Cain stands to the side, arms crossed, ever the watchful general. He’s never had a fight down here, because I don’t think anyone would even make him sweat, the Pit is enough for him. My brothers, Mason, Miles and Declan talk with Blake and Logan near the edge of the ring. Travis is pacing, warming up for his own fight later.
I walk over to them, as we get closer Cain walks to the side where Logan is standing, and I place myself between Blake and Mason.
“Didn’t think you’d actually show,” Blake smirks. “Plus, out of the four of you, it’s you we didn’t think could fight.”
Myself and my brothers all start laughing, and I turn to Blake. “Well, I think it’s time to prove you wrong.”
Logan turns to me, and smiles as he scans me, and I have to smile. “A man can go crazy over a woman.”
Now we all laugh, even Cain. “He’s a man who’s trying to run from something,” Cain adds, and I glance over at him.
“Who says I’m running?” I shoot back.
“All of us,” I hear Miles behind me, but I choose to ignore them because I’m not in the mood to listen to what they have to say, and my brothers once they start won’t shut up.
I step into the ring, and pull my t-shirt over my head and throw it over to Mason and I wait for the guy I’m fighting to step in. I have to smile to myself when the guy steps in. This is the guy? He looks like a school kid who plays for the football team.
The bell rings.
He comes at me hard, built like a brick wall, cocky and fast. He lands the first punch, and I have to say that fucking hurt. Right to the fucking jaw, it makes my head snap sideways. Fuck.
I wanted this fight, yet my head isn’t in it.
I don’t block the second hit either, right in the ribs. “Fuck!” I shout as the sharp pain runs through me.
Wake the fuck up Hayden.
I snap, the second her face comes to view. This is why I’m here, to get her out of my fucking head.
I dive forward, fists like anchors, pounding into him with the weight of every time I see Olivia’s eyes pleading with me. The way she betrayed me, the way she didn’t think about what would have happened to me. The way she said, “I’m sorry,” like it meant something. It meant fucking nothing.
He hits me again, blood on my lip now. My head is ringing, but I shove him back, duck, and land a punch straight to his gut. He folds slightly, and I follow with a brutal right hook so hard, the crack echoes through the building.
He tries to grapple me, but I twist free, drive my shoulder into his chest, and pin him against the ropes, I see red. My fists move without thought, jaw, temple, nose. He bleeds and I don’t stop.
I’m not fighting him. I’m fighting every single second I spend thinking about her. Every second I missed her. Every moment I hated myself for still loving her. Even after what she did to me.
I take my eye off him for a fucking second, and he gets me right on the left eye. My vision blurs, I blink away the haze and strike harder. The crowd screams.
The final blow comes in a blur from me, twisting, my elbow connecting with his chin, and he hits the floor hard.
The bell rings again.
I stand over him, chest heaving, fists covered in blood. My knuckles sting. My ribs ache and my jaw throbs.
Mason climbs in, grabbing my shoulder. “You good?”
“No.” And without another word I leave, I don’t want to be around anyone.
Seventeen
Olivia
I’m curledup in bed, my bare legs tangled in the soft cotton sheets, in my favorite long t-shirt. My reading light glows casting a pool of warmth over the pages of the spicy romance novel I just can’t put down. After the number of books I read, I hit my reading goal before I get to halfway through the year.
I shift on the mattress, fingers lingering on a line that makes heat rush through my chest. God, does it really feel like this? The way the female main character melts under his touch, like her entire world narrows down to that one moment. Is it really this intense?
I always imagined it would be like that with Hayden. I started reading these types of books when Hayden and I still talked, and there would be days I thought about Hayden doing things to me like what I read about in my books.
