Page 67 of A Fighter’s Love

“But you can tell Dale not to.”

“No I can’t. He’s his own man. He’s wanted Billy taken down a peg or two for a long time. And now’s his chance.”

“But what if he gets hurt?” She paused, remembering another time and place. “Billy might not fight professionally anymore. But he’s good, he was more than good, he was winning titles.”

“In the olden days.” Jackson ran his hand over her hair. “And it’s clear Dale’s willing to take that risk.”

“I don’t want him to. Not on my behalf.”

“This is something Dale needs to do. Billy has wound him up for years, not just how he’s treated you but how he disrespects everyone around here.” Jackson glanced at the door. “I gotta get out there.”

She held in a shiver of apprehension. She had a bad feeling about what was going to go down. Billy, as she’d heard Grinder was, could be a dirty fighter. And now, not scoring points, but going for a knock out, it would be a filthy scrap.

Jackson stepped away. “Don’t worry. I won’t let it get out of hand. But to do that, I need to be there.”

“Yes. Yes. Go.” She pointed at the door.

He stepped close again, set a quick kiss on her cheek, then turned. Halfway across the room he stopped and turned. ““This is what we do, Jenny. We’re fighters.”

Then he was gone.

Chapter Sixteen

Jenny wrapped her arms around herself. Tristan was right when he’d said he didn’t want her near Billy on her own. The look in his eyes was murderous. He was out for blood.

Hell, he didn’t even seem to like her. Was he simply riled up for a fight? Looking for an opportunity to throw a few punches at a guy who irritated him because he could still train for something Billy would never have now?

She pulled in a deep breath then steeled herself to go out into the gym.

When she did the atmosphere was totally different from when she’d shown Mr. Davis around. Now it was sizzling with tension. The air seemed to be full of sparks. The other members were rushing to the ring where Billy and Dale were pulling on their gloves.

Michael was helping Dale.

One of the other members, a guy with a red Mohawk—known as ‘Mohawk’— was assisting Billy.

Her stomach churned. She swallowed, her mouth dry. How the hell had it come to this?

Jackson jumped into the ring. He gripped Dale’s shoulder and spoke into his ear.

Dale glanced at Jenny. His jaw tensed and he nodded, just once.

Jenny had no idea what Jackson had said to Dale.

Her mind was swirling as she moved nearer the crowd. The noise level was rising. Excited chatter in deep voices. There was no one on the weights anymore.

She pushed past a few large bodies, and stood near the ropes. She didn’t want to watch but was compelled to.

Billy smacked his gloved hands together and skipped on the spot, his full attention on Dale as Michael finished tightening his laces.

“What’s going on?” the guy to her left asked.

Mohawk, who’d jumped down from the ring, nodded at Billy. “Seems he’s got a beef with Dale and Dale ain’t taking it lying down.”

“What beef? What’s happened?”

“Dunno, but those two have wanted at each other for a while. You can tell.”

“Fuck. They ain’t messin’ then?”

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