Holding Mia

by Terri Anne Browning

  Drink in hand, Lyla seemed to know where to go next, so I tagged along and people-watched.

  “Lyla!”

  I felt her tense, but she didn’t even pause as a growly voice behind us called her name. I linked my fingers through hers, silently telling her I was there if she needed me, and we kept walking.

  “Ly-la!” that same voice yelled behind us. “I’m sorry, okay?”

  She lifted her free hand, flipping the guy off as she put more distance between him and us.

  Curious as to what the guy looked like, I glanced over my shoulder and nearly stumbled over my feet when I recognized him. Dressed in faded jeans and vintage rock T-shirt, his dark-blond hair bordering on shaggy, with a nose that must have been broken at least once in his life but only added to the appeal of his incredibly handsome face, he was enough to make any female trip over herself. But then recognition hit me, and I pictured my last student of the day walking away, her little hand waving as she walked beside her father.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Lyla asked when I stopped walking, taking in the man who was plowing over people who weren’t quick enough to get out of his way.

  “I know him,” I told her, and she followed my gaze.

  Her gaze locked on the human tank quickly eating up the distance between us, and she shook her head. “No, you don’t. No one knows Howler. He makes sure of that.” She lifted her drink and drained the contents in a single swallow.

  “No, I mean, I met him earlier.” As he neared, I smiled in greeting. “Josie’s dad, right?”

  Hearing his daughter’s name, he snapped his head around, and his gaze zeroed in on me. I knew the look was supposed to be intimidating, but it didn’t even faze me, and I amped up the wattage of my smile.

  After a moment, he finally recognized me just as Lyla demanded, “How do you know Jo-Jo?”

  “Josie’s in my ballet class,” I told her.

  “You enrolled her in dance classes and didn’t tell me?” The hurt in Lyla’s voice was unmistakable. “I wasn’t even there for her first day, and I didn’t get any pictures.”

  His nostrils flared as he exhaled, giving him a raging bull kind of look. “I didn’t enroll her in shit. Gwen called me, said she put Josie in dance classes, and told me I had to pick her up because she was getting her nails done. She just wanted a babysitter for an hour so she could do whatever Gwen does.”

  “You still should have told me,” my roomie argued. “We need pictures of this kind of thing, and I know you didn’t take a single one.”

  His lips twitched into the barest trace of a smile. “Wrong. I got a picture.” He lifted his phone, showing her his lock screen. It was a selfie of him and his adorable little girl dressed in her tiny, glittery pink leotard and her hair in the bun I’d put it in myself before class started.

  Lyla snatched the phone from him, her eyes sparkling as she traced her index finger over Josie’s brow. “She’s so beautiful.”

  “Yes, she is,” I thought I heard Howler mutter, his eyes hungrily eating up the sight of Lyla while she wasn’t aware.

  Knowing I was witnessing something profoundly personal, I looked away and straight into a pair of intense, dark eyes across the room. I blinked, cutting off contact, but when I opened them again, he was still looking at me, and I couldn’t pull my gaze away this time.

  Holy gods.

  If he weren’t looking straight at me at that moment, I would have fanned myself. He was standing all alone, a good three feet between him and any other person surrounding him, even though I would have bet money every woman in the room was just as unable to look away from him as I was.

  He stood at least six foot three, dressed in only a pair of workout shorts and nothing else, not even a pair of shoes, and his hard eight-pack was on full display for the entire warehouse to see. There was a scar on the upper part of the left side of his chest, but I couldn’t make out what had caused it from the distance that separated us.

  Forcing my eyes off his amazing body, I focused on his face instead, but that didn’t alleviate my overheating problem in the least. His thick hair was a mixture of chestnut and mahogany that had a slight curl to it and was long enough that it hung to his shoulders. He had a full, well-trimmed beard, and my fingertips itched to run through it.

  As I was taking my time to take in all of him, he was doing the same to me, and I could feel his gaze caressing every inch his eyes skimmed over like a physical touch. My body reacted like he was only inches in front of me, instead of the yards and yards that separated us. My heart rate picked up, and my breathing becoming shallower as his predatory eyes landed on my chest.

