First Love: A Superbundle Boxed Set of Seven New Adult Romances (140 page)

I’m shocked at myself. I can’t believe I’ve just done this. The cool air chills my damp breast, and I shiver. Colt presses me tight against him. We breathe together. I’m not sure what to feel. Ashamed, maybe, that I was so brazen. Desperate, too, because I need him like nothing else I’ve ever felt. Is he weirded out? I don’t seem to have pushed him to where he wants to take it all the way. At least not here, where anyone can walk in.

He lets my legs come down. I stand a little unsteadily. He tugs my bra back into position.

I can’t look him in the face, so I lean my forehead on his chest. His arms stay around me.

“I’ve never met anyone like you,” he says.

I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.

When I don’t speak, he lifts my chin. His eyes are shining happy. “I am going to fall so hard for you.”

I realize that I already have.

The accordion door bangs open. “Break it up, lovebirds!” Brittany calls out. “You have spectators.”

I scramble for my shirt. Colt turns his back to the mesh to block their view of me as I yank it on. I reach for my gloves, and when I stand, he’s still watching me. “Have lunch with us?” he asks.

I shake my head. I don’t feel ready to be around other people. “I should do some work,” I say.

Colt reaches for my phone and hands it to me. “I like knowing where this is,” he says, and the sexiness in his voice sends another spark through me. “Expect some really hot messages direct to your skin.”

I swallow hard. I’m not able to say the words, but I definitely can’t wait.

Chapter 9

Colt’s training gets increasingly intense. His manager has scheduled a secret match for Saturday. Colt hasn’t been in the ring since he canceled the title fight, and everyone is on edge. After getting caught with me in the cage, nobody lets him be alone for even five minutes.

It’s like I’m some sort of threat.

But Colt doesn’t think so. He sends me text messages throughout the day. Sometimes they are just little notes of encouragement about my progress during workouts. Sometimes they are hard core, about my body, his need for me. Things he’d like to do. He just can’t get away to do them right now.

When I think back on the pizza night, it seems like a faraway dream. Something is happening between us, but I’m not allowed any chance to get him alone. He’s at the gym long after Buster escorts me out. There are no more moments like the one in the ring.

I want so much more, but I don’t know how to get it. Maybe Colt doesn’t either right now.

Normally I work even on Saturday, but Buster tells me to take the day off. Everyone’s anxious about the match.

“You going?” Brent asks me as I leave on Friday.

“I don’t know,” I say. My heart starts hammering. Brent doesn’t realize I’m not supposed to know about it. “Are you?”

“Heck, yeah. The whole gym is shut down for it.”
 

Maybe that’s why I got the day off. “Is it here?” I ask.

I try to be nonchalant about the fact that I don’t know where the fight is. I overheard some discussion of it, but if the trainer or one of the sparring partners talked about the location with me around, they got silenced by Brittany.

Brent cocks his head in surprise. “I thought you would have known. It’s over at the Herd, some street-fighting club. Colt bought it out for the night. Only the privileged few get in.” He elbows me. “That includes us.”

Brent takes off across the gym like the matter is settled, and I’m going. But I’m not sure if Colt wants me there. He hasn’t asked me. And Brittany has definitely tried to avoid me knowing about it.

But now I wonder if I can sneak in. Thanks to Brent, I know where the match will be held. I’m not afraid of Brittany.

But Colt. If he doesn’t want me, maybe I shouldn’t go.

I pull out my phone and hold it in my hand. It’s so simple. Just send a quick message to Colt asking if I should come. I start to type it.

But I can’t hit send.

I don’t know what is happening between us. It’s something amazing, I know that. But I don’t understand how I fit into his life. Maybe I’m supposed to remain a secret. Maybe I will throw him off at the fight if I go.

I head out into the chilly evening and walk over to the cafe where Zero works. He’ll be off in half an hour. Maybe we can come up with some sort of plan.

I slide into a booth, realizing I can actually pay for a meal if I want to. I know my next paycheck will cover rent. I still have a little left from the last one. High cotton, my grandma would have called it. I think for a second about her necklace. If only I could have held on to it.

The place is pretty busy. By the time Zero can come by to talk, he’s almost off. “Need me to bring you something before I clock out?” he asks.

