Her eyes flash down to my lips before coming back to meet my eyes. There’s indecision written all over her. There’s longing in her eyes but a rejection in the firm set of her lips. “No,” she whispers as she gently shakes her head.
With disappointment coursing through me, I press a kiss to her cheek. “Goodbye, Rylee,” I say before grabbing the drinks off the bar and walking away.
I make my way back to my table, forcing myself not to look back. I slide Imogen’s drink down in front of her and take my seat. “What the hell was going on over there?” she asks as she glances back at the bar. “That girl is watching you like you just tore her to shreds.”
Fuck.
I shrug my shoulders and look over at Rylee. The second I look, she whips her head back around to the bar and gets on with ordering her drink. I hate that she’s hurt, but I’m not interested in games.
“That’s ‘the’ girl, isn’t it?” Imogen asks with wide eyes before she tries to look around me to get a better view.
“There is no girl,” I tell her. At least this time when I say it, I’m not lying.
“Uh huh,” she says before grabbing her drink.
“Come on,” I say as I place some money down on the table. “Let me take you home.”
She pushes out of her seat and grabs her bag. “Oh, no need,” she tells me. “I’m meeting up with someone.”
“Huh?” I grunt as I grow curious. “Who? It’s after nine.”
“Never you mind,” she says as she starts heading for the door.
We walk out into the cool night and I focus every last bit of my attention on her. “Are you meeting a guy?”
“If you really must know, I am.”
I let out a groan. I hate it when my sister is dating. “Who is it? and where are you meeting? I’ll drop you off.”
She rolls her eyes. “Stop being such an ass. I’ll see you later, ok.”
“I’m not just going to leave you here. It’s late and you’ve been drinking.”
She crashes into me and gives me a big hug. “Cole. I’m a big girl. Stop being an overprotective douche lord. I’ll see you next week.”
With that, she reaches up onto her tippy toes, presses a kiss to my cheek and walks away. I glue myself to the ground, knowing she’d try her hardest to kick my ass if I went after her, but nonetheless, I wait until she’s safely back inside before I find my truck.
At least I know she’s at Micky’s and she’ll be safe there. She’s a smart kid and I should have a little more faith in her.
With a huff, I start up my truck and back out of my parking spot. How did my night end up like this? My little sister is dating someone and I just hurt the girl who I’ve not been able to stop thinking about for three weeks now.
I mean, I could have just walked away without saying anything. We would have just forgotten about each other, but I had to go and make a point about it. Fuck, I’m such a bastard.
I get myself home and showered. I have another massive week coming up and the last thing I need to be doing is focusing on this crap, so I climb into bed and zone out. Moments later, it’s lights out for me.
Chapter 8
Rylee
“Nine, ten, eleven, and twelve,” I count to myself before jotting down my numbers.
I let out a sigh. There’s nothing I hate more than doing the stock take, but unfortunately, it has to be done, and luckily for me, I’m the one who gets to do it. I guess that’s the perks of owning a business. I mean, I guess I could get one of my employees to do it, but if you want a job done properly, you’ve got to do it yourself.
Freaking stock take. It’s a massive job and it tends to take forever. I’ve been here all day. I got up nice and early, put on some comfy clothes and got my ass down to my club. I put on the music and got stuck straight into it. The kitchen has been done and now I’m suffering through the three main bars. As soon as this is done, I’ll put in an order and finally be able to leave.
Two hours later, I lock up the door of The Dark Room and make my way out to my car. I smile as I dig my keys out of my bag and take in my new little car. I’ve been paying insurance since the day I got my last one, and after it was stolen, the insurance finally paid off, in the form of a brand new car which I’ll have to pay insurance on. It’s a sick cycle really.
I get in my car and after taking in the new car smell, I double check the time and realize Cami would be just about to take her lunch break at her store. So, instead of driving my tired ass home, I head over to Cami’s.