  I was wearing jeans I’d picked up in Paris over the summer and a top of Lyla’s she said would make everyone drool over me if I wore it. It was a halter top, and I wasn’t wearing a bra. My breasts were small enough I didn’t have to wear one, but right then, I wished I were, because my nipples were rock hard and on display for this guy to see just how much he affected me.

  And all he was doing was looking at me. Damn. But what would it feel like to have him actually touch me?

  As if he was thinking the same thing, he sucked his bottom lip into his mouth. I felt my sex flood with need that had me pressing my thighs together in an attempt to ease the sudden throb.

  “Where is Jo-Jo now?” Lyla asked, handing the phone back and thankfully pulling me out from under the spell of the beast-like man across the room.

  “I got a babysitter for the night. Judge informed me I couldn’t miss tonight. I would have asked you to watch her, but you turned off your phone.” He grasped one of her belt loops and turned her around. Pulling her phone from her back pocket, he turned her phone on then handed it back to her. “Keep it on.”

  “Don’t boss me around,” she snapped at him, turning it off again and returning it to her back pocket. “You don’t get to toss out commands and expect me to comply, Howler. We’re not together. Remember?”

  He clenched his jaw, but he remained mute, glaring off into the distance instead of meeting her gaze. “I have to go. Stay out of trouble tonight, Lyla.” As if finally remembering me, he turned his eyes on me. “Nice meeting you…”

  “Mia,” I reminded him with a grin. “It was nice to meet you too, Howler.”

  “Josie really likes you. She couldn’t stop talking about you and how much she already loves dancing, all the way home.” He grimaced. “Guess I’ll let her come back next week.”

  “I hope so. She’s so sweet, and I really enjoyed having her in class.”

  “Guess we’ll see what happens, then.” Tipping his head to me, he shot Lyla a last heated look and walked off.

  As soon as he was out of sight, Lyla grabbed my barely touched drink and swallowed it in one gulp. “Fuck, I’m going to need stronger stuff than vodka if I’m going to have to deal with him tonight.”

  The bar was behind us, so with one last glance in the direction of my Beast, I tucked my arm through my friend’s and we went to get more drinks.

  Chapter 3

  Mia

  “Oh gods,” I groaned as the two men in the metal cage pounded away on each other.

  Lyla only laughed and screamed just as loud as everyone else in the warehouse.

  I didn’t have an issue with professional fighting. After Lyla told me where we were going, I’d been excited to watch. When we took our places in a roped-off area near the cage and the first guy came out, I’d still been anticipating the fight.

  Then my Beast came out, with people screaming his name, obviously the fan favorite of the event for the evening, and I’d lost the excitement.

  Beast was going to be fighting. Letting someone pound on him while he pounded back. The thought alone of him bleeding, broken, hurting made my stomach turn, and I’d been nauseated ever since.

  “Don’t cover your eyes,” Lyla yelled over the roar of the crowd so I could hear her. “He keeps looking to see if you’re looking. You’re going to distract
Beast.”

  I’d found that out when he came out too. “The Beast” was his name. It was fitting and explained all the Belle shirts I’d seen at least ten chicks wearing.

  Dropping my hands, I focused on the cage again, and sure enough, his dark eyes were looking my way even as he was hitting his opponent in the kidneys. Blood sprayed from the other guy’s mouth. I thought his name was Chopper, but I honestly couldn’t remember much about the fighter once Beast stepped out of the locker rooms in the back.

  Lyla had told me this was going to be bloody, but I didn’t realize how right she would be. Or that I would care so much.

  There was a cut above Beast’s left brow, and it was bleeding uncontrollably, making his entire face red with it. Even his beard was soaked, blood mixed with sweat dripping from the ends of his facial hair.

  His head snapped back when he took a punch to the face and I couldn’t help crying out, but I didn’t cover my face again. Beast’s nostrils flared, and he uppercut Chopper.