I shake my head. I’m trying to eat more like Colt does. I can’t afford the fancy supplements or personalized meals, but I get the general idea. Greasy cafe food isn’t on the menu.

When we walk outside, it’s fully dark. “So, still no alone time with fighter boy?” Zero asks.

“Nope.”

Zero puts on a pout. “Maybe this weekend?”

“Hopefully, if he wins the match.”

“So, are we going?” Zero’s face lights up with mischief. “I can whip up something devious to make us totally incognito.”

“Colt would have asked me if he wanted me.”

“Pshaw,” Zero says. “He doesn’t even have to know.”

“It’s a pretty secret gig,” I say.

“Jo Jo knows a way!” he says. “I can tell!”

We cross the street. We’re heading to his place, since his heat works better and he has cable. “Would it be too terrible to sneak in?” I ask.

Zero makes a little hop in the air. “Of course not! It’s proof of your undying devotion to get into his pants.”

I give him a light punch. “You’re terrible.”

Instead of watching movies, we make a plan. We use street view to examine all sides of the Herd. It’s two stories and used to be a factory.

“Tons of ways in,” Zero says. “You’ve got loading docks, a bazillion side doors.” He points at the brick wall. “There’s even outside fire escapes to the upper level.” He rubs his hands together. “It’s about time you got ME in a scrape instead of the other way around.”

So, the next night, we meet halfway between our apartments. I’ve gotten a slew of texts from Colt.

“Is he a total bundle of nerves?” Zero asks as he heads toward the Herd.

“Maybe. He wrote me more than usual.”

“Did you confess that you’re going?”

I shake my head. “Nope.” My nerves are strung tight, though. If Brittany sees me, she’ll throw me out. I could lose my job, again. And then there’s Colt. He could be disappointed. I could break the magic between us.

Now I’m nervous.

I stop walking. “I’ve changed my mind,” I say to Zero. “I can’t do it.”

He grabs my arm to keep me moving forward. “Yes, you can.”

“What if he hates me?”

“No man is going to hate a woman who dares defy the blonde bombshell to see him fight.” Zero turns me to him. “You can do this. I’ve never known you to run scared from anything.”

He’s got me there.

We can see the Herd from a couple blocks away. It’s taller than the buildings around it. A few homeless men huddle in the doorways. It’s cold for LA tonight.

“This part of town ain’t much better than ours,” Zero says.

A small crowd of guys jostle one another, spilling out over the curb. Zero and I look at each other, trying to decide whether to walk in the street or cut through them.

One of them looks at Zero and narrows his eyes. We’re both familiar with it, that stare that says, are you queer? We do what we always do, when danger trumps everything else. He clasps my hand in his and kisses my knuckles. I beam up at him like he’s my one great love. I’m probably a whole lot more convincing now than I used to be.

The guys part a little to let us through. We’re coming up on the Herd, so I slow down. Buster is in front of one door, bundled in a ski coat. I suddenly know exactly what to do.

I grab Zero’s arm and drag him around the corner before Buster spots us. I pull my scarf up over my nose and mouth so only my eyes show under my hat. “Okay, I have an idea.”

We walk a block away and approach the building from the second side. It’s the front facade, where most people are expected to arrive. There, two burly guys are standing by a girl with a clipboard.

She’s wearing a sweat suit that reads BRITTANY THE BOMBSHELL on the back. Must be someone on her team helping out. I’ve never seen her before.

Zero elbows me. “Now what?”

“Let’s try the loading dock.” It makes sense to me that the least likely way in would be the one they would stick the lowest-level employee on.

Sure enough, Brent is sitting on the edge of the dock staring at his phone.

We cross the parking lot. He sees us approach and stands up, puffing with importance. I lower the scarf. “Hey, Brent!” I call out.

“You came!” he says, all smiles since he isn’t going to have to do anything unpleasant.

“Yeah, my friend Zero here talked me into it.”

Brent clasps Zero’s hand. “I saw you talking to the Man the other day. You know Colt?”

“We go way back,” Zero says, and I try to hold back my laugh.

“You convinced Jo to come?”

“We wouldn’t miss it,” Zero says. “Colt said to come in the back where everybody parked.”

Dang, he’s slick. I’ve totally underestimated him.

