Page 57 of Hide From Me

I looked up, holding my breath, and saw the other guy’s eye was swollen and bleeding. A second later, they were heading to their sides of the ring and a girl pranced around, stating it was the next round.

“See, Cas is sort of a badass,” Maddie said.

I didn’t answer her.

“You and him have a thing going?”

I snapped my head up at that.

“No, why would you say that?”

She smirked.

“Because he hasn’t stopped watching you. If I had to guess, he is fighting that guy to prove a point right now. He could have ended it already. This fight brought in a lot of money, but I’ve never seen him fight quite like he is tonight.”

I shrugged.

“No. We don’t have a thing. He’s just an old friend.”

Maddie didn’t seem to buy it, but she also didn’t push because the announcer said something over the speakers and the fight was back. I’d never seen anything like this and actually I found it satisfying to watch Cas’s hits land on their target,even though the guy hadn’t exactly been rude or anything a few moments ago. It was like watching a machine. Those hands had been on me hours ago and the things they could do to me, and now?

He took away the numb.

I shuddered as the guy went down on one knee and everyone was watching to see if he was going down. In those seconds, Cas looked over, and although the crowd might think he was putting on a show for them, it was for me. Maybe it was a warning? Maybe it was a promise.

The dangerous part was not knowing which one it was.

TWENTY-TWO

cas

Anger burnedits way through me like a river of lava. She wouldn’t look up here. I wanted her to watch what she did to me as I nearly murdered this piece of shit.

I wanted her to watch me destroy this man. I would always protect her, even when she didn’t know she needed protecting.

I would keep this fight going to punish this prick until she watched me. She didn’t know that though. The crowd was loving every fucking kick, every punch, every strike, every grapple. They were hungry for violence. The Ravens weren’t taking this fight well though. I didn’t have to look over to where I knew they were mostly all seated. Crews stuck together. Too much risk, even here, to sit alone.

I smirked as their champion lost steam and fell to his knee. He had landed some decent hits, but I was fueled by rage and the need to punish her for making me crazy.

I would give him his moment to breathe, and as I looked to where I knew she was, finally, her eyes met mine. I knew she saw the true me in that moment though. I could see from here the darkening of her eyes. There was my little blossom’s dark side.

Good. Because she would need that to survive, and that meant she would need to be anyone but who she used to be.

I took the next hit by surprise. It was fine. I countered, my fist hitting him hard, and he went out like a light. His body bounced as it hit the bloody mat. The ref counted down. He lifted my arm as the champion, and all the while, I watched her. She was challenging me. The knowledge that she might be seeing something other than some little dream from a long ago time. I wanted to know what she would do with this knowledge.

I hadn’t noticed when the little ring bunny walked over to me, ready to reward me with more than just a pile of cash. My cock twitched as I watched my blossom narrow her eyes. She hadn’t missed the girl trying to get my attention.

I stepped outside of the girl’s reach. I could hear her whine as I moved to the edge of the low-budget ring and quirked my finger at Rylee. I wanted her to come to me. She would already have a target on her, might as well speed up whatever was supposed to happen now that I had her and wasn’t planning to let her go.

She shook her head. I nodded my head in a silent threat. She still wouldn’t come, so I did what any insane fucker would do. I hopped off the mats and headed straight for her. Hands reached for me, papers with phone numbers, money. It was all thrust at my sweat-slicked torso, but I didn’t notice anything but her.

I stopped when I reached her aisle seat. Convenient now, even if it had led to the guy’s beating.

I raised my hand and placed it around her throat, sneezing just tight enough she couldn’t get away. I pulled her closer, and she didn’t fight me. I held her right there and adjusted my grip around the back of her neck. The crowd was louder, and I couldn’t hear what the fucking douche on the stage was saying, but I didn’t fucking care.

“I’m owed a prize, and I’ve come to collect.”

She licked her lips, but she didn’t look like she was about to willingly do anything.

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