Reckless Retribution (West Warriors Book 1) (12 page)

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Authors: Gemma Pennington

Tags: #Walking into his life almost broke him

BOOK: Reckless Retribution (West Warriors Book 1)
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She shrugged and tried to wave it off with her hand. “He wishes.”

I swear if it weren’t for the dark, I’d think she blushed again. “Would you?” I asked her curiously.

She tried her best to stifle the smile that tried to spread across her face, and I knew her well enough to realize that her answer was yes. “Oh, God.” I rolled my eyes playfully.

“Hey, I have a boyfriend,” she defended.

I shot her a knowing glance and she shook her head at me.

“Night, you,” she quipped.

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” I laughed.

“Yes, now get out of the cab.” She chuckled.

I gave her some cash and got out of the car, waving as it drove off. Somehow, I was going to have to keep those two apart.

 

 

 

CHAPTER NINE

 

 

The guys at work were buzzing about Jamie’s upcoming fight this Saturday. The coaches were in, so we had the yelling and the growling and chants of, ‘What do winners never do?’ Every time they shouted it, I wanted to reply “Quit!” along with whichever guy they were yelling it to.

At one point, Jamie had wobbled over on shaky legs to the desk and slumped over the top of it, breathless and red, his veins bulging. His body glistened and his clothes were soaked through with perspiration. Even though I was angry at him from how he treated us at the party, I felt sorry for him and asked him if he was all right. All he could manage was a nod. I fixed him some water, and he collapsed onto one of the leather couches catching his breath.

His training the last few weeks had been intense and nonstop. He went home to nap and rest for a few hours in the middle of the day before he had to come back and train all over again. He had been banned from any form of life outside the gym. But little did Kal know he had his little get-together that weekend. I wondered if that was why it hadn’t been a big party. I thought back to what Cam said when I first started, that most of them didn’t drink before he threw a playful, accusatory look towards Jamie. It surprised me that Jamie was willing to take that risk. Kal and the other trainers would come down on him pretty hard if they ever found out. But he didn’t appear to care.

Kal calling my name grabbed my attention. I looked over to where he was stocking up the shake bar and smiled at him.

“Are you coming to the fight with us on Saturday?”

My smile disappeared and I absolutely recoiled inside. Jamie was competing in his weight division at the Michigan state championships. It was an important fight for them, because if he won and was crowned champion, it would set him on the path to bigger things, and I knew he was desperate to reach UFC. I didn’t have a burning desire to watch him fight. The thought of seeing that kind of violence made me feel uneasy, and if I saw him get hurt, it would probably be too much for me. On TV, I could turn the channel. A live fight, there was nothing I could do about it. “I don’t know, Kal….” I sighed.

He put the rest of the things away and walked over to where I was sitting at the computer. “Look, you need to come down and experience the greatness of it. Put all your reservations to the side and just come,” he pleaded.

I couldn’t resist the look on his face. He loved fighting and he loved his job, and he seemingly wanted me to get the same out of it as he did. Taking a breath, I said, “Okay.” I hoped I wasn’t going to regret this one.

His face lit up like a Christmas tree, and he excitedly patted my shoulder a bit too hard. “You’ll love it.”

Somehow, I didn’t think I would. When he walked away from the desk, obviously pleased with the fact he’d convinced me, I decided to do some research on the guys. On the computer, I pulled up information about their profiles, which Kal updated regularly on the club website. The website was one thing Kal never let me touch, yet.

I learned that all of them were welterweights, and their profiles stated their weights and ages. Jamie was the eldest at twenty-two. Cam, Marc, and Leon were all twenty-one. That surprised me. For some reason, I had always thought Cam was the eldest, probably because he seemed more mature than the rest of them, and I was definitely surprised that Marc wasn’t younger than twenty-one. He acted like it a lot of the time.

All their match scores were listed. Jamie had won most of his fights, which made me realize why Cam made the comment about him being the ‘golden boy’, and possibly why Kal had a big problem with him training me; he wanted to protect his best fighter. According to their fight statistics, they were all good fighters, and I could understand why Kal kept them on a strict regime and under tight control.

“What you looking at?” Jamie’s voice made me jump out of my skin. I whipped my head around to see him standing behind me looking over my shoulder.

