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At the end, once the other guy was smearing his own blood all over the mat while trying to catch a breath, my eyes scanned the crowd for her. She was wedged right next to Conner, which is exactly where I’d ordered him to make her stay. There’s too many fucked up characters in this crowd and I couldn’t risk her wandering off and getting mauled while I was stuck in the ring.
She straightened up with a smile when our eyes met. My heart thudded, and not because I’d just been announced the winner. After shaking the loser’s hand, I retreated to the shower, confident that Conner would continue to play bodyguard.
Speaking of Conner, he nearly crashed into a street sign when I told him about Tess. He could hardly even spit out a real question, kept sputtering the words, “WHAT?” and “HOW?” and “WHAT?” again.
Conner has always prided himself on his keen perception when it comes to detecting who’s screwing around with who. Somehow this thing between me and Tess had slipped past his radar and his first reaction was to feel indignant that his internal fuck-meter had failed.
Though I’m in a hurry to get on with the night, I take a few extra minutes in the shower to drag a razor over my jaw. It’s the least I can do to prove I’m taking this whole date night thing seriously.
That was a bad moment yesterday, watching Tess drive off right after I’d stuck my damn foot in my mouth. I’d been out of sorts all week, having a tough time keeping my head focused because it preferred to wander back to thoughts of the girl who kept surprising me. It also rattled my cage to find her getting bullied by Halligan.
And I said some shit I didn’t mean. When I saw her jaw tremble and heard the slight crack in her voice, I knew I’d really fucked up in a major way.
Tess isn’t the kind of girl who bursts into tears the first time she hears a harsh word. No, Tess will rise to any verbal challenge and usually make you wish you’d kept your own stupid mouth shut.
“Micah, I just wanted to see you.”
Those words destroyed me. Her soft, vulnerable tone was all I could think about as I paced the floor of my apartment all hours of the night until the tenant one floor down banged on the ceiling. I wasn’t shocked when she refused to answer my text and I wondered if she’d be better off without some bad-mannered human wrecking ball shitting all over her life.
Tess is beautiful and she’s intelligent and she’s got her shit together. She’s also humorous and sexy with the perfect dash of unexpected spice.
She’s far better than I deserve. Yet for some reason when I’m with her, all the chaos and fury that always roars through my blood gets quiet.
That’s why I struggled with an uncommon case of nerves as I stood outside her office for three hours. Nobody, including me, would blame her if she said this wasn’t worth all the trouble.
Instead, that girl kissed me and said she wanted more. More of me, more of us, more than quick and dirty. I’m not the type to collect girlfriends but I can’t stand the idea of letting her go.
Before leaving the locker room, I conduct a quick mirror check in front of the cloudy glass over the sink. I don’t look fancy but I don’t look too roughed up either. Besides, I get the feeling Tess likes my jagged edges.
Not everyone seated in the crowd has left. Some of them have recognized Conner. He scribbles an autograph for a guy who got flattened tonight in an earlier match that didn’t include me. The dude’s face looks like it just finished being on the business end of a battering ram but he’s cheerful enough to pose for a selfie with my cousin.
Tess stands back and observes the Conner Carnival while a woman who’s probably older than my mother squeals and seizes him. Tess shakes her head with a laugh, clearly entertained as the woman cuddles Conner’s beefy arm like it’s her bed pillow.
She’s still wearing her work clothes; a black skirt and a cream-colored blouse that’s buttoned too high for my tastes. I wonder if she’ll be mad when I rip the buttons off later.
This is my new favorite hobby; watching Tess when she doesn’t know I’m watching. She’s always alert, her sharp intelligence shining through as she keenly surveys her surroundings. She doesn’t need to show skin to be sexy but I enjoy thoughts of liberating her from her clothes. She sleeps soundly and can spend an entire night tucked under my arm without moving a muscle.
Conner manages to extricate himself from his biggest fan and he checks to make sure Tess is all right. I’m glad he takes it seriously when I tell him his number one priority is to look after my girl.
My girl.
Yeah, I really just used those words. They were only in my head, but still. A foreign concept.
Tess turns her head, sees me, breaks into an instant smile.
My emotions collide.
I want to fuck her. I want to hold her. I want to argue with her. I want to see her in the morning light with her hair messy.
She’s navigating around seats and random people to get to me so I meet her halfway. I’m not expecting her to leap into my arms but that’s exactly what she does.
“You were amazing.” She kisses my mouth, very briefly. “Seriously. I’m impressed.”
I’m holding her up with one arm but I drop my equipment bag so I can circle the other arm around her body and lift her higher. “Then you need to give me a much better kiss.”
Tess teases my lips with hers. “Yes sir.”
Her eyes close and she gives me her mouth, which I gladly take. Her tongue gets used as I see fit and my hand slides up her back, pausing to tug on the outline of her bra strap before climbing higher to massage the back of her neck, ultimately twisting in her hair, pulling lightly until she breathes out the kind of soft moan that drives me up the fucking wall. Just because we’ve decided to be more than sex doesn’t mean this is going to end as a PG kind of a night.
