guess him to be in his late twenties. He was dressed casually in jeans, and he had defined arms but wasn’t at all broad in the shoulders. He sort of reminded me of a basketball player.

“One wrong move, and I’ll kill you.” I wasn’t joking. I carried a small pocketknife for many reasons, including protection. I’d never used the knife though.

He grinned. “My name is Tommy, and I’m not a pervert.”

I snorted. He sounded as if he was in one of those AA meetings. Regardless, I would bet he wasn’t an upstanding guy. “Ruby.” Once my real name was out there, I berated myself. I should’ve used an alias. Then again, it was only my first name.

“Well, Ruby, enjoy yourself. I’ll be right back.” He left through the same door I’d walked through.

I traipsed down to the melee, my curiosity pushing me forward. I plowed through fat men, skinny men, short men, and tall men, inhaling cigar smoke, cigarette smoke, body odor, and other disgusting scents.

They parted, some reluctantly, others easily. When I had a clear view of the object of their focus, my mouth dropped open. A beefy woman was beating the lights out of a girl half her size.

“Why isn’t she fighting?” I asked a cigarette-smoking man on my right.

He blew out smoke. “She’s afraid. It’s her first time.”

I waved at the brawl. “I don’t get it. Why is she even fighting if she’s afraid?”

The meek girl had blue streaks through her blond hair. She cowered in a corner of the makeshift boxing ring that had been formed using four metal poles and yellow police tape.

“The money,” he said. “The winner gets three hundred dollars.”

That’s all?
The two men I’d overheard had mentioned fifteen thousand, which meant that these two women were getting screwed, although three hundred was quite a bit of cash for someone in my predicament. “The fight is fixed, isn’t it?” It had to be. Who would win between Hefty Girl against Meek Girl was a no-brainer in my book.

“Sometimes,” Smoker Dude said, “it’s not a slam dunk. Some shy girls have so much adrenaline and anger, they can beat the shit out of the larger opponents.”

I suspected I could beat the lights out of someone if my life depended on it. “But someone should end this one.”

Beefy Girl wore a crew cut, stood at least a head taller than Meek Girl, and had guns on her arms that mirrored Sugar Ray Leonard. She threw a punch that landed against Meek Girl’s temple. I wasn’t into boxing, but my dad loved to watch the sport.

“You get where you are? This is underground fighting. Only rule here is one girl has to be knocked out for the other to win.”

I had the urge to jump in the middle and save Meek Girl. I wasn’t by any means built like Beefy Girl. I was five foot four and on the skinny side since food was scarce these days. But between all the walking and dumpster-diving, I considered myself strong.

Beefy Girl threw a punch, connecting with Meek Girl’s nose. Blood sprayed out, making me cringe.

“Do it again, Vickie,” someone shouted.

Again, Vickie drove a fist into Meek Girl, this time connecting with her jaw.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I barreled through the bodies to the other side of the ring. “Fight, damn it.” I shouted as loud as I could at Meek Girl. “Kick her ass.”

Vickie bared her teeth like a rabid dog. “Get out of here.”

“Fuck off.”

She dove at me. I jumped back as she tripped over Meek Girl’s foot. Vickie splattered, face first onto the dirt floor. Meek Girl glanced at me, her blue eyes wide. The sound in the room died. The crowd seemed to hold their breath collectively. Some appeared mad, while others had curious looks on their faces.

Tommy ran over, grabbed my arm hard, and pulled me through the crowd. “What do you think you’re doing?” His breath smelled of alcohol.

I jerked away from him when we reached the stairs. “The small girl wasn’t fighting.”

“So the fuck what? If she doesn’t want to, then that’s her choice.” He pointed to a bag on the stairs. “There’s your food. Now get out of here.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You wanted me to watch. Now you’re kicking me out?” I should have probably left while he was giving me a chance, but I didn’t want Meek Girl to get hurt. I also wasn’t afraid of Vickie, although I should have been. I didn’t know how to fight. I’d watched plenty of matches with my dad, and I had even watched Kross spar when he was in the gym at the academy, but I never ventured into the ring.

Tommy ran a hand through his wavy brown hair. “You want to fight?”

I jutted my chin out. “I want in.”

A wry grin broke out across his face. “You think you can win against Vickie?”

“Yeah.” Not really. But I wanted the opportunity to make money. In my mind, fighting was better than selling my body. My dancing skills could prove beneficial with my flexibility. Sure, it was illegal, and getting my butt kicked regularly would definitely not look good on my resume, but Norma had a point. We had to make enough money to be able to eat and find a place to live. Then during the day, we could continue to look for respectable jobs.

