Page 297

Kota looks like she’s in physical pain as she says, “Not with me.”

My feet close the distance between us, and I try to cup her face before remembering my fingertips are disgusting. I hold them near her ears instead, gazing down at her reverently.

“No, not with you. Never with you. I fucking lo—”

Jesus Christ. What the fuck was I about to say? It couldn’t have been the L word. I’ve never even said that to my dad.

“Uh…” I drop my hands by my sides. Not really knowing what to do with them all of a sudden, they start roaming all over—my shorts, my abs, my chest.

Kota grabs them with hers, using the towel to wipe them up, too.

“You could’ve told me.”

“I didn’t want you to see me like this.” The confession is rough and raw.

“I have seen you like this,” she argues, gesturing at my fucked-up appearance, probably referring to that night in the bathroom when she cleaned me up after a two-rounder of nothing but ground and pound.

“You didn’t see the bloodlust. You only saw me sated afterward.” Two completely different animals.

“What was that with Guy? Because you looked the same with him as you did in that ring.”

I almost forgot about that, mainly because that wasn’t exactly a fight. It was a one-sided ass whooping.

“That was personal,” I say like it should be obvious. “This is a means to an end.”

“What end?”

Even my shrug is confused. I wish I fucking knew.

“What are you even hungry for? Is it blood or is it something else? Money? Recognition?”

And this is why I didn’t want her to see any of this shit because I don’t know how to explain it without lying and I can’t tell the truth. Not about this.

Taking my silence as yet another omission, Kota releases me and steps back.

I follow her though, matching her move for move until I’ve got her pressed against the wall, my arms coming up to cage her in.

“The only thing I’m hungry for…is you.”

She rolls those eyes the color of misty mornings like I’m full of shit, but it’s true.

“But you are making money from this, right?”

I jerk out a nod.

“How much did you make tonight?”

I tell her what I’ll be pocketing, not what I’m being paid. “Three hundred dollars.”

Those beautiful eyes bug out. “That’s it? Khaos!”

“That’s not that bad.”

“I could get you more than that.”

“Oh yeah?” That makes me chuckle. “You want to be my agent?”

Her voice softens, almost shyly. “You said you’d let me.”