Full Contact
Page 28
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“Rampage. Okay.” He nods, but he doesn’t move.
“I just have to pack up my equipment and put it in the autoclave. You don’t have to stick around.”
I imagine he flinches the tiniest bit at my awkward dismissal, or maybe it’s just wishful thinking.
“Going out of town again tomorrow.” A pained expression crosses his face. “Might not make it back for the fight on Friday.”
Pleaseleavepleaseleavepleaseleave. Can this get more awkward?
“I probably won’t make it anyway.” I straighten the ink caps on the tray, grateful for an excuse to keep my eyes averted. “We’re booked solid for the next few weeks, and I’m doing overtime because I need the extra work.”
When I look up into the silence, his face has smoothed to an expressionless mask.
“Got it.”
My stomach churns as he grabs his shirt and tugs it over his head. The tat on his shoulder has got to hurt, but if it bothers him, he gives no sign.
Still, I can’t leave him with just an outline. I am a professional, after all, and although it will be incredibly awkward to see him again, I want to finish his ink. “Whenever you want me to finish up your tat, just call Rose. I’ll tell her to squeeze you in.”
“Sure.” He turns and walks toward the door, eating up the fancy marble tile with easy strides of his long legs.
“Bye, Ray.”
The door opens and then closes with a bang. If he said good-bye, I missed it.
Chapter 9
Dangerous Man. Dangerous Bike.
Priority: Confidential
Bay Area Underground Fight Club (BUFC) Fight Night
Ex-machine shop, Jack London Square. 8 p.m.
Headlining: Misery vs. The Predator
Code Phrase: “I am your number-one fan”
Friday night, four days after Ray left me in a state of aroused confusion at the studio, Jess and I are drinking beer with Blade Saw, Doctor Death, and Rampage in a former machine shop just off Jack London Square. Blade Saw has an arm around Jess’s shoulders, and she is no longer annoyed at being dragged away from watching Tag torture his recruits at Redemption. Although she’s told Blade Saw she’s not looking for a relationship—she’s still not ready to give up on Tag—he’s happy to take whatever she wants to give, which means I’ll be going home alone. Again.
But it’s the best choice, as I’ve said to Jess about a dozen times over the last few days. I need to be with men who are sensitive and easygoing. Men who don’t call to the thrill-seeking side of me that got me in trouble in the first place. Men like Charlie, my first serious boyfriend after the attack, who put up with my panic attacks and flashbacks and stroked my back and made me tea and even came to see my therapist so he could learn how to help me. At the time, I told Jess that men didn’t get better than Charlie and that I probably would never have been able to have sex again if I hadn’t met him.
Ever the pragmatist, Jess said Charlie and I wouldn’t last. Although we were comfortable together, there was no spark. And she was right. Just as she was right about Jason, another caring, sensitive man who was so concerned about my issues and triggers that he often couldn’t perform in bed.
Still, she calls me on my BS. How could I possibly think the Predator would be put off by a little pain? Look what he dishes out—and takes—in the ring. Maybe he has his own issues. And didn’t I tell her he got harder when I bit him? This is what I always do, she says. When they get too close, I push them away. And if I didn’t want him, why the hell did I call her up and drag her out of yoga class when I found out he was fighting tonight?
Good questions. Too bad I have no answers.
“Never took you for a beer drinker.” Doctor Death taps my bottle and I shrug.
“I’ll drink just about anything with alcohol in it when I’m stressed.”
His brow creases. Unbelievably, the slight frown makes him even more handsome.
“Stress can have some profound physiological effects on the body. What are you stressed about? Often it helps to just talk these things through.”
“Uh…well…” I can’t tell him I’m worried about Ray fighting Misery. And there’s no way I’m telling him I’m lusting after a mercurial fighter who I just pushed away.
“I thought Misery was in jail for kidnapping Makayla and Amanda,” Jess says loudly, finally coming to my rescue.
Dragging my thoughts away from my disastrous night in the studio, I nudge Rampage, who is trying to stay hidden in the shadows—an impossible task given his size and his penchant for wearing yellow. Both licensed MMA amateurs, Rampage and Blade Saw are taking a risk by coming to an underground fight, but like me, they can’t resist. Redemption was an underground club for many years, and this kind of fighting is what they know and love best.
“Do you know anything about Misery?”
Rampage looks over and scowls. “He did three years and then he found himself a good lawyer for the appeal and got out for good behavior. They couldn’t link him to the drugs or he might have been there forever.” Rampage is very protective of the women in the club and took it as a personal affront when Misery, once Torment’s biggest competitor in the underground league, kidnapped and beat up Makayla and Amanda when they inadvertently stumbled on his drug smuggling operation in the Menlo District.
“He’s wanted to fight the Predator ever since he got out of the joint.” Blade Saw pulls another beer from his bag and offers it around. “The Predator always refused and last week he didn’t show. But for some reason he agreed to tonight’s fight.”
