Fight for Me (20 page)

I snapped. “You’ve been badgering me to talk to you for days, and now you’re shutting me out.”

“Well, you can’t expect me to wait around ‘til you’re ready to give me your time. I don’t want to play your games, Lexi. Grow up.”

He turned back to the bag but paused when I asked, “Where’d you go last night?”

He turned narrow blue eyes on me, and then he looked past me, glaring at Jacob like he was going to kill him.

“Just answer one question and I’ll leave you alone.” He still hadn’t looked back my way. Jacob was slowly moving farther away from us, afraid of Ryder’s wrath. I pulled on his tightly strained bicep to get his attention. Once he looked into my eyes, I asked, “Did you kiss her?”

He flinched ever so slightly, then looked away guiltily. I dropped my hand away as though he’d burned me. He looked at me as I stepped back.

“Can I explain?” He looked nervous, guilty, and relived of the burden all at once. I shook my head because I didn’t want the details.

“You don’t need to. I think I understand. You say it wasn’t about the gym, but the minute you get it back, you run back to her.”

“No, it wasn’t like that.”

I held a hand up, cutting off his explanation. A bitter laugh escaped me before I turned and walked out of the gym. I stepped from the building and made a mad dash for my mom’s car.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Jacob was hurrying to catch up with me. I glanced at him as he sprinted to my side, trying to keep up with my swift pace.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “Away from him.”

“Was I right?”

I stopped abruptly, causing him to take a few steps back to face me. I glared.

“For what it’s worth, I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

I sighed, taking a deep breath and letting go of the anger that wasn’t even for Jacob. “It’s fine. I’m glad you were straight with me.”

“So what now?”

I shrugged. I honestly didn’t know what was next. I wanted to go back and hit Ryder the way he’d been hitting that bag, but more than that, I wanted to curl up in a corner and lick my wounds. “Are you coming to the fight tomorrow?”

“I was planning to, but now…”

“You can still go. I’ll even pick you up.”

I shook a finger in front of his face. “That’s not going to happen.”

He chuckled. “Okay, I get it. You’re not interested in me.” He raised an eyebrow and smirked, showing off his cute little dimple. “Though I can’t figure out how you can turn down all this
sexy
.” He wiggled his eyebrows and flexed the muscles in his arm, while kissing his bulky bicep.

I screwed up to conceal my smile. He was incredibly annoying but funny in a silly way. “Can I leave now, or are you going to continue following me?”

“I’ll let you leave if you let me pick you up tomorrow.”

I shook my head. “Ryder won’t like it.” Why did I care? I couldn’t even explain that one.

“Good, even more reason for you to come with me. You can watch me in action, and when I win, you can watch me kick Ryder’s ass. Then we can rub our love in his face.” He laughed when I frowned at him. “I’m just kidding.”

“Fine, I’ll come with you, but I’m only agreeing because I don’t want Ryder to think I’m there for him.”

“Hey, I’m easy. I’ll take you any way I can get you.” I furrowed my brow, cutting him my evilest look. He laughed and threw an arm over my shoulders as we walked up the street. “I like you, Lexi.”

“Well, I don’t know how I feel about you yet.”

He raised an eyebrow with a boyish smile on his face. “As long as you feel something, I’m satisfied.”

“Do you ever quit?”

He shook his head vigorously. “I was a really hyper kid. It’s something I’ve never grown out of.” He tilted his head, squinting up at the sky as though deep in thought. “I think it’s terminal. I might need a woman like you to rein me in and cure my wayward ways.”

I grinned up at him. “Okay, I’ve decided. You’re irritating as hell.” He frowned. “But cute.” I continued.

His face lit up with a silly smile. “I knew it. You like me.” He teased as he quirked an eyebrow. I pinched his side as we stopped in front of my car. He embraced me in a tight hug, which I didn’t return. “Don’t forget to send me your address,” he shouted as he walked backward toward the gym. He didn’t notice Ryder standing a few feet away, a stormy expression on his face and arms crossed over his large chest. Jacob bumped into him, glanced up at his scowling face, and then shrugged before heading back to the gym. Ryder stood there radiating angry intimidation.