I push through the doors of Style Me Crazy and hear the familiar sound of the bell chiming above the door.
Cami stands behind the counter, talking with a lady who’s practically buying her whole store. She folds all the clothes into nice little piles before sliding them into bags with a huge smile. She takes care of payment and sends the woman on her way.
“Hey,” she says once the woman is out of the way. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought we could have lunch together,” I tell her.
“Oh really?” she smiles. “That’d be great. I’m starving. Just give me a few minutes. Ava is just finishing her lunch break and then she can cover me so we can go.”
“Sure,” I smile.
“I got some new stuff in, you should have a look while you wait,” she tells me.
“Ok,” I say, “But you know this stuff isn’t really my style,” I remind her as I take in all the girly dresses and floral prints within the store.
“I know, but I promise you’ll like it… or at least, you’ll like a few things,” she says as she goes around the store straightening everything up.
Five minutes later, I’m pleasantly surprised by nearly everything I’ve found. I stand in my underwear in Cami’s dressing room, trying on as much as I can while Cami throws more and more clothes over the top, but I have to stop her when she throws me a bright pink maxi dress. That’s just not me.
I buy way too much and before I know it, we’re shoving bags upon bags of clothes into my car and we’re walking down the street to the local salad bar.
We get into the busy salad bar and wait an excruciating long fifteen minutes before we get to the front of the line. Once we have our lunch, we look around and realize there’s no way in hell we’ll be finding a table, so we head out for a walk instead.
“So,” Cami starts as she digs into her chicken salad. I groan as I recognize her tone. It’s one she only uses when she wants something. “I kind of have a favor to ask.”
“I figured,” I grumble as I begin unwrapping my salad wrap. “What’s up?”
She gives me a guilty smile. “I was kind of hoping you’d come to the self-defense class with me tonight?”
“Ha,” I laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding, right? I told you what happened at Micky’s Bar. I don’t want to see him again. I’m completely humiliated.”
“Oh, come on,” she says. “It didn’t sound that bad.”
“Bullshit. I turned him down and it was like he wouldn’t let me. He did the turning down instead and it sucked, like really bad.”
“Please, Ry,” she begs once again. “For me? There’s always an odd number in class, and because I don’t know anyone, I get paired with Jace, and there’s only so much I can take before I end up sleeping with him and then he’ll break me. I just know it. Pleeeease. Please, please, please.”
I let out a sigh. “I don’t know, Cam.”
“Come on, Ry. I’ll owe you big time, and besides, you won’t even see Cole. He was just covering for Luke the other week.”
I pout my bottom lip out at her. “Do I have to?”
“Yes,” she says then gives me an award-winning smile. “I’ll spring clean the club for you.”
“Shit,” I sigh, I can’t say no to that.
“Hell, yeah,” she grins as she pumps her fist into the sky. “It’s at six,” she reminds me.
“How could I forget?” I groan as I shovel what’s left of my wrap down my throat, only it does
n’t taste so good anymore.
We finish up our lunch and soon enough, Cami has to get back to her store and I get back in my car, absolutely dreading the afternoon that’s to come.
I decide the best way for me to survive such a massive morning, a self-defense class, and working all night is to put myself to bed. I reluctantly set myself an alarm and before I know it, the alarm is screeching into my quiet room like a damn banshee.
I groan as I turn it off and try to come up with as many excuses as I can to avoid going to Rebels Advocate, but at the end of the day, I could tell Cami I’m dying and she’ll still drag me to the gym kicking and screaming.
I get myself dressed and I find myself pulling on my shortest shorts and a little training crop. I put my hair into braids and deem myself an absolute goddess.
As I drive to the gym, I can’t help back think back to the night at Micky’s Bar. Cole looked incredible, of course. He has the whole handsome, rugged good looks thing down. Especially in the dark jeans and the top that his muscles were practically forcing their way out of.
Far out, those muscles. I’d give anything to have that body all over me again.
