6
Bobby
Well, You Fucked That Up
Jon shoves me back against the ropes with a mood almost matching mine. “Get the fuck out of the ring and cool off, asshole!”
I storm back toward him the way we’ve done a million times over the years, but instead of getting pissed at me, he swings back and we end up rolling on the canvas until Aiden pulls us apart.
“You’re both idiots. Get up, shower off. People don’t pay us to lay them out.” He looks over at my now unconscious opponent. “Now I’ve got paperwork to do.” He snarls at me. “I hate that shit.”
Jase thought he could spar with me. That’s fine. Anyone can spar with me. The problem began when he started with the smack talk. Even that’s fine, we all do it. But when he mentioned my need to get laid, he instantly had me seeing red… and Kit.
Fuck that asshole for getting too close to the damn truth.
I go to sleep every single night with the image of her taillights moving away in the dark. Of her sad eyes when she turned away from me the final time. Of those asshole guys just turning up and taking her from me.
Jase isn’t them, but he took some of their punishment today anyway.
I’ve been back to the club a hundred times in the last few weeks. If Kit ever went back, then I haven’t seen her, and despite my countless requests, Tink refuses to hand over Kit’s phone number. She assures me Kit is safe and sound, that’s all she’ll give me.
Adrenaline zings through my body as Aiden leans over Jase and helps him up. I should be sorry. I kind of am; deep, deep down. But I don’t say so. I simply tear my mouthguard out and pick up my water bottle. I guzzle half the contents and swish the water around to dilute the taste of blood.
I have class in about forty-five minutes; bleeding from the mouth while teaching a bunch of kids isn’t exactly on the up and up. Moms tend to get fidgety when that happens.
I step through the ropes and leave Jase to Aiden and Jon. Picking up my shit and swiping a clean towel over my sweaty face, I start toward the locker rooms and grunt a pissyHito anyone who catches my eye. I need a shower and five minutes alone before I get my ass banished from this gym.
Moving toward the hall and glancing around reception, I come to a skidding stop as three guys step through the door. It takes me a moment to understand, a minute to place them. Three large guys walking into my gym on a Saturday morning with bags over their shoulders; normal. Happens every day. The three guys that look so familiar my Jase rage is nothing on what I feel now; not so normal.
No. Fucking. Way.
Nope asshole, not my gym!
I move toward them so fast, they don’t have time to react. They simply transform from three smiling motherfuckers to three scared as piss motherfuckers, and before anyone has time to blink, I have Jack pinned against the wall with my hand solidly holding his shoulder and his feet balancing on the tips of his toes.
I remember thinking that night at the club that these guys are teenagers, and I wasn’t wrong, but I assumed eighteen or nineteen or so, but now, with my face in his in broad daylight, I can tell he’s much younger than I thought. Maybe fifteen or sixteen. I loosen my hold a little. I don’t want to go to jail today. “Who the fuck are you? And who are you to Kit?”
Aiden’s strong hand clamps down on my arm. I look over my shoulder with a snarl, and though he refuses to back down, so do I. No one will move me without my permission.
“What’s going on here, B? Don’t make me fill out more paperwork.”
I turn back and glare into a pair of light eyes. “It’s Jack.”
“No.” Aiden’s eyes narrow as he searches each boy’s face. “It’s Michael.”
His easy recognition has my head whipping back around. “You know these fuckers?”
“Well, I know Michael. He’s new to the MMA session. He’s also a kid, and seeing as you’re choking his friend, you’re probably about to go to supermax if you don’t let him the fuck go.”
“Bobby?” Her voice leaves my body tingling with awareness. Without any conscious thought, I tear my hand from Jack’s shoulder and spin.
Jesus Christ, she’s so much more beautiful than I remember. Tiny little shorts show off legs I didn’t have nearly enough time to appreciate at the club, and a cute tank highlights her sexy shoulders. I want to break out in song at her reappearance, but I don’t, because that shit is lame.
She’s here. She’s back! And like I’ve lost all control of my body, I find myself standing barely an inch from her, so close I can feel the beat of her heart against mine. I study her plump lips and follow the line of her thin neck to the hollow between her collarbones. Her delicate flesh screams to be bitten.
She takes a deep breath and steps back to break the electrical current that no one else seems to notice. “Bobby?” She clears her throat nervously. “What’s going on?” I think she’s trying to be commanding, but mostly she sounds breathy. I want to groan at the images flashing through my mind.
I have no answer for her. I don’t know what to say; my mind just can’t get past the fact she’s here.