Now I probably won’t see her again or talk to her until tonight when we head to our former high school’s homecoming football game. I haven’t had a chance to ask if she’s expecting either of her fuck buddies to join us there too. God, I really hope not. I’m not sure I could sit there and watch another man’s hands running all over her like she’s his. Not that she’s mine either, but still. It’s rude to be so grabby in public.
There’s at least been one benefit to my current foul mood.
“Jesus, you hit harder than a Mack truck,” Coach Briggs says as I plow my fists into his red pads over and over again. “Whose head are you trying to take off?”
“No one,” I say through my puffs of breath, even though I’ve been alternating between picturing Mike’s smug face with Eddie’s big fucking melon. Cassidy willingly kisses them sober all the time apparently. But me? I’m the huge mistake she obviously regrets.
I regret nothing. Not the kiss or running off the asshole when he showed up and interrupted or deleting his texts from her new phone this morning while she was in the shower. Okay, so that probably makes me the asshole, but I don’t care. The man only wants one thing from Cass, and she deserves better than him and big ass Eddie.
“Then where is all this aggression coming from?” Coach asks. “I don’t remember you being so…volatile when you were a kid. You angry at the ex?”
“My ex, right,” I agree as I lower my arms to take a break. The man I should be picturing my fists slamming into is my former friend and fellow associate, the one who Camilla was screwing behind my back. And I did use him as a focus object those first few weeks when I was working out at the gym back in Seattle. But never did I take out as much aggression on him as I have here at Havoc.
“Well, whatever it is, don’t forget it,” he says. “At least not until after your fight.”
“Any leads yet?” I ask while wiping the sweat from my brow.
“Several, in fact,” he tells me as he lowers the pads. “Just waiting to get something in writing from all of them so I can give you your options.”
“You think I’m going to have more than one?” I ask since he said options, plural.
“Oh yeah. You’ll have your pick of opponents. We’ll watch some tapes and figure out who would be your best match and the best payout.”
“And who I can beat,” I add.
“Of course,” Coach says. “Although, I don’t think there’s many that could beat you after a few months of training. You’ve got your father’s strength, packing one hell of a punch.”
“Maybe so, but my dad didn’t fight men who weighed two-hundred and twenty-five pounds or more either.”
“That’s true,” he replies with a nod of his head. “You’re gonna have to be able to move fast to avoid getting knocked out.”
“No shit,” I snort. “Now, let’s go again,” I tell him as I bounce on the balls of my feet.
“If you say so,” he agrees as he lifts the pads in front of his face again.
Cassidy
“Are you about ready?” Xavier asks Friday night when he walks into my bedroom without even knocking. Thankfully, I was already dressed.
“Ah, yeah,” I reply while using the mirror on my closet door to put my small diamond earrings in. It takes me three tries to line them up thanks to the gorgeous man in khakis and a red polo taking up the majority of the reflection. The pants are fitted, showing off his muscular frame, and his big biceps bulge deliciously from underneath the short sleeves. “But I mean, if you’re in a hurry and want to go on, I can catch up with you.”
“Cass,” Xavier grumbles. “I’m not leaving without you.”
“Well, I didn’t know if you were getting tired of waiting or whatever.”
When I turn around from the mirror, he takes a few steps toward me while his dark eyes sweep down my sleeveless, red dress that stops just above my knees matched with a pair of black strappy heels. We may be going to a football game, but everyone we went to high school with and haven’t seen in years will be there judging, so I want to look as good as possible…and as least like the dork I was ten years ago.
“I’m not getting tired of waiting,” Xavier says as he casually shoves both hands into the front pockets of his pants, drawing my attention to the zipper area. “But I’m getting tired of you avoiding me.”
“What?” I ask as I force my eyes back up to his.
“You’ve been avoiding me since last night at the bar.”
Scoffing, I say, “No I haven’t,” while reaching up to smooth back my ponytail. “You had things to do today and so did I.”
“I could’ve gone with you to the store, and then you could’ve come with me to the gym.”
“And what exactly would I have to do at the gym but sit around and watch you work out?” I point out.
“What’s wrong with that?” Xavier asks with a sexy half-grin. “You went with me to Havoc the other day. I like having you there. You make me feel like I’m not alone in this silly plan of mine.”
“Fighting is not a silly plan. And I don’t have to physically be there to support
