Page 31 of The Fight

BLAIR

Iwatch as Shay finally pulls himself off the floor of the ring, then slides out between the ropes. I keep my place as he pushes through the crowd casually, ignoring all the confused looks. When he makes it to the back, I move next to him.

“What happened out there?”

He shakes his head. “Just wasn’t feeling it tonight.”

I raise a brow, but he doesn’t elaborate. Instead, he keeps trekking toward the locker room, grabbing my hand and pulling me behind him.

“Weren’t feeling it? I know I haven’t seen you fight a ton, but that doesn’t seem like you,” I comment as we break the threshold into the locker room.

He drops my hand and shrugs. “I’m good, Dollface. My mind was just other places, is all.”

“Other places?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.

He flashes me a smile, then slinks up to me, pressing his chest into mine, forcing me back until my back hits the wall. Suddenly, we’re right back where everything started—where we started.

He moves his face in, hovering his lips just above mine. “Other places.”

Suddenly, I don’t need an explanation because I know exactly what he’s talking about. I should have known. His eyes kept catching mine during the fight, but I didn’t think I could be such a distraction. I mean, the only difference now is we aren’t trying to rip each other apart at every second. Or are we?

Shay’s lips brush mine, and instinctively, my hands uncross and move to his ribs, pulling him as close as I can. No, we aren’t trying to rip each other apart with our words or insults, but we definitely may be in other ways.

His kiss deepens, and with it, my body turns to mush. It feels so much easier, so much more exciting, to have him this way without the guilt of hatred. His palms press against the wall, framing my head, and I can’t help but get giddy. I can taste the blood on his lips and feel the heat of his breath, and it does nothing but make me want to be even closer.

Moving my hands down, I grip his hips and tug. His pelvis nudges into me, and I can feel just how much he wants me too. He’s all hard muscles and sweat, and something about it sets me on fire.

Moving one hand, he slides it behind my head, then tangles his fingers into my hair, giving it a soft tug. “Maybe we should move this home,” he whispers between kisses.

My eyes open with his words.Home. For a second, I forgot all about who we are to one another and the fact we’re under the same roof. Now, though? Not at all.

I roll my eyes and push him away from me. “Definitely not going to risk any of this at home. The last thing either of us needs is to give our parents a heart attack.”

He lets out a sigh. “Another thing we can agree on, I guess.”

As he moves across the locker room, gathering his things, I linger by the door. Peeking through a crack, I notice the crowd has dissipated, and not many people are left. Only two familiarfaces stand out. Austin and that weird dude who has been around the gym the last few times we’ve been here.

Shay moves in behind me, pushing the door ajar the rest of the way, then nudges his chin toward the exit. “Let’s go.”

As we walk, Austin jogs away from the man and tries to stop us, but Shay just holds up his hand. “Another time, bro. I’m tired.”

“Blake wants to talk.”

“I don’t care. It can wait. I’ll call him tomorrow.”

Austin throws up his hands as Shay keeps walking. “Dude!”

When we make it to the parking lot, I let Shay open the passenger-side door of his Jeep, then climb inside. I buckle quickly, then twiddle my thumbs as I wait for him to round the front and climb inside.

After he closes his door and starts the car, I let him back out before I start asking more questions.

“Who’s Blake?”

He glances at me quickly, then turns his eyes back to the front. “He’s a promoter.”

“They have promoters for fights?”

“More like for fighters. Think of him like a talent agent of sorts.”

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