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“No, I was thinking I need something cool to store them in at our place. Most of the ones I’ve collected are at my parents’ house, but this baby’s coming home with us.”
Home with us.I liked the way that sounded. Had it really been a few months ago that I’d begrudgingly let him move in with me? I’d never wanted to share my space, but now I couldn’t imagine living there without him.
“I think we can figure something out,” I said. “But your five minutes are up. I’m starving.”
“Uh oh. Better feed you before the beast comes out. Just let me pay real quick?—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I stopped him before he could get far. “You think I tracked this sucker down and didn’t pay for it? Come on now.”
Gavin grinned and took my hand. “I didn’t want to assume, but in that case, I’m paying for dinner.”
I reached for our umbrellas by the door and smirked. “Deal.”
FORTY-FOUR
gavin
One month later
“DAMMIT, GAVIN, YOU’VE been holding out on us. Why didn’t you say there were half-naked musclemen crawling the place?” Travis gave averyappreciative once-over to the fighters gathered on one side of the gym, which was more like a warehouse with a massive ring in the center of the space.
It was packed with spectators wanting to check out the new lineup of up-and-coming fighters being showcased. I saw more than a few in the crowd from Daire’s underground fighting days, and I wondered if they were here just to watch him.
“Steer clear of those,” West told Travis. “’Roid rage is a thing.”
“So is erectile dysfunction,” I added.
Travis looked back at the guys with disappointment creasing his brow. “Seriously? All those muscles and they can’t get it up? How fuckin’ disappointing.”
Donovan bumped me with his shoulder. “Nervous?”
“Um. Yeah. Obviously.” Truth was, I was almost more nervous for Daire’s opponents. Our friends still had no idea about Daire’s underground fights, thinking I’d convinced him tochannel his rage into something more productive. They had no clue what the man could do, or that the Reaper tattoo on his back wasn’t because he was obsessed with death, but because he could bring it.
Then again, this was still pretty new for him, and he wasn’t a fan of rules. There was no telling how today would go.
“Well, hopefully he’ll still have a face when this is over. I’ve seen how these things can go.”
“Gee, thanks, Van. That’s super helpful. Why don’t you go give D those words of encouragement and see howyourface ends up?”
He held his hands up. “Touché.”
Preston walked back over from the makeshift drink stand and unscrewed the cap of his water bottle. “Is it bad I wish East was here so we could accidentally push him in the ring?”
I shook my head. “Pretty sure we’ve all thought that more than once.”
“We should’ve put a hidden camera in the dean’s office when we pranked her last year,” West said. “Then we could’ve seen the look on East’s face today when she called him and that TA in there to tell him he wouldn’t get his credits if he didn’t finish his assignment.”
“Fuckin’ priceless.” Travis laughed. “That guy Zac gives him so much shit, and he’s had to take it. I’d be watching my back if I was him, though. East enjoys retaliation a little too much.”
“And he’ll include us in that, no doubt,” West agreed. “The last thing I need is being on another Astor shitlist.”
The lights dimmed a couple of times, indicating the matches were about to start, and I searched for Daire in the mix of fighters, trying to ignore the butterflies suddenly swirling around in my stomach. As soon as I rose onto my tiptoes, I saw him, and he was already looking my way, like he knew I’d be a ball of worry—which I was trying not to be.
When our eyes locked, I was relieved to see how unbothered he was about the fight, and that settled my stomach somewhat. The announcer began to welcome everyone to the showcase, and Daire winked at me before going back to putting on his gloves.
I took that time to look over his potential opponents, though I knew better than to base anything on size. Daire had taken out guys a foot taller and twice as wide like it was nothing.
“Tonight you’ll be getting a taste of the next generation of fighters to come out of Xtreme MMA. We’ve produced the top fighters in the country for years, and this is the toughest group of men and women we’ve ever had. We’re gonna kick things off with two of our new recruits, Tanya and Bobbi.”