He roared with laughter over the cheers and jeers. “Be here next Saturday, same time.” He lifted the bag and handed it to me.

For the first time in ages, hope coursed through my veins. I ran up the stairs.

“Oh, and Ruby,” Tommy called.

Stopping midway, I tossed a look over my shoulder.

“I hope you know how to fight.”

I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t sure why because I had no business being cocky. “You care?”

“I’d hate to see your pretty face get messed up.”

I hadn’t been called pretty since I’d dated Kross. “You must have blinders on. But thanks, Tommy. I’ll see you soon.” I left, holding onto the bag tightly. I had a week to build up my nerve. I couldn’t believe I had signed up to get my face smashed in. But if I won, then all my efforts would be worth it.

T
he gym was filled
with people working out on weights, treadmills, elliptical machines, and throwing their fists into punching bags.

“Kross, damn it,” Jay bit out in his cigar-smoking voice. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You haven’t been the same since you went up to the academy to scout Liam. You need to win your next bout to impress Gail.”

For the last week, Gail and winning were the furthest things from my mind. Hell, my boxing career didn’t stand a chance unless I could snap out of the fucking haze clouding my brain. I jabbed Liam. Jay had invited him down for a couple of days after I’d given the kid my thumbs-up.

“Weak. Where’s your footwork, Maxwell?” Jay sounded as frustrated as I felt. “The kid is showing your ass up.”

I stalked out of the ring, glaring at Jay’s hooknose and baldhead. He pinned his gaze on me, and I growled in return. I had enough anger in me to kill Liam, and I didn’t want to hurt him, although the kid had been tough in sparring with me. He took my punches and returned a few good ones of his own.

Jay marched up to me. “I don’t want to know what’s going on in your head.” He tapped an arthritic forefinger against my temple. “Take time off and get your shit together.”

“I’m fine. Besides, you said Gail would still give us a look as long as I kept my losses to less than three.” I wasn’t sure my head would be screwed on in time for my next fight, and I didn’t know when the next fight was. Jay was still working on the details. Still, my head wouldn’t be in the ring until I knew one way or the other whether I had a kid on this fucking planet.

“In the three years I’ve been coaching you, you choose now, when we’re so close to signing with her, to mouth off to me?” He scratched his shaven jaw. “I’ll let this slide. She called today. She has another prospect that seems to have a better record than you. She didn’t like how you went down at your last fight.”

I’d only lost one bout. I didn’t know anyone in my circuit with a better record than me. “Who’s the boxer?”

He huffed as his nostrils flared. “Reggie Stockman.”

I stilled. “Fuck.” Reggie and I had history. He’d been one of Sullivan’s cronies who’d helped put Kody in the hospital back in the ninth grade.

“Exactly. The man hasn’t lost a match since you knocked him out cold during your very first fight three years ago, which didn’t count since neither of you were in the game yet.”

That night was the best ever. I had gotten to legally punch his lights out without going to jail. Then he’d disappeared. Since then, I hadn’t seen him. We’d been fighting in different circuits. “I can take Reggie.”

Jay rapped his knuckles on my head. “Don’t get cocky. Instead, get your head screwed on, because she’s setting up a bout between you two.” He pivoted on his heel and stomped back to his office.

Climbing out of the ring, Liam spit out his mouth guard and removed his gloves. “Reggie has four knockouts in his last four fights.”

I snarled as I began to remove my gloves. “Your point?”

“There are only two boxers I follow religiously.” He took off his headgear, revealing sweat-soaked brown hair. “You and Reggie. The difference between you two is huge. Reggie goes in for the kill, hard and fast. You dance and tire your opponent out. That’s why someone like Reggie can’t touch you. But I feel you need a wakeup call.”

I contemplated bashing in the kid’s face. Instead, I gave him my full attention. I wanted to hear what else Liam had to say, and he didn’t deserve to get his head squashed.

He continued, sounding as if he was my coach. “Your last fight. You were a deer in the headlights. Walk into the ring like that again, and Reggie is going to tear you apart.”

The kid had balls, but he spoke the truth. I had to figure out how to find Ruby or forget about her, and I couldn’t do the latter.
Idiot, ask Liam. The boy goes to Greenridge.
Liam was a senior, which meant that he could’ve known Ruby when he was a freshman.

I’d called Tasha’s brother, but he didn’t know how to locate Ruby. That had only made me angrier, sadder, and more frustrated because I didn’t know where to even begin to find her.

I finally got my gloves off. “Have you attended Greenridge since the ninth grade?”

