Ryleigh
With a groan, Ryleigh stretched her arms above her head in the locker room of Duncan’s Dojo. After picking up her gym clothes at Keenan’s, Catriona drove them straight here so Ryleigh could stop thinking about Keenan. She needed to fight to put things into perspective. It had always worked for her, and she needed some clarity on the latest developments with Keenan.
Ryleigh pulled her gaze from the ceiling to Catriona.
“Earth to Ry… Are you ready to get out there?”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t wait to get into this new ring.” Catriona smiled because they both knew from each other they were skilled fighters. Unlike what people may think about them at first glance; both Catriona and Ryleigh didn’t go to the gym to prance around in tight yoga pants. They came to get sweaty, to get red in the face and out of breath while taking up an opponent.
Since Ryleigh worked at the dojo, Catriona had recently changed gyms and followed her cousin. Tonight would be her first time at Duncan’s dojo, and Ryleigh hoped Catriona was ready for her, because she had a lot of anger and hurt to work out of her system.
Catriona put her raven and pink strands of hair into a tight bun on top of her head. She got up from the bench in the locker room and said, “Okay, since you don’t want to talk about Keenan, let’s fight.”
With a chuckle, Ryleigh said, “Okay, bring it on.”
She closed her locker and followed her cousin out into the dojo. They passed several fighting mats on their way to the two boxing rings in the back. In one of the boxing rings she recognized Ronan by his mere size alone. Like a monkey on hot coals, he traipsed his way around in the ring.
As a fighter, Ryleigh knew how misleading a first glance at your opponent could be. She watched more intently as Ronan waited Duncan out, while he annoyed him by dancing around him.
Forgetting all about her sparring with Catriona to get her mind off Keenan, Ryleigh walked closer to their boxing ring. Watching Ronan and Duncan fight had her mesmerized. She wanted to achieve their precise targeting, their control, even though Ronan masked it all under a big load of egotistical show-off.
Ronan spotted her and stopped fighting without telling his brother, who instantly hit him with a right hook. Ronan spat his mouth guard on the mat and said, “Damn, Dunc. Didn’t ye see me quittin’?”
“You’re still in the ring, arent’ya?” Duncan laughed.
“Fuck off. It’s time anyway.” Ronan walked over to the ropes closest to Ryleigh and wormed his oversized frame between them.
“Hey, Ry. How are you? Is my cousin drivin’ you crazy already? Ready to spend some time with a real man?”
Oh, if he only knew how crazy Keenan had been driving her. And how he’d just made her cry mere hours ago. When she narrowed her eyes at Ronan, he threw his head back on his neck and laughed.
“That’s why I prefer redheads. Their fuckin’ fire is unmatched. Never bored me in bed, that’s for sure.”
“Hm-mm. Thank you so much for sharing your sexist prejudice about women who belong to the under two percent of the human population. Good to know that even though we’re rare, we’re still all wild in the sack. Every single one of us.”
His eyes lit up at her response. “Damn. I like you more every day I see you.”
Something behind Ryleigh tore Ronan’s eyes away from her and his smile fell from his face. Ryleigh had the urge to glance back and find what could bring out such a sudden change in him, but she didn’t need to when a syrupy voice behind Ryleigh said, “You couldn’t handle my fire when we were love-sick teenagers, there’s no way you can handle me now.”
A smile tugged at Ryleigh’s lips and when she turned around, she came eye to eye with a gorgeous woman. There was no way around her. Fiery, brilliant red hair in long, thick waves cascaded over the woman’s shoulder.
Her deep blue eyes scrutinized Ryleigh from top to bottom, but she didn’t care, ‘cause she’d done the same. “Hi, I’m Ryleigh.”
The woman opened her mouth and closed it again. She took a step back in shock with her hand over her chest.
“Yep, Red. Meet your cousin, Ryleigh.”
Ronan placed a hand on Ryleigh’s shoulder, earning a brief narrowing of eyes from the woman. “Ryleigh, this is your cousin, Fianna.”
He leaned in and stage whispered so loud Ryleigh was sure he’d meant for Fianna to overhear him, “My ex from hell.”
“Eh, hi. I’m sorry. I didn’t expect to bump into you here.” Ryleigh’s eyes flittered between Fianna and Ronan. She moved to the side so Ronan’s hand fell from her shoulder. It was probably best to stay out of their way.
“Are we gonna fight or what?” Catriona said as she strode up to the boxing ring.
Ryleigh shook her head with her eyes wide, sending off signals to Catriona that she needed to go in the opposite direction and not join them. Obviously, Fianna had difficulty meeting Ryleigh, her newfound cousin. How would she react in meeting her half-sister Catriona?