  The other fighter dropped back, falling to the mat like a ton of bricks, and the place went wild while the ref began counting to ten.

  I held my breath, but Beast walked over to the cage, grinning at me through the fencing. Wait, was that a dimple under his beard? The temperature in the room skyrocketed a good twenty degrees at that realization. I gulped and he winked, making the ache between my legs double. At least five feet separated me from the cage, but it might as well have been only inches the way he was looking at me, like he was going to devour me the second he touched me.

  Dear gods, I needed some fresh air. No one had ever affected me like that before. Up until right then, I wasn’t even sure I had much of a libido because sex had never really been on my list of priorities. That didn’t mean I hadn’t done it before, but the one time I had, I’d messed up everything.

  Looking away from Beast, my heart gave that familiar painful squeeze whenever I thought of Jordan. I missed my best friend, but I couldn’t even look him in the eye after the night everything changed between us.

  “Mia!” Lyla grasped my chin, turning my head so I was looking at Beast once again.

  He had a broody scowl on his face, the devilish grin from only moments before long gone, and I felt myself shiver as he stood there watching me so intensely.

  “Ten!” the ref shouted, and the place was suddenly deafening with everyone screaming and clapping their hands.

  Walking over to Beast, the ref lifted his arm, announcing him the winner.

  Those dark eyes went from me to Lyla. He mouthed something, and she nodded before tugging on my arm. “Come on,” she shouted in my ear. “He wants you to go to the locker room.”

  Part of me kept saying I should just leave, but I really wanted to hear his voice for some stupid reason. Lyla guided me through the chaos of the crowd. This time, people didn’t get out of her way as easily in the excitement they were still feeling after the fight.

  As if out of thin air, Howler appeared in front of us, moving people out of our way until we reached a side door. Opening it, he stepped back, motioning us through.

  The noise level was considerably dimmer once the door shut behind him, and we walked down a narrow corridor until we reached another door. Against the wall on either side stood groupies, all of them wearing Beauty and the Beast-themed shirts of various kinds.

  Howler pushed the door open and walked ahead of us this time. “Lyla’s here,” he announced.

  My eyes moved around the locker room, but there was only one other person, and he was sitting on a bench with a beautiful German Shepard at his feet, rubbing her back. When his dark head lifted, I couldn’t help but grin at his familiar, handsome face.

  “Hi, Braxton,” I greeted, moving toward him.

  “Mia,” he said with surprise, getting to his feet. Meeting me halfway, he gave me a small hug. “I didn’t expect this to be your scene.”

  I glanced at my roommate. “Me either. Lyla dragged me along.”

  Shaking his head, he snorted. “Yeah, she’s bad about that.”

  “Hey, I’m right here,” she grumbled but gave him a hug too, her eyes going back and forth between the two of us. “You’ve been getting around a lot, Mia. How do you know Braxton?”

  “We survived English together today,” I told her. “It was a real battle of trying not to fall asleep.”

  “A battle I would have lost too,” Braxton said with a wink. “But Mia saved me.”

  The door behind us opened, and I heard several of the groupies outside crying Beast’s name. Turning, I watched as Beast walked right past them. I noticed the cut over his eye was patched up, but the blood was still streaking his face. His gaze zeroed in on me, and I found myself stumbling back a step.

  Braxton caught me around the waist, righting me. “Easy,” he murmured close to my ear.

  Beast’s eyes narrowed, turning predatory just as they had in the cage earlier. I gulped, unsure what to do as the space between us disappeared and he pulled me away from Braxton. “Is your leg bothering you?” he demanded, his eyes traveling down my body to my knee.

  I stiffened. My brace was under my jeans, hidden from curious eyes because I couldn’t stand to have people stare at it. “How do you know about my leg?” I demanded, trying and failing to ignore the way my body seemed to sizzle where he was touching me.

  “I saw you limping earlier,” he said as he crouched and ran his hands over my knee. “Brace is secure. Just watch your step, okay?”

