Fighting for Love (12 page)

“Pretty much,” I agreed, and then added, “and I know I shouldn’t worry, but fuck if it doesn’t piss me off that she’ll be with another guy.”

Over my handwraps, I slid on a pair of new black MMA gloves and flexed my hands. They were a little stiff, but it wouldn’t take me long to break them in once I started hitting something.

Mason chuckled and smacked his gloves together. “Trust me, I know the feeling. I once had to watch another fucker kiss Claire right in front of me.”

Mason had told me some of the things he’d witnessed when he was in Las Vegas on a mission, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine how it would be to see murder, death, and all of that messed up shit all the time. Especially, if anything involved the people I cared about like what happened to him.

“I would’ve killed him,” I said. “Honestly, I think that I would’ve killed the guy if I was in your situation.”

Nodding, he kicked his bag out of the way and replied wearily, “I almost did. Trust me, it’s a scary feeling when you get that pissed off to where you want to kill someone.”

After a moment of silence and a few minutes of stretching, I moved my bag out of the way and we were ready to spar. Even though Mason was only three years older than me, I still liked to rag him about it.

“All right, old man, let’s see what you got,” I taunted.

The fight was on.

TWO HOURS LATER, OUR TRAINING
came to a complete halt. I didn’t have to look at who entered the gym to know trouble had just walked in. I could feel it, and by the murderous expression on Mason’s face it wasn’t going to be good. Turning around, I saw none other than my one and only nemesis, Kyle Andrews, along with another MMA fighter, J.T. Michaelson. They were both in the Heavyweight class, J.T. being a newbie fighter, and I’d completely murdered him last year when we fought at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Kyle was a lot harder to beat, but when he went down I took the Heavyweight title with me. Ever since then it had been his mission to fuck me—and everyone else he could—over. His usual white spiky hair was covered with a low baseball cap, and on his face was the constant leer, like he was on the inside of a private joke and you weren’t. What really made him look fucked up were his eyes; one was so dark it looked black while the other was a dull shade of green.

The guy had been arrested several times for public brawls, and even breaking a guy’s neck in the process. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t be allowed to compete, but somehow he always got away with just a slap on the wrist. If it was me I’d be banned from the UFC. How he got away with the stuff he did no one knew.

Mason and I both jumped out of the ring and approached them head on. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I growled. “You don’t belong here.”

“Neither do you, trailer park,” Kyle sneered. “Or have you forgotten where you come from? You’re no better than me, but yet you seem to get everything you want. How does that happen? What makes you so damn special?”

I’d seen his game played many times before. He was goading me to make a move against him because he knew I couldn’t get away with half the shit he was capable of. I’d be kicked out of the tour in a heartbeat and lose my title.

Knowing I needed to keep calm, I took a deep breath and smiled. “I guess I’m just lucky.”

Kyle narrowed his eyes and stepped closer, his leer growing wider. Clenching my fists tight, I was ready to lay his ass out on the ground if I had to. If he made the first move I couldn’t be held responsible for initiating it. That fucker knew how to press buttons.

“So, was it luck that landed you that hot piece of ass at the fight last night?” he taunted. “I hate that I missed the photo shoot. It would’ve been nice to get my hands on her. Not to mention she’s a well-known journalist who makes more money than us. She’s definitely a step up from the whores you’ve been fucking. I’d say she’s right up my alley.”

Time moved in slow motion as one minute I kept my calm and the next I was being held back by both Mason and Carter, spitting out every expletive word I could think of. “You’re not going to touch her,” I shouted angrily, fighting against the hold Mason had around my waist. “So help me God, if you do I’m going to rip off your goddamned arms.”

My body shook with rage, my muscles ready to fight, and my fist ready to strike. I didn’t want to hold back. He could mess with me about anything, and I wouldn’t give a shit, but mentioning Shelby was a whole other story. Mason pushed me back, getting directly in my face so he was the only person I saw.

