Denying The Bad Boy (Tattooed and Pierced #2) (8 page)

Frost was owned by Dylan Frost, a former UFC
champion who had since retired at the age of thirty-five due to a leg injury.
He had opened this gym to help other guys that had been like him and just
needed a place to let off steam without the regulations and rules of the gyms
around OSU. It was almost an underground kind of place, where a lot of big
names came by when they didn’t want the pressure of a chain gym.

“Sheppard?”

Alex stopped hitting the bag and turned to see
Vincent, one of the fighters training for an upcoming Columbus MMA tournament walk
up to him. His knuckles were already taped up, and a grin was in place.

“Hell, no, dude.” Alex fully faced Vince and shook
his head. He knew that look, and there was no fucking way he was going to get
in the ring and spar with him.

“What?” Vince’s lip and eyebrow ring glinted under
the florescent lights.

“Don’t act fucking cute. You know damn well why you
came over here.”

“All right, well quit being a pussy and fight with
me.” Vince was already moving toward the ring. Alex gritted his teeth. He was
warmed up, but Vince was a machine, and knew a hell of a lot more moves than
Alex did. The last time they fought Alex sported a nasty fucking black-eye and
limped for a week No way in hell Alex was a pussy, and could easily handle his
own, but shit, Vince was a beast in the cage, was training to be in the UFC,
and could kill a man with a few strategically placed moves. “I swear, no kidney
shots, and I’ll stay away from your face, pretty boy. I wouldn’t want you
trying to hook up with some chick looking like the shit got beat out of you.”

Vince was a cocky asshole, and rightly so since he
was the King of the cage, but if he wanted to fight, then so fucking be it.
Alex had enough adrenalin pumping through his veins that he felt the power
flowing through him. Another fighter came up to him and started taping his
hands. Vince bounced on the balls of his feet in the cage, staring at Alex with
an amused look on his face. Once he was finished prepping he climbed into the
ring and faced off with Vince.

“This time you’re the one that’s
gonna
have the black fucking eye.”

Vince threw his head back and started laughing. “Well,
bring it on, pretty boy.”

Alex didn’t wait, just moved closer, his fists
raised and his sole focus on Vince. They rounded on each other, and in a quick
move Vince and he were on the ground grappling. Vince tried to use a
kneebar
to get Alex in a submission hold, but he flipped
around quickly and had Vince on his belly with his arm behind him in an
armbar
.

“You fucker,” Vince said through a strained chuckle.

Alex could have broken his arm, or at the very least
dislocated it, but that wasn’t what this was about. Vince twisted and moved out
from under Alex, and then he found the two of them in a clinch, a move that had
both of them face-to-face, their arms interlocked together, and their rapid
breathing identical. Alex started throwing close shot to Vince’s ribs. Vince
grunted out in pain, and satisfaction filled him.

“Damn, Alex, you been training.” Vince grunted
again, but in a seasoned move Vince was now behind him with his thick forearm
around Alex’s neck. It didn’t matter how good Alex was at bare-knuckle
fighting, Vince knew his moves, and was an expert at
Sambo
,
a Russian martial art. Vince slammed his free fist into Alex’s side, and he
grunted. “I saw you at
Rocko’s
.” Vince tightened his
hold on Alex’s throat, cutting off more air. “Was
gonna
hit you up to hang out, but then I saw this
smokin
’
hot brunette with killer legs.” Alex felt his anger rise at the way Vince spoke
about Mary. “You
bangin
’ that shit, dude? ‘Cause if
you’re not, I’ll be all over that.”

Alex saw red and was shocked by the force of which
his rage grew. He was friends with Vince, but something inside of him snapped
when Vince talked about Mary like that, like she was just another lay. Tensing,
he used all of his strength to maneuver himself out of Vince’s hold, spun
around, and clocked him right in the fucking eye. Vince stumbled back, and a
look of surprise crossed the fighter’s face right before his own anger masked
his features.

“Damn, guess I know what buttons to push.” Vince
rolled his neck on his shoulders and started bouncing on his feet. “So talking
about that pussy is a no go, yeah?”

