AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll fight you on one condition.”
Reynolds posturing stops, and he glares. “Pussy boy needs a condition,” he announces to his buddies and the reporter. “They won’t even call youPrinceafter I’m done with you, Kingston. You’ll be a fucking joker in my court.”
“So, you agree to my condition then?” There’s a cockiness to Hudson’s voice I recognize, but Reynold’s isn’t picking up on it. I don’t know what Hud’s up to. Though I can tell it’s something good.
“One condition, and you’ll fight me for your belt?” Reynolds turns to the camera. “You’re getting this on tape, right? I don’t want this soft-fight, pansy-ass motherfucker to be able to back out.”
The camera man nods, and Reynolds turns back to Hudson. “Name the condition.”
“Agree to it now, and I’ll fight you for my belt as soon as they can set it up,” Hud pushes.
Reynolds finally eyes Hudson carefully before agreeing. “Now, what the fuck do you want?”
“We donate every penny either of us earns from the fight to Mason McGuire’s wife. No questions asked. No exceptions. She gets both payouts. Mine and yours. Agree, and this will be the only shot you ever get at my belt.”
I look between Hudson and Reynolds, watching these two intimidating men dancing this intricate dance, and fear slivers down my spine. There’s a dangerous charge in the cold air, making every hair on my body stand on edge.
Reynolds stares at Hudson in disbelief. “No fucking way,” he shouts.
“No sweat off my back. I can live my life with the belt I’ve earned five times. You’re the dick who turned down your chance.”
The standoff between the two of them grows impossibly tense until Cade takes a step forward. “He’s made his decision, King. Let’s go.”
“I’ll do it,” Reynolds growls low, and a murmur of voices erupts from the group of men surrounding him, but he silences them with a look. “I want it soon, King. Deal’s off if you need months to get this done.”
Hudson scoffs like that’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard. “I’ll call my agent. I could fight you tomorrow and win, asshole.”
“Now walk away,” Cade tells them as he holds his hands up in front of the camera. Then he pulls his phone from his pocket and makes a call.
Hudson holds his hand out to me behind his back, and I grasp on to it while I continue to peek around him wordlessly. He doesn’t move until they’re out of the parking lot, then he finally spins around. “I told you to go inside.”
I step into him and wrap my hands around his waist. “I didn’t say anything this time, and I didn’t get in the way.” I lay my head against his chest. “Are you really going to fight him?”
Cade hangs up and joins us.
“He’ll never leave me alone if I don’t.” His fingers run through my hair, and I shiver.
“Can you win?”
Cade and Hudson look at each other and laugh.
I guess that’s a good sign.
* * *
The restof the week passes by without another incident. The fight is scheduled for the second week in January. Hudson swears he’ll be fine. But it makes me worry, even if he says I don’t need to.
Right now, I’m trying desperately not to focus on the way my stomach churns every time I think about him stepping into the cage again. Meanwhile, he’s hyperfocusing on a Christmas tree. He had an errand to run earlier today but made me promise I’d come with him to pick out a tree this afternoon.
“What about this one?” Hudson stands next to a towering evergreen in the middle of what’s touted as Kroydon Hill’s oldest Christmas tree farm. “How tall is this thing?”
Jace groans next to me. “Too fucking tall. What the hell, Hud?”
“Your debt’s not paid until you help me get it into the house and decorated, jackoff.” He holds the measuring stick up next to the tree, and the tree towers over the ten-foot-tall stick. “I think this is the one.” His goofy grin grows. “Do you like it, sunshine?”
I giggle. “Hudson, I’ve literally had tiny Charlie Brown trees my whole life. I’ve slept in houses whose roofs weren’t that tall. Get whatever you want.”
“Give it up, Maddie. Hud loves Christmas,” Jace warns me.
