Page 41 of Rematch
Her smile grew at the gesture.
After I was ushered off the stage, I headed back to my designated dressing room to clean myself off and get dressed. The on site doctor tried to fuss over the cuts on my face and the bruises forming around my ribs, but I shooed her off once she concluded I didn’t have any serious injuries. I could bandage myself up once I got home.
“Max?” Tysir’s voice surprised me.
I looked up from my task of tying my shoes and met his gaze. “Where’s Audrey?” I asked.
“She’s on her way back with Wesley and her friend,” he explained. “The girls are talking about going out for drinks, so I wanted to know: who’s transporting the money and who’s taking the girls home?”
That was a good question. When I switched around the roles of my men tonight, I didn’t give much thought to the second half of the night. I was just worried about making sure my girl was protected. My brain told me I should ride with the new men on the job, but my heart yearned to spend time with Audrey. She looked so happy in the stands. I didn’t want to waste a moment of sharing her joy for a responsibility I didn’t even want.
Delegate, my father’s voice rang in my head. For once, I didn’t disagree with it.
“You’ll go,” I decided.
Between him and Wesley, Tysir was the one I saw becoming a right hand man someday. He kept his mouth shut and his mind sharp. He was someone I needed for tasks like this. Wesley and his motor-mouth, on the other hand, wasn’t built for leadership, but had a way of keeping even the tensest of air light. On a night like this, I needed a wing man like him.
“Make sure the newbies won’t fuck up,” I told Tysir. “Let them know if they do, it’s their ass on the line - not yours.”
Tysir nodded. “Got it.” Turning on his heel, he walked back out the room to attend to his new duty.
As he was exiting, Audrey was entering. A smile spread across her face at the sight of me. “Hey!” She yelled as she jogged towards me.
I opened my arms and caught her as she leaped into them. I lifted her off her feet and gave her a twirl.
Giggling, her arms tightened around my neck. “Congratulations!” she exclaimed. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you,” I said as I sat her down on her feet.
“But, you were getting your ass kicked in the beginning. I’m not gonna lie.”
“Shut up before you get your ass kicked.”
She raised a playful brow. “By who?” She squealed as I wrapped my arm around her neck and pulled her head down into a lock.
“Don’t make me embarrass you,” I warned.
She laughed, shoving off my arm. Her eyes sparkled with a whimsical glow I hadn’t seen in a while. The one she used to carry around in the playful moments we shared as kids.
It quickly disappeared as she inspected my bruised face. Frowning, she grabbed my jaw and turned my head back and forth to inspect my wounds. “Max,” she whined. “Don’t tell me you didn’t let the paramedic patch you up.”
“I left the job for you,” I told her.
She rolled her eyes. “No, you’re just a glutton for pain.” She shoved me back into the seat and skimmed the dresser for the first aid kit. She pulled out the small bottle of alcohol and some cotton balls from the kit. Turning on her heel, she headed into the adjoining bathroom to grab a wash rag.
“Where’s your friend?” I asked, noticing we were alone.
“Wesley is giving her a backstage tour,” Audrey yelled above the running water.
When she returned, she held my face still with one hand and used the other to start washing the dried blood off my face. Gently, she padded the wet rag around my skin, careful not to press too hard on the cuts and bruises.
I admired the concentration on her face. Whenever she was focused, a small crease furrowed between her brows and her mouth poked out in a tiny pout. I remembered the look all too well from the nights we spent studying for school exams. I thought it was cute back then too.
Audrey’s eyes bounced over for a second, meeting mine. The crease in her brow deepened. Cocking her head, she silently asked,The hell are you staring at?
I answered her question with a smug smirk.
Audrey rolled her eyes and went back to concentrating on her task. She cleaned the cuts with alcohol and carefully placed bandages over them.
