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She was the first friend outside of family that I’d let in. I glanced at Scout.
She was the second outside of family.
65
RAMSAY
I’d gone to Scout’s fight with my cousins.
I’d gone to a fight with Theresa.
Neither of them prepared me for what it was like to go to a fight with Scout.
The drive had been long, but I’d spent most of it flustered over everything that happened after school and before he picked me up, so after we stopped for food, gas, did a bathroom break, I was relieved for some quiet. I needed it to regroup.
I would have no idea how much I needed that before we arrived to this fight because when we arrived, I learned the level of Scout’s celebrity status. Legit.
The fight was held in an old gymnasium. There was security, but we got waved through and sent to a special parking area. All the security guys wanted to say hello to Scout. All of them. There was one selling tickets across the lot, and he had to rush over to give Scout a manly handshake and shoulder pounding before he headed back to continue his job. And the people who were waiting for him, they saw Scout, and the phones came out.
Women came over. Smiling. Flirting. Not giving one fuck I was there.
Most had to hug him. Some gave him lingering touches on the arm.
Scout was unfazed. This was normal for him, which stunned me.
And the guys. There were so many who wanted to talk to him. Not just a hello. A real conversation. It took us thirty minutes to cover five feet once we got through the first set of doors. Once we got into the main arena area, the more professional people approached him, and they had a different vibe to them. Smarter. More business-like. Brisk. Intelligent. They were all in hella good shape. Most looked like they’d been fighters themselves, but all came over to talk with Scout or shake his hand.
Once the first set of pictures started being taken, I held back.
Scout came over, breaking away. “We can watch down by the cage or up there. It’ll be more comfortable up there.”
“Whatever works best for you to see.”
His eyes narrowed, studying me.
Up there meant a section above the normal seating area. We had a slight balcony to stand behind, and we stood even though there were seats to the side. A few other people had congregated with us. Scout introduced me to them, and I wasn’t surprised to find out that most were also fighters. They were nice enough, but I was thankful when they left before the fight started.
66
SCOUT
Bad move bringing Ramsay with me.
I didn’t know what I was thinking, and I’d thought about telling her something came up, I had to go alone. I should’ve done that.
But I wanted her with me. It was stupid.
It was distracting. She was distracting.
Instead of watching for how Pieter dropped his shoulder before he swung and didn’t protect his left side, or cocked his head a slight centimeter before making a move, I was watching Ramsay.
I loved fighting.
Loved everything about it. The feel of walking into the gym. Of hearing the sounds of someone pounding away on a bag. I liked the smarts that it took to be a great fighter, the challenge, the need to outmaneuver your opponent. There was something about going from being pinned and about to tap out to finding that opening and reversing so you were on the offensive.
I loved all of that.
And I was really loving being here, at a fight, with her, knowing I could touch her if I wanted.
Fuck’s sakes. It’d been so hard at my fight, feeling the pain and the exhilaration coursing through my body, then looking up, seeing her, and knowing I couldn’t take her like I wanted.
Now was different.
Now I could do all the taking I wanted.
I moved over, lined up behind her, and leaned in.
* * *
RAMSAY
* * *
He was against my back.
We were at the balcony, and he’d settled in literally behind me.
I was going to combust.
The whole thing was a lot. The testosterone.
The reek of sweat, sex, and need compounding through the room.
I turned around, looking up, seeing Scout’s eyes all dark, all focused right on me, and that look in his eyes, the same one that told me he wanted to be pounding into me. We were barely touching, but I felt him in every sense.
Every cell.
My heart was thumping so hard, almost deafening.
I wet my lips, and his gaze locked on that movement.
The fight had just started.
Scout was supposed to be watching it. He was watching me, and I couldn’t look away. There was an invisible pressure on both of us. If I looked away, I felt like I’d die.
A whimper left me as I bit down on my lip.