“I just have to pack up my equipment and put it in the autoclave. You don’t have to stick around.”
I imagine he flinches the tiniest bit at my awkward dismissal, or maybe it’s just wishful thinking.
“Going out of town again tomorrow.” A pained expression crosses his face. “Might not make it back for the fight on Friday.”
Pleaseleavepleaseleavepleaseleave. Can this get more awkward?
“I probably won’t make it anyway.” I straighten the ink caps on the tray, grateful for an excuse to keep my eyes averted. “We’re booked solid for the next few weeks, and I’m doing overtime because I need the extra work.”
When I look up into the silence, his face has smoothed to an expressionless mask.
“Got it.”
My stomach churns as he grabs his shirt and tugs it over his head. The tat on his shoulder has got to hurt, but if it bothers him, he gives no sign.
Still, I can’t leave him with just an outline. I am a professional, after all, and although it will be incredibly awkward to see him again, I want to finish his ink. “Whenever you want me to finish up your tat, just call Rose. I’ll tell her to squeeze you in.”
“Sure.” He turns and walks toward the door, eating up the fancy marble tile with easy strides of his long legs.
“Bye, Ray.”
The door opens and then closes with a bang. If he said good-bye, I missed it.
Chapter 9
Dangerous Man. Dangerous Bike.
Priority: Confidential
Bay Area Underground Fight Club (BUFC) Fight Night
Ex-machine shop, Jack London Square. 8 p.m.
Headlining: Misery vs. The Predator
Code Phrase: “I am your number-one fan”
Friday night, four days after Ray left me in a state of aroused confusion at the studio, Jess and I are drinking beer with Blade Saw, Doctor Death, and Rampage in a former machine shop just off Jack London Square. Blade Saw has an arm around Jess’s shoulders, and she is no longer annoyed at being dragged away from watching Tag torture his recruits at Redemption. Although she’s told Blade Saw she’s not looking for a relationship—she’s still not ready to give up on Tag—he’s happy to take whatever she wants to give, which means I’ll be going home alone. Again.
But it’s the best choice, as I’ve said to Jess about a dozen times over the last few days. I need to be with men who are sensitive and easygoing. Men who don’t call to the thrill-seeking side of me that got me in trouble in the first place. Men like Charlie, my first serious boyfriend after the attack, who put up with my panic attacks and flashbacks and stroked my back and made me tea and even came to see my therapist so he could learn how to help me. At the time, I told Jess that men didn’t get better than Charlie and that I probably would never have been able to have sex again if I hadn’t met him.
Ever the pragmatist, Jess said Charlie and I wouldn’t last. Although we were comfortable together, there was no spark. And she was right. Just as she was right about Jason, another caring, sensitive man who was so concerned about my issues and triggers that he often couldn’t perform in bed.
Still, she calls me on my BS. How could I possibly think the Predator would be put off by a little pain? Look what he dishes out—and takes—in the ring. Maybe he has his own issues. And didn’t I tell her he got harder when I bit him? This is what I always do, she says. When they get too close, I push them away. And if I didn’t want him, why the hell did I call her up and drag her out of yoga class when I found out he was fighting tonight?
Good questions. Too bad I have no answers.
“Never took you for a beer drinker.” Doctor Death taps my bottle and I shrug.
“I’ll drink just about anything with alcohol in it when I’m stressed.”
His brow creases. Unbelievably, the slight frown makes him even more handsome.
“Stress can have some profound physiological effects on the body. What are you stressed about? Often it helps to just talk these things through.”
“Uh…well…” I can’t tell him I’m worried about Ray fighting Misery. And there’s no way I’m telling him I’m lusting after a mercurial fighter who I just pushed away.
“I thought Misery was in jail for kidnapping Makayla and Amanda,” Jess says loudly, finally coming to my rescue.
Dragging my thoughts away from my disastrous night in the studio, I nudge Rampage, who is trying to stay hidden in the shadows—an impossible task given his size and his penchant for wearing yellow. Both licensed MMA amateurs, Rampage and Blade Saw are taking a risk by coming to an underground fight, but like me, they can’t resist. Redemption was an underground club for many years, and this kind of fighting is what they know and love best.
“Do you know anything about Misery?”
Rampage looks over and scowls. “He did three years and then he found himself a good lawyer for the appeal and got out for good behavior. They couldn’t link him to the drugs or he might have been there forever.” Rampage is very protective of the women in the club and took it as a personal affront when Misery, once Torment’s biggest competitor in the underground league, kidnapped and beat up Makayla and Amanda when they inadvertently stumbled on his drug smuggling operation in the Menlo District.
“He’s wanted to fight the Predator ever since he got out of the joint.” Blade Saw pulls another beer from his bag and offers it around. “The Predator always refused and last week he didn’t show. But for some reason he agreed to tonight’s fight.”
