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“No, you haven’t, but please do.” I needed a distraction.
Max sighed, and his head thumped against the wall. “He was beautiful. All this golden skin and just… beautiful to look at. When he paid me a little bit of attention, I was in, and I mean like a little puppy following him around for whatever scraps he would throw my way.”
I made myself sit up, and his arm fell away. Pivoting on the bed, I sat cross-legged to see his expression. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
He pursed his lips. “Not now. But back then, I was head over heels for Bruce.” With a shake of his head, he gave me a small smile. “Our relationship was toxic. He treated me like I was disposable unless he wanted something from me.”
“What do you mean?”
“We would go out on a date, which was basically back to his place. In public, he barely acknowledged me. But he would be at my door late at night, looking for a hookup. I thought we were dating. He was busy because he was a music major, and I had another friend who barely had time to breathe.”
I leaned forward, wondering where he was going with this. “Okay, so that wasn’t the deal with Bruce?”
“No.” A self-deprecating laugh slipped past his lips. “Turned out he wasn’t a music major, and the reason why he was so busy was that he was in a relationship—with a woman. That was the reason he ignored me in public. I was just his dirty little secret and late-night booty call.”
“What an ass. I hope you told him off in front of his girlfriend.” My nails dug into the comforter. I was more than a little angry. “Does he still go here?” I wanted to pay him a little visit too.
“I confronted him, and he dumped me. I went a little crazy and considered stalking the guy and his girlfriend, but I didn’t. I got drunk instead.”
“If only…”
He winked. “As soon as the demon’s spawn is born, there’s a bottle of Patron with your name on it.”
“It’s a deal.” It was still so early, but I couldn’t wait to have my body back. Not that I didn’t already love the little peanut growing inside me, because I did, but being exhausted, puking, and the way my body was going to change sucked. I could have done without those things and being unable to dive. At least there was surfing. I would continue to surf unless the doc said to stop.
Max tossed his pencil near his discarded sketchpad. “Let’s go to the fights tonight.”
I’d been to the underground fights before—I’d learned about them from one of the football players after I went to find Phoenix to talk to him about being pregnant. It’d left an impression, and a tremor swept through me at the memory of how he looked in the ring—like a man made in the image of the gods as he threw one powerful punch after another, kicking ass and looking good as he did it. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”
He ruffled my hair, scooted off the bed, and went straight to my closet. “We can go incognito, bet a bunch of his money on the other guy, then celebrate with a shopping spree when he gets his ass kicked.”
I didn’t want to admit that watching Phoenix fight was a turn-on, but Max was probably already aware of that. He was hot on the football field—they were undefeated so far—and in the ring. The guy was mesmerizing, and I knew Max wasn’t immune. “Okay, I’ll go.”
“Good, but you need to get dolled up. I’m not taking you to the fights in your ratty-ass sweatpants.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
PHOENIX
Icould not for the life of me figure out what the fuck Aspen was doing there. The warehouse was full and going strong because of the packed schedule for fight night. I moved around Damon for a better view, and sure as shit, she was talking with that opportunist, Max. That fucker would regret moving in on her.
Max wasn’t the only one paying her attention. Several guys around them were looking. It was hard not to. She was naturally beautiful with skin that glowed and looked soft as hell—it was—and the light catching her blond hair drew further notice. I bet that was why Max had pulled her close to him. I would have done the same thing. The difference was that Aspen was mine, which I still had trouble acknowledging, but the fierceness of how much I wanted her—and the baby growing in her belly—shocked me.
Damon continued talking over the crowd's roar, but I heard nothing.Goddammit.
“Hey.” Damon grabbed my shoulder, pulling my attention back to him. “How the fuck did you end up fighting Flynn?”
I was in a shit mood. I was fighting Jake Fucking Flynn, a guy who had gone fifteen and zero in the last three months. The dude could bench-press Shane and me together. On top of that, everything was going to shit with Aspen. She was probably betting on my opponent. Hell, if I were smart, I would too.
“I asked to go against him. I need a good fight to get all the shit going on in my life out of my system.” I meant not doing well in school and Aspen taking up entirely too much of my mind. The fact that she came to the fight with that little fuck, Max, made me think he was there with her just to rub my nose in it.
Damon followed my line of sight and spotted Aspen. “So… a girl.”
I glared at him. “Not just a girl.”
He slapped my chest with the back of his hand. “I get it, man. But you need to get your head in the fight because if you don’t, Flynn’s gonna lay you out.”
I didn’t care. I should have, but all I saw was how Max’s arm curled around Aspen. How I’d managed to spot her in the first place was one of those crazy things I couldn’t explain