“Calm down,” Mason snapped, his brows furrowed angrily and sweat pouring down his face. “That worthless piece of shit isn’t going to get anywhere near your girl. He’s just messing with you. You know that.”

Over his shoulder, Carter pushed against Kyle’s chest, making him step back and stumble across a bench onto the floor. Snarling, he got up quickly and moved toward the door.

“Get the hell out of here! Both of you,” Carter shouted. “This is
my
gym and I have the say so on who is allowed in here. If I see you again, your next visit anywhere will be to the hospital, and believe me when I say you won’t be leaving there anytime soon.”

Kyle scoffed. “Whatever, grandpa, I’d like to see you try.” Then he turned his two-toned eyes in my direction and smirked. “Give your woman a kiss for me … or better yet, I might do it myself. I’ll have to make a visit to
Physique
and request she write an article about me. I can be very persuasive you know.”

“Out!” Carter thundered furiously, marching toward the door, fists ready to fly. However, Kyle and J.T. bolted out before he could get to them.
Worthless cocksuckers.

As soon as they were gone, I thought the pounding in my head would go away, but it didn’t. What if Kyle really tried to get to Shelby? What if he wasn’t just goading me? I knew one thing … I wasn’t going to take any chances.

“What were you thinking?” Mason growled, glaring at me like an idiot. “Do you know what you just did?”

“What are you talking about?” I shouted, glaring at the door. “What did I do?”

Shaking his head, Mason sighed and closed his eyes. “You just gave that dickhead all the ammunition he needed to get to you. Now he knows for a fact that Shelby
is
your weakness. He’s going to use that bit of knowledge to mess with you.”

Gritting my teeth, I ripped off my gloves and threw them in my bag. What the hell did I just do?

LEXI ARRIVED AT MY HOUSE
a couple of hours early and said that Will and Caleb were going to pick us up together; it was her suggestion so that she could pilfer through my closet. After getting out of the shower, I came out to find a pile of dresses scattered on my bed and about ten pairs of shoes on the floor.

“Um … what are you doing?” I asked, holding the towel around my body. “You better be putting my stuff back once you figure out what you’re going to wear. What’s wrong with the dress you wore here?”

She walked out of my closet with only her bra and panties on, but when she showed up at my house she was dressed in a skin tight, red mini-dress that fit her body perfectly.

Lexi exclaimed, “The dress I was wearing was one I wore two years ago. I wanted something new and I knew you would have a dress I liked. Did you actually go shopping without me? You have some new ones here that you didn’t have before.”

No, I didn’t go shopping without her. I hardly had time to shop, so I took the easy way out and ordered a bunch of new clothes online. Victoria’s Secret had some of the cutest and sexiest clothes in their catalogs and I was shocked that a lot of people didn’t realize they had stuff other than bras, lingerie, and underwear. I’d get a new catalog in every few weeks and I couldn’t help but buy something; I was addicted to their stuff.

“Lexi, you know very well that I don’t go shopping alone, not unless you or Jace are with me. I ordered them all online,” I said.

Speaking of Jace, I hadn’t seen him since I got home. He left kind of mad yesterday and the last thing I wanted was for there to be tension between us when all he tried to do was protect me. While Lexi sorted through the dresses on my bed, I made sure to snag the one I wanted to wear before she had the chance to see it. It was a gray and black lacy dress with a square neckline and see through black lace sleeves. It was kind of short, reaching about mid-thigh, but it was going to look gorgeous with my jewel strapped high heels. Getting all dressed up wasn’t exactly my favorite thing to do, but since we were going to Bay Ridge Restaurant and to a party, I figured I had no choice.

Once I got through putting on my makeup and drying my hair, Lexi came in wearing my sleeveless, navy blue corset dress with my phone in her hand. She even had her blonde hair in waves down her back, when earlier she had it pulled up into a messy bun. It was much prettier down, maybe it was because I hardly ever saw it like that.