He stuffed his gear into a sport bag. “Yeah, why?”

“Did you know a girl by the name of Ruby Lewis? She would’ve been a junior when you were a freshman.”

“No, sorry. I don’t.” Then again, freshmen probably didn’t know many upperclassmen.

“You’re a good boxer. Maybe you can help out more leading up to my fight.” I liked the kid. He had balls, and if he’d studied Reggie’s moves, I could use him on my team.

“Seriously, dude?” His eyes flashed with excitement as he zipped up his bag. “I’d be honored.”

“Clear it with Jay. I’ve got to run.” Since it was Thursday, it was brothers’ night. Kody, Kelton, Kade, and I hung out once a week, watching sports, drinking, or both.

Heading for the showers, I called Kody. “Hey, are you still coming over tonight?” I’d asked him to keep a lid on my secret until I told Kade and Kelton.

“Only if you’re ready to break the news to our brothers.”

“I am.” I hated to keep anything from them, and if I didn’t get the shit off my chest, I was going to explode. Plus, I needed to win my next fight. I’d worked my tail off to become a boxer. I couldn’t throw it all away when I was so close to signing with Gail Freeman.

“Good, because it’s killing me. You know they won’t judge.”

It wasn’t about them judging me. Kelton had been supportive when I told him Ruby had thought she was pregnant. But I wasn’t sure how Kade would react, although I could hear him now. “Where was your protection?”

I shrugged off Kade for the moment then quickly showered and dressed as I thought of Ruby.

Every night, I lay awake, wondering if she’d given birth to a boy or a girl.
And what color hair did the kid have? Black like me or red like her? What did she name the child? How in the fuck was I going to tell my parents? Or Kade?

I was slipping my wallet into the back pocket of my jeans when the door creaked open.

“He was in here earlier,” a guy said.

“Maxwell,” someone called out. “You in here? It’s Dillon, man.” He came into view around a bank of lockers. “You look like shit. What happened?”

“And you look like a girl with your hair in a ponytail,” I chided, shutting my locker.

Dillon Hart, badass dude, loved by women, had a heart of gold, particularly when it came to young girls who ran away from home or pimped themselves on the streets. He tried to save them all while searching for his baby sister who’d run away two years prior at the age of sixteen. I had to hand it to him. The man was planning to open a home for runaway girls. All that aside, Dillon and I had become close friends. Maybe his street connections could help me find Ruby.

“Women get their panties wet over my hair. I see you’re growing yours out. Copycat.”

I pushed my fingers through my thick wet strands. It had been four years since the last time I’d let my hair grow past my ears. I usually kept it high and tight, but Dillon was wearing off on me. I wasn’t planning on ponytails, but Lizzie had counseled me that girls liked to play with hair. She even went as far as telling me that she loved running her fingers through Kelton’s hair. I had noticed I was getting more looks with my longer style, and even Penelope had commented on how she liked playing with my hair.

“Bite me. What’s up?”

He leaned a shoulder against the locker, shoving a hand into the pocket of his jeans. “I needed to beat something, and I thought of you. But I see you’re heading out.”

“Problems? Can’t get a girl in your bed?” I teased.

“I see you’re in rare form. Who pissed in your territory?”

An auburn-haired girl. My kid who I didn’t know.

He grinned. “Not getting laid enough?”

“On the contrary.” I didn’t have any problems in the bedroom. “Trying to find a girl who seems to have disappeared.”

He popped off the locker. “Tell me more.” The light snuffed out in his brown eyes at the word “disappeared.”

I couldn’t tell him until I told my brothers. Blood always came before friends. “Look, I need some help. Why don’t you hang with my brothers and me tonight? I’ll fill you in then.”

He nodded. “I’ll pick up some beer.”

I harrumphed. “Whiskey would be better.”

“That bad?”

“I guess that depends on how you look at it.” I couldn’t get past how furious I was with Ruby that she had lied to me. At sixteen, I wasn’t ready for a child, and neither was she. She didn’t have to shoulder the burden all by herself, though. I would’ve taken responsibility. I might have been a dick for not wanting to talk to her, but for fuck’s sake, I’d had a right to know.
Yeah, you would’ve known if you had called her back or picked up the phone, dickwad.

I growled.

Dillon slapped me on the back. “I’m here for you.”

I prayed Kade had the same attitude.

Two hours later, Kade, Kelton, Kody, Dillon, and I were watching the Patriots play Buffalo.

“You guys lucked out on this apartment,” Dillon said with a mouth full of pizza.

