Linc (A Cocky Cage Fighter Novel Book 3)

by Hart, Lane

  Actually, as we get closer I realize there's a lonnng line of people waiting at the door to get in, so long it wraps around the other side of the building. It's crazy how many people want to watch guys beat the shit out of each other. Wow, if the underground fights are growing this popular then Linc must be a huge celebrity with that world title he talked about. Dammit. I need to stop thinking about that man once and for all! Mason took him the painting I owed him, and that's the end of it. Have I been carrying around the business card with a handwritten note Linc sent home with Mason, debating whether or not to call him? Possibly. But there's no point. He's obsessed with my sister, the slutty porn star, not me, the lying waitress.

  I say hello to Danny the doorman, and then Kylie and I make our way to the front row, getting as close as possible to the round chain link fence, like something you'd see in someone's backyard. When I asked Mason about an octagon cage he said Scarfone was too cheap to pay for a real one. That sounds about right for the greedy old man.

  A few friends of ours stop by and gossip while we wait for the first fight to start. Several random guys come up to me and ask if I'm Eve Kelly. It's pretty much a usual fight night, only more crowded.

  "Wow," Kylie mutters just as music begins to blare over the speakers in the large open room, and everyone starts scuttling around, trying to find a seat.

  "What?" I ask. She's staring straight ahead with her mouth hanging wide open.

  "Two ridiculously hot, buff guys just walked in. The blond one sort of looks familiar, and the other is...uhm, mmm, um."

  "Where?" I ask as my eyes scan the crowd.

  She nods across the room and as soon as my eyes land on him my face catches fire. No! It couldn't possibly be... But then he looks right at me and starts heading in our direction.

  Linc freaking Abrams.

  "Good God Almighty," I mutter as they come closer. Just seeing his sexy swagger in nothing special, ripped jeans and a green hoodie sends me soaring into a near religious experience. I'd almost swear that the sight of the gorgeous, blond man causes the heavens to open up and angels to start singing Hallelujah. He stands out in this roughneck crowd like a single, hopeful ray of sunshine on a dark and dreary day.

  "Hey, ladies," Linc says with his dazzling smile when he's standing in front of us. I vaguely hear Kylie make some sort of croaking sound.

  "Hey," I reply. Oh shit. He looks too happy to have figured out I’ve lied to him, so I stand up and hug him tightly around his waist, glad to see him again while at the same time I'm freaking out on the inside. I inhale deeply because he smells just as yummy as before, like a sinfully delicious holiday dessert. And it feels so freaking awesome when he wraps his strong arms around me and presses me against his hard chest.

  "You're incredibly sexy, even with all of your clothes on," he whispers softly against my ear, reminding me that he's not only seen me naked, but he's been up close and personal with my nudity. His comment causes me to blush even harder and the warmth of arousal to tighten my lower belly.

  So he obviously hasn’t realized I'm not the real Eve Kelly yet. I'm not sure if I'm happy or depressed about that fact.

  "Um, thanks," I’m finally able to reply as I reluctantly pull away from the comfort of his warmth. Kylie clears her throat from her seat behind us to get my attention, so I make introductions. "This is my friend Kylie. Kylie, this is Linc Abrams." She stands up and shakes his hand, her wide eyes still blinking in shock.

  "Nice to meet you, Kylie," Linc says to her with a grin. "This is Senn." I’m finally able to peel my eyes away from Linc to take my first good look at the guy standing to his right. He's broader and a little taller than Linc, with wavy, chin length brown hair pushed behind his ears. The handsome man's name is fitting since there's something…devilish about his smile when he tips his chin up at me and then Kylie. He looks like he's up to no good.

  "So, um, what are you doing here?" I ask Linc, still surprised to see him again.

  "We came to see if your brother is any good. If he is, we might be recruiting him for Havoc," Linc explains. I start to ask how he knows my brother, but then I remember Mason delivered the painting to his gym this week. They must have talked about his MMA career, or lack thereof. "Mind if we sit with ya'll to watch the fights?" Linc asks.

