Fighting to Survive (Guarded Hearts Book 3) (4 page)

“I get it, but that doesn’t mean he gets to order me around like he’s my keeper. He even did it earlier at lunch when he told me I wasn’t allowed to go to the fight.” She groans in frustration.

“Stop pretending like you don’t love him acting like an alpha male.”

“Oh, I definitely love the alpha. I just want him to be one and still let me win the arguments.” We both start to laugh. “What’s up with you? Rocky Balboa screw it up already?”

I eat a huge spoonful of ice cream. “Nic, you know how long I’ve been into him, but I don’t know if it will work. I’ve had a thing for him since the first day we met last summer, but all he can focus on is the fact my family has money. He keeps saying he doesn’t get why I’m into him and everything, but why does he have to get it? We are drawn to people based on feelings, not logic.”

“He’s an idiot, but I went through the same shit with J. Hopefully, Rocky wises up faster than he did. It took me forever to nail that boy down.”

She took the movie she’d been watching off pause when I walked in. “What is this?”

“Girl, I have no idea, but it has Channing Tatum in it and that’s good enough for me.

After about a half hour we hear the door open and look up to see Jason standing in the doorway to the living room. He doesn’t say a word to us, he just stares at Nicole.

“Take a picture, it will last longer.” I look over at Nicole and she sticks her tongue out at him. I have to laugh at how juvenile they’re acting. Before she knows what hit her, Jason stalks over to the couch, picks her up and throws her over his shoulder. She screams and reaches out for me to help her, but there’s no way I’m getting involved. She’s cursing at him the entire time he’s carrying her up the stairs, and a few seconds later I hear her bedroom door slam.

I just laugh to myself. I swear, I think the only thing those two like more than fighting is making up. My phone beeps, and when I look down at it, I see a message from Shawn.

Shawn: I get it I was an ass, do you really want to come that bad?

Me: Kind of, I want to see what it’s all about.

Shawn: Alright, I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty.

Me: Okay.

I smile to myself, gloating in my small victory. I really am excited, and if I’m being honest, I can’t wait to see him with his shirt off again. What am I going to wear? I mean, last time I had no idea where I was going so I didn’t put much thought into it. Now that I’m going, though, I’m completely over-thinking it.

Holly comes home in the midst of me emptying out my entire closet. “What are you doing?”

I’m currently sitting on the floor in defeat, surrounded by clothes and shoes. “Shawn is going to take me with him tonight, and I have absolutely no idea what to wear.”

“Seriously? Since when are you
that
girl?” She’s right. I hardly ever stress about what to wear, but I never really cared that much before now.

“I don’t know, Holls, I just don’t want to seem out of place. I think it’s because I’m really nervous, too.”

“Nervous about what? The fight?”

“Ugh, no. I’m nervous about how things will be with me and Shawn. You know I’ve had a thing for him for a while, and I guess I just want things to go well.”

Holly walks over to me and pulls me up off the floor. “Stop stressing out, Chris. Just be yourself, and if Rocky doesn’t like it, then he’s an idiot.”

“Rocky?”

She laughs and starts to walk out of the room. “Yeah, Nic said it earlier and I think it’s funny.”

I just shake my head and start to put away all of the clothes scattered everywhere.

On my way to pick up Christen, I start to regret saying she could come. There are constantly fights breaking out in the crowd because people get way too carried away. I have no idea how I’m going to be able to keep an eye on her during the fight and manage to not get my ass kicked.  I’ve never lost, which has been great, but I have also never had to worry about anything other than the fight.

I pull up outside the house and am about to get out when I see the door open. Jason comes out and starts to walk toward me. “You really taking her there tonight?”

“Yeah, why?”

He shakes his head. “You know if anything happens Holly will kick your ass, right?” I laugh and he raises his eyebrows at me. “Seriously.”

I hear the front door shut again and this time it’s Christen. She has on jeans with a few rips on both legs, and they hug her so that every curve is on display. I’m definitely regretting taking her now.

Jason looks back at me with a smirk. “Good luck.”

Christen gets in the car and smiles at me. “Hey.”

“Hey, you ready?” She nods her head and I start the car.

The car ride is quiet, and now that we’re sitting in the parking lot, I really don’t want to go in.

“Is something wrong?”

“Um…I’m just trying to figure out how to deal with all of this.”

“All of what?” I can tell she’s confused and I don’t know how to say what I’m thinking to her. I have never really been good with words.

“I don’t know—you being here, me feeling like I won’t be able to concentrate, worrying that a fight is going to break out and that you’re going to get hurt.”

“I’ll be fine, I was there at your last fight.”

“Alright, come on.” We get out of the car and head through the back entrance of the warehouse. As we work our way through the people in the hallway, I grab Christen’s hand. I have this overwhelming need to stake my claim and let everyone know she is with me. I see every guy we pass eyeing her and I want to kill them all. Before a couple days ago, Christen was just Holly’s friend who hung around sometimes. Now it feels like something has changed.

She sparked my interest the other night when she came after me, and since then, I haven’t been able to get her out of my head. She has this mix of innocence and sex appeal which is enough to drive me crazy. I want to make her mine and make it known to everyone around. Her hand is no longer enough for me. I pull her beside me and snake my arm around her waist. I glance down at her to gauge her reaction, and when she smiles up at me I know I’m completely screwed.  

Paul comes walking up to me. “You ready?” I nod my head at him. “Who is this?”

His eyes travel up and down Christen’s body and my hand clenches into a tight fist.
What the hell is going on with me?
“This is Christen, Christen this is Paul.”

She smiles at him, and the way he looks back at her makes my blood boil. I can’t believe I’m this damn worked up. I’ve had my share of girls—but never anything too serious—and I’ve never wanted to break someone in half just for looking at them. “When are we starting?”

