UNBROKEN: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (Midwest Alphas) (Book 2) (6 page)

“Good,” I say as I retreat into my room. I keep my eyes on him until the last moment before both of our doors close behind us.

Chapter 4

Be Like Bowie

I step outside into the driveway and spot Tobias near the barn, leaning back against his motorbike, waiting for me to join him. The bright white light above the barn illuminates his face beneath the blanket of stars above our heads and I see that familiar, devilish smirk slide across his face with each step I take closer to him.

“What the hell are you smiling about?” I ask him, chuckling softly.

He stands up tall and holds out a hand to stop me. “I got you something,” he says.

“A gift?” I ask, quickening my pace across the driveway instead of stopping.

“It was for date night,” he says, “but just because that got rescheduled, doesn’t mean the gift should, too.” He holds up his hand again.
“Stop.”

I halt my stride a few feet away from him. “What is it?” I ask excitedly.

“Close your eyes,” he says. I sigh, but do as I’m told. “No peeking.”

“I’m not peeking.” I listen closely, hearing his shoes against the gravel road before finally stopping in front of me.

“Eyes still closed?”

“Yes.” I squeeze them closed a little tighter and the entire spectrum turns black.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Hold out your hands.” I do so, counting the seconds as they pass by slower than usual. Finally, a large, round object lands between my palms. “You can open them now.”

My eyes flash open to inspect the strange weight in my hands. It’s a safety helmet, sleek and black — just like his. Small, lighter, but just as sturdy. “It’s a helmet!” I shout with a smile, rotating it around to get views from all angle.

Tobias takes it from me and holds it above my head. “I figured that since we’re going to be riding around a lot together — once again…” I let him slip it onto my head, “you needed your own helmet.”

“Good idea,” I say.

“How’s it feel?” he asks.

“Perfect,” I say, shaking my head around. It feels so much lighter on my shoulders than his massive helmet. I no longer feel the rough and heavy pressure against my neck, just begging to make my small, dainty frame topple over at the slightest gust of wind.

“Comfortable?”

“Extremely,” I answer, playing with the tinted eye guard, flicking it up and down. “Does it look as badass though?”

He chuckles. “Yes. I think.”

I grab the helmet and pull it off to inspect the outside again. “It wasn’t too expensive?” I ask.

“Of course it was,” he jokes. “If there’s one thing you don’t skimp on, it’s safety gear.”

“Good point.” I push up onto my tippy toes to kiss him and his hands fall to my waist. “Thank you, Tobias. I love it.”

“You’re very welcome,” he says, his warm breath rushing past my cheek. “I told you I’d take care of you and I meant it.”

“I never doubted you,” I say.

“Good,” he says. “We should get going. If we’re late, Amy will get mad.”

I slowly grip his jacket, pulling him closer. “Let her get mad,” I whisper before planting another kiss on his lips.

***

The old, abandoned school looks just as decrepit and run down as it did last year. We haven’t been back since the last fight here, but as Tobias and I roll into the parking lot, it feels like it was only yesterday. I immediately recognize Amy’s sports car in the lot, the recently-waxed exterior practically glowing in the moonlight.

Tobias leads me inside, staying a step ahead of me as we navigate the long, dark hallways. It makes me a bit nostalgic as I recall Amy’s simple instructions.
Find a door marked basement. Then, just follow the noise.

There’s no noise this time, save the soft clicking of Amy’s heels as we step closer to the arena door.

As Tobias pushes the door open, we immediately hear her voice from the other side of the vacant gym. “You’re late!”

I smile. “It’s nine-oh-two,” I point out.

“Still late,” she says. “Tobias, come here — I can’t reach this outlet.”

He walks over to her and I gaze around the place. It’s dark,
really
dark, in every corner, but I suppose that’s why she’s working to get the lights back on. I step closer to the makeshift octagonal arena, seemingly the only place in the room with a working light source above it, and pull open the rusty cage door to step inside. It feels strange to be on the other side of this, looking out at where the crowd would gather to watch me give, or take, a beating. Standing on the outside, looking in, it feels so much safer.

A burst of sparks shine out from above their heads across the room, followed quickly by a surge of electric charge. “Everything okay?” I ask. Just as the phrase leaves my mouth, the lights around the room flicker on, finally illuminating the expectant space.

“Yep!” Amy calls. “No problem. Everything works.”

“Tobias—?”

“I’m okay,” he groans. “This system is almost fried, Amy. You might want to start looking for a new place to hold fights.”

“Bite your tongue, Toby,” she scoffs. “This school has housed Alpha fights for over a decade. You don’t mess with tradition.”

“Well, unless you plan on hosting fights by candlelight this season, you might want to find a new generator before this one explodes.”

“Anyway…” Amy mutters as she reaches into her bag. “Tryouts.” I step out of the ring and follow Amy back to the table by the door. She grabs a clipboard and holds it out to me. “You have your fighters, Claire. Choose wisely.”

My fingers twitch so suddenly, the clipboard nearly topples out of my hands. “I’m sorry,
what
?”

She chews on her inner cheek with devious red lips. “You heard me,” she says.

“But I’m not—” My tongue turns to stone in my mouth. “I can’t—”

“Yes, you can,” she chuckles. “It’s
easy
. Just choose the most skilled fighters with the biggest chance of winning
Alpha
. Piece of cake.”

“But I’m not qualified for that,” I argue. “You can’t put this on me!”

“I’m
not
,” she laughs. “I’ll be right beside you the entire time. My insight is yours to pick at, but I want you to take point. You’ll never learn to swim if you don’t dive into the deep end.”