  "Ah, sure," I say right away, realizing there's one small problem I need to quickly address. "I just have to, um, run to the restroom really quick. Kylie?" I give her a double eyebrow waggle that says girl talk now, but she's too busy drooling over Linc's friend. I reach down and grab her hand to yank her up out of the chair. "We'll be right back," I tell the guys over my shoulder as I drag her to the back of the crowded room.

  "Wow," Kylie sighs from behind me as we wind our way through the rows of chairs. "Those two are...dammmnn. So freaking hot."

  "Uh-huh." I nod my agreement but don't say any more until we're alone in the one-person bathroom. After locking the door, I spin around to face her. "He thinks I'm Mandy."

  "What?" she asks, wrinkling her freckled nose. "Why? I mean, yeah, you two would look like twins if she wasn't a starving crackhead." I wince at her brutal insult to my little sister. Even though it's true, it hurts to hear that someone I love more than anything is a complete and total fucking mess, despite how hard I try to save her from herself. "Sorry, Claire," Kylie apologizes after her slip of total honesty.

  "It's okay, you're only saying what everyone else thinks. And yes, you've known us both for years, but he doesn't and..." I pause in hesitation before I decide to admit the next part. "I pretended I was Eve Kelly Friday night at The Playhouse in Raleigh."

  "You what!?!" she exclaims, covering her gaping mouth with her hand, and making me cringe in embarrassment. "Did you...did you actually strip?"

  "I wore a bathing suit when I was on stage for just one song. But then Linc, who is apparently a really awesome MMA fighter, paid a lot of money for a lap dance, so I sort of, um, got naked for him in one of the private rooms."

  "Oh my God! Did you fuck him?" she asks.

  I scoff. "No, of course not." Kylie raises a single, red eyebrow at me like she's not convinced. "I didn't!"

  "He seemed awfully happy to see you," she remarks with a grin.

  "He thinks I'm a huge, cock sucking slut. Of course he's happy to see me!"

  "So you're gonna tell him the truth, right?" she asks.

  "What? That I lied to him Friday night and took his money pretending to be someone I'm not because my sister, the real Eve Kelly, was too wasted to stand on a stage?"

  "Um, well, that sounds sort of bad, but he's gonna eventually find out who you are, don't you think? Probably even before the end of the night."

  "I don't know what to do," I whine, combing my fingers through my hair as I try to think this through. "It's not like I thought I'd ever see him again." I'd only hoped I would get to see him.

  It feels like every second of every day when I'm at work, all I do is think about him. The memories of his gorgeous smile, and those sweet, sincere navy blue eyes are so distracting that I've had to start writing down all the orders I used to remember. And then at night while I lay in bed trying to fall asleep there are all those extremely naughty thoughts I have about him and his...Cock Ness Monster.

  "I can't believe he's really here, and he's even hotter than I remembered," I tell Kylie.

  "You want me to go along with it, don't you?" she asks with a frown and a hand on her hip. "Is that why you dragged me in here?"

  "Yes," I admit.

  She looks at me for several long, silent seconds, before she says, "Fine! Come on, Mandy, you big slut. Let's get back out there to those two scrumptious men." Sounds good to me. I check my hair and makeup quickly in the mirror before I follow her out the door, my heart racing in my chest with excitement.

  A smile spreads across my face when I see the guys again and realize they’ve left two seats in between them for us. Apparently Senn is just as interested in Kylie as she is in him. How sweet. But now it sort of feels li
ke this has turned into a double date. Why does that make me nervous? He’s already seen me naked, now I just have to talk to him.

  "Hey," Linc says when I take a seat in the gray metal folding chair next to him. "It's actually Mandy, right? Your brother told me your real name," he explains when I look up at him in surprise.

  "Uh-huh," I mutter, trying not to squirm in my seat at the additional lie. God, it feels like they're really starting to pile up.

  Linc leans over and dips his head so that his lips are so close to my ear that I feel his heated breath. "You lied," he says and my lungs seize up. "Your painting is incredible. Thanks for doin’ that for me."

  I blow out my breath when I realize he wasn't referring to me lying about my identity. Whew. And hearing his southern accent again, well, I'm pretty sure my panties are already wet.

