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Luckily, Elliott uses that moment to come over and drop a kiss on my lips.
“Hey, honey. How was your day?”
I smile up at him. “Busy! Looks like yours was productive.”
He nods. “It was.” He glances at Neil. “How’s it going, Neil?”
“Good to see you, Rage.” Neil nods and then excuses himself.
“What was that?” I ask curiously.
Rage watches him go. “He wasn’t hitting on you, was he?”
I laugh. “Not that I could tell but even if he was, I wouldn’t have noticed.”
“Yeah? How come?”
I lower my voice conspiratorially. “Because my boyfriend is so much hotter than him.”
He chuckles then kisses me again. “Let me jump in the shower and then we’ll get out of here.”
“I’ll be here.”
I watch him walk into the back and grin at the sight of his ass. And broad shoulders. Pretty much all of him.
Mine.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Rage
The weeks leading up to the fight are a blur. Luna’s period finally ended, and she seems a lot less anxious. I’m glad she’s feeling better because I’ve been mostly focused on the fight. Once I get in the zone, I’m pretty single-minded so I hope she isn’t too frustrated with me. Our sex life has been off the charts, which has been amazing, but I’m looking forward to spending some quality alone time with her that has nothing to do with sex as soon as this is over.
Tonight is the dinner and auction, so Luna’s already at the venue helping Candy with all the last-minute details. She isn’t even coming back to the hotel to get ready—she brought her things with her—so I’m going to meet her there. Grim and Metal are here, and we’re going to ride over together.
I brought Metal on as unofficial security, an extra set of eyes both before and during the fight. Grim is my cornerman, the one who’ll be watching everything that goes on in the cage, making sure I have what I need during the fight, and Metal will be there too.
I don’t really need both of them, but it seems to give me credibility while simultaneously giving Metal something to focus on other than his grief. And honestly, he doesn’t come across as physically intimidating, but he’s as tough as they come. I’ve seen him in the gym a few times and he’s strong as fuck, especially for someone who’s six feet tall and barely a buck sixty.
“We ready for this?” Grim asks when we meet in the lobby.
“I guess.” I shrug.
“Why are you so grumpy?” Grim asks me. “You used to be psyched on fight days.”
“The last few weeks have just shown me that I left this life for a reason,” I say. “And I have other priorities. I should be focused on the job in Atlanta, not…” I wave my hand around even though I’m not referring to anything specific in the room. “…all of this.”
“One more day and it’s over,” Metal says pragmatically. “You might as well enjoy it. You know, you get to beat the shit out of someone without holding back—and you won’t get in trouble.”
I chuckle.
He has a point.
“I guess there’s that.”
We’ve started to see glimpses of the old Metal—the caring, gentle man who loved and doted on his pregnant girlfriend—and I’m hopeful he’s beginning to work through his grief. I don’t know that there’s a timeline, but the never-ending quest to find out what happened can’t be healthy. It was actually Daniil’s idea to bring him onto my team, so to speak, and I’m glad I did. Grim will be focused on whether or not I’m doing okay in the fight, making sure I have water and whatnot, so it’ll be up to Metal to keep his eyes on Bronco and his team.
By the time we get to the auction gala, I’m hungry and annoyed. And the whole room is basically a smorgasbord. There’s even a fucking chocolate fountain, and my stomach growls as I watch Metal walk in that direction.
