Taking Chances (11 page)

I just shook my
head. She's just like her brother. How people could be like that was totally
beyond me.

***

“Ooo, don't
look now, but someone's man is at our one o'clock.” Bree nudged into my side as
we walked towards our second class of the day.

Of course, I
had to look then. I saw Brandon with a couple guys and a girl I didn't know
standing off to the side. His deep husky laugh reached us then and I smiled at
the sound of it.

“Well are you
going to go over there?”

I stopped
walking for a few seconds then continued on the path we'd been on, “No, I don't
want to bother him.”

“He's your
boyfriend Harper! You're supposed to go bother him.”

I smiled and
dropped my head hoping my hair would hide my blush, “I'm just kind of worried
he doesn't like me as much as I like him. I didn't think I could feel so strong
about someone after such a short time, and I'm sure it's because I've never
dated anyone. I'm afraid I'll be too much for him, and he'll get annoyed with
me quickly.” I’d seen that more than enough times with the guys on base. I knew
how frustrated they’d get with their clingy girlfriends.

“Okay, I know
you don't have much experience in this department, but let me clue you in. You
didn't see that boy when Chase had you in the room. Guys don't go all hero over
some girl they don't feel strongly about. And they definitely don't worry about
protecting their innocence.”

I shushed her
and looked around to see if anyone was listening.

“I'm just
saying, Brandon's in deep. Trust me, I don't think it's one sided.”

“If you say
so.”

“I do. So stop
trying to be invisible and –” She looked over my shoulder and smiled, “looks
like someone beat you to it.”

Before she
could finish her sentence, Brandon had me scooped into his arms and his lips
planted firmly on mine. I ran my hands over his buzzed hair before clasping
them around his neck.

“Hello to you
too.” I mumbled against his mouth.

He smiled and
rested his forehead against mine, “I missed you this morning sweetheart.”

His voice
warmed my body and I bit my lip in an attempt at hiding my idiotic grin, “Only
three more and then I'll be there.”

Bree's annoyed
tone broke through, “Uh, rude. It's like I'm not even here.”

Brandon's eyes
didn't leave mine, “Good morning Breanna.” He gave me another quick peck and
set me on the ground, capturing my hand in his.

She snorted,
“He's in deep alright.”

“Bree!” I
hissed.

“Yeah,” Brandon
laughed huskily and squeezed my hand once, “yeah I am.”

I hid my face
in his chest so he couldn't see my red cheeks or elated expression. He wasn't
having that though, his fingers tilted my chin up and he bent down so our faces
were almost touching.

“My class is
about to start, I have to get going. See you at lunch?”

Nodding, I
kissed his hard jaw, “See you then.”

He turned to
leave and called over his shoulder, “Take care of my girl Bree.”

My smile fell
as I caught the glare of the girl from the group he'd been talking to earlier.
Was she another ex? I leaned into Bree and whispered, “Hey, you wouldn't happen
to know that girl, would you?”

“You mean
Psycho Barbie over there? She was at lunch with us a couple days last week. You
don't have to worry about her though, he kept turning her down, and that was
before he met you.”

Not another ex,
but still another girl that wants Brandon. “Everywhere we go some girl ends up
shooting daggers at me.”

Bree grabbed my
arm and turned me toward our English class, “Um, have you seen your boy lately?
Don't hate me, but he's freaking hot. I swear he should be a model. Lots of
girls are going to want him, especially the ones who go Underground and see him
fight, just remember he's yours and there's a lot of people ready to kick his
ass if he forgets it. Me included.”

My eyes widened
but she cut me off before I could say anything.

“He's not going
to, I was just saying. He just let everyone in the immediate area know he's
taken. Brandon's a goner when it comes to you, roomie.”

As soon as she
said that, goose bumps covered my body and I tensed at what that could mean.
Chase. This whole being physically aware of him was getting beyond ridiculous.

“What's up
sis?” He threw an arm around Bree's shoulders and walked with us towards class.

“Uh, nothing. I
thought you didn't have classes ‘til later?”

I couldn't look
at him, but I saw how his feet missed a step after her question. “Had some
things I had to take care of earlier, didn't feel like going home.”