  “Yeah, sure, Dad,” I muttered, stepping back from him and right into Braxton again.

  Beast growled, literally growled, and I shivered in reaction. Ah hell, that was a sexy sound.

  Laughing, Braxton steadied me again then stepped back, putting a respectable distance between the two of us.

  “Beast, let me introduce you to my roommate, Mia,” Lyla said as she came up behind him, putting her hand on his back. “Mia, this is my cousin, Beast. But unlike everyone else, outside of the Underground, he goes by Barrick.” She indicated Braxton, who was now sitting on the bench again, scratching the dog’s head. “And you know Brax. Also my cousin, by the way.”

  I glanced between Braxton and Beast. “Brothers?” I mused aloud, noticing the similarities.

  “No,” Beast said with a grunt. “My dad and their moms were siblings.”

  “Were?” I whispered, feeling a sudden pang.

  “My dad died,” Beast said with a casual shrug, but I didn’t miss the way his brows pinched for a moment.

  “I’m sorry,” I told him, taking a step toward him before I realized what I was doing and stopped myself.

  “It was a long time ago.”

  “We going to the after party at Judge’s or not?” Howler asked, taking a seat on the bench beside Braxton. The dog lifted her head at him, whined, and he showed her some love with a scratch under her chin.

  “I’m out,” Braxton said. “I’m calling it a night. Sasha and I are tired.”

  “Sasha’s old as fuck, man. She’s always tired.” Howler scratched her again. “Aren’t you, girl?” That earned him a whine from her as if she were actually agreeing with him.

  “Lyla?” Howler tossed at her.

  “It’s up to Mia. She’s the one with a nine o’clock class in the morning.” She pulled out her phone and started texting away, leaving the decision up to me.

  “Well?” Beast asked, moving into my space.

  I wanted to say yes and go with him, but I had to be smart about this. Who knew what went on at an Underground after party? I needed to make good decisions, or Momma was going to lose her mind and I’d be back home before I could blink.

  “Sorry. I have a really busy day tomorrow.” It wasn’t a nine o’clock class I had, but an appointment with my physical therapist. I needed to be at the top of my game for that torture, or the therapist would call my mom and rat me out.

  “Ah, come on,” Howler tried to tempt me. “Not even for an hour?”
/>
  “Leave her alone, man,” Beast told him. “She’s in pain.”

  I blinked at him like an owl, because he was right. I’d been in pain most of the evening, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.

  “Lyla, can I take you home?” Howler asked instead. “We need to talk.”

  “Nope,” she told him as she put her phone away. “We came in Judge’s car. I don’t need a ride, and we’re done talking.” Crossing to me, she linked our fingers. “Let’s get out of here, babe.”

  “Brax, walk Mia to Lyla’s car,” Beast instructed as he walked toward the showers.

  “I don’t need a bodyguard,” I told him, putting my hand on my hip and glaring after him.

  “Braxton,” Beast barked.

  Without arguing, Braxton stood and opened the locker room door for us. “Ladies,” he said with an easy grin.

  Unable to help myself, I glanced over my shoulder as I walked out. Beast stood at the shower room entrance, his eyes hungrily watching me go. As I walked away, I ached to give in and stay, go with him to the party. It wasn’t smart, but just looking at him made me want to do stupid things.

  Chapter 4

  Mia

  “Good job today, Mia,” Rita, my physical therapist, praised as I strapped my brace into place. I wanted to flip her off after the excruciating workout she’d just given my leg, but she was only doing her job.

  “Yeah,” I muttered instead. “Thanks.”

  “See you again Friday,” she said with a grin and walked away to deal with her next patient.

  When I stood, it took me a minute to make sure my brace was exactly where it needed to be and to test out my mobility before I trusted my ability to walk. When I had faith in myself, I grabbed my bag and the econ book I would need for my class that started in an hour.

  Tucking my cap down low, I walked out of the PT area and through the door that took me into the lobby. As I did, I nearly collided with a solid wall of male.