I tried to walk around the car and get away from him, but he was fast. He pushed the door shut as I attempted to open it. “Can we talk?”

I didn’t turn around because I knew he’d convince me with one look into his eyes. I shook my head. He sighed, held my arm, and spun me around.

And there it went. My resistance crumbled to pieces.

“Lexi, I know I promised not to hurt you, but I messed up—I’m sorry. But I need you to know this was never about the gym. Running into you at the club was coincidental, and everything that happened after that was fate.”

“I know that. I came down here thinking maybe I’d overreacted. Maybe I only believed it because I was too afraid to believe in us. But I’m even more confused now. It took about ten minutes for you to move on.”

“It wasn’t like that.” He stepped back, running both hands through his hair. “You wouldn’t talk to me, and I read this letter from my uncle that had me feeling… overwhelmed. I was drinking and then I went to talk to Leah to get her to back off. She kissed me. It was a goodbye kiss. I felt guilty and kissed her back. I’m sorry I hurt you, but you have to know it meant nothing.”

He buried his hands in my hair, both thumbs caressing my temples. I felt the motion awakening every cell in my body. “You stole my heart when you were thirteen, and you never gave it back. Leah got a raw deal. She tried to win something that was never mine to give away.” He leaned in and kissed my nape. I tried to cover my shiver, but he felt it. The hairs at the back of my neck stood. He was bombarding me with his sensual energy.

“You can’t just take my heart and leave. What am I supposed to do without it?”

The words out of his mouth sounded magical, but I didn’t want to believe in fairytales. It was so much harder to handle real life when you built your hopes on fantasies. I pushed on his chest and he relented, giving me a few inches of space.

“Just give me time to think.”

He nodded, looking worried. “Will you still come see me fight tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” I’d been looking forward to seeing Ryder fight in person for so long, and I didn’t want to miss it even if I was still a little angry with him. But showing up with Jacob…

Ryder was going to be pissed. Oh well, he deserved it.

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

Ryder

I climbed into the cage and glanced over to where Lexi was seated. She showed up and sat in an entirely different seat than the one I’d reserved for her, but I was glad she was here. I tried to loosen up, as the fight was about to begin, but I was too anxious to talk to her. I noticed someone slip into the spot next to her and nearly doubled over.

What the fuck?
She’s sitting with Jacob?

Since when were they buddies?
I swear I’m going to pound that little fucker so hard he’ll stay away from Alexis for good.

Jacob fought over an hour ago and got pinned by the fighter I was facing. He was obviously taking losing to his advantage by cozying up to Lexi. He stayed clear of me the day before at the gym, and I thought it was wise to leave the kid alone because I was more irritated with myself than him. I didn’t want that anger to come down on him, but I wished I had taken his ass into the cage.

The bell dinged, and I was immediately hit with a solid uppercut. She was messing with my head and my fight. My concentration was fucked.

Focus, Hawk.

I knew I’d messed up. I let Leah steer me into a situation that risked everything I’d built with Lexi. But her sitting there, at my fight, with Jacob was uncalled for. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe he randomly sat next to her and she was telling him to fuck off. I glanced her way again as she smiled at him. He leaned in closer as he spoke to her. I felt my anger rising. The burn started in my chest and blew up into a rage I’d never experienced before.

A strong fist hit me right under the eye, followed by three jabs to my ribs.

Shit, that hurt.
I was off my game. I was never off.

Focus, Hawk.

I shook it off, bouncing to my left as we circled the cage. He diverted my right-handed lunge but ran straight into my left hook. I hit him once, twice, and he stumbled, then caught his balance.

I should’ve dropped this fucker already
.

The crowd chanted, “Hawk! Hawk!” My eyes shifted from my opponent straight to Alexis. She was the only person in the room not watching the fight. She placed a hand on Jacob’s thigh and whispered in his ear. It was way too intimate. My chest tightened. A powerful fist slammed into my face. I stumbled as blood trickled from the gash on my eyebrow. There was a shocked silence from the crowd as he came at me with killer force, striking with two heavy blows to my head.

We grappled. I took another hit to my bruised ribs.
Fuck this, and fuck her.
She was going to get me killed in here. I slammed my knee into his gut. His hold on me loosened. I smashed my fist repeatedly into his face and head, imagining he was Jacob.
Yeah, that’s working.

