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“I’m not f**king Riptide, Brooke. Look at me!” Pete signals at himself in his black jacket and tie. “I admit I’m not pregnant myself, and I could’ve used one of these little toys I have on me on them, but that would raise all kinds of red flags so that when Rem came out, he’d notice something was up around you and drop the fight. It’s not always about attacking. Sheesh.”
“Pete, I’m sorry, I get it. Let’s go sit—I’m just glad they’re gone,” I say, and we both exhale as we head back to our seats and settle down to watch, but my hands still shake with the adrenaline pumping through my veins.
The room is swarmed with people by the time the first fight is announced through the speakers.
“Welcome, welcome, ladies and gentlemen . . .” I hear.
The noise and excitement surround us as we watch fighters come and go. Seeing all that blood again, hearing the crushing sounds of bone against bone, begins to make me anxious.
Remy . . . oh god. Just thinking about how he could bump into Scorpion in the locker rooms spikes my nervousness to the roof.
I’m breathing in and out when Pete tells me, “You know what, Brooke? He told me he didn’t want anyone looking at you, so you’re right—he would’ve wanted me to take them as far away from you as possible, immediately. But I can’t take it so literal, dude. I’m trying to keep things calm around here. Please understand I have to be the cool head here.”
“I understand, Pete, but you,” I exaggeratedly say, “are like a loaded gun without a trigger.”
“We’re in direct negotiations with Scorpion, Brooke,” he tells me then, under his breath. “The last thing I want is to aggravate the situation, or it’ll only cost Remington more.”
“What?” My eyes widen. “Do you know anything about Nora?”
“Only that this time Remington is taking care of things—and you’re to be left completely out.” He purses his lips meaningfully and nods, and I can’t even argue, for just then Remington is called out, his name exploding through the speakers and around the crowd.
“Yes, sir, bring out Riptide for these people!” the announcer yells, and the crowd roars, “RIPTIDE!”
My heart skips a beat, my awareness immediately shifting to focus on the one flash of red approaching the ring.
This fight night is so meaningful. Not only because we heard that Scorpion was disqualified for using brass knuckles at a fight the night before and because Remington is in first place point-wise by a lot of points, but because I know that Austin is the place where he was born—where he, in his head, believes he was rejected. But not by this crowd. Oh, no. Never by this crowd.
The arena reverberates with bloodthirsty screams as Remy hops into the ring, bringing all the color to that blank and boring space.
“If he goes through tonight with no loss, then we’ll be leaving Scorpion way behind. All good news,” Pete tells me.
I nod in excitement, my eyes focused on nothing else but Remy now.
Riley and Coach take their places at the corner while Remington removes his RIPTIDE robe and hands it over.
While his opponent is called up, Remy raises his arms and grins to his public, then he points at me—and the people roar. “Brooke, Brooke, Brooke,” they begin chanting.
He laughs, and I’m red-cheeked with the sudden knowledge that everyone here knows about me now. His adoring fans all know I’m Riptide’s pregnant girlfriend, so what the hell. I wave like a dope and send him a kiss, and I love the way he grabs it and slams it to his mouth. I think that’s what the people were asking for when they chanted Brooke, because the instant his arm swings out to grab my kiss in the air and slam it down, the crowd goes wild, and we laugh in unison.
A new fighter gets into the ring, lacking any of the fanfare of Remy’s entrance, and the fight begins.
Remington is especially playful with the younger fighters. They seem to expect him to be powerful, but not so fast, and I can see it drives them insane. He feints a lot, gives them a little play, and then he finishes them off without mercy—to the delight of his crowd.
Tonight he goes through twelve fighters and ends up soaked and slightly bruised on his left side. When we head back to the rental house, he starts drilling Pete as soon as he hits the large living room that separates into long halls, each leading to a separate room. “Everything okay on the sidelines?”
“Uh, sorta.”
“Any scouts around?”
“Two. The same as usual.”
“They look at Brooke?”
“Uh . . .”
He swings around, his eyebrows furrowing. “They f**king look at Brooke?”
