The walk made me grateful that I had worn sandals instead of heels though. Alex had opted for dressing for noticeability, where I just wore a plain white blouse, a dark blue skirt that fell loose at mid-thigh, and a pair of white sandals.
Alex had worn a dark red tank top that showcased her girls to perfection, tight black jeans, and black ankle boots. Her hair was thrown back in a very sophisticated ponytail and her makeup was flawless. It was a wonder her parents let her out of the house.
My hair was thrown back in a low ponytail and my makeup was mascara with some tinted lip balm. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew I didn’t want anyone asking me about my prices either.
We squeezed our way through the barn doors, and shit, sure enough, there was a ring in the center of the farm building. The place looked exactly like what you’d imagine an underground fighting ring to look like. The only crazy thing was the bar that was set up on the west side of the building. This was an actual money-making traveling event.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
“Right?” Alex said, excitedly. “Isn’t it awesome?”
I craned my neck to try to see everything, but it was so crowded, all I could make out was the ring itself, the bar, and through the sea of people, I could see a few tables and chairs scattered about.
The only other thing I could see was the huge dry erase board with names and odds written on it. When I saw Talon’s name, my stomach cramped, and I was reminded of how badly Ididn’twant to see him fight. I was with Edie on this one.
Alex grabbed my arm and dragged me through the crowd to get a better vantage point. All the while she was yelling, “Talon always fights first, so we need to get up closer, so we don’t miss it.”
“Why does he always fight first?” I yelled. I would have thought they’d save the best fight for last.
“I don’t know,” she yelled back. “I think it’s his preference.”
The second we reached the edge of the crowd, a few people recognized us, and made some room. One girl even gave us a thumbs up. I looked at Alex. “What’s that for?”
“They must think you’re here for Talon,” she said, giving me a cheeky grin. “You are his girlfriend, after all.” I rolled my eyes but didn’t refute her claim. I knew, sooner or later, I was going to cave. It wasn’t worth the effort to debate my Talon status.
Alex was about to say more but, suddenly, music started pounding through the speakers and the crowd noise skyrocketed to unreachable levels. The entire room was amped up and ready to go. I couldn’t see anything, but I soon discovered we were on the opposite side of where the fighters entered. It wasn’t until I looked up into the ring that I saw Talon.
Holy Mary, Mother of God.
He was wearing a pair of loose basketball shorts, with the pads of his feet and fists taped up only, which didn’t make sense. I thought fighters had to wear tight clothing so that their opponents couldn’t grab onto their clothing and anchor them.
Granted, I didn’t know much about fighting, but all the fighting commercials and ads I’ve seen always showed the fighters wearing formfitting clothing, not loose basketball shorts.
But that was the least of my observations.
The rest of my brain, heart, libido, and lady parts were consumed with the vision of Talon Draven with his shirt off. The guy was sporting a goddamneight-pack. Like…eight-count them. I thought those things were a myth. I mean, you see six-packs in magazines all the time. Every social media site is littered with guys lifting their shirts to show off their muscular perfection.
But Talon?
Talon was sporting a freakin’ eight-pack that looked…dangerous.
Dangerously like I wanted to run my tongue all over them bad boys and get to know them better.
I was in big trouble.
It was already getting harder, and harder to resist Talon, but now knowing what he looked like underneath those Henley and Quicksilver shirts…holy shit. No wonder girls were throwing me the side-eye and wanting me gone. Who doesn’t wantthatin their bed?
The ringmaster made introduction, but honestly, I missed it all. All I could focus on was Talon and how…hothe looked up there. He looked…goddamnscorching. Like, I could feel ovaries exploding all over the room. That’s how sexy he looked up there. His unreal-colored eyes were lasered on his opponent, and it was as if he saw nothing but the guy across from him. The chanting, whistles and screams weren’t fazing him at all.
“Holy shit, Alex,” I said loud enough for her to hear me.
Alex nodded her head, not even bothering to take her eyes off the ring. “And he’s all yours, Kenzlee, if you’d quit being so goddamn stubborn,” she pointed out.
But I wasn’t being stubborn.
This wasn’t about Talon; not really.
I’ve lost everything I’ve ever known, including what I thought my future was going to be like. I really didn’t have time for…Talon and all the ways he would change my life.
