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“Well, she's not yours either, brother,” he shouts. “Believe me, she made that perfectly clear. A few times now.”
“What the fuck, Tyrone!” Jackson yells, surprising me.
I know he's closer to Tyrone than me...I get it.
I'm their friend and I'd like to think they think of me as an older brother...but I'm their coach first.
It's my job to make sure they don't get destroyed in that cage as well as make sure they stay off DeLuca's radar. In addition to ensuring they make it out of their contracts alive..and sometimes that means being really fucking hard on them and drawing a line.
“What?” Tyrone booms.
Jackson gives him a look. “That's fucked up is what. He already told you he didn't want you hitting on her and now you're taking her out on a date?”
Tyrone sidesteps him and jerks a shoulder up. “I really don't see what the big deal is.” He looks at me. “It's obvious he lied to us about what's going on.”
I feel a twinge of nervousness thinking she spilled the beans about who I really am until he says, “Lou-Lou said they never once hooked up and there is absolutely nothing going on between them. For fucks sake, they don't even know each other.”
I should just tell him that she belongs to DeLuca. I know he can keep a secret and he'll stay far away from her when he finds out she's his.
But then again...I don't want to tell him something like that without giving Lou-Lou a heads up about it first.
And that's when it dawns on me...why the fuck is she agreeing to go on a date with Tyrone in the first place?
Something's not right...and like it or not she's going to have no choice but to talk to me before the night is over.
Tyrone takes a step forward. “I'm just asking for honesty, Ricardo. Because according to her—you guys are nothing and have no history. In fact, I hate to be the one to break it to you but she kind of despises you. She says you're an asshole to her.”
He reaches for his gym bag. “And not for nothing, I believe her because you don't seem all that into her. At least, not until I talk about being interested in her. Then you go all he-man. So what the fuck is up? Are you actually into her? Or do you have some kind of personal problem with me and she's the scapegoat?”
“I don't have a problem with you,” I tell him. “I just don't want you dating her.”
“Why?”
“I—” I stall.
He points two fingers at his face. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you're into her and I promise I'll back the fuck off.”
“I'm into her,” I mumble.
He shakes his head. “No brother, you're not. Which means you're lying to me about something.”
“I have my reasons, Tyrone. You just have to trust me.”
He hikes his gym bag up his shoulder. “You have to earn that trust first.”
And with that, he slams the door.
“Dammit,” I say under my breath.
Jackson tilts his head in the direction of the door. “You have a good reason for not wanting him with her?”
“I wouldn't be acting like this otherwise.”
“Fair enough.” He pulls a sweatshirt over his head. “Okay, I'm go
I grab a water bottle from the fridge. “How?”
“I'm go
Before I can inquire about it further he says, “You see, what Tyrone doesn't know is that she's been hitting on me this entire week, too.”
“She has?”
This is definitely news to me. Doesn't she know she's playing with fire?
“Oh, yeah. Just yesterday she trapped me in the locker room at the gym and propositioned me.”
At the gym? Where the hell was I? Why am I only hearing about this now?
I want to ask all those questions but for some reason the only one I manage to bark out is, “So you had sex with her?”
The thing is, Jackson's not as celibate as he pretends to be. He's just very secretive about his sex life.
He doesn't know it, but I know about his trips to the bdsm club that he frequents on occasion.
I know about it because I've caught him walking out of there a few times.
Mere minutes after I myself walked out those doors.
I don't go there often—even less than he does because I had Scarlet and a few others on rotation to help scratch the itch.
But I can't focus on that because all I can think about is him fucking Lou-Lou.
I'm seeing red for some reason I fail to comprehend but he looks at me and laughs. “Don't get me wrong, she's pretty and all but I'm not looking for a relationship or a fuck buddy. I don't do either of those. Especially with a girl like that.”
He looks down. “Personally, I'd never want to be with a girl who causes me and my friends to fight over her. I don't think any girl's worth risking my friendship with you guys...and the one who is wouldn't put me in that position.”
I stay silent because something in his statement causes the wheels in my head to start spi
He looks over his shoulder before walking out the door. “Okay, I guess I'll meet you at the gym.”
“Son of a bitch,” I grunt while snatching my gym bag off the counter.
I think I just figured out exactly what Lou-Lou's doing here after all.
The uppercut to Tyrone's face is so hard his mouthpiece falls out.
I snicker and issue another one quick as lightning.
“Come on, Hulk. Keep up,” I taunt when his head snaps to the side. “Either learn to suck it up and take the punch...or learn to sense me coming and deflect, my man.”
I'm giving him shit right now, but in reality, Tyrone's one hell of a competitor. He really excels in the cage but he's not too shabby in the ring, either.
If I'm being honest, he's one of the best fighters I've ever seen or fought.
He would have made it to the top in mixed martial arts had he not been royally screwed.
Him and Jackson.
“Well stop going all Muhammad Ali and throw in some Mister Miyagi,” he says before I jab him again.
“As you wish.” He doesn't even have time to register the axe kick I send his way.
Boxers aren't usually known for their footwork but he and Jackson both forget that although boxing is my first love, I've studied MMA intently.
He goes flying into the ropes. “The only reason you're so good is because you're older...you've had more years of practice.”
I put a hand on his shoulder and hear Jackson laughing on the sidelines. “Toughen up, sport. Always prepare for the unexpected.”
He grunts and the murmurings around the gym come to an abrupt halt.
Jackson turns his head and I see his eyes blaze briefly before he looks down at the ground and mutters something under his breath.
I'm even more confused when I hear a few guys let out some whistles and cat calls.
When Tyrone's mouth drops open and he utters a “Hot damn.” I finally decide to turn my head to see what all the fuss is about.
The tiny hairs on my neck stand up, my heart feels like it's going to explode out of my goddamn chest and I'm pretty sure I'm breathing harder than a sumo wrestler ru
Lou-Lou's standing there in nothing but two scraps of red shiny material.
In other words, her ring girl outfit.
The same one she'll be wearing tomorrow night...in front of hundreds of men.