Page 85 of Ethan's Sky

“All right. Me it is then. Let me grab the pads. You go on inside and get warmed up.”

There’s a mat outside the steps of the cage where I wipe my feet off before climbing inside. Circling around, I roll my neck and take a few swings at the air, then roll my shoulders. A few squat jumps and I’m ready to go.

I need this.

Kieran enters the octagon, and we go to work. No words at first other than shot calls. He knows not to ask me anything when I get like this. What I need most right now is to work it out physically then I can think with a level head again. It’s what we do. What we’ve always done.Usually.

“So, the way I hear it, you’ve got pussy on your mind. I think you’ve got your head up your own ass. Settle the bet for me, would you?” He circles me. My jaw drops. I’m pissed people are talking about shit they know nothing about. Kieran’s amused by my irritation.

“Which is it then? Are you envisioning your head between the legs of some hot little blonde’s pussy or are you so far up your own ass you can’t see what’s in front of you? Or perhaps you’re thinking about a fiery redhead I’ve heard so much about?”

Stunned by his words, I pause, dropping my hands. “How did you?” Realization hits. “Hawk.” With my attention on how Kieran knew my business, he takes advantage catching me with a right hook making me lose my footing, stumbling back a couple steps.

“The fuck?”

“Ah, head’s up your ass for sure.” He chuckles, then almost as quickly his smile fades, his face turning serious as he yells in mine, “Now, put your fucking hands up and guard yourself, Ethan. The fuck is wrong with you, son? There’s no pussy inside my cage. Pull your head out and let’s get to work!”

Pissed he caught me off guard, I lunge, taking a swing at him, missing as he slips left. “This red head, what’s her name? Scarlet? She must’ve been one hell of a night.” He teases. “Hawk says you’re ass over tits for the girl. This true?”

He’s goading me.I know it.I know better than to fall for it, yet I still do. Because I’m an idiot and I’m pissed.

“She’s no one important.”Not to him anyway.

“The way I hear, she rocked your world then ghosted ya. You’ve been storming around town with your dick in your hand and a bug up your ass. Sounds to me like she’s someone you care about.” I catch him with a right cross. He smiles, getting the reaction he was looking for. We exchange one strike after another, blow after blow. It doesn’t hurt since he’s wearing pads, but it still pisses me off every time he connects.

Focus! What the hell is wrong with me?

My mind is all over the damn place. I should be focusing on my next move, watching my opponent’s stance, predictinghisnext move. Instead, I’m thinking about two women, who in a matter of days have managed to completely turn me inside out.Why?

Scarlet let her guard down that night. When she agreed to a private dance with me when I know damn well, she doesn’t do it foranyoneelse. It meant something.Didn’t it?The way she melted into my touch. The sounds she made. There was something there between us. I felt it. I know she did too, but then she ran scared. I want to know what the fuck I did to upset her. To fix it. But…wait. Skyler told Cash about me and Scarlet. How the hell did she know?

Did Hawk tell her too?

Fucking Skyler. Being around her, I can’t explain what it’s doing to me. It’s like seeing a ghost. One who has haunted me for years and now suddenly she’s not a ghost at all, but right in front of me. I can’t decide what I want more, to throttle her or fuck her into the mattress.

Fucking hell.

Kieran yells at me, “Cover up! Guard your fucking head! You want to get your ass handed to you?”

I’m so lost in my own damn head I don’t see what he’s doing until it’s too late. Kieran has dropped the pads covering his hands and is diving for my legs. By the time I realize what’s happening, he’s already lifting me off my feet, taking us to the mat.

I land flat on my back. He takes the guard position. We lock our bodies around one another. I’m pushing my hips up, twisting until I flip putting him on my back. I roll again, pulling his hands from my neck. We grapple. Twisting, rolling, flipping around and around with one another. Sprawling around the cage.

He pins me, I slip out and turn him over reversing the move. We go on and on like this for I don’t know how long. He pins me, I tap, we reset and vice versa.

In between each pin he’s yelling, cursing, telling me what a stupid fucking prick I am for letting some piece of ass fuck up my future. Those last words hit a nerve.

It only takes a couple seconds before Kieran is pinned beneath me. I have him in a full mount. He covers his face, then manages to roll to his stomach, and I get him in a rear naked choke. He taps before I lock it in place. When I release him the twisted fucker, laughs.

“So, it is pussy you’re all fucked up over? All right. What are you going to do to fix it?”

“Not sure I know what you mean.” We sit, leaning against the cage. He hands me a water bottle, taking a long pull from his own. A towel slaps me in the face. Kieran grabs one for himself, wiping the sweat from his face.

“Well, is it the dancer or the pretty little blonde lass you ran out of here the other day?” He turns his body to face me, scrutinizing me with his glare.

“The dancer is just, a dancer. We don’t know each other, although…”

“What?”

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