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“I’ll have a beer, and she’ll have a sex on the beach,” Kellan said smoothly, tucking me even closer into his side.
I sputtered at the possessive growl in his voice and the bartender backed away to get the drinks, eyeing Kellan cautiously.
My pulse pounded in my ears, drowning out the sounds of the thumping beat vibrating through the room. I pulled in a deep breath before finally finding the courage to glance up at him, schooling my face into a look of exasperation I did not feel and cocking a brow at him in question.
“You know I can order my own drinks, right?” I huffed, needing to say something, anything to get my mind off that drink name coupled with the man beside me—our bodies entwined, with the crash of the waves in the distance.
“Why would you need to when I know just what you like,” Kellan purred, dipping down to whisper in my ear. A shiver of desire ran through me as his breath caressed down the length of my neck, drawing goosebumps along the sensitive skin. He eased away slowly to meet my eyes. Our lips were inches from each other and neither of us pulled away, as though testing to see if the other would make the first move.
The smooth glide of glasses on the metal counter broke the trance we’d fallen into, both our gazes jerking to the bar and the man that had broken our moment. He grimaced, his eyes bouncing between the two of us, his brows drawn together as indecision creased his face. Only then did I realize I was glaring and a glance toward Kellan confirmed he was pinning the man with the same look.
Pulling in a deep breath, I stepped away from Kellan, the cold weight of reality barreling down on me as his arm slid from my shoulders. With all the looks and touches that had passed between us before, that was the closest we’d ever gotten to giving in to that temptation.
Kellan passed the bartender a few bills and handed me my drink, his eyes searching, scanning my face for any hint of emotion that still lingered. But I refused to meet them, scared of what might pass between us if I was finally truthful for once, if we both admitted those feelings lingered between us refusing to disappear no matter how many times I tried to push them away.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for tonight’s match-up,” the DJ announced, cutting through the growing tension between us.
Kellan placed a hesitant hand on the small of my back as he led me toward the ring. His fingers trembling slightly on the thin expanse of exposed skin there. There was only standing room save for a row at the front where the fighters’ friends usually sat—velvet ropes separating them from the crowd already so close they swayed together—fighting to get a closer spot to witness the violence and bloodshed. I glanced around the crowd, looking to see if I could spot Merrick. I still wasn’t sure if he’d be fighting tonight, he could just be saving us a spot near the front for all I knew.
My suspicions were confirmed though when Kellan led me through the narrow aisle and toward the row of private seats. The guard placed at the entrance nodded at Kellan, just as the one at the front had done, and gestured up to the ring on the right.
“Is there something you need to tell me?” I asked, suspicion lacing my tone.
“Me? Of course not,” he said innocently as he gestured to a seat closest to where the fighter—Merrick would be starting.
“Have you both been coming here without me?” I accused, narrowing a disapproving look on him. I was just as annoyed with him that they’d put themselves at risk for fighting still as I was that they came here without me.
“Maybe,” he winced, giving me an apologetic look. “We didn’t want you to get worried, but Sebastian has been slowly working to make this place legit.”
“And let me guess,” I hedged, giving him an unimpressed look. I didn’t want them keeping things from me, just as much as I didn’t want them to get arrested or worse … “The only reason you’ve brought me here now is because it’s all legal?”
“Of course.” He smiled, huffing out an amused chuckle as I smacked his arm lightly. “I’m sorry we lied to you, but it’s been one of the easiest ways to get money quickly, and we wanted to make sure we had enough for a few months’ rent just in case anything happens.”
My stomach twisted with guilt, and I leaned my head against his shoulder. His arm curled around me, drawing me closer, and he placed a tender kiss on the top of my head. I swear these guys were like drugs, no matter how much I knew I had to stay away to keep our friendship safe, I kept being drawn back in.
“Just don’t keep stuff like that from me,” I breathed, keeping my eyes focused on the bright ring before us as my chest panged, thoughts of my own lies drifting through my mind. It was a dangerous web we were weaving, all three of us, but I could only hope it would all work out in the end.
“I won’t, I promise.” He sighed deeply as though a weight was lifted off his chest. “No more secrets after tonight.”
I swallowed down the lump that had formed in my throat, and nodded, my face brushing lightly against the thin material of his T-shirt—wishing I could promise the same.
“Let’s welcome our opponents for the night,” the announcer drawled, his voice booming through the speakers. “In this corner we have Tin Man Tommy.”
I sat up straight in my seat and watched as a towering man, who had to be at least in his mid-twenties, strode from the opposite side and climbed into the ring. The crowd cheered behind us, and the man raised his arms and bared his teeth revealing a set of metal-covered teeth.
The crowd whooped at the sight, and he shook the ropes, soaking in the energy of his fans. Throwing his head back, he bellowed up at the ceiling in some sort of battle cry, and the crowd ate it up, mimicking him as shouts rang out around us.
“And his opponent, the one, the only Maniac Merrick,” the announcer crooned, slamming his hand down to send a blaring guitar solo to amplify the hype. If Tin Man thought his welcome was warm, it was nothing compared to Merrick’s. The crowd behind us screamed, and Merrick didn’t even have to rile them up for it. He merely lifted a hand in greeting and thanks. The crowd surged behind us as though they thought they could push closer, but the bouncers kept them at bay thankfully, only a few knocked against the backs of our chairs before they were pushed back.
I was going to kill the man striding out from behind the black curtain for hiding this from me. How had they managed to keep this from me for over a year? How had they kept me from cheering them on and soaking in the violence and energy thrumming around us?
My eyes were glued to the obnoxious jerk as he swaggered over to us, his chest on full display, and glistening with the sweat from his pre-fight workout. I bit my bottom lip as I watched his every move, his abs rippling with each stride. I wanted to push him back behind that curtain and explore each inch of his strong chest with my lips, taste the beads slowly rolling down it, as though placed there solely to entice me further.
“There’s my little devil,” he growled, pausing before us leisurely like there weren’t hundreds of people behind us watching his every move, their vocal cords growing hoarse with their screams. His eyes scanned up my body, searing me with the heat that blazed in that look alone. They scorched every expanse of skin they traced before he met my gaze. His eyes were dark with both longing for me and the promise of a show of violence. “Happy Birthday.”
He didn’t bother to say anything else and turned to the ring, expertly climbing through the ropes to face his opponent. After he slipped his mouthguard in, he tightened the straps on his thin gloves, meant to protect his knuckles. Something about the whole show of his movements just did it for me.
I swallowed thickly, my throat dry as I stared after him, and I swear I could make out a faint chuckle from Kellan beside me. Fuck, what were the two of them doing to me? Did they both get together and discuss torturing me with their advances tonight. We were so close to that barrier between friendship and more. It terrified me that the line drawn in the sand might become too blurred. At this point I wouldn’t even have to kick the dirt over, it would only take a strong gust of wind to scatter the grains around, blurring it forever like it never existed in the first place.
