Page 37 of You Had Me At Thirteen

When he beat the shit out of Derek for touching me, I should have figured he was some sort of cage-fighting legend.

My breath catches in my throat when Wren makes his move, kicking Josh’s legs out from underneath him, and sending him slamming into the mat with a grunt. This allows Wren to climb on top of him to throw punch after punch into his ribs, face and legs.

‘Can he do that?’ I say to Jordan.

Jordan chuckles. ‘It’s MMA, so it’s totally legal. Plus, it’s underground, babe. There aren’t many rules.’

I must convey a look of horror because Jordan laughs at me again, but it’s not long before I’m totally focused back on Wren.

Josh has his hands up to protect his face while Wren keeps the punches coming. Sweat mixes with blood, and when Wren flips Josh over so he’s pressed against his chest, Wren’s back to the mat, I notice how much blood there is.

Wren has Josh in some sort of chokehold, his arms locked around Josh’s neck as he wraps his legs around his middle, locks his ankles and pulls backwards.

It’s not long before Josh’s face turns blue from lack of oxygen. Seconds later he taps Wren’s arm, and he’s released from Wren’s death grip, the colour flooding back to his face.

The crowd roars, while arms are thrown into the air sending alcohol spilling into the cage from all angles. Wren climbs to his feet, and walks to the edge of the cage, gripping it as he sucks in air, his muscular body dripping in sweat and Josh’s blood.

Josh lies unmoving, breathing heavily until he rolls over and struggles to his feet. He walks over to Wren and shakes his hand with a pat on his back. Wren nods as the crowd erupts again when the announcer steps forward.

‘Once again, The Butcher takes the win. Be sure to come back next week for more exciting rounds of fighting.’

The music blares through the large speakers on the walls again, thumping into my brain. All I want to do is get the fuck out of here and find Wren. I’m not sure how I’m feeling right now, but I know I’ll feel better once I lay eyes on him.

Jordan must read my mind, because he gets up from the chair and holds out his hand. ‘Come on, I’ll take you to Wren.’ He leads me through the crowd until we hit a stair landing.

As we head further underground, the music and noise from the crowd grows more distant. It has me wondering if the walls are soundproof. Kind of like a torture chamber.

We round a corner until we come up to a set of doors on the left-hand side. Jordan stops in front of one before he opens it. I expect him to step inside, but he motions for me to enter instead.

‘I’ll see you soon,’ he says with a wink, then disappears.

I wring my hands and swallow hard as I walk into the room. It’s so quiet and with the temperature drop, I feel the need to rub my arms. It’s harder to see in here with only one dull light hanging in the middle of the ceiling. Steel benches line three of the four walls, and that’s it. It’s like a concrete prison cell. See, torture chamber. At least you can shit and take a shower in this hellhole, though. Some aren’t so lucky.

Wren is changing back into the clothes he wore here, but he turns when he senses me, shoving his shirt over his head and pulling it down his chest. My eyes fight not to drag down his body, and as I come towards him, I can’t help my reaction to him. My chest heaves as I stare up at him, his hair drenched in sweat, not a mark on his perfect face.

‘That was… wow,’ I say as I reach for his face.

He drops his eyes and turns his head, forcing me to pull my hand away. ‘Now you know,’ he says as he shoves his gear into his bag.

I stare at his back. Now I know.

SIXTEEN

Matilda

* * *

‘He said what?’ Audrey’s voice squeaks on the last word.

‘Right?’ I say around a spoonful of ice cream.

After my first outing with Wren the other day, I can’t get his words out of my mind. I’ve been kept from Audrey and Clive for too long, due to my stupid suspension and I’m longing for some sort of connection. So calling Audrey while sitting on my bed eating ice cream from the tub seemed like a great way to get my fix.

I left out the part where I found out Wren fights in a massive cage every Thursday night. His skills now make sense to me.

‘Did your panties drop?’

‘That’s a negative. I rattled off something about him saying that to all the girls. What was I supposed to do?’

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