I need to reel those thoughts in fast before my dick gets harder and creates a tent inside our tent.
“What else are you thinking about other than the hard ground?” Cass asks.
Since I can’t tell her the truth, I say, “I think I’m going to go see Coach Briggs tomorrow, tell him to set up the fight. If I go ahead and sign shit, then I can’t back out.”
“That’s really exciting, Xavier,” she says. Removing her hand from underneath mine, she covers it with hers and gives it a supportive squeeze. “I don’t think you’ll regret this decision.”
“I hope not, but it’s a big gamble.”
“It’s a gamble, sure, but I think it’s going to pay off,” she replies. “I bet Macy’s really excited for you.”
“I haven’t told her yet either,” I admit. “You’re the only person other than Coach that I’ve mentioned it to.”
“You’re going to wait until you sign the contract?” Cass asks. “That way you won’t have to worry about anyone trying to talk you out of it?”
“Exactly,” I say as I scoot closer to her because she gets me and always has. While it’s too dark in our tent to see her, I can feel her warm breath and know she’s just inches away. I want her to kiss me again or give me some sign that sober Cass wants the same thing as drunk Cass – me.
I could make the first move tonight, I know, but I…can’t. If I’m wrong, everything could become awkward between us, right before I move back home. Right now, making a major career change, I need Cass in my corner, literally. She’s one of the few people I know I can count on to have my back.
“Now that you know what I was thinking, it’s your turn,” I tell Cass. Is it too much to hope that she’ll tell me she’s thinking that our friendship could survive anything, even her climbing into my sleeping bag with me and riding my cock? Probably so.
Cassidy
If I thought sleeping in the same house as Xavier was tough, it’s nowhere close to sleeping in the same tent with him in the woods, with no one else around. It’s like we’re in our own little dark bubble.
And he wants to know what I’m thinking? Hell no. Instead of taking the chance of spilling my guts, I turn the tables on him. Rubbing my thumb over the lump on his ring finger, I ask, “Why are you still wearing your wedding band if you’re divorced?”
I don’t imagine the sudden stillness beside me or pause in his breathing.
“It’s stuck,” he finally responds.
God, he’s a horrible liar.
And I can’t even call him on it, because I don’t want to hear him talk about his ex-wife or anything else from earlier like he’s considering giving her a second chance. No, she blew it.
“Have you tried putting some liquid soap on it?” I ask. “Or oil?”
“Yep.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire!
“I’m sure it’ll come off when it’s ready,” I tell him.
“Yeah,” he agrees, removing his hand from underneath mine. I instantly miss touching him. “It’s starting to wiggle a little more.”
“You should try to get it off soon,” I tell him. “It would be a shame if you had to have someone cut it off.”
“I should,” Xavier agrees. “It’ll definitely have to come off before I start training.”
“Right,” I reply. “You could, ah, hurt your finger if you ram it into someone’s face or the punching bag.”
“That’s right,” he say. “I’ll work on it when we get back to your place.”
“Let me know if I can help,” I tell him on a sigh, not just referring to the ring but with helping him forget about the woman he wasted years of his life with. She never deserved someone as good as Xavier.
Until the wedding band is gone, I won’t tell him how I feel about him. Even if by some small chance he felt the same way, he’s not ready to move on yet. Sleeping with a bunch of women doesn’t mean he’s over Camilla.
Which makes me hate her even more.
Chapter Twelve
Xavier
“Hey, Coach. You busy?” I stick my head in Coach Briggs office at Havoc to ask.
“Never too busy for a Malone,” he jokes with a chuckle. “Come in and sit down. Tell me you’re here to make it official.”
Leaving his door open, I take a seat in the chair across from him.
“Well? Don’t leave me hanging? Spit it out.”
“I think I’m ready to do this,” I tell him.
“Hot damn!” Coach exclaims, getting to his feet and slapping his hands together. “I’ll start making the calls and let you know when I have something in writing.”
“Sounds good,” I tell him. “Let’s just keep it quiet until then. I’m waiting to tell my family once I have the details.”
“They’re going to agree that this is a good thing,” he says, as if he understands my hesitancy. “Until then, hit the gym. I can get you some time with Coach Cruz to work on your ground game. And I’m available anytime to go through some boxing drills. First, I’ll want to video you on a few conditioning exercises, see how far we’ll need to go and to show to the other agents.”
“I’m ready,” I tell him. “I may not be in fighting shape, but I’ve kept to a pretty strict diet and workout regimen over the years.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Coach says. “Deep down I think you always knew this day was coming. It was just a matter of time.”
“Maybe so,” I agree even though I didn’t admit to myself I wanted to fight until Cass pulled it out of me the other night.
Now if I could only pull the memory of us kissing from her mind to remind her how good it was in the hopes of convincing her to try