“Yes, but… you usually start in the shallow end with an inflatable tube. You don’t just shove someone into the deep end and expect them to not sink to the bottom.”

“That’s
exactly
how my dad taught me how to swim,” she jokes.

“Mine, too,” Tobias adds.

“Not helping,” I whine at him.

“You’ll be
fine
,” Amy insists. “Just dog paddle through it, but do it
gracefully
.”

I stare at the clipboard and fancy chart Amy must have created before driving out here with a list of all of the potential Alphas. “Graceful dog paddle…” I mutter to myself.

Amy wanders off again, this time grabbing a dust broom from her supplies near the door and taking it with her to the ring to attack the layer of dust that’s gathered in the last year. I keep glancing at the clipboard, blinking quickly to combat the blurring vision taking hold of my optic nerve.

“Claire,” Tobias says, “You okay?”

I force the excess saliva down my throat before I choke on it. “Peachy…”

“You’ll be fine,” he chuckles. “Amy’s not going to let you make the wrong decisions here. She’d never risk her bonus for bringing in another Alpha.”

I nod. “Makes sense.”

He snatches the clipboard from my hand, jolting my senses to shift their attentions towards him instead. “Be like Bowie, Claire.”

I furrow my brow, the words jarring a memory in my head; the sudden sensation of lying awake at 3 A.M. with Tobias’ old headphones in my ears. “Be like Bowie?”

“Be like Bowie,” he repeats.

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It means wear your confidence on the outside,” he explains. “You can be as nervous as all hell on the inside, but if you don’t show it, then they’ll never know.”

“Were you nervous before your tryouts?” I ask him.

“I’ve never been in a fight that
didn’t
make me nervous,” he admits.

I raise an eyebrow. “You always seem so calm. Like…
all the time
.”

He smiles. “It takes many hours of practice to be as stoic as I am.”

“I have twenty minutes,” I say.

“Use it,” he says. “Take that gut-wrenching fear and use it. Channel it towards your strengths. Your opponent should
never
be able to read your thoughts. The moment they do, they own you. If they can never read you, then you’ll always have the upper hand.”

“Sounds like you’re ready for a fight, Tobias,” I tease. “You sure you’re retired?”

“Pretty sure,” he answers. “I have something more important to throw my energy into now.”

“Bummer,” I say, biting my lip.

“Okay—” Amy croaks, her heels sliding against the concrete floor back to us. She tosses the broom to the side and it clatters to the floor near the door. “Lights are on. Ring is clean. What am I forgetting? Oh—!” She bends over and grabs her bag off the table. “I have something for you, Claire…”

“What?” I ask, feeling more nervous than before. I don’t think I can handle another last minute surprise from Amy Jones tonight.

She takes something out of the bag, something small enough to fit inside the palm of her hand, and turns around to face me. “It’s my honor to present to you… your very own… whistle!” She lets the metal whistle tumble from her hand and it hangs down from the chain tangled up in her fingers.

“I get a whistle?” I ask with more excitement than I ever expected.

“Well, it’s
mine
, technically…” she says, “But you can borrow it tonight.” She lets it slip into my hand and I catch it before it falls to the floor. “Air freshener!” she suddenly says with a snap of her fingers. “That’s what I forgot. It smells like dead rats in here. I’ll be right back. It’s in the car.”

I stare at the whistle while she quickly marches out of the basement, the sound of her heels echoing off down the hall. “Tobias…” I begin.

“Yes?”

“You said to channel my fear towards my strengths,” I say with shaking voice. “What are my strengths?”

He pauses and lets the air cycle through his lungs before speaking. “I don’t really have an answer for that, Claire,” he says. “That’s up to you.”

I nod, trying to come up with the answer for myself, but my mind draws nothing but blanks.

“But mine…” he says. “My strength was Mary.”

A small, regretful smile touches my lips. “That’s really sweet, Tobias,” I say.

“I didn’t want to let her down,” he says. “Didn’t matter much in the end, I guess…”

“Yes, it did.” I shift towards him with a slow step. “I know I didn’t know her at all, but I can’t imagine any scenario exists where she wouldn’t have been proud of what you did for her. I am, that’s for sure.”

“You’re probably right.” He smiles, letting his eyes linger on mine. “Does that help?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I say, my heart swelling in my chest. “It does.”

I look to the door as the tapping of Amy’s heels return to the hallway outside. “Looks like our boys are starting to arrive,” she mentions as she steps inside with an aerosol can in her hand.

I inhale sharply and hold my breath until I can’t hold it anymore.

***

Of the two dozen fighters we spoke with earlier today, only about half of them have shown up. I take it as a small victory, one that would make my life a little easier, but I still have my work cut out for me tonight.

I look down at the clipboard, my eyes scanning their names once more. Tobias lingers over my shoulder behind me, the ever-silent guardian, while Amy stands before us, addressing the fighters with enough pep in her voice to choke a mule.

“Each fight will be timed,” she explains. “You have sixty seconds to impress us, gentlemen. I urge you all to make every second count. Only three of you will be chosen to fight in the tournament. Do you have any questions?”

A hand immediately shoots up in the air, belonging to a tall man in the center of the line.

“Yes, Mike?” Amy says.

The man steps forward and the light strikes him at a better angle. I see his blond hair, nearly white in shade, and repeat his name over and over again in my head to memorize it against his face. “Yeah—” Mike points behind her at Tobias. “Is he fighting tonight?”