A paper was
pressed into my hand nearest him and I curled my fingers around it. His
fingertips brushed softly from my wrist to my elbow and I had to fight the urge
to look at the trail of fire he'd left on my arm. Chase and Bree talked about
something at their parent's house this weekend all the way up to the door of
our class. I still hadn't said anything or looked at him.

“You ladies
have fun, I'll see you later.” He gave Bree a quick hug and nudged my shoulder
before walking away.

After taking
our seats, I leaned over toward my backpack and unfolded the piece of paper so
Bree wouldn't see.

'You look beautiful today.'

I crushed up
the paper, slid it under the rows of seats and prayed that she wouldn't ask why
I was beet red.

That night,
Bree and I both got texts a little after ten. We looked at each other, confused
and rushed into getting ready when we read the messages. Brandon was going to
fight within the hour, he was coming to pick Bree and me up, we'd meet the guys
from the house at the place.

“Is it weird
that I'm nervous to watch this?” I huffed as I hurriedly fixed my hair and
make-up.

“You shouldn't
be, Chase said he never loses, and the time I watched was awesome.”

“But you aren't
going to have to watch your boyfriend possibly get beat up!”

“I'm sure he'll
be fine!” She rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand, “Come on, we have to go.”

We ran outside
and hopped into Brandon's Jeep, he had his iPhone to his ear and was smiling
widely when he leaned over to kiss me.

Brandon gave
someone an address and name of a building I'd never heard of and stopped for a
second, “Yeah, it's on in forty, start calling people.” After hanging up, he
dropped his phone in my hands, “Hold that for me ‘til it's over, would you?” He
was still smiling, his left knee bouncing up and down fast.

“Uh, you a
little excited?” I was terrified, how could he be so excited? It's not like I'd
never watched UFC, but I hadn't known the guys fighting, and they were on TV,
it's a little different.

He laughed
lightly, “I've never fought this guy before, but from what I've heard, he
hasn't lost and has a pretty good reputation for knocking out his opponents and
I plan to show him what that's like. It should be a pretty high paying night,
and
my girl is gonna be there. So yeah, you could say I'm excited.”

“That makes one
of us.” I mumbled under my breath. He must have heard because his next laugh
was louder and he squeezed my knee.

We pulled up to
a restaurant that was already closed and went around to a back door. Taking the
stairs to the basement, I was assaulted by loud music and voices.

“This way.”
Brandon held my hand tight and I latched onto Bree as we continued to turn
corners in the dark hallway. When we got to a set of doors, he wrapped his arms
around me and kissed me hard. “I gotta go talk to Scarecrow, go with Bree and
find the other guys before the fight starts. I'll see you when it's done
sweetheart.” He took off down a hall and I looked to Bree.

“Scarecrow?”

“He's the guy
that puts all these on. He finds the places, sets up, decides who fights, refs,
collects the money, it's all him.”

“Huh. Nice
name.”

Breanna snorted
and opened the doors, my jaw dropped when I saw inside. I don't know what I'd
been expecting, but I hadn't been thinking at least a hundred people, plus the
ones still pouring in from the other door, would all be smashed together
surrounding a make-shift ring.

“There's
Jared!” Bree yelled and pointed to a guy I'd never seen before, but just behind
him was Drew and Derek.

We began making
our way to the other side of the room, but we were just as far away five
minutes later when the music got louder and a guy, I'm guessing Scarecrow,
started riling everyone up and announcing Kale and Brandon. It was already loud
enough with the music and people yelling, but it was near deafening when
Brandon came out in only a pair of loose shorts. His smile was breathtaking and
that dimple was enough to make any girl sigh, but then you looked down and saw
his tanned muscled body, skipped the sigh and went straight to drooling. The
girls that were there were screaming for him and I grinned to myself, knowing
that he was mine. The music lowered a bit and the fight began.

