Beneath The Lies Read Online Free

occurrence.
    Once the smaller fighter shakes off the blow, he bends the larger fighter’s arm behind his back in a painful way that makes me turn my face away. Even though the room is extremely loud, I still anticipate the sound of his bone breaking. The crowd goes crazy, causing me to look back in time to see the larger guy choking the smaller guy, making my stomach to turn.
    The guy being choked is struggling for air, and when the fighter finally lets go of his neck, it’s only to slam his face back down on his knee. This time I do hear what sounds like a bone cracking, and the smaller guy falls to the ground, knocked out cold.
    Most of the room breaks out in celebration, but a few start swearing and yelling. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Gabby waving. I look in the direction she’s waving in time to see Noah tap his watch three times. “Noah’s going to settle up and then we’ll leave. Stay close. This is usually when the place goes wild.”
    My eyes gaze around the room. When they land on a very attractive man, everything inside of me stills...because he’s staring at me. No, it’s more than that. His eyes are drinking me in.
    He’s tall, or at least a lot taller than the guys standing around him. He has dark hair, high cheekbones, and his chin is covered in stubble. He’s too far away for me to tell the color of his eyes—eyes that are still following my every move.
    Gabby is unaware of the attention I’m receiving so I decide it’s best to ignore him. I glance around the room again, looking for any signs of Alyssa, when my eyes find the same man watching me once again—or maybe he never stopped. I stare back, waiting for him to look away this time, but he doesn’t. Someone walks up to him and he answers whatever he’s asked without taking his eyes off mine.
    Gabby pulls on my arm, trying to get my attention, causing the guy’s eyes to narrow. “Noah’s ready and God only knows where Lis is at. Shit. He’s going to be pissed and he’s going to blame me for bringing her.”
    I clear my throat. “I’m ready. I’ll help you guys find her.”
    As we continue down the stairs, I look back toward the guy, but he’s gone. I should be happy he’s done staring at me, but for some bizarre reason, I’m not. Maybe Alyssa isn’t the only one who likes bad boys.
    When we finally make it to Noah, he’s glowering over my shoulder, probably looking for Alyssa. I can tell the second he puts two and two together and figures out she’s not with us. His teeth clench and his eyes flash with anger. “She fucking wandered off after I told her not to, didn’t she?”
    Noah is tall, has dark, wavy hair, and tattoos up and down his arms. While he looks mean, he usually acts like a big teddy bear, but that’s not the case right now. In this very moment, he’s beyond pissed. “Text her. If she doesn’t have her ass in your car by the time we make it there, then she’s walking home. I’m sure it won’t be long before the cops are called, and I’m not about to go down because your friend won’t listen.”
    Gabby told me she met Noah about a year ago. She met him at some college party, but they don’t attend the same school. They’ve been dating long enough for her to admit she’s in love with him. And right now, I don’t envy her situation in the least bit.
    Kyler hollers to Noah, “Dude, let’s get out of here.” Noah and Gabby, who has her phone to her ear, start walking toward Kyler. When I step forward to follow, a guy jumps out and blocks my path.
    “What’s your name?” he growls out, sounding almost annoyed.
    I tilt my head up to take a good look at the man standing in front of me. He almost looks like someone I know, but I can’t place him. I glance around and sigh when I see that neither Gabby nor Noah has noticed that I’m no longer tagging along behind them. “Your name?” he asks again with even less tolerance then he had a moment ago.
    I try taking a step around him but the guy