In the club, I see all sorts of attractive men, but never have I seen one that has me going absolutely wild with need. The man was a machine and I’ll never regret taking him into that supply closet. Hell, I think I’m even going to rename the closet as Cole’s sex dungeon. I might even get a nameplate to stick to the door.
Cole had a girl with him at Micky’s and I swear it was a date. The girl looked at him with absolute adoration, probably the same way I look at him. I’d deny it over and over again if anyone ever asked, but Cole was right. I’ve never been so jealous in my life, which is why it hurt so bad when I realized I’d really missed my chance at digging my claws into an amazing man. The Cole ship had well and truly sailed.
I completely fucked up, but I’m not going to do anything about it because when it comes down to it, I’m not ready. Relationships scare the shit out of me. I’d run for the hills and never look back, which in turn is just going to hurt the poor guy. Nobody deserves a girl like me.
So, for now, until I’m able to conquer this illogical fear of commitment, it’s all about wild, spontaneous sex for me. Shit, I’m the girl version of a man-whore.
I pull up out the front of Rebels Advocate and have a quick look around. Cami’s car isn’t here yet so I guess I’m staying right where I am. There’s no way in hell I’m going in there for a minute longer than necessary. Besides, what if Cami never shows up? It’s doubtful, but it could happen.
Having a few minutes to myself, I pull out my tablet and get started on the crapload of work I’ll be doing as soon as I get to The Dark Room. My Saturday nights are generally dedicated to creating the following week’s roster so I get started on that. Which is actually how a lot of my spare time goes. Running a club is a massive job and sometimes I even think about hiring an assistant, but then I have Cami who’s always around to help. She’s an absolute godsend, but I try not to take advantage of her. After all, she has her own business to run.
I’m halfway through the roster when her car comes to a stop beside mine. I hit save on the document and get out of my car as slowly as possible. “Get a move on,” she says as she loops her arm through mine and practically drags me along.
She pulls open the door to Rebels and my eyes instantly flick around the section of the gym I can see, which really isn’t much. I’ll get a much better view as I round the corner.
“Hey, Jess. How are you?” Cami says to the girl working at the reception desk.
Jess looks up and gives Cami a beaming smile. “Hey, Cami. I’m good. How are you doing? Are you here for the self-defense class again?”
“Sure am,” Cami says with almost a dreamy smile, no doubt thinking about the fact that she’s about to see Jace again. Shit, maybe coming here isn’t really healthy for either of us.
“Enjoy,” Jess says as we continue walking by her desk.
We both give her a grateful smile before I turn a glare on Cami. “What do you think you’re doing?” I scold.
“Huh?” she grunts. “It’s called being nice. I know it’s a foreign topic for you, but for the rest of us, it’s considered polite.”
“Yeah, for normal people,” I tell her. “But not for you. You’re all sweet and charming to everyone you meet and end up making friends with them, and then I get roped into hanging out with all your new friends. But that girl is not someone you can make friends with.”
“Why the hell not?” she argues. “Jess is nice.”
“I have no doubt that she’s nice. I’m sure she’s one of the nicest people on the planet. My problem is that being friends with her means a higher chance of me running into Cole.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Don’t make friends with his friends,” I shoot back.
She rolls her eyes as we walk deeper into the gym and I come to a screeching halt at the sight I see before me. I’m almost certain my mouth hits the floor.
Cole is bare-chested in the middle of one of those fighting ring things, fighting against the guy who’s in all the posters around here. I wonder if that is the fiancée Charli was talking about. It’s clear Cole is his trainer and he’s obviously a very good one. I mean, he’s barking out all sorts of orders to the poor guy. If that was me, I’d have probably died by now.
There’s nothing but the sound of their fists echoing through the gym and each and every punch has me clenching from within. I mean, wow.
There’s a light sheen of sweat on each of their chests and I find it physically impossible to look away. What the hell was I thinking passing up a guy like that? He’s literally every woman’s wet dream. Those few times I saw him, he had his muscles on display, but nothing like this. Here, his muscles are bulging and I’ve never been so turned on in my life.
