AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His warm hand landed on her wrist, and his thumb ran over her skin as the desire jolted between them.
“Are you sure that’s it?” he asked.
She glanced around. She needed to make sure no one could overhear them.
“I’m also feeling really guilty about going behind Parker’s back. He would never forgive me, and I just can’t hurt him.”
“You won’t. In fact, I have made some progress on my plan to confront Mariah.”
“You did?”
“Apparently, she’s some kind of social media socialite.”
“And since when do you follow her on social media?”
“Since I needed to do some online research to track her down. I’m developing a plan.” Conner stepped closer and moved his hand from her arm to the small of her back and then dipped lower to her bottom.
She nearly jumped a mile at the sound of the gym doors crashing closed.
“Hey, Hannah, Parker wants to see you in the locker room,” her youngest brother, Grady, called out from across the gym.
Of course her entire family planned to attend and cheer Parker on.
“Oh my gosh, I hope he didn’t see anything.” She set the names on one of the chairs and checked her watch. “We have about thirty minutes until everyone starts arriving. You’re in the locker room on this side. Don’t go into Parker’s.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that, but you can tell him I said good luck.” He headed for the opposite locker room, and she couldn’t help but enjoy the view. He looked back, caught her staring, and winked.
“Damn it.” She huffed and did an about-face to go see her brother.
Conner didn’t know how much Parker had expected out of his relationship with Mariah or that from Parker’s perspective she’d chosen Conner over Parker. It wasn’t her place to tell him, but if they went snooping around in the past, it could be more upsetting for Parker and make things worse. Whatever worse was.
Chapter Fourteen
Conner squeezed hishands to break in the tape wrapped around his knuckles. It was an old trick to help protect the hands in a boxing match. The locker room where he sat was quiet, but the crowd was loud as they watched the first sparring match between another cop and fireman. The event was like a professional fight complete with several local VIPs, one retired boxer, the fire and police chiefs, and a city council member. Several socialites were also sitting in the crowd, blasting their social media feeds with fight content.
Going over in his mind that this was just for charity didn’t shake the feeling of dread hanging in the air.
“You ready to beat up your old friend?” His brother Finn walked into the locker room in an expensive suit.
“I see you dressed up for the occasion. I appreciate the support, brother.” Conner stood and gave him a manly hug.
“Gotta dress to impress. One of the senior partners at my firm is a big boxing fan and is in the crowd.”
Conner started to skip in place to warm up his body. He was getting nervous, which was unusual for him.
“You know you don’t have to actually get beat up, since this is all just for charity.”
“Right, but something tells me Parker won’t see it that way. I’m just planning to defend myself.”
“Alright, but if you need a corner man, I’m yours. I’ll even take off my suit coat so I don’t get any blood on it.” Finn gave him a fist bump. “See you in the ring.”
Conner just nodded and listened to the announcer as he introduced each sparring match. When a fighter from the first round came back into the locker room he was covered in sweat and one cheek looked like it was hit a few times, but he was smiling.
“That was great! What a rush. We should do this every year,” the young cop said.
“Careful what you wish for.”
“You’ll see, old-timer.” The kid sat down, chest heaving, and guzzled some water.
