I DARE YOU

Chapter 10-Torment Me

ISLA’S POV

“Oh my god…she’s f*****g dead.”

Someone gasped behind me.

My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat as I stared at the cold look on Ryder’s face. He didn’t speak. He didn’t move. He just stood there dripping dirty water, like he couldn’t quite wrap his head around what I had just done.

“Did she just f*****g pour water on Ryder?” someone whispered.

“Nobody can save her now,” another person said.

Ryder took one step forward.

Everyone else took a step back like they were scared of getting caught in the blast radius. I didn’t move. I couldn’t deny the way my heart was slamming against my ribs, but I forced my face to stay blank.

One of his teammates came up behind him. “Ryder, calm down—”

He didn’t stop. Not until he was standing right in front of me, close enough that the dirty water dripping from his jersey almost touched my shoes.

I scoffed and folded my arms, even though my hands were shaking under the paint.

“What? You want me to apologize? Or you think I’m scared of you?” My voice came out stronger than I expected. “You sent people after me. Look at me. Look at my hair. And you think pouring water on you somehow makes us even? Everyone humiliated me. They treated me like trash because you ordered it.” I pointed straight at his chest. “You.”

Ryder still didn’t say a single word. I didn’t know if that should scare me more or less. The silence only made the anger in my chest burn hotter.

“You think I’m scared of you like everyone else?” I kept going. “You think I’m just going to lick your boots and let you treat me like garbage? I don’t know what your problem with me is, but news flash, Ryder—I’m not leaving this school. Do your worst!”

I turned to walk away.

What happened next shocked me down to my bones.

Ryder’s hand shot out and locked around my wrist. Before I could even protest, he bent and threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.

“Ryder!” I screamed, fists slamming against his back. “Put me down!”

He didn’t stop. He just kept walking. The crowd parted for him like the Red Sea. Nobody dared to block him or even speak. My head spun as the world flipped upside down. I kept hitting him, but it was like punching a wall.

He kicked a door open so hard it banged against the wall. The second we were inside, the noise from outside cut off. It was a locker room—long benches, metal lockers, the sharp smell of sweat and ice and cleaning products.

He set me down on my feet, but he didn’t give me even a second to recover. His hand wrapped around the front of my throat. Not hard enough to cut off my air. Just firm enough to show me exactly who was in control.

A shiver ran straight down my spine.

He stepped in closer until his body pressed fully against mine. I could feel every hard line of him through the wet jersey and pads. His chest rose and fell hard against mine. Dirty water soaked into my already-ruined clothes. Paint smeared across his chest. The tension between us was so thick I could barely breathe.

“Do you have a death wish?” he said, voice low and rough.

His face was inches from mine. Those green eyes were colder than the ice he had just left.

“I warned you, Isla.”

I forced a smirk even though my pulse was racing under his palm. “So sending your little army is all you could do?”

I could smell the floor cleaner from the water I had dumped on him. It mixed with the sharp scent of red paint still coating my skin. We looked ridiculous—me dripping paint, him dripping dirty water—but neither of us laughed.

“I’m not someone you want to mess with, Isla.”

“And I’m not someone you want to mess with, Ryder.”

His fingers tightened just a fraction around my throat. The pressure made heat flash through my stomach in a way that had nothing to do with fear.

“Say one more word and I—”

“And you’ll what?” I challenged, lifting my chin as much as his hand would allow.

“Isla.” My name came out like a warning and a threat at the same time.

His eyes held mine for a long, heavy moment. Something flickered behind the cold. Then he leaned in even closer, lips almost brushing my ear, and whispered something so quiet I almost missed it.

“Why…why did it have to be you…”

I looked at him, confused. His face stayed completely blank, like the words had never left his mouth.

I decided to throw the first real punch.

“I’ll leave.”

Ryder froze.

For a split second something like pure surprise flashed across his face. Then it was gone, locked down so fast I almost doubted I had seen it.

“What are you planning?” he asked, eyes narrowing.

“Torment me, Ryder.”

His gaze sharpened.

I kept my voice steady even though every nerve in my body was jumping.

“I dare you to torment me so badly that I fall to my knees and beg you to let me leave.”

His cold eyes stayed locked on mine, like he was trying to figure out exactly what game I was playing.

I didn’t look away.

“Ryder Rowan. You have until the end of this semester. Break me. Scare me. Make me regret the day I ever stepped foot into Blackridge. Do whatever it takes to make me surrender.”

A thick pause stretched between us. His hand was still around my throat. His body was still pressed to mine. Water and paint mixed on our clothes. Neither of us moved.

“But,” I continued, voice low and clear, “if I survive everything you throw at me and still refuse to leave…you will kneel before the entire university and admit that for the first time in your life, you have met someone you cannot break. Someone you cannot scare. And someone you will never control.”

I held his stare and delivered the final line like a blade.

“Do you dare to accept?”