The brownstone was a monstrosity, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a modest kitchen, and a dining room. I was surprised that Kelton and Lizzie had found the place. It was located close to Boston University for Lizzie and Kelton. It was close to Rumors for Kade, and it was a perfect spot for me since I could walk to the gym from there.

Kody tapped me on the arm. “Well?”

I reached for the bottle of whiskey that was on the glass coffee table. The Pats scored, and Kelton and Kade high-fived. I poured five shots as Kade and Kelton jabbered about the Pats quarterback. Then Kody muted the TV.

“You better have a good reason,” Kade said with a growl.

A sharp pain gripped my stomach. I didn’t need Kade in a bad mood. Not if I was about to tell him I could be a father. I could hear his voice in my head. “What did Dad teach us? Are you a moron?”

I knocked back a shot. The amber liquid burned on the way down as vomit threatened to shoot up.

Kade scowled. “Since when do you drink whiskey?”

I lifted a shoulder as I grabbed another shot. The longer I looked at Kade, the more my courage vanished and the more nausea settled heavily in my stomach. As I shifted my gaze to Kelton, I was reminded of the day he’d found out that he could’ve been a father. Fear had turned my brother whiter than snow. I probably had the same fucking color on my face.

Kody nudged me. “Slow down.”

Dillon joined in, drinking his shot.

Kade raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on? You’re pale.”

Kelton helped himself to a shot as he watched me.

My heart beat like a wild boxer who was throwing his fists into my face repeatedly and in quick successions. “I have something to tell you.” I blew out a breath. “When Kody and I were up at the academy, I decided to drive by a friend’s house.” I never talked about Ruby to Kade, only because our mom had been the focal point of our family at the time. Then when I left the academy, I’d put that part of my life behind me. “Anyway, I dated this girl Ruby at the academy.” I snatched the last shot of whiskey.

“If it’s what you told me,” Kelton said, “Kade won’t kill you. Nothing came of it.”

I tipped my head to the side and frowned.

“You said she wasn’t.” Kelton’s eyes went wide. “Dude, talk.”

Kade sat quietly, his gaze never wavering from mine.

My pulse pounded in my ears. “Ruby thought she was pregnant, but it turned out she wasn’t. At least that’s what she told me.”

Kade’s copper eyes formed into slits.

The room began to spin. I released a breath, then another, willing the bile to go down. My head began to hurt. Sweat coated my entire body as though I’d just finished a workout.

“Kross? Kross?” Kody’s voice was faint, as though he were a million miles away instead of sitting next to me.

“Dude?” Dillon’s voice was a little louder.

I jumped up and over Kody. Kade got up too. Then I began pacing even though my legs were trembling. As I swayed to one side, Kade caught me.

“Just tell them.” The words rushed out of Kody’s mouth.

Kade crossed his arms over his chest as I walked over to the window, away from everyone. The emotional turmoil wreaking havoc inside me was on the precipice of exploding, and I didn’t want my brothers near if I lashed out. “I’m a daddy.”

“What the fuck!” Kade’s voice went up.

I glanced from the busy street below back to the room. Kade’s eyebrows were raised. Dillon and Kelton had their mouths hanging open. Kody picked at a label on his beer bottle.

“After Kody and I left the academy last week, I wanted to see if I could get in touch with Ruby. So I went to her house. We didn’t find her or her family, but we did speak with Ruby’s neighbor, Tasha. During the start of Ruby’s junior year, Ruby and her mom left town. When they did, Ruby was pregnant, and I’m the father.”

“Do you believe this neighbor?” Kade asked.

I bowed my head. “According to Tasha, there was no mistaking that Ruby was pregnant four years ago. So that much is true. As far as me being the father, I contacted Tasha’s brother. He confirmed that Ruby told him a Kross Maxwell was the father. Part of me believes him. She wasn’t the type to sleep around. I’m such an idiot. She’d been calling me and leaving messages shortly after we moved home from the academy. I didn’t return her calls. I was… I don’t know what I was.” I glanced at Kade. A muscle jumped in his jaw. “I fucked up. I didn’t use a condom. I didn’t follow what Dad taught us about safe sex.” My stomach heaved, and I swallowed the bile.

Kade’s eyebrows hovered at his hairline. “You never kept in contact with her?”

Cars six stories down crowded the busy Boston streets.

My gut twisted in several directions. “No. Look, Ruby was beautiful, fun, and she helped me through the dark days at the academy. But when we moved home, I wanted to put my life at the academy behind us. I wasn’t ready for love. If you want to beat my head in, go right ahead. I deserve every ounce of punishment you want to give.” Or at least one round of punishment. The second round would be more painful when I told my parents.