  "Um, you're welcome," I respond, trying not to squirm in my seat. "I know it's not much, but I wanted to do something…"

  "How'd you know where I lived?" he asks, causing my head to whip around to his face that's only inches away.

  "What?" I ask in confusion to his random question. He thinks I've been to his house?

  "My lake? The one you painted?"

  "You have a lake? And no, I’ve never been to your house. I don't even know what city you live in," I tell him honestly.

  "Really?" he asks. "Because the weepin’ willows, the small pier, even the heights of the tree line are all identical."

  "Seriously?" He actually lives on a lake like some of the picture perfect places I see when I paint? I bet it's amazing.

  "Yeah."

  "Then you must have a beautiful view every day," I tell him.

  He nods in agreement. "That’s why I decided to build there a few years ago, right after I won my first title."

  "You were awfully modest about your success the other night," I tease when he brings up his career. "I believe some refer to you as a 'legend'?"

  He chuckles and ducks his head almost shyly. "I've had a pretty successful career. Lots of wins, only two losses. Nothin’ close to bein’ a 'legend', though. Especially not after I lost my title and broke my arm."

  "Your fights must pay a helluva lot more than these gigs," I say, nodding to the circular, jerry-rigged cage.

  "Half a million for a loss, so yeah, it pays pretty well," he tells me, and then shrugs like it's no big deal. My mind can't even compute having such a huge amount of money. For a loss? How much does he get paid if he wins? Damn, I bet it's probably close to a million! I'm sitting beside a millionaire, and he's...not what you would expect. He's down to Earth and so freaking sweet.

  "Must be nice," I reply, unable to help the ping of jealousy. My whole life has been spent scraping together pennies to get by, burdened by the constant worry and stress of electricity getting cut off or being evicted. Not having to worry about money is a luxury I know I'll probably never have. But maybe if things work out, Mason can have that success. Despite his usually injured face, he's a great fighter, and the crowd, mostly women, love him here. If he went mainstream? That would be an incredible opportunity.

  “So you're gonna see about getting Mason into legitimate fighting?" I ask.

  "Yeah." He nods, eyeing the currently empty cage. "We'll see what he's got tonight. Senn started the same way, gettin’ busted up in a few of these amateur fights before he started trainin’ in our gym. Now he's ranked thirteenth in the world and sixth in the country."

  "Wow. That's pretty impressive," I admit, glancing over to the long-haired fighter. The one who is currently flashing his somehow still perfect rows of teeth at Kylie. Her hazy gaze makes me think she's lust drunk. "What about you? What is your current rank?" I ask Linc, looking up into his sparkling blue eyes.

  "Second in the country, second in the world after bein’ first for four years," he says, sounding only slightly disappointed.

  "Holy shit," I say in surprise.

  With one last smile our conversation is interrupted when the announcer comes over the speaker system, introducing the first fight of the night. As we watch and cheer for the two men beating each other bloody, I have a hard time picturing Linc doing this same thing to someone else. He seems like too...nice of a guy. A nice guy who I'm continuing to lie to him because I'm just not ready to let him go.

  Chapter Eight

  Linc

  I can't focus on any of the fights, not that they really matter. We only came to watch the last one. No, I'm too busy tryin’ to figure out how to put my hands, or even better, my mouth, on the woman next to me again. When I saw that she came I was ecstatic to get to have another night with her, even if she’s dressed this time. And seein’ her in regular clothes...God she's fuckin’ gorgeous. All covered up in the tight fittin’ jeans and a white sweater, she's back to lookin’ like an innocent and shy woman who doesn't have any idea how breathtakin’ she is, or how every man in the place is checkin’ her out. While some may be eye fuckin’ her because they recognize her from X-rated movies, most are starin’ because she's got the face of an angel and the body of an erotic deity.

  It only takes about thirty seconds for me to decide that I definitely don't like other men lookin’ at her, regardless of the reason. In fact, I desperately want to touch her, to lay an obvious claim on her, even if it's only for a few hours tonight. But for the first time in years, I'm not sure how to make the first move. It's like I'm an awkward teenage boy tryin’ to figure out how to hold a girl's hand.

