Page 61 of Uncaged Obsessions

I know it can’t be Carson.

It can never be him again.

After one of the fights ends, they announce that Caine is up next and we watch him get into the cage. It’s the same routine as last time with Adam talking to him, while Caine doesn’t even look like he’s paying attention. My eyes drift over to his opponent on the other side and I immediately recognize him as the guy from yesterday that was staring at me.

He looks even more intimidating today, shirtless with various tattoos decorating his skin, and the look in his eyes seems like he’s ready for murder. Suddenly I’m uneasy because this guy looks like he could and would actually kill Caine.

I know he can handle himself, but something about the man makes me worried. Though, when I look at my man inside the cage I can see that he recognizes his opponent too because that look of murder in his eyes is there as well.

I know this is going to be a blood bath.

That’s exactly what happens as soon as the timer starts. It’s blow after blow. Blood spraying. Moments pass by where I’m worried that Caine is going to lose because it looks like he’s not going to have any choice but to submit, though he always ends up getting out of it.

Other moments, I think he’s going to completely cut the oxygen from the other man, but he escapes. The rounds seem to go on forever, both seeming to get tired, weaker with every second that passes.

That is until Caine delivers the winning blow, resulting in a knockout.

The breath I didn’t realize I was holding is let out as I scream in celebration at his win.

“That was a good one,” Drew says next to me, and I nod in agreement, my eyes not leaving Caine.

The moment he sees me, a bloody smile spreads across his face. He mouths something, but it’s hard to tell what exactly he says because there’s no way it’s what it looks like. There’s no way he just said “Fucking love you,” to me across an arena packed with feral MMA fans. I refuse to believe it, and yet I know Drew saw it too when he says, “Did he just say that?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”

Even though I kind of hope he really did because that means the emotions that have been burning in my chest for all three of them may be reciprocated. Unless they admit it to me first, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to tell them.

Yet, that may be exactly what just happened.

Everything feelsdifferent after we get back from California. It’s like there’s more between us than there has been. Nothing outwardly has changed, they’re still over protective and insisting on my extra training and not letting me leave work alone.

Luckily, I’m able to start my shift alone while they are all at Uncaged still. It’s been several days since we’ve been home and tonight is really slow at work, which I’m partly thankful for. The lack of tips won’t be great for my wallet, but the break from the mental load will be nice.

I’m just finishing restocking some of the more popular beers in the fridge behind the bar when the front door opens and I prepare to serve whoever it is that just walked in.

What I don’t expect is to see my extremely put together parents walk into a place that they’d view as being beneath them. I swear I’m hallucinating. There’s no way they’re here. They don’t know where I am or where I work. I know they would never actually come into a place like this willingly, either.

My mother wraps her coat around herself tighter like it will protect her from the germs in the air as she looks around with a disgusted look on her face. I hope they enjoy their shoes being sticky forever from all the spilled liquid covering these floors.

I’m still convinced that I’m hallucinating until they’re directly in front of me, the wood of the bar the only thing separating us.

“Maxine,” my mother says, her venom laced tone slices through me and confirms that this is, in fact, my reality.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I snap.

“We’ve come to take you home. For the final time,” my father says seriously.

“No.”

“Enough of this, Maxine, we’ve been more than accommodating with your little outbursts, but it’s over. You’re coming home. You’re marrying who we say you are so that you can fulfill your duty to this family,” my mother declares.

“No.”

“You could have just followed through and married Carson. Everything would have been fine, but look what happened. Speaking of which…” My father stands up straighter, training his eyes on mine. He’s never spoken much to me, I’ve mostly been my mothers problem to deal with, but I know now with Carson out of the picture he’s probably even more sick of me than my mother is. “Do you want to tell us what happened to your fiancé?”

I shrug. “I think you’d know more than I do,” I say easily, sticking to the plan Danner had to frame them for the murder.

“Why would we know anything?” my mother gasps.

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