The asshole was baiting him, wanting an all-out
brawl, and Alex was falling right for it. He couldn’t help his reaction,
though. He couldn’t help the way his motherfucking blood boiled at the thought
of Vince getting anywhere near Mary. In fact, it pissed him the fuck off to
think of any asshole getting their hands on her. His emotions reared up like a
fire-filled monster, wanting to take down anything and everything that came
between him and her, but he knew how fucked-up that all sounded. Mary was never
going to be his, in any sense of the word, but he grew violent at the thought
of Vince or any douche trying to get to her.

“Shit, Alex, you look like a fucking beast right
now. All you need is some smoke coming out of your ears.” Vince held up his
fists and beckoned him closer. Alex didn’t want to do any fancy moves. All he
wanted at that moment was to beat Vince’s ass and get out all of this anger
that suddenly filled him. He charged Vince and saw the fucker smiling. “That’s
it, buddy, don’t hold back.”

They came together in a tangle of fists and kicks,
each one knocking the other in every available spot. Alex got hit in the gut
more times than he cared to admit, but he got a good uppercut to Vince, causing
the other guy’s lip to split wide open.

“Motherfucker.”
Vince stumbled back and swiped his thumb across his mouth, bringing it down to
look at the crimson smear on his hand. His face turned an angry shade of red,
but Alex didn’t give a fuck if he pissed the fighter off. Vince had wanted to
fight, and when he started talking about Mary all hell had broken loose.

“What the fuck is going on?” The sound of Dylan’s
voice boomed throughout the gym, and Alex realized everything was eerily
silent. Looking around he noticed all the fighters had stopped what they were
doing and stared at them. “I asked what the fuck was going on.” Dylan stood on
the other side of the ring and glared at both of them. His short blond hair stood
up on end, and by the sweat dripping from his body it was clear the big fucker
had been training. “This is a fucking training center. If you assholes want to
fight dirty do it someplace else, you feel me?”

Alex nodded and sent a glare at Vince who was
already staring at him. “Go ice your fucking face, Alex. Vince, get the blood
cleaned off the mat,” Dylan barked out and turned, but not before he muttered
something about young dumbasses.

Alex turned and climbed out of the cage and made his
way to the back medical room. He grabbed a gel-pack from the freezer and slammed
the door closed a little harder than necessary. God, he was acting ridiculous,
getting pissed at his friends, and over what? Some girl he had just met? She
was going to be his fucking tutor, yet here he was, with a fucking hard-on for
her. He sat his ass on a chair and slapped the cold pack on his bruised cheek.
Maybe that was all it was: getting between her legs.

“Shit.” He ran his hand through his damp hair and
hung his head between his shoulders. He was losing it, and going ape shit crazy
on his friends over it.
 
It had to be the
fact Mary wasn’t like any other female he had gone after before. She was just
so good, clean, and wholesome. The chicks he went after were already there
waiting for him, their panties down and their legs spread. They didn’t wear
clothes that covered more than they showed, and they certainly weren’t smart
enough to tutor idiots like him.
 
The
sound of the door opening had him dreading talking to Dylan about what his
problem was, because honestly he had no fucking clue.

“Dylan, man, I’m sorry about that. I just snapped
over some stupid shit.” And it was stupid, given the fact there was nothing
between him and Mary. He lifted his head when Dylan didn’t respond and saw
Vince leaning against the wall right across from him. Shit, he felt like a damn
asshole, but he was still pissed that Vince had said that shit about Mary.

“What’s up?” The nonchalant greeting had Alex
straightening and eyeing Vince suspiciously. Vince grinned and pushed off the
wall, moving toward him. “You were hella crazy back there.” He opened the
fridge and grabbed a gel pack from the compartment, pressing it again his
already swelling eye. “Never seen you get that fierce.” He leaned against the
fridge and stared at Alex.

“What, man?”

“I mean, that girl yours or something? That why you
went ballistic when I was talking about her?” Vince saying anything about Mary
had him curling his hand into a fist and gritting his teeth. He looked at the
ground and tried to calm the fuck down.