Crap. I need to get a hold of myself. He’s just a man.
“Yeah,” Cami sighs from beside me. “It’s hot, huh?”
“Mmhmm,” I practically moan.
Cole has his fighter down on the ground and he holds him there for a few seconds before they break apart. Cole sends out a booming laugh while his fighter seems frustrated that Cole got the drop on him.
They get to their feet which is when he looks up, instantly connecting with my eyes as if he could feel my stare. A smug expression appears on his face which does nothing but piss me off. I mean, the look on his face is as if he’s saying ‘I knew you’d come running back’, but no, not me. All it makes me want to do is smack him, but after what I just saw, there’s no way I’d be able to get the drop on him. He’s an ass, but there’s no doubt he’s an incredible fighter.
Which I just happen to know as a fact after I googled him the other night. Apparently, the guy is a fucking MMA heavyweight champion, three years straight.
I narrow my eyes on him and let Cami drag me away in her need to lay her eyes on Jace.
We’re walking towards the door of the studio room when Jace and some other guy who I’m assuming is Luke come walking in from the opposite direction. Jace reaches for the door and holds it open for us, all to Cami’s delight of course. “Cami,” he greets with a flirty smile.
Her face flushes, but she gives him a brilliant smile. “Hey, Jace.”
His eyes cross to me and he narrows them as if he’s trying to place my face. “Sorry, love. I know I’ve met you before but I’m drawing a blank.”
“I’m Rylee, I came a few weeks ago.”
“Ah, yes. Rylee,” he says before flicking his eyes across to Luke with a knowing grin. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
I let out a breath as I glance back across the gym to Cole who still has a smug as fuck expression on his face. He picks up a water bottle and takes a sip. His eyes narrow slightly like he’s daring me to make a move. Fuck, I want to. I cut my eyes away. “I can only imagine,” I grumble.
He chuckles as he ushers us through the door. I go over to the side a
nd dump my bag only to find Cami not beside me where I left her. I turn around and find her chatting with Jace, either offering to help him set up for the class or offering herself as his sex slave, either option is plausible.
I let her go as a sit down on the ground and start stretching my body out. I can still see Cole as clear as day through the glass wall, but at least he has taken mercy on me and is finally paying attention to his fighter again.
The room starts to fill and before I know it, Luke and Jace have us all pairing up and putting each other in the most absurd positions imaginable.
Cami is squaring off against me when Jace comes up behind her and helps adjust her body like they do in those cheesy movies. “You’re really starting to get this,” he tells her as she melts into him.
He squeezes her waist and I want to smack him for leading her on. “Thanks,” she whispers before flicking her eyes back to me and giving me a discreet wink.
God, I want to throw up.
Jace smiles and it’s clear as day that he likes her, but not in the right way. He wants to get her in bed. He moves away and we get back to work.
“You’re really starting to get this,” I mimic as Cami flips me on my back for the third time.
“Shut up,” she laughs. “But he’s right. I’m pretty damn good.”
“Yeah, that’s because you’re the teacher’s pet. I have no doubt he’ll be offering you private lessons soon.”
“No, he won’t,” she says with a roll of her eyes.
“You’re right,” I say, not the one with the smug as fuck expression. “He’ll be offering you something else.”
Chapter 9
Cole
It’s the day we’ve all been working for. It’s Xander’s first fight of the year and I feel like it has completely snuck up on us. Don’t get me wrong, he’s completely ready and I have no doubt he can take out the competition. It will be hard, but the kid has what it takes to go all the way for the second time.
I have all the faith in the world that he can do it. We spent the last week cutting weight for the weigh-in and it was excruciating for everybody. Xander’s been on an extreme training program which includes everything from particular exercises, certain intervals for fluid intake, and not to mention the strictest diet you’ve ever seen.
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