Page 15 of Sizzling In the Mountains

“People make mistakes,” I say. “You’re a good person, Victoria. The best person I’ve ever met.”

She looks up at me with watery eyes and it crushes me. I don’t know how to make it okay, but I desperately want to.

“We can raise the rest of the money,” I tell her. “We’ll figure something out.”

She’s looking at me like she wants to believe me, but she’s not quite there yet.

“You’ll see,” I say, vowing to make it right. “Everything will be okay. I promise.”

We gaze into each other’s eyes and an overpowering desire to kiss her takes over. I slowly reach up and cup her cheek. She moans as I slide my hand into her hair and step forward.

Her shy little hand reaches up and touches my chest. I wonder if she can feel my heart hammering away in there.

I lean down. She tilts her chin up. We both moan as our lips connect in a soft sensual kiss. I slide my hands around her back and she wraps her arms around my neck. I pull her against me as I taste her sweet tongue and explore her perfect little mouth.

Her lips are so soft. She feels so delicate in my strong arms. I’m trying to be as gentle as possible even though every cell in my body is urging me to lose control.

I don’t know what this angel is doing with me. We have to sit down and have a serious talk about her taste in guys. She shouldn’t be anywhere near a guy like me.

A firm hand lands on my shoulder. I growl in outrage as I’m yanked away from my girl.

I turn around, ready to kill whoever just did that.

“You fucking embarrassed me,” the guy I knocked out says. His furious face is all bloody and swollen. Man, some people don’t know when to fucking quit.

“You embarrassed yourself,” I hiss through gritted teeth. “Now get the fuck out of here before you wake up in a hospital.”

“You’re the one who’s going to wake up in a fucking hospital,” he says as he steps back and pulls out a long knife. “If you wake up at all.”

“Get in the car,” I tell my girl as I open her door. “Drive home.”

“I’m not leaving you,” she says in a panic.

“I’ll be fine,” I say in as calm a voice as I can muster. Rage is ripping through me like a hurricane right now. I can’t believe this fucking asshole ruined that perfect kiss.

“James,” she says, giving me a look.

The guy rushes forward and she screams. I kick him in the stomach hard and he stumbles back.

“Go home,” I plead with her. She doesn’t move, so I lightly push her into the car and close the door.

This prick made me push her… He’s a fucking dead man.

He swings the knife, but I dodge out of the way and grab his thick wrist. I see a flash of panic in his eyes when he realizes how fucked he is. I turn his wrist, pushing on a pressure point until he drops the knife with a scream. It clatters on the ground and I kick it under a car.

I headbutt him in the nose and it splits open, spurting out blood. I’m still controlling his wrist, so I yank him down and knee him in the face so hard his eyes roll into the back of his head. He goes limp in my arms. I drop him for the second time tonight and go check on Victoria.

She rolls her window down and looks at him lying on the pavement with wide eyes.

“Everything is okay,” I tell her with a comforting smile. “Just go home and we’ll talk soon.”

She looks back at me and nods. She’s taking all of this well, even though she does look a little shell-shocked. I didn’t want her to see me in this environment. Not like this. I wasn’t even going to fight tonight, but then she didn’t show up and I had so much energy to burn.

I don’t want her to think I’m some lowlife, aggressive psycho. It’s just… fighting is fun for me. It’s a challenge. It’s a sport. It’s an adrenaline rush. It’s not who I am. It doesn’t define me.

“I’ll see you around,” she says as she starts her car. I step back, wishing the night ended better than this.

“Yeah,” I whisper as she drives away. I watch her car until the lights disappear into the distance.

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