“Nah, she isn’t mine. She is actually going to tutor
me.” He looked back at Vince who hadn’t said anything and continued to stare.

“Yeah?”

Alex nodded, knowing what Vince was going to say
next. The MMA fighter was a big motherfucker, and fell into the heavyweight
category. His black hair was shaved close to his head, and his equally dark
eyes never revealed anything. He was a scary bastard, and a fighter no one
fucked with, but something had snapped inside of Alex when he was locked in the
cage with
him,
and what started off as friendly
sparring and grappling had ended up in him snapping and taking it too far. This
was the guy he considered a close friend for years, but all it had taken was
Vince saying something about a girl that he had only known for a few fucking
days.

“I’ve never seen Dylan that pissed.” Beads of sweat
trailed down Alex’s spine.

“Nah, he gets wigged out on occasion, but it’s not
anything getting in the cage and fighting out the fact he’s pissed can’t fix.”

Yeah, he had seen Dylan fight a few times, and the
man was insane in the cage and a force to be reckoned with, but his anger had
always been controlled. He had let it slip when he saw them going at it in the
ring.

“Listen, man, I’m sorry about snapping out there.”
Alex leaned back against the chair and rested the gel-pack on his thigh. His
face throbbed something fierce, and he knew Vince had gotten a few good hits in
on him, but looking at the other guy’s face showed Alex had gotten his share of
hits in, too. “Just don’t say anything like that about Mary again, yeah?”

Vince didn’t say anything for several seconds, but
then he gave a tight nod. “Sure, man. I meant no offense, and didn’t know you
were that tight with her. Last I heard you were still dropping panties.”

Alex winced, actually fucking winced at Vince’s words,
and what was the fucking deal with that? He had never really felt nasty for the
life he lived, but right now he was feeling particularly dirty. He thought back
to all the girls he had slept with, and the term man-whore had never felt more
real than it did right now, or when he had been in Mary’s presence.

“Shit, Alex, you look like you’re about ready to
puke. You sure you’re okay?”

Dammit, was he okay? He was letting some girl affect
him to the point he was throwing punches at his friends. “Fuck. Yes. No. Hell,
I don’t know.” He felt like some kind of adolescent teenager that just realized
jerking off felt good. He glanced over at Vince, and the asshole was grinning
at him. “What?”

“So you aren’t with that chick?” Alex gritted his
teeth, about to go another round just for the hell of it. Vince raised his
hands in surrender. “I’m not asking so I can have a go at her.” He waited for
him to continue but it appeared Vince was waiting on
his
response.

“Nah, like I said, she’s just tutoring me.” He
tightened his hand around the pack, and the gel inside started to become warm in
his hand. But what he didn’t say was that he wanted her bad. Of course Alex
didn’t need to speak for Vince to read his damn expressions that were clearly
on his face.

“But you got a hard-on for her.” It wasn’t phrased
as a question. Vince tossed the gel-pack in the sink and stood to his full
height. Nothing was said for several long minutes as Vince stretched his back
and lifted his arms above his head. “Well, if you’re not with her, then you can
hit up Tainted with me tonight.” Vince looked bored, but Alex knew the guy was
raring to go. Alex should have said no to going to the new and hottest club in
Columbus, but he needed to unwind, and get his mind off of doing filthy things
with Mary. Yeah, he’d go with Vince, he’d find a girl to fuck, maybe take her
in the back hallway. Or, if he was really feeling dirty he’d fuck her in one of
the bathroom stalls.

But even thinking about putting his dick in another
female had the damn thing shriveling up in his shorts. Shit, he just needed to
be with Mary, but first he needed her to help him pass his course, because
fucking her before would make a whole lot of shit uncomfortable.

“I’m fucked in the head.”

Vince slapped him on the back. “Alex, we’re all
fucked in the head. But it isn’t anything a little alcohol and wet pussy can’t
handle.
So you in, brother?”
Vince moved toward the
door, but stopped right before he went back into the gym. He looked over his
shoulder and cocked a dark eyebrow. They held each other’s stare, and Alex knew
he was waiting for his affirmation that they were hitting it up tonight.