Offside Attraction (The Offside Duet #1)

PROLOGUE

Four Years Ago

“Honey, who did this to you?” Mrs. Miller’s voice trembles as she takes in the bruises on Dakota’s face. She grips his shoulders, her eyes locked on the cut on his lip.

“No one did this, Mom. I’m fine,” Dakota mutters, avoiding her gaze as he tries to pull away.

“What do you mean you’re fine? Who hurt you?” She asks again, her tone rising with anger.

“You’re embarrassing me, Mom. Let’s just go.” Dakota shrugs her off and climbs into the passenger seat.

Mrs. Miller hesitates before returning to the driver's side. Dakota, fidgeting in his seat, glances toward the crowd of students in the parking lot. His eyes land on Hayes Griffin.

Hayes—his sworn enemy, the bane of his existence. Dakota doesn’t know exactly why Hayes gets under his skin so much. Is it his good looks? His wealth? His charm? Or the fact that Hayes relentlessly bullies him, reminding Dakota that he’s powerless against him?

And the worst part—Dakota can’t do anything about it.

As Dakota watches, Hayes strolls casually beside his father’s chauffeur, his smirk aimed directly at him—the audacity. Dakota turns away, stomach churning, relieved that the school term is finally over.

As the car pulls away, his mother rants about Dakota’s refusal to open up, but he’s too lost in his thoughts to listen. Earlier today, Hayes and his friend Ezra had cornered him during lunch. It started with insults—no surprise there. But then, Hayes crossed a line, calling Dakota’s mom a drunk.

That, Dakota couldn’t let slide.

He threw a punch, but Hayes easily dodged it. In retaliation, both boys knocked him down, punching him in spots that wouldn’t be noticed—except Ezra went too far, landing a blow to his eye before they left him on the floor.

Dakota knew he was no match for Hayes. Hayes had everything—power, wealth, charm. He was also a star athlete, playing hockey for the junior varsity team. Everyone adored him. He’s the golden boy.

No one would ever believe Hayes could be a bully.

As they pulled up to their small suburban house, Dakota was already out of the car, desperate to escape the conversation he knew was coming.

“Dakota!” his mom called after him.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he shot back, hurrying inside.

His father, Derek, sat in the living room watching a hockey game. “Hey, Son. How was school today?”

“Same as always,” Dakota mumbled, sitting beside him.

Derek’s fingers gently brushed the bruises on Dakota’s cheek. “Roughhousing?”

“Yeah, just playing,” Dakota lied.

Mrs. Miller appeared in the doorway, arms crossed. “Playing? Someone’s been bullying you, Dakota. Every day, you come home with new bruises. Who is it? Is it Ricky?”

“No, Mom. It’s not Ricky,” Dakota sighed, glancing at his father’s frail hands. His dad was dying, and the last thing Dakota wanted was to burden him with his problems.

“Who’s hurting you?” his father asked, his eyes locked on Dakota.

After a long pause, Dakota whispered, “It’s Hayes.”

“Hayes Griffin? Kim and Robert’s boy?” his mom asked, her disbelief obvious.

Dakota nodded.

“I can’t believe that. Hayes is a good kid,” his mother insisted.

Of course. Hayes had everyone fooled.

“Why didn’t you fight back?” she demanded. “He’s just a boy, like you. And isn’t he just a few months older than you?”

“Carol, enough,” Derek cut in. “There are better ways to handle this.”

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Dakota muttered, tears spilling over.

“It’s okay. Go to your room. We’ll call you for dinner.”

Dakota rushed upstairs, trying to block out the sound of his parents’ argument.

Dakota hated summer camp. It was full of rich, entitled kids, including Hayes and his friends, Janice and Ezra. For the first two weeks, Hayes hadn’t tried anything, which made Dakota more uneasy than usual. Hayes ignoring him felt more threatening than the usual bullying.

Then, during a dodgeball game, Hayes had picked Dakota for his team. When an opponent hit Dakota in the face with a dodgeball, Hayes rushed to his side, even threatening the other kid. It was so out of character that it terrified Dakota.

Hayes was being nice. Too nice.

One afternoon, after a run, Dakota was catching his breath when Hayes approached him.

“Hey, you okay?” Hayes asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“What do you want?” Dakota asked, stepping back.

“I’m just checking on you.”

“Suck it. And stay away from me.”

Hayes chuckled, a small smile playing on his lips. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Yeah, well, you did.”