Right away Kale
threw a punch, Brandon leaned back letting it pass an inch from his face, his
smile never faltering. He looked so comfortable and confident, it started to
make me nervous. When people get cocky, they mess up, and messing up with this
guy swinging and kicking at you? It wouldn't end well. Kale looked to be a
little shorter than Brandon, but had to have at least an extra twenty pounds on
him, and he just looked evil. Kale went after Brandon again, and they both
started in on each other. A tall guy stepped in front of me and I had to
struggle to even catch a glimpse. I was up on my toes and leaning to the side
as Kale brought his leg around, I didn't even see if he'd gotten Brandon
because I stumbled, falling into the guy in front of me. Thankfully he caught
me around my waist before I could hit the ground.

“You alright
there, Graceful?” He smirked, but his eyes were bright, I knew he was teasing.

I narrowed my
eyes at him, but couldn't help but laugh. “Yeah, fine. Sorry about that!” I
raised my voice enough so he could hear me above the crowd. 

“Trust me,” His
eyes heated as he raked them over my body, “it's not a problem.”

The basement
filled with cheers and frustrated roars, Scarecrow started yelling into the
mic, “Knock out! I can't effing believe it!”

I tried looking
to see who had gotten knocked out, but all I saw were people cheering. Everyone
was screaming, but no names were said, and for a few moments I was terrified
that Brandon was in that circle, unconscious. I surged forward, but Mr. Tall
Guy grabbed and pulled me back against the wall I'd originally been standing
by. I wanted to yell at him to let me go so I could check on Brandon, but when
his hands locked around my wrists, all thoughts of Brandon flew out the window
as I turned to face him.

“You look
scared baby. I promise not to bite. Hard.”

“Baby?!” Oh,
hell
no.  “I am not your baby.” If his hands weren't still gripping my wrists,
effectively pinning my arms to my side I would have shoved him back far enough
so I could show him what I thought of random guys calling me baby. I looked
around him and noticed no one was watching us, and I couldn't see Bree anymore.
I'd lost her when I'd originally fallen.

“No?” He tilted
his head and raised an eyebrow, after a couple seconds a twisted smile crossed
his face. He leaned in and pressed his body into mine, his breath reeked of
beer, “Well, we're about to change that.”

I understand
that I’m petite and look like I can be forced, but I was not raised by hundreds
of jarheads just to let some preppy douche try to tell me what I was
about
to do. Friendly strangers and guys I like, sure I get nervous around them, but
belittle me or try to dominate me, and I get pissed.

“Get. The hell.
Away. From me.” I growled.

He responded by
pressing himself harder into me so I could feel how excited he was getting. “I
know you're scared, but I'll be gentle.”

Sad thing was,
this guy was attractive, and his outfit suggested he came from a country club
home, I'm almost positive he could have any girl he wanted, and yet he was
getting hard because he thought he was going to have his way with me by scaring
me? I tried not to gag. He lightly licked my neck and put a hand under my
shirt. My knee jerked up but he pushed back too fast for me to connect. He was
glaring, but still had that stupid grin on his face. He laughed once and tried
to pull me closer, but I kept my feet planted where I was.

“You're feisty,
I like that. I think we're going to have fun.” he winked and tried pulling me
toward him again, “Let's go.”

“Yeah, that's
not gonna happen.”

That husky
voice made me sigh in relief, Brandon was okay.

“Can I help you
bro?” Mr. Tall Guy asked calmly and released my wrists.

Brandon refused
to look at, or answer him. The muscles in his jaw were ticking from the
pressure of trying to keep his mouth shut. He held a hand up toward me, and
when I went to put my hand in his, my new best friend grabbed my wrist again.

“Sorry man, but
you're gonna have to find another chick to bag tonight, this one's mine.”

Brandon's eyes
shot toward him, his right hand clenched into a fist and his body turned to
face him. This Brandon was terrifying, he hadn’t even looked at Chase like that
the morning he saw the bruises. I knew what was about to happen, and there's no
way I was letting Brandon take this from me, so I acted before he could. I
kneed the prick hard in his groin, when he bent at the waist my hands flew to the
back of his head and I slammed his face into my still-bent knee. Blood
instantly poured out of his nose and onto my bare leg, I let go of his head and
let him fall to the ground. One hand was gripping his crotch, the other trying
to hold back as much blood as possible.