He tried to sweep my leg from under me but failed. He took one step back. I nailed him with a blow to the nose then a sharp kick to the head. He dropped instantly. He was woozy, but I went in to finish him off with rapid punches to the head. It was over once I got him on the ground, and there was no coming back. The ref dragged me off of him and called the win by knockout.

The crowd exploded, but I was only focused on Alexis. She was finally looking my way, a small smile playing at her lips as she stared at me in awe. I jumped out of the cage, and she narrowed her eyes when she saw me storming toward her, the fury evident in my sharp gaze. Ty tried to pull me quickly down the aisle, but not before I clasped onto Alexis’s arm as we made our way past her seat. She tried to pull away, but I shot her one hard glare, and she stopped fighting, following me through the double doors, down the hall, and into my locker room.

Alexis scurried to the other side of the room as Ty brought someone in to stitch my cut. She stood against the wall, looking down at her hands while stealthily glancing my way. I barely looked away from her, my anger simmering as I ignored the sting from the stitches. The room was pumped up with adrenaline as Ty and the rest of my team celebrated my victory, reenacting the knockout. I couldn’t get into all the hype and excitement when all I wanted to do was empty the room and get Alexis alone.

“Leave,” I commanded as soon as the stitches were done. Everyone stopped laughing and joking around, but nobody moved. “Get the fuck out!”

The room cleared instantly. The tension intensified. She worried her lip, studying something on the floor.

“What the fuck did you think you were doing out there?”

“Nothing,” she mumbled. Still no eye contact.

“Nothing?” I got up from the bench and approached her. “You want to hurt me, right?” She shook her head. “Yeah, you want to fuck with me until I lose it.” She was denying it, but I knew she wanted to hurt me. I wanted to hurt myself for making her doubt me. “Does he know you’re mine?”

“Do you?” She raised an eyebrow.

I looked up into her eyes. “I apologized. What do you want me to do to get you back? Because I’ll do it. You come here and purposely fuck with my head and almost cost me that fight.”

“Ryder, nothing’s going on between Jacob and me. You need to focus when you’re out there or your next opponent will bash your face in.”

“Would that make you feel better? I didn’t even realize you watched the fight at all. You seemed
busy
.” The accusation in my tone caused her to roll her eyes.

“I watched. And no, that’s not what I want.” She stepped back, glaring at me as her back hit the wall.

“I’ve explained to you what happened, I’ve apologized, but you still want me to pay. Maybe if I let someone pound my face, it will be enough punishment for you.”

She stepped forward, putting a hand on either side of my face. “I don’t want to hurt you. It’s not easy for me to trust men, and I want to trust you, but…” She sighed, then looked down. “You hurt me,” she said softly.

Her words tugged at my heart. I leaned my forehead against hers. “I’m sorry, baby.” I kissed her gently. I put a hand behind her neck, pulling her closer, a bit roughly, and forcing her to look up at me.

“You’re mine. Mine.” I challenged her with my eyes to deny it. “You want time to be pissed at me? I’ll give it to you. You want to yell and scream at me? Do it. Shit, if you want, I’ll let you take me in the cage.” She chuckled but quickly wiped the humor off her face when she saw how serious I was.

“But don’t think because I made a mistake that I’ll let someone take you from me. I fucked up, but I waited too damn long to have you to lose you over a kiss that meant nothing.” I moved in closer, pushing her back into the wall and pressing my body to hers. “It. Meant. Nothing. This here…” I kissed her again. “It means everything to me.” She whimpered between kisses. “These lips are mine.” I tipped her head up, licking a path from under her chin to her ear. She moaned. “That sound you make belongs to me. Do it again.”

I sucked and licked her smooth skin. She moaned louder. I dragged my hand down her sides, over her hips, then up her short skirt. I caressed the soft skin of her thighs, gently spreading them apart. I pressed my palm against her panties. She gasped at first contact, her breathing ragged, nails digging into my shoulders.

“This pussy is mine.” She shivered and groaned, either from the intimate words or the way I was teasing her swollen clit over the thin material. I pushed her panties aside, running two fingers over her wet heat.