“It’s Matt,” she told me, but then she covered the phone and whispered, “He sounds kind of upset about something.”

She handed me the phone and immediately I answered it, “Matt, is everything okay?”

He sighed, his voice sounding much deeper over the phone when he spoke, “Yeah, I guess so. I just wanted to give you a heads up just in case.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Tell me,” I demanded nervously.

“I had a run in with another fighter today and it wasn’t good. If you see a guy with bleached-out white, spiky hair and two different colored eyes stay away from him. Even if he seems like a nice guy …
stay away,
” he warned me.

“You didn’t do anything stupid, did you?”

He paused for a second and then huffed, “No, Shelby, I didn’t.”

Whew … thank goodness.
The last thing he needed was to get kicked out of competing. That would make for an interesting magazine article.

“Okay, well then should I be worried? Why would he come near me?” I asked. If the altercation was between them, what did I have to do with it?

I could sense Matt’s hesitance over the phone, especially by the awkward moments of silence. “Angel,” he pleaded. “I don’t want to go into detail with what happened, but this guy will do anything to screw with me. He plays dirty, and knows that by getting to you it will get to me. I’m not saying he’s going to mess with you, but I don’t want to underestimate him.”

Just the thought of someone coming after me to mess with Matt pissed me off. What kind of man could actually call himself a man by doing that mess? It was a cheap shot, and only a coward would result to that. I honestly wasn’t worried about it because if that guy did approach me I’d be more than happy to tell him to fuck off.

“Shelby, you still there? The silence is killing me,” he said, his voice laced with worry. Before I could speak, he started again, “I know when you came back to me that you didn’t anticipate having to deal with this shit along with my past. If you want to walk I wouldn’t blame you. I don’t want to see you suffer because of me—”

“Matt, stop,” I gasped.

The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was going to walk away again. I learned from my mistake ten years ago that you don’t do that when things get tough or complicated. Walking away was never going to be an option again … ever.

Releasing a heavy sigh, I leaned against the bathroom wall and closed my eyes. “Matt, I’m not going to walk away. I promised that I wouldn’t and I don’t plan on ever doing it, even if this guy tries to cause problems. I’m not worried about him and neither should you. I’ll be okay.”

“Shelby, it’s about time to go, babe,” Lexi called out. “The guys will be here in about five minutes.”

Really? Already?

“All right, angel, I just heard Lexi calling for you. I know you have to go,” he murmured. “I just want to make sure we’re okay.”

Rolling my eyes, I chuckled and said, “Yes, we’re perfectly fine. I’ll call you tonight when I get home, unless I need you to rescue me from the party. Do you have plans for the evening?”

“Actually,” he began, “I’m going to stay home tonight, but if you really need me I’ll be there in a heartbeat. Tomorrow, I have to get up early to train, but then after that I’m free. So …”

“So, you’ll be free to come over?” I asked, sounding hopeful. Since my boss said I could work from home for the week I was going to take full advantage.

His answer came in the form of a slow, deep chuckle. The sound alone made my clit throb in anticipation. It made me really regret my decision to go on the date instead of being with him.

“I’ll see you later, angel. Be careful tonight.”

“I will,” I replied. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

We hung up, and as soon as I turned toward the bathroom door, Lexi was there tapping her foot up and down. “Hurry up, they’re here,” she scolded impatiently.

After running a flat iron through my hair and twisting it into waves, all I had to do was put on my shoes and I’d be ready to go. By the time we waltzed into the kitchen, Caleb and Will were sitting at the bar laughing about something. Will was in a pair of black dress pants and a nice blue polo shirt with his shortly cropped auburn hair freshly trimmed. He never liked it long to where he’d have to style it like Caleb’s hair. Caleb’s was gelled in that messy way I liked, and he was dressed in a pair of khaki pants and a dark blue thin sweater. I dreaded having to tell him I couldn’t see him anymore.