“They are finishing up one now, and then you’ll be up.”

I walk past him to the room where I usually get changed. I close the door behind us and start to get the tape and stuff out to wrap my hands.

“Do you need any help?”

I look over at her and she’s standing near the door, seemingly unsure of what to do.

“Sure. I need to tape up my hands.”

She walks over, and when she grabs the tape from my hand, it feels like a bolt of lightning shoots through me. I guide her through the process of taping me up, and when she finishes both hands, I look back up at her.

She’s normally about a foot shorter than me, but since I’m sitting on the arm of the chair, we’re at eye level. When I look at her, she has this look in her eyes telling me she wants me. On top of that, the way she’s biting down on her bottom lip is driving me insane. I lift my hand up, freeing her lip from her teeth with my thumb, and then gently drag my thumb across her lip. Moving my hand around to the back of her head, I thread my fingers through her silky hair.

She lowers her head, resting her forehead against mine. I put my other hand on her hip and pull her closer to me, causing her breathing to speed up. When I press my lips against hers, she lets out a small moan, and the last bit of control I had been holding onto disappears.  I lift her so she’s now straddling me and she wraps her hands around my neck. I’m so engrossed in her, it’s like even though I have her now it still isn’t enough.

A loud banging on the door makes us jump. “Come on, lover boy! You’re up!”

I let out a groan. “I’m gonna kill him.” She laughs and I lower her back down to the floor. I grab the bottom of my shirt and lift it over my head. “Will you hold this for me?” I ask as I hand her the shirt. When I notice the look in her eye, I’m tempted to just say screw the fight and take her home with me. “You keep looking at me like that and I will never make it out there.” She smiles and I can see her cheeks start to turn red. I grab her hand and we make our way out to The Circle. Her grip on my hand tightens as we get closer. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

I walk up to Paul as he turns to me and says, “Hey, it’s about time.”

I turn to Christen. “I want you to stay here. Don’t move from this spot, okay?”

“Okay. Good luck.” I can tell she’s nervous. I lean down, give her a quick kiss, and then face the crowd as Paul is finishing his speech.

Hopefully, I can keep an eye on her and still be able to win the fight.

I’m still on edge from what happened a few minutes ago, and now, standing here watching him without his shirt on is definitely not helping. His opponent, Carlos, is nothing compared to Shawn. They are about the same height, but Shawn is definitely more built. The guy keeps throwing punches, but Shawn is moving so fast none of them ever make contact.

After he dodges another one of his punches, Shawn swings around and punches him in the side. Carlos backs away, grabbing his side in pain, and it seems as if he’s trying to catch his breath. Shawn takes advantage of this and throws a number of punches one after the other. Carlos seems to slump over, and I can see Shawn say something to him, but he only shakes his head. Shawn throws one more punch and Carlos goes down like a brick.

Paul announces the winner and I can see the same look on Shawn’s face that was there the other night. He’s trying to pretend like this is what he wants—like he’s happy—but if you take a deeper look, you can see this is the last place he wants to be. He walks toward me and I need to remind myself how to breathe. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful man in my life, and it definitely doesn’t hurt that he’s shirtless and covered in sweat, either.

He is stripping the tape from his hands as he walks toward me. He grabs my hand and we start to walk back to the door we used when we entered the warehouse. When we reach the door, he takes the shirt out of my hand and puts it on. We make our way out to the car, and the whole time I’m trying to figure out what happens now.
Does he need to unwind? Is he tired? Does he want to do something or just take me home? Does he expect something to happen now?
I really enjoyed making out with him, but there is no way I’m going to sleep with him already.

He starts the car and then turns to me. “So?”

“So…what?”

“So, what do you want to do?”

“Um…I don’t know.”

“Okay, well I’m kind of hungry. You okay with maybe going back to the apartment and ordering some food?”

“Sure.” He pulls out of the parking lot and the entire car smells like him, it’s intoxicating. I lay my head back on the seat and close my eyes.

Next thing I know, I can feel myself moving. When I open my eyes, I’m in Shawn’s arms and we are walking into his room.
Oh my God. I fell asleep? He carried me in? How embarrassing.
One part of me thinks it’s hot and sweet because he’s carrying me while the other part is running wild with ideas of what I look like.
Was I drooling or sleeping with my mouth open?

He puts me on the bed and I am suddenly very aware of where I am. “I’m gonna jump in the shower, if you wanna—“

“Listen, I’m really not like that. I mean, I know we were messing around a little at the fight, but…”

“Hey I didn’t—”

“No, I get it. I probably sent you mixed signals, and if I did, I’m sorry. It’s just—” He presses his lips against mine, silencing anything else that would have come pouring out of my mouth.

When he pulls away he smiles at me. “All I was going to say was if you wanted to check out some take-out menus, they are in the drawer next to the fridge.”

“Oh, okay.” I walk into the kitchen before I make an even bigger fool of myself. I’m still aimlessly looking through different menus when Shawn walks into the kitchen. I look up and see that his hair is still wet from the shower, and he has on a t-shirt and some sweatpants. When he smirks at me, I realize I’ve been caught staring and immediately look away. He comes up behind me and puts his hands on the counter, one on each side of me. I’m completely surrounded by him and my willpower is lessening by the minute.

He rests his chin on my shoulder, and I can’t resist the urge to let myself relax and lean back against him. “Find anything good?”
I definitely did, but it wasn’t food.
When I don’t reply, he strokes my neck with his chin and the little bit of stubble he has sends chills throughout my whole body. Before I can catch myself, I let out a moan. He instantly freezes when he hears me, and I regret it. His hands move from the counter to my hips. His thumbs hook into the waistband of my jeans and he pulls me back against him.