“This is a bad place,” I explained.
Star flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and shot me a wink. “Don’t worry, we’re fine.”
How could she say that? It was kind of hard to miss the mob of hopped up men around us. One of whom was creeping up really close to her. I was about to open my mouth to tell her about it when Silas suddenly appeared and yanked the guy away by his shirt.
“Hands off, asshole.”
Star slid her dark eyes my way and smiled. “See.”
That didn’t make me feel any better. I still wanted to escape out the doors. Unfortunately, the streets in this town weren’t any safer than this bar. So I stayed tucked into my friend and kept my eyes dutifully on the crowd. I knew better than to let myself get caught off guard. That was a lesson I learned a long time ago, and one I promptly forgot when a voice boomed overhead.
“Last call to place your bets, boys.” A dark haired man stood in the middle of the ring with a microphone in his hand. “Will it be our very own Tony Gratta?”
He waved to the left where a bald man covered in tattoos emerged from a room. My stomach flipped when he raised his arms in the air and his muscles bulged. That’s who Mason was fighting? Jesus. He looked like a juggernaut made of stone.
“Or will it be the pretty boy from Ashen Springs, Mason Kessler?”
Someone needed to stop this. That guy was huge. Mason couldn’t…
Oh.
My.
God.
I couldn’t look away as Mason strutted out from a room on the right side. He was wearing nothing but a pair of dark jade shorts and some tape on his knuckles. The light shining down enhanced every hard edge on his sculpted body. Confidence rolled off his shoulders and sparkled in his eyes.
People cheered as he threw his arms up in the air. I barely heard them. My eyes were stuck on a lock of chestnut hair that flopped over his forehead. I wanted to crawl all over him while running my fingers through those soft locks.
“You’re drooling.”
I straightened up and shot Star a dirty look. “No I’m not.”
I was simply admiring the male form. And oh what a form it was. All those times Mason did stuff to me, I must’ve missed something. He always looked good, but right now he was so mouth watering that all I wanted to do was run my tongue up his torso.
My brows knit.
Was I going crazy? Did I really just think that about Mason Kessler?
Mason marched forward and shot me a playful wink before ducking under the rope to get in the ring.
Yes, yes I did.
I was too busy gawking at the graceful way his feet bounced around to notice that the bell had rung until the first punch was thrown. My nerves skyrocketed as Mason ducked under. That morphed into adrenaline when he returned the strike with an upper-cut of his own. His fist connected with the juggernaut’s bottom jaw, twisting his head to the side.
I’m not sure what it was that had me entranced. This wasn’t a sport I ever thought I’d like, but it was kind of like a dance. A primal, feral dance that between two nearly naked, sweaty men. Every time Mason was hit, I’d grimace. Then he’d deliver a blow of his own and a strange tingly feeling would spread through my core. He seemed so powerful up there. Like a god among men.
And this god was mine.
“Yeah,” a man behind me yelled and rushed forward, slamming into my back and nearly knocking me over. “Kick his ass.”
“Hey!” I spun around and wagged my finger at him. “Do you mind? I’m trying to watch.”
Whoa, where did that come from?
His lips curled, revealing his yellow teeth. “Well aren’t you a sweet little thing? Wanna come back to my house and play?”
“No thank you.” I did not want to go anywhere with him.
