“Oh yeah, baby. I was born ready.”
I lethim take the offensive. There was no way I was giving him any chance to whine and complain that I had come at him without fair warning.
He wanted me to play fair? Fine. I would beat his ass fair and fucking square, then claim my prize.
I had to admit, he was pretty good. It was obvious he had been boxing for several years. He was no novice.
He moved like lightning, and I had to work harder than I would ever admit to evade his jabs.
I blocked his first right hook, catching it with my forearm. It connected squarely and sent a splintering shock of pain reverberating through my entire arm.
Fucking hot.
He didn’t wait for me to recover. He aimed for my gut with a left undercut and caught me in the ribs. I braced against the impact, preventing him from winding me, and almost chuckled at the flash of triumph that glittered in his eyes.
Premature cele, baby.
I cracked him across the face, directly over the bruise he was already healing, and he grunted in pain, stumbling back and away from me.
“Come on, Ryan. Rookie mistake. You’re better than that,” I crooned, doing my best to pretend I wasn’t out of breath. “Keep your fists up!”
“Fuck you!” he spat and came at me again with a devastating combo. I nearly laughed out loud when I realized he was legitimately trying to knock me out.
I blocked two jabs and dodged a cross just to get smoked with an uppercut.
He caught me so hard in the jaw that, for a moment, I worried he cracked a molar, but luckily, my cheek got in the way.
I spit out a mouthful of blood and grinned at him.
“Much better, baby,” I praised, waiting for him to come at me again. He rushed me, fists flying, and I laughed as I was forced to duck and block several well-placed strikes. We played like this for a few more rounds. Or at least, I was playing. Ginger snap was out for blood. He wasreallytrying to actually take me out, and it was so hot I could barely get enough.
After several minutes, we were both panting and bleeding. His knuckles were split, and his right eye was swollen shut.
Fuck, hope he didn’t have a service in the next few days.He was gonna be hella pissed about his face next time he looked in a mirror.
But he didn’t seem to be worried about it right now. His gaze was onfire,and he had a half-cocked grin on his face.
He was fucking loving this as much as I was.
“Come on, Cal! Quit fucking around. I know you’re holding back!” he yelled, and I shrugged.
“Wanted to give you a chance to get all your aggression out before I bend you the fuck over, ginger snap. I won’t be tolerating this sort of behavior once you’re under me, so enjoy it while it lasts.”
“Fuck you! I would like to see you try,” he snarled, and I grinned.
“Is that a challenge?” I purred as we circled each other.
“You bet your ass it is.”
I laughed. “It’s not my ass that’s on the line, baby.”
He flipped me off, and that was the final straw. He was right. I had been holding back.
You didn’t survive in my world as long as I did by losing.
Ryan barely saw it coming when I stepped into him. He was expecting me to come in from the right since that was my dominant side. But I cut him with a left cross, followed by several quick jabs to the gut.
I hooked my leg behind his knee while he tried to catch his breath and just…shoved.