Pete looks at me, then at him. “They came over to talk. Brooke flipped them the finger. I told them to go. Josephine came over. I pulled Brooke aside.”
Remy looks at me, and now his brows are raised high. “You flipped them the finger?”
I bristle. “Would you rather I’d kicked them in the nuts?”
His disbelief shifts to Pete. Ever so slowly, he drags a hand through his hair in frustration, down to the back of his neck, then he shakes his head and grabs my nape as he steers me toward our hall. “We’ll discuss it in our room,” he grumbles at me.
“Good night, guys,” Pete says.
Remington stops and swings around. “No sign of Brooke’s sister?”
“None,” Pete says, and the emotion in his face almost breaks me. He and Remington engage in some silent form of man-to-man communication, and then that’s it, and we head in different directions.
As soon as Remy ferrets us into our bedroom, I’m pressed back against the door and I find his nose buried in my cle**age as he smells me again.
My pu**y clenches as he growls, “Why’d you flip off those ass**les?” He jerks his head back and gives me the full force of his blue-eyed stare. “What did they say to you?”
“They were just in our faces, and I hate to say this, but Pete’s like a loaded gun without a trigger.”
“Is he now?”
“It was actually a good thing that he could keep his cool tonight, because I couldn’t. I’m crazed just thinking Nora is out there with those men. What are you going to do?”
He shakes his head and heads for the shower. “You’re to stay out of it.”
I start after him. “Won’t you at least tell me?”
He opens the shower stall door, and levels his most somber stare to date on me. “For us, Brooke,” he sternly whispers, stroking his hand all along the curve of my abdomen. “For the three of us. I’ll have your promise you’ll stay out of it. And if you break your promise to me, so help me god . . .”
“No! So help me god, if you put yourself in danger because of her . . . because of me . . . I’m going to . . .”
“What?” He cocks an amused brow, then pats my ass with a smirk. “I like it when you punch me, and I like you angry too.”
“But I’ll be very f**king mad—like you’ve never seen me!” I glare menacingly at his chest as he starts stripping his boxing gear. “Don’t, Remy.” Reaching out before he enters the shower, I grab his jaw and force him to look at me. “Promise me.”
Amusement twinkles in his gaze as he runs the back of one finger down my temple. “What am I going to do with you, firecracker?”
“Promise me,” I urge.
“I promise you,” he tells me, “that your sister will be back with you very soon, and I’m crushing that insect this year.” He chucks my chin and goes into the shower, and I can’t explain the relief I feel. He’s never lied to me. His words aren’t so bountiful, but they carry such weight. He is winning this year, and whatever he’s negotiating, Nora will be free soon. Marginally relieved, I go pull out my oils. It takes him exactly four minutes to soap up, wash his hair, and step out with a towel around his waist while he uses another to dry his chest.
“Get over here and let me rub you down,” I tell him, and as he follows me to the bench that we usually find at the foot of most of our hotel beds, he pulls me into his arms and kisses the hollow of my ear.
“Who do you belong to?” he asks softly.
Melting.
“Some lucky guy.” I urge him down to sit, fighting the urge to kiss every inch of him just yet.
“Tell me his name,” he commands as he drops down so that I can rub his muscles. He watches me kneel before him and set all my materials nearby, and he wears a devastatingly sexy tilt to his lips that is frankly irresistible.
“Why? Do you like the way his name sounds in my voice?” I ask as I unscrew the lid of my arnica oil.
“I f**king love it. Tell me his name now.” Hot blue eyes watch me as I pour the oil into my palms and rub my hands together to warm the liquid before sliding it slickly along his chest and shoulders.
“But . . . he’s . . . complicated,” I whisper, curling my fingers around his collarbone and throat. “I know him very well, and yet . . .” I pause and rub the arnica oil all down the solid length of one muscled arm. “And at the same time, he’s always still a mystery.” Sliding back up his arm and to stroke the oil across his trapezoids, I whisper in his ear, “He goes by Riptide sometimes, but I call him Remy. And I’m crazy about him.”
