Page 7 of Pedal to the Metal
Chapter Five
Raze
After seeinghow well Minx handled her car, I’m just that much more attracted to her. She knows her shit about cars, and that’s sexy as hell. She won her race like a fucking pro.
When she got out of her car, she had a smile so big I’m surprised her face didn’t split in half. Seeing Minx and Buster hug pissed me off though. I blame this pull I have for her. I’ve never felt so possessive over a chick, let alone one I barely even know.
I’m walking back to the locker room to get ready for my fight. Just thinking about Minx is a distraction. I need to get my head on straight, so I can win this fight. I get into the locker room at the same time Sketch gets back.
“Congrats on your win, Sketch. Nice knockout.” I congratulate Sketch, patting him on the back.
“Thanks, man,” he replies and dumps a bottle of cold water over his head and neck. Rascal is still in here getting ready to go out to the ring.
“Where’s Minx?” he asks me.
“Sitting in the front row with Saint. He’s watching her,” I tell him, and he nods at me. It seems he’s stepping into the protective brother role. No one knows what’s going to happen with Jager, but it’s not looking good. I’ve heard some talk about Minx and Jager’s brother, Hawk, dying a couple of months before Minx left town. I assume that’s why she left, but I haven’t asked anyone. I know Bull is going to make sure she goes to visit Jager soon. I’m sure I’ll be the one to accompany her to the hospital sometime this weekend. Maybe I’ll be able to get her to talk to me.
“Rascal, you’re up,” one of the bouncers calls. Both sets of locker rooms have bouncers to make sure no one tries to attack any of the fighters.
“Go get ‘em, brother,” I say.
“Kick his ass,” Sketch says. Rascal takes a deep breath and heads out of the locker room. I start on my stretches and do some deep breathing to get both my mind and body ready. Sketch is standing at the locker room door watching Rascal’s fight.
“Shit! That was quick. That dude got a good hit in, but Ras took him down!” Sketch says enthusiastically. “You’re up next.”
Good, I’m ready for this,I think to myself.
Ready to get back out to Minx. Fuck, I need to get her out of my head. I walk over to Sketch. We watch as the ref walks out and announces my fight.
“And now for the main event,” the ref calls out and announces my opponent,
Shifter. This asshole sent me a challenge about a month ago. The club hasn’t been able to find much info on him, but we think he’s an ally of the Iron Lords. I need to stay as focused as possible in case this fucker decides to fight dirty.
He’s a little huskier than I am, but I’ve taken down bigger guys before. I was able to see Shifter fight a couple of weeks ago. He was a bouncy fucker. I’m surprised he didn’t tire himself out. He got lucky, though, and the guy he was fighting didn’t know what the fuck he was doing. Shifter knocked him out pretty quick. He won’t be that lucky with me. I know what the fuck I’m doing. My moves are planned out before my opponents ever know what hit them.
“Annnnnnd now…” the ref says, and I look around the crowd, my eyes instantly findingher. “Hellraiser!”
Her face lights up, and I make my way to the octagon. I hear a fewboosthroughout the loud as fuck cheering. I keep a pretty neutral expression, like any other time. I don’t like people trying to read me. I make my way to the middle of the ring to listen to the ref.
“Let’s have a clean fight. Protect yourself. Listen to my instructions at all times. Now, touch gloves if you want, then back to your corners,” he explains to us. We touch gloves and move to our corners. From where I’m standing, I can see Minx out of my peripheral, and I have to force myself to stay focused. The ref looks to Shifter, and Shifter nods. Then he looks to me, and I nod.
“Fight!!” he shouts, and it’s on. Shifter bounces from foot to foot and starts moving around the octagon. I move too, keeping my distance and my eyes trained on him. He starts to move toward me, so I take a few steps in his direction, making sure I’m away from the cage. The last thing I want is the fucker thinking he can pin me against it.
He throws a right hook, and I duck out of the way. He lets out a growl. He’s getting pissed. I take a step back, and he follows, attempting another punch, but he hits the air. I take the chance to put out a front kick and connect with his chest. It knocks him off balance enough for me to run up and get in a couple of strong hits, knocking him to the floor. The ref runs up to check on Shifter, and I back away to my corner. He calls the fight, coming to my side and lifting my arm.
“Winner . . . by KO . . . Hellraiser!”he shouts, and the crowd goes nuts. My eyes find Minx, and she’s looking at me with a mischievous smirk. I need to be with her. I need to get her out of here. We hold eye contact even when Sketch runs into the octagon.
“There’s been a sighting of some Iron Lords hanging around. We gotta get out of here,” Sketch tells me.
“Go tell Saint and Buster to get Minx and Rivet out of here and somewhere safe. I’ll grab my shit, and we’ll meet them wherever they go,” I tell him. He takes off, and I see him out of my peripheral talking to Saint. Minx breaks eye contact first when Saint starts talking to her and I take off to the locker room.
