Page 92 of Shadowed With Fear

“See you on the other side,” Brahm says, arm over his head waving as he exits the room with the other two.

Grayson stands there watching me. “Nervous?”

I snort. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

He shrugs, grinning. “At least you get to watch me kick the shit out of this asshole and know it’s me doing it this time.”

“Hmm,” I hummed in thought. “That might just earn you a nice reward afterward.” I sauntered over to him, throwing my arms around his shoulders, standing on the tips of my toes to kiss him, softly.

“I like the way you think, sweet girl,” he mutters against my lips.

I pull away from him quickly before he can kiss me again, ducking under his arm. “You gotta win first.”

He shakes his head. “Doubt my skills?”

“No,” I pause. “I just wanna see how much damage you can do when you know what you’re winning.” I wink, walking backwards through the door.

* * *

The fight is brutal. Within the first seconds after the bell rings, Grayson and Ethan attack each other like rabid animals. Teeth bared, fists flying, kicks landing hard with resounding cracks. Grayson isn’t backing down, he almost seems to gain energy as the fight goes on, but Ethan…he seems bored.

With each blow, you would think he’d show some sign of life, whether it’s pain, or like Grays, that the adrenaline is coursing through his veins. Instead, he just stares with a deadened expression.

As the bell rings ending the first round, Brahm curses.

“I know what you guys meant now. What the fuck is wrong with him?”

“There are some illnesses that cause people to not feel sensation. No pain. At all. Ever. They don’t even feel if something is hot or cold. It could be that?” Adam suggests watching Ethan intently.

“Or…” Henry adds, popping out from nowhere. “Or it’s something, much worse.”

I look at Henry, noticing the slight darkness in his words. “What could be worse?”

He shoots me a death glare. “A lot of things, Dahlia.”

Alex is by the ring, shouting to Grayson as he wipes the sweat off his face. Grays nods at his words but his gaze is strictly on Ethan on the other side of the ring. He doesn’t have anyone with him cleaning him up. He just sits on the stool that was placed by one of the guys working. Sitting there stoically, like a marble statue. I

t’s vastly different from when we’re at school. When he has this mask of the good guy, boy-next-door. Sweet smiles, “Yes, ma’am”s, and “Thank you”s. This is the Ethan I had been catching glimpses of all semester. The Ethan that left a bad taste in my mouth and my heart racing in the not good way.

A girl walks around the ring, shaking her ass, and amping up the crowd as she waves a large “Round Two” sign above her head.

The bell rings and they’re back at it. It would almost be too difficult to watch, but the way Grayson moves, so smooth, quick, and lethal like water rushing in a flood has me captivated.

A particular left hook has Ethan’s head snapping to the side. The crowd takes a collective gasp before the cheers grow louder.

“I told him to give a hell of a show. Goddamn, he’s fucking doing it,” Brahm breathes beside me.

“I haven’t seen him working this hard since he tried to challenge Bruiser,” Adam states, and when I look to him, something flashes behind his eyes.

“Is—Is that a bad thing?” Fear stuttering my speech.

Henry huffs, crossing his arms. “It’s not necessarily a good thing, D.”

The crowd “ooh”s and we turn toward the fight seeing Grayson stumble against the ropes blocking it off.

He shakes his head, sweat and blood flinging off him. He looks up, catching my eye in the crowd. There’s a wild hunger within them.

Grayson smiles at me, blood dripping from his mouth, tinging his teeth pink, and down his chin onto his tattooed chest. I suck in a sharp breath, heart skipping a beat, warmth sprouting in my chest.