“Yeah, his dressing room is just inside, two doors down.” Brent pulls on the handle. “Might be doing some pre-match ritual or something, though. I’d check before going in.”

“How do you get to the ring?” I ask.
 

“It’s straight down. You can’t miss it,” Brent says.

I’m hoping to find a back way, some place we can go unseen. I don’t want to think about what will happen if we’re spotted by Brittany. Or Colt. My stomach turns over again. What if he sees me? Gets upset? Then loses?

I realize Brent is a liability. He knows I’m here. “Are you stuck out here the whole time?”

“Yeah, sucks,” he says.

I fake a lightness that I don’t feel and punch him in the arm. “I’m sure they knew you were the one to toss people out on their ass.”

He laughs. “Hell, yeah.”

The minute we pass through the door, I want to change my mind again. It’s a corridor, one straight shot. If anyone comes out of any room, we’re seen.

I hear the muffled sound of lots of voices. The hall ends at a set of swinging doors with circle windows. I can see a blurry scene through them, people milling around. And one side of the cage.

“We can’t just go in there,” I say. “Everyone will see us.”

“We need to stick to a side wall,” Zero says. “That’s where the stairs usually are. In factories, the offices are always up above.”

There’s only one more door to the left. I open it carefully. Inside, extra chairs are stacked on metal carts.

Music begins, loud and pulsing, just on the other side of the wall. I go that direction and put my hands on a solid door. It thumps in time to the bass. “If we open it, we’ll be right in the arena,” I say.

Zero nods. “Let’s try the far door.”

I know the music means Colt and Throwdown are going to come out soon. My feet race to the last door. It sticks for a second, then opens to a stairway. I smile at Zero. Now we’ve got it.

Just like he predicted, the upper level is small, a set of offices overlooking the main floor. The actual rooms are locked tight, but the hall leading to them is lined with windows. We stay very still and close to the wall in case anyone looks up. But the flashing lights will surely hide us.

Down below, only a dozen people are scattered throughout the rows of chairs surrounding the cage. Three men sit at a table to one side. A ref in a black shirt twirls a whistle hanging around his neck.

Brittany is sitting next to another woman, gesturing madly as she talks. She keeps glancing up, as if she can sense my presence in the building.

I don’t know anybody else, but by the looks of the spectators, most of them are fighters.

The side we’re facing must be the front, as double-wide doors are propped open. The massive unbroken wall is blood red, with THE HERD painted in enormous black letters.

I hear a cheer that must mean the fighters are coming out.

I feel like I might faint.

Chapter 10

The roar of the small crowd grows as a black-haired man comes out in a white robe. He has some symbol stitched on the back. He raises his gloves in the air as the lights follow him down a red walkway to the door of the cage. An older man and a blonde in a shiny black crop top and shorts follow behind.

“Who’s the babe?” Zero asks.

I shrug. “I think they come standard.”

“Does Golden Boy have one?”

“I have no idea.” The only person I’ve met on Colt’s team is the trainer, who Colt refers to only as Killjoy.

“There he is!” Zero can barely contain himself as Colt comes out in bright blue sweats that read GUNNER in red letters.

I grip the frame of the window with tight fingers. Colt looks calm and focused. He hops a few times at the base of the stairs. Behind him are Killjoy and a teen boy carrying a box. No half-naked babe on his team.

Colt unzips his jacket and tosses it to the boy. His pants are the tear-away kind. I’m sweating like a fiend and have to take my scarf and hat off. His body gleams under the bright lights.

I’m so anxious I could throw up. I’ve seen him spar a little with a training partner who comes in each afternoon. They actually hit each other, protected with headgear and shin guards.

But this is going to be something totally different. Real hits. No protection.

Throwdown stands, his mouth wide, like he’s roaring. I can’t hear anything but the music and an occasional burst from the crowd. There’s no announcer like on the fights I watched online. It’s just them.

The ref stands in the middle. I stare at the tattoos across Colt’s naked back, and the company logos on his shorts. This is for real. I start breathing hard, and my jacket has to go.

“You okay, Jo?”

Maybe Colt knew not to invite me. Maybe he knew me better than I know myself. He did say that most fighters were single because it’s hard to watch someone you love get pummeled.