Page 299

That is also true and damn her for remembering when I told her that.

“What are you doing?” I ask her point-blank. “Trying to give me a pep talk? I don’t need a cheerleader.”

Gazing up at me through thick lashes, she grips my neck, bringing me closer to lure me into…something.

“I think you do. At home and here.”

There it is.

“Here?” I’m already shaking my head.

“Outside the ring.”

“It’s not a ring. It’s a cage. And no. I told you, shit is too dangerous for you.”

“If you saw the stunts I learned last week, you wouldn’t say that.”

“I would actually.”

“Oh really?” Her exaggerated nod is so sarcastic I almost laugh.

“Yeah. And I’d make you switch positions to one of the ones that stays on the ground.”

Now she’s shaking that head. “No, you wouldn’t.”

I knew this shit was a trap and I still went willingly.

“No, I wouldn’t,” I admit way too easily.

“Because you don’t like to fight.”

“Because I don’t like to fight with you.”

“So I can be at your next match.”

Girl didn’t even bother sticking a question mark at the end of that, she just stated it. Cheerleader confidence is something else, man.

“No.”

“You’re fighting me.”

“You’re damn right I am. You’re not coming to any more of these.”

“I’m coming to the next one. I’m gonna sit ringside—”

“Not a ring.”

“—and I’m going to cheer you on the whole time.”

My response is one continual headshake. It’s all a no for me.

“I have Dex for that.”

“Does Dex do this afterward?”

Her flirty grin is sexy as hell.

A single brow gets arched. What is she up to?