Facing him was still a bit awkward. He hadn’t said anything to me after the party on Saturday, so I tried my best to carry on like nothing had happened. “Nothing.” I quickly minimized the screen so he couldn’t see what I was looking at.

His chest came against my back as he leaned over my chair, putting his hand on top of mine, which was holding the mouse. I froze in shock that he was touching me. It was hard keeping calm having him in such close proximity. He clicked the profiles back up then released his hand from the mouse and leaned on his left arm along the back of my chair as he bent to view the screen. The profile he clicked on was his own. I turned my head to him, and he was biting his lip, eyes focused intently on the screen as he silently read the page. His eyes drifted to mine before looking back at the computer again.

“Can you get Google up?” he asked. I did what he asked, and he typed
Laurence Montgomery
into the search engine.

“Who’s he?” I asked when the links appeared.

Reaching across again, he moved the mouse to click on one of the links. A guy around the same age as him appeared on the screen. “My next opponent.”

“Oh.”

He narrowed the two screens and looked between the two profiles.

“Are you nervous?”

He returned his gaze back to me. “I always get a little nervous before a fight, but once I throw my first punch, it goes away.”

I couldn’t even imagine how much nervousness I would have standing up there ready to fight in front of all those people.

“I think I’m more nervous that you’re talking to me now.” He let out a quiet laugh.

I raised my eyebrows, surprised he mentioned what happened at his party. I didn’t know what to say to him, and I felt a bit awkward about it, so I just shrugged and turned back to the computer, hoping he would drop it.

“Am I forgiven then?” he asked.

I spun back to him, nodded once, and then waited for him to expand on his
sort-of apology. But he didn’t, I just got a gorgeous grin instead. Captivated by him, I accepted that as his apology, but I couldn’t help shaking my head at his stubbornness for not actually saying the word “sorry.”

“What?” He smiled as he stood up straight.

“Nothing.” I turned back to the computer, unable to hide my humor.

He walked back around to the front of the desk then gave me a toe-curling, lingering look as he walked away. Throbs emanated down below. What was he doing to me? He was back to being Jamie, the flirt, and he was making me crazy for him. His head was supposed to be in training.

Ten minutes later, I was needed at the shake bar. While I was tending to some customers, Jamie caught my eye as he walked out of the kitchen with a bucket of water and headed outside. A thrill of excitement shot through me at the thought of seeing him shirtless again. The sudden urge to get back to my desk had me flying through the customers’ orders and fixing their requests at record speed. Finishing the last order, I practically rushed to my seat and sat down at the desk, in full view of the hotness that was Jamie O’Shea. I quickly looked around to see where Kal was, in case he was watching me, but I couldn’t see him anywhere, so I had free reign to drool.

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Jamie yanked his T-shirt off, and I let out a little sigh as the cotton slid up over his skin, revealing his tanned body. He tucked the shirt at the back of his shorts then fished in the bucket for the sponge.

He spent the next forty-two minutes—yes, I timed it—cleaning and waxing his truck. The way his body moved made me wonder what sex with him would be like. I imagined he left girls begging for more. I wanted to walk outside, pin him up against his truck and—shit, he was walking back inside. I shifted in my seat and tried to look casual, tapping away at the keys and pretending to work. As he passed by, he flicked water at me from the bucket, and I flinched, laughing as the droplets hit me.

Damn, I love my job.

 

****

 

I met the guys at 2 p.m. at a local diner to travel in convoy to downtown Detroit, where Jamie’s fight was being held at the Amex Arena. The guys were car-pooling, and Kal was adamant that I was riding with him and the rest of the trainers. Initially, I agreed, because I didn’t really expect anything different. Marc, however, jumped in on the conversation and told Kal I could ride with them, which was a bit awkward. Marc emphasized the fact that I was the same age as them, and therefore I should ride with the guys rather than be stuck with him and the trainers. Kal didn’t look too happy about it, but he let Marc have his way, and for the first time, I was really grateful he did that for me. Now, I didn’t have to spend hours trapped with men my dad’s age.

Walking into the diner, the guys were already seated at a table. They were all wearing their signature yellow, silver, and black V-neck T-shirts, which clung to them like a second skin. They teamed it with black slacks and sneakers. If they didn’t have slight scars and marks on their faces, they would have looked every inch male models. It made my heart swell that they wore their colors to show their solidarity to Jamie. I’d put on my work T-shirt too.

