Page 48 of I Was Always Yours (RCA: Royal Crown Academy)

I walk around the ring holding the sign to loud cheers as the announcer sets up the fight.

“The only rule is that there are no rules. Nothing is illegal, so long as you keep it in the ring. The fight will begin in five minutes.”

I shiver at the words.

I know Phoenix is a great fighter, but his opponent looks like someone who’d lean hard on the lack of ‘nothing illegal’ rule to win.

As I continue to walk around the ring, I pass the other fighter and he whistles at me. When I look over at him, he licks his lips salaciously in a way that makes my stomach roil.I take a step back.

“Come find me after the fight baby, I’ll show that ass of yours a good time.”

My face twists in distaste, but a commotion from behind me keeps me from answering. The fighter’s leering eyes snap from my breasts to something above my right shoulder.

I whip around in time to see Phoenix charging at me.

No, not me.

His dark eyes are fixed on the other fighter with a look that guarantees absolute destruction. His muscles are tight as a coiled spring and he looks like the grim reaper himself come to deliver swift justice.

A soft, startled cry falls from my lips and I jump out of the way, hugging the ropes behind me.

The other fighter has time to take two large steps before Phoenix is on him.

Phoenix ducks as the other fighter throws the first punch, then weaves under his arm and comes back up the other side with a devastating left hook to the jaw.I know it’s a catastrophic just by the rabid look in Phoenix’s eyes.

Something cracks and the other fighter falls face first to the floor in a boneless pile, like a walking toy whose batteries have just been ripped out of him.

Shock freezes me and the rest of the crowd as we stare open mouthed at the crumpled form of the larger man on the ground, seemingly knocked out with one punch. It’s over before it literally even started.

Someone gets on one knee beside him and starts counting, but it’s pointless. He’s out like a light, he’s not getting back up.

“One…”

I flick my gaze back to Phoenix and find him already staring at me.

I’m locked in this moment with him, the counting barely registering as if it’s coming from a distance.

“Two…”

He looks unblinkingly at me with a glare so layered with ire, it takes my breath away.

“Three…”

Why is he so angry?He’sthe one who claims to hate me,he’sthe one who’s pushed me away for years.

“Four…”

So why is it that he apparently can’t stand the thought of someone else touching me? He attacked him before the fight even began, from what I can tell simply because he hit on me.

“Five…”

The countdown feels like it goes on forever and he remains unflinching as our standoff endures.He looks more tense than he was before the fight, like the real eruption is still to come.

“Six…”

His eyes turn to slits as the ref speaks that number. I glare back at him, resisting the urge to cross my arms over my chest because I don’t want to reveal how much he affects me.

“Seven…”

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