“I know. It was stupid. I shouldn’t have done it,” Hayes said, his eyes almost... sincere.

Dakota didn’t trust it.

“I like you, Miller. I really do,” Hayes continued, stepping closer.

Dakota’s heart skipped a beat. Was this a joke?

“I want us to be friends. What do you say?” Hayes offered his hand.

Dakota hesitated, searching Hayes’s face for the lie. But part of him—some small, hopeful part—wanted to believe it. So, slowly, he shook Hayes’s hand.

“Thanks,” Hayes smiled.

“What are you doing tonight?” Hayes asked.

“Nothing. Why?”

“The cool kids are hanging out at the shed behind the old building. You should come.”

Dakota felt uneasy. “Isn’t that past curfew?”

Hayes grinned. “No one has to know. It’ll be fun. Promise.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Dakota agreed.

Later that night, Dakota arrived at the shed early. No one was there. Just as he turned to leave, Hayes walked in, holding a bottle of vodka.

“Leaving already?” Hayes smirked, sitting on a log as he patted the spot next to him. An invitation.

Dakota sat, unsure of what to expect.

“You want a drink?” Hayes asked, offering the bottle.

“I shouldn’t,” Dakota said, hesitating. “My dad said—”

“Yeah, well, they all say a lot of crap. Just take one sip. You’re my friend, right?”

Reluctantly, Dakota took the bottle and sipped, coughing as the liquid burned his throat. Hayes laughed but encouraged him to try again. This time, Dakota took a bigger gulp, forcing it down.

“You did good,” Hayes said, his smile widening.

For a moment, Dakota allowed himself to relax. Maybe Hayes really had changed. Maybe—

“I’ve always liked your hair,” Hayes said, moving closer to Dakota. “And your eyes. What a beautiful shade of blue,”

“What are you doing?” Dakota asked, his voice shaky.

“Nothing. Just checking.” Hayes leaned closer, taking Dakota by surprise as he kissed him, his fingers running through Dakota's blonde hair.

Dakota is too stunned to kiss back. He took him a second or two to mold his lips against Hayes’s as he felt an electric shock run through his spine and all over his body. His brain shut down for a minute with his eyes squeezed shut as he let Hayes run his tongue around the seam of his mouth.

He’s a good kisser. Dakota thought.

Then the door to the shed burst open and Ezra and another boy he recognized as Harris walked in.

Hayes shoved him hard, and Dakota hit the ground.

“You disgusting fag!” Hayes yelled, his voice venomous. “You kissed me! God, you’re fucking sick!”

Dakota is too stunned by what just happened to defend himself.

“No—“ Dakota tried to speak.

“No, what? I always knew you were a faggot.” Ezra said, slamming his fist against Dakota’s cheek.

“I can’t believe he’d think I like him. You disgusting little shit.” Hayes said, slamming his feet into Dakota’s stomach.

Dakota could barely process what was happening before the boys started to hit him. Punches rained down, and Dakota curled up, trying to protect himself. He could hear their laughter, their insults, but everything hurt too much to respond.

Eventually, they stopped. Dakota’s vision blurred, and through swollen eyes, he saw Hayes kneel beside him, smirking.

“God, you’re pathetic,” Hayes sneered.

“Come on, let’s go before someone sees us.” He heard Ezra’s voice.

“Go, I’ll be out in a minute,” Hayes said.

“Come on, Harris,” Ezra said to the other boy as they rushed out of the shed.

“I can’t believe you think I really like you.

How stupid can you be?” Hayes asked and tutted.

“If you’re smart, you will shut up about this or I’m going to tell everyone you forced me to this shed and I agreed to come with you because I thought we were friends.

And then you wanted me to drink alcohol and when I didn’t agree, you tried to kiss me and force yourself on me, but I pushed you away.

You came onto me so I hit you in self-defense.

And everyone’s gonna believe me, no one’s gonna believe you.

You wanna know why? Because they’d think you’re an unstable child since your daddy is dying and everyone knows your mother isn’t reliable and a drunk and sometimes forgets to pick you up from school.

” He stood up and watched Dakota for a second as he took a deep breath.

“Stay away from me, Miller. I don’t like you and I’ve never liked you. I still can’t believe you think you and I could ever be friends,” he laughed, the sound maniacal. “So pathetic.” And then Hayes walked away and the tears he’d been holding in, slipped out before he passed out.