Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 78487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
I raise my unwounded eyebrow at him. “I said I got this.”
But he’s right. I am distracted. Because the moment I stepped into the cage tonight, I started searching for her in the crowd, and when I couldn’t find her, my mind spun chaotic thoughts in every direction. Even now, blinded by all the blood dripping in my eyes, I’m still searching the crowd for her familiar face.
Why isn’t she here?
And why the fuck does it matter so much to me that she’s not?
By the time I stand and meet Punisher in the center of the mat, I’ve already made up my mind. After the fight, I’m going to swing by her apartment, but that means dealing with Punisher first.
When the bell sounds for the round to start, we grapple, and I send him unconscious to the floor with a double collar tie followed by a flying knee to the chin.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Paw adds as I leave the cage, victorious not five minutes later.
Doc says nothing but eyes me suspiciously—he’s trying to figure out what’s going on with me.
They follow me into the locker room, Paw even following me into the showers, wanting to know what has gotten into me.
“You seriously going to watch me shower?” I ask.
“If it means I find out what the fuck that was,” he says, pointing in the direction of the cage.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You never let your opponent make contact more than once or twice, but tonight you let Punisher put his hands all over you. Are you thinking about that girl?”
“Are you leaving? Or you planning on joining me in the shower?”
“I’m not going anywhere until you answer the damn question. Is Ares the Giant pussy-whipped because if he is, you gotta get that shit under control, my friend.”
I’m not shy, so to avoid answering the question, I shove off my shorts and underwear.
When Paw sees what’s hanging between my thighs, his eyebrows disappear all the way up his forehead. “Well, I’ll be goddamned.”
He turns away.
“Didn’t take you for the shy type,” I say, stepping into the shower.
“Is that thing fucking real?” He shakes his head. “How many women have seen that and run away?”
“I haven’t had any complaints.”
In the shower, I lather up the soap to wash away the sweat, blood, and the dull ache lingering in my muscles and joints.
All the while, Paw keeps at me.
“You’ve got the fight with Raptor in a couple of weeks. If you want to keep your teeth, I suggest you do whatever it takes to get this distraction out of your system.”
He’s preaching to the converted. That is exactly what I plan to do. Tonight, I’m going to spend the night fucking this need out of my body.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be ready for Raptor.”
But Paw doesn’t let up. Even as I step out of the shower and wrap a towel around my hips, he follows me back into the locker room, where Doc is packing up our belongings and shoving them into a large canvas bag.
“Why am I not convinced?”
“Because you’re ex-FBI, you’d be suspicious of your own grandmother.”
“Hey, that suspicion has kept me alive.” He shakes his head. “No, I’m not convinced because I’ve never seen you like this over a girl before. Hell, I’ve never seen you with a girl, period. Those club girls flutter their eyelashes at you, and you walk in the other direction. But this girl… she’s got to mean something for you to get this distracted.”
“She means nothing.” I tower over him as I reach for my clothes neatly stacked in my locker. “Now, are you going to keep nattering at me like an old hen, or are you going to leave me in peace so I can get dressed?”
Thankfully, both he and Doc leave, and I dress in silence, but inside, my head is chaos. Paw is right. I need to get this distraction under control. Raptor is a mean sonofabitch, and he almost matches me in size. I can’t enter that cage thinking about a pair of bee-stung lips and a face you get lost in or he’ll make a meal out of me.
Feeling more determined to get her out of my system, I leave the gym and walk in the opposite direction of Aces High.
“Hey, where are you going?” Paw calls out from the pathway leading to the bar.
“To work on my distraction,” I call back.
“What about the money for the fight?”
“Tell Tony I said to give it to you.”
Despite the curious looks of my brothers, my aching body, and the blows to my face, I climb on my bike and disappear into the night, pointing my Harley in the direction of Rory’s home.
When I arrive, I park up the street and sit in the darkness to watch her apartment. The light is on, and I can see her moving about inside, but I need to take a moment. My head is spinning with chaos, and I’m still weighing up the consequences. But I know I need to get this done.