Ihate the morning of a fight. I’m always amped up and ready to go with nothing to do but wait. Thankfully, Violet had work and some studying to catch up on, so I was able to disappear for the majority of the day. Not that I didn’t want her with me. Fuck, do I want her with me. But faking it is the hardest part. Pretending everything’s fine, and I’m confident I’ll take the W by the end of the night while knowing I’m about to lose my entire family a shit-ton of money and potentially a lot more if anyone finds out I’m throwing a bet on purpose.
Fucking breathe, I remind myself.
The warehouse is packed. Hell, it’s like a can of sardines. Ford clearly did his job of spreading the word about tonight’s event very well. Rolling my shoulders, I watch from the edge of the room. A guy staggers toward a girl, spilling beer all over her shirt. She squeals in horror. Yeah, he definitely did it on purpose. A couple stands under a light. The two are so wrapped up in each other, I’m surprised they haven’t dropped their pants and started having sex where they stand. At least it isn’t Ford. I continue my perusal, trying to distract myself, when I catch Morgan laughing with a couple of his friends. Taking a wad of cash from his pocket, he hands it to the buddy beside him, thenglances at me and grins. I lift my hand in response, giving him the middle finger before crossing my arms and continuing my lazy survey of tonight’s crowd.
That’s when I glimpse her. My Little Thief. With a smile, she moves through the sea of people waiting for the fight to start.
“Hey!” Rising onto her tiptoes, Violet kisses my cheek. The simple touch cuts through the toxic cloud hanging over me. It makes me feel like I can almost breathe again.
“Hey, you made it.” I slip my hand along the side of her face, angling her head for me as my mouth descends on hers.
She drove separately so she could bring Lexie and June, and while I was grateful for it this morning, I missed her more than she knows. Opening her mouth for me, she lets me in, sucking on my tongue and grasping my wrist with her dainty little fingers as I kiss the shit out of her. I need it. Need her. The reminder of why I’m doing this. Why I’m risking as much as I am.
Don’t think like that,I silently remind myself.
It’s one fight. One measly fight. Hell, maybe I can even convince Morgan to a rematch in the future with no-holds-barred. No restrictions. And I can beat his ass once and for all.
Holding onto the possibility, I squeeze my eyes shut even tighter and lose myself in Violet’s touch. Her taste. Her strength. She smiles against my mouth, her body swaying toward me.
“All right, you two, keep it in your pants,” Lexie grumbles. “I’m going to go say hi to my brother. June, you want to come?”
“Uh…” She grimaces. “No offense, but your brother kind of scares me.”
“Meh, he scares everyone,” Lexie defends. “Don’t worry. He’s all bark and no bite. I’ll be back.” As she traipses off, Ford approaches with two girls by his side. He stops short, seeing Violet’s roommate at the edge of our group. “Why, hello, June Bug.”
June’s eyes fall to the cement floor as she scoots closer to my girlfriend. “Hello.”
“Fancy seeing you here.” Ford cocks his head, studying her before turning to the two girls beside him. “Ladies,” he says. “Come find me after. Daddy’s got some work to do.”
“Daddy?” Violet snorts.
“Give me a break,” Ford defends. “I gotta keep up the larger than life persona of the Harden name since Jagger’s been failing ever since you two started dating.” He looks at June. “Trust me, I’m nothing but a big ol’ teddy bear.”
“Which I’m sure half of campus can attest to,” Violet quips.
My mouth lifts. Fuck, I love this girl.
“Come on, Jag.” Ford throws his hands up in the air. “Not even gonna try and come to your baby brother’s defense?”
“Pretty sure you can handle yourself,” I return.
“Speaking of handling things,” Ford muses. “I still can’t believe Morgan agreed to this.” Looking around the packed warehouse, Ford tacks on a whistle. “The guy thinks he can beat you twice? Even after all the shit he’s put you guys through?”
My eye twitches, but I rub it away, taking in the crowd for the hundredth time tonight. There’s a buzz in the air. With how charged it feels, you’d think it was being streamed on every sports channel instead of being run by an underground group of partiers. Usually, I feed off the energy. Tonight, it only leaves me nauseated.
“Hey, you good?” Hawke asks. I barely restrain my flinch as I look over at him. Fuck, I was so distracted, I didn’t even notice him. Maybe I really am gonna lose, and it won’t be an act. Won’t put our business in jeopardy. Regardless, if I don’t get my head in the game, I’m going to wind up on a stretcher.
Brows stitched with concern, Hawke repeats, “I said, are you good?”
“I’m not,” Violet interjects. “Call me an overprotective girlfriend, but I’m a little stressed.”
“It’ll be fine,” Ford tells her.
Despite his response, Violet peers up at me andonlyme. “You think?”
“Yeah.” I breathe in deep through my nose, determined to keep my expression in check. “Everything will be fine. I promise.” The words leave an acrid taste, but I deliver them so flawlessly, I’m convinced I should take up acting for the hell of it.
With a shy smile, she touches my bicep, dragging her hand along my shoulder before cupping the back of my head and kissing me like she did when she first arrived. My brothers whistle around us, and I shake my head, smiling against her soft lips. For the first time since I left Violet’s side this morning, I almost feel okay.