  Eventually I decide to casually throw my good arm over the back of her chair, since she's sittin’ to my right. After she crosses her legs toward me, leavin’ her knee pressed against my thigh, I feel like we're playin’ chess and it's now my move again. The heat from her body, and her sweet, citrusy smell calls to me, makin’ my mouth water and my cock swell. Seein’ her fully clothed is almost as hot as her completely naked. I want to remove each and every piece of fabric myself, and I can't help but wonder what kind of panties and bra she's wearing underneath. Shit, if I don’t get these dirty thoughts under control, there’s gonna be a Cock Ness Monster sightin’ real fuckin’ soon.

  Mandy’s knee starts bouncin’ like she’s suddenly impatient. She turns to me and blurts out, “Do you want to go get some air?”

  “Air?” I ask with a grin. Check mate.

  “Uh-huh. Kind of stuffy in here, don’t you think?” she asks, fannin’ her red-stained face.

  “It is definitely stuffy,” I reply even though the temperature is perfectly fine to me. “Let’s go get some air.”

  She leans over and tells her friend, then stands up to leave. Seizin’ the opportunity, I grab her hand and lead her through the rows of chairs to the closest exit. Even knowin’ I’m takin’ our life into my hands by goin’ out into the shitty neighborhood this time of night, the benefits of bein’ alone, or more alone with her, are definitely outweighin’ the risks.

  “Better?” I ask, after we step through the doors of the unmarked warehouse and into the empty concrete alley. There are a couple of smokers hangin’ around, but they’re not within earshot.

  “Yes, much better” Mandy says on an exhale, proppin’ one of her shoulders against the building. “So what have you been up to this week?” she asks.

  Her question instantly has me thinkin’ of Abby and the surprise visit that managed to flip shit upside down. For five years I tried to forget her, the hurt, the anger, and especially all the good times. Just when I'm doin’ perfectly fine she has to come back into my life, stirrin’ up the past right when the dust finally settled.

  As I look down at our still clasped hands, I try to decide how to respond and whether or not I should bring the Abby issue up with Mandy. I could use someone's unbiased opinion, since my parents have made it clear when we had words about givin’ out my address that they think I should make amends. My boys...they tend to swing more in the forget her and move on mentality. I decide to go ahead and lay it on Mandy, and get it off my chest.

  “An old friend I haven’t seen in a long time
stopped by to see me at the gym this week,” I tell her honestly, well...mostly. She doesn’t need to know the friend was an ex-girlfriend.

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asks as she looks up at me. Her light blue eyes catch the illumination of the lamp post, makin’ them glow. She's stunning, and makin’ it really hard for me to concentrate on what I was sayin’. Oh yeah, was Abby's visit good or bad?

  “I’m not sure. After I was certain I could go the rest of my life never seein’ this person again because of some bad shit that happened in the past, now I’m wonderin’ if maybe I'm overreactin’ and should, I don’t know, just forgive and forget?”

  “How bad was the shit?” she asks with a smile.

  “The worst shit ever,” I tell her. When her eyes move down to my chest I realize my free hand is unknowingly fidgetin’ with the memorial charms on my necklace. I let them go, makin’ it disappear again down my shirt.

  “So why are you now ready to forgive and forget if what they did was so bad?”

  “They’re really sick and could possibly die,” I explain on an exhale.

  “Oh,” she gasps and we stand silent for several seconds. “Well, then why not let it go before you may have to let them go? Won’t you feel better if things end on a good note while they still can, instead of holding on to the anger and having regrets? It won't do any good to hold on to it, right? Unless it's just to keep punishing them? Continuing to hurt them for hurting you in the past?”

  Is that what I'm doin’? Refusin’ to forgive Abby because it's my way of gettin’ revenge? Am I purposely gonna hurt her when she's goin’ through hell all because she hurt me five years ago when we were both young and stupid in love?

  “You’re a pretty wise woman,” I tease, pullin’ Mandy flush against the front of my body. That's when I realize she doesn't have a coat. "Aren't you cold?" I let go of her hand to rub my palms up and down her arms through her sweater.