I made my way over to them, noticing some of the waitresses were gawking in their direction, but I couldn’t blame them. Greeting the guys, they all seemed chipper, apart from Jamie, who sat chewing his lip, deep in thought. Sitting down in the spare seat next to Marc and opposite Jamie, I saw Jamie’s eyes lift to mine. He gave me a small smile, which I returned. I knew he was probably feeling nervous. The waitress came over, and I ordered my food and a soda, and then after checking that the guys didn’t want more drinks, she disappeared.

“Are you looking forward to your first fight?” Marc eyed me curiously.

“Yeah,” I said, smiling, trying not to give away just how apprehensive I felt. I still had mixed feelings about watching it. I was happy to finally see one of them in action, but the aggressive nature of it still disturbed me. It was bad enough watching them train, but knowing they could get seriously hurt or even killed if a punch landed wrong scared the crap out of me. I also didn’t know what Kal expected of me while I was there, whether it was to be an active part of the team, or whether it was to just be there to watch.

“Jay, you get to finally bang a chick tonight.” Cam rubbed his hands together, his eyes alight with mischief. The others cheered and whooped in response. I felt my cheeks heat. I seriously didn’t want to be part of that conversation. Jamie looked at Cam and shook his head humorously. He probably needed the release, but I didn’t want to think about him picking up girls at the club and sleeping with them. The thought kinda killed me. I pulled my cell out and began mindlessly flicking through it while they kept Jamie engaged in conversation. When that particular topic ended, I looked up from my phone to see Jamie was watching me. The waitress came to the table with our food, and the weighted look I felt from him disappeared.

We all dove hungrily into our food. All four of them had chicken with vegetables, whereas I’d chosen a burger and fries, much to the annoyance of Leon, who eyed my food like he was going to snatch it up when I wasn’t looking. I felt bad eating it while they were forced into a healthier lunch.

Once we’d eaten, Cam looked at his watch. “Right, let’s make a move.”

On cue, we all stood to leave. We had nearly a three-hour drive and a strict route plan that we needed to follow to get there for the arranged time.

Walking out to the parking lot, Marc playfully pushed me toward his truck. “You can ride with me.”

Laughing at his eagerness, I didn’t oppose and climbed into his Chevy truck. Leon hopped in the back of the cab. We tailed Jamie on the way down, who was riding with Cam.

During the journey, Marc delighted in telling me what to expect. He told me that most of the guys’ families and a few of their close friends usually went to watch them when they had a fight, and I was curious to see who came for Jamie. He then went on to tell me about his own last fight, and the gory details of how he dislocated his last opponent’s shoulder. His graphic recap almost made my burger come back up. Any thoughts of sleeping through the trip went right out the window because Marc talked so damned much. Leon joined our conversation every now and then, but he mostly had his headphones in listening to his music.

Once we’d finally made it into Detroit, I started seeing posters advertising the event. There were four fights on tonight. Jamie’s being first. Nerves started to bubble in my stomach, and I wondered just how anxious Jamie was starting to feel.

Thirty minutes later, we eventually pulled into the parking lot of the arena, and Marc pulled into the bay next to Jamie’s shiny black Ram. I let myself out of the truck, enjoying being able to stretch my legs after the long car ride. The guys gathered together and grabbed the various bags they’d brought with them.

“Let’s go find Kal,” Jamie said, while his eyes looked around the lot.

We followed him in through the arena doors, where we were met by security. Once we were cleared, we were given entry. We walked down the corridors toward the south side changing rooms, and I stopped to look through one of the doors that led into the actual arena, and nerves bubbled in my stomach. A trillion concrete steps and endless rows of seating led down to the vast arena flooring, where the red and black cage was powerfully centered. The fight’s sponsorship logos were emblazoned across it, and it looked every inch as intimidating as it did on the TV, even more so in person, especially with all those empty seats waiting to be filled. Further seating circled the cage, and I wondered just how many people the arena was going to hold tonight. Closing the heavy door, Marc, who had stayed by my side, raised his eyebrows in anticipation of my reaction. I didn’t think words were needed. Quietly chuckling to himself, he casually slung an arm around my shoulders, and we walked to the changing rooms. Just before we entered the room, he dropped his arm.

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