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“Listen, that family is toxic in my eyes. They had no problem doing what they did to me and Romeo. But I agree; she doesn’t seem like the rest of them. She probably doesn’t even know what happened back then.”
“But…” Hayes said, raising a brow because we all knew it was coming.
“But I’m telling you, her parents won’t be cool with her dating anyone that isn’t rich like them. So, if you want to go for it, that’s your choice. They fucked you over once, and they’ll do it again. But I’ll be there when they try to run you off because I’ve got your back. Got it?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Is. Going. On.”
“But you want it to be, don’t you?” Kingston teased.
I flipped him the bird just as Cutler spoke up.
“I call first dibs on the girl.”
And the room erupted into laughter.
But my gaze locked with River, and he knew exactly how I felt.
But acting on it was a whole different story.
Because he was right. Her world and my world didn’t mix.
And right now, I needed to focus on my fight.
There was no room for distractions.
And Demi Crawford was one big distraction.
ten
. . .
Demi
I’d been comingto the gym every night this week after work, training with Doug, who everyone called Pinky. Apparently, having the last name Pinkerton was a real pain in the ass for him as a boxer. He wanted to be called Doug, Slug ‘Em, or Pinkerton, but everyone called him Pinky.
I understood it because I hadn’t been able to pull off the nickname that I’d wanted either. Of course, Romeo told Pinky to call me Beans and said it was my boxing handle.
Romeo had come by the coffee shop the day after I’d given him the shakes I’d made for him and said he’d had two great workouts in a row after adding the drinks to his diet.
It felt good to put my degree to use.
I knew he was depleted just by the way he’d looked after his runs. His body would shut down on him if he couldn’t get the nutrients he needed.
“So, what’s a girl like you doing boxing in a gym on Valentine’s Day?” Pinky asked as I danced around him, holding my hands up defensively, waiting for him to swing at me.
“I could ask you the same thing, Casanova.”
I heard a low chuckle, and my eyes darted over to see Romeo watching me. He did that sometimes. Hell, he did it all the time. I did, too. I was always watching him through the window at the coffee shop when he’d come back from his run.
But I didn’t miss the way he’d passed me off to Pinky the minute I’d asked for a trainer. I knew Romeo trained people, but he clearly didn’t want to train me.
“I told you that I’ve got a girl. I’m taking her to dinner in an hour,” Pinky said, and he took the moment my gaze moved back to Romeo to jab at me.
I lunged forward because I’d prepared for it, and that was when he moved quickly, causing me to fall back against the ropes as he put his two hands on each side of me and caged me in.
“This is why you can’t get distracted in the ring, Beans. I have you cornered right here, and I could throw so many punches you wouldn’t be able to see them coming.”
But his words were jumbled, and I started breathing heavily at the feel of his body holding me in place.
