Page 184 of His Virgin Romance Series

CHAPTER14

Abby

Red pinnedme to the ground and laughed. He obviously thought he had won the fight, but he was cocky and careless, and I took advantage of that. With one move, I had escaped from his hold, kicked him to the floor, and suddenly I was the one on top.

The men standing around the ring hooted and cheered at the unexpected turn of events, and I could feel Red struggling to right himself.

“No chance, kid,” I laughed at him. “I’ve got you this time.”

I counted to three, and then Bones called it. I was the victor, and the men went wild with cheers and applause. I heard Red curse furiously as I let him go, and he got to his feet, flushing with embarrassment. I glanced at him to make sure his pride wasn’t too bruised, and he gave me a tentative smile that was tinged with admiration.

“How the fuck did you manage that?” he demanded.

“First of all, I took advantage of the fact that you obviously underestimated me,” I said. “Second of all, I took advantage of your weaknesses.”

“I don’t have any weaknesses,” Red said immediately.

I laughed. “Oh, that’s right. Is that why you won the fight? Oh, wait…”

The men laughed, and Red cursed again. “Well, I’ll say one thing for Ryder… he trained you well.”

“Please! You should see her with Ryder’s blade,” Lonny said. “She’s deadly with that thing.”

I followed Red out of the ring as the men looked at me with new respect. I had to admit, it was a heady feeling, and it made me feel like if Walter walked into the training ring right now, I would be able to take him out easily. I knew that was simply my ego talking, but it was nice to imagine all the same.

“I thought that blade looked familiar,” I heard Red say. “Didn’t John used to use it?”

That caught my attention, and I listened more carefully as the men spoke.

“Yeah, it was John’s… it’s like a family heirloom or whatever.”

“Fuck, that can’t be true.”

“Nah… but it has been passed down from father to son at least two generations back,” Bones clarified. “It’s small, so he figured it would be easy for Abby to use.”

“Yeah, that and he wants to get in her pants,” Red sniggered.

I came a little closer, and Red caught sight of me. “Oh… didn’t see you, Abby.”

“Where did you think I went, Red?” I smirked at him.

“Dipshit,” Lonny said, smacking him in the back of the head. “Don’t pay attention to him, Abby.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I never pay attention to Red.”

The men laughed, and I took a sip of water, but my mind was elsewhere. Was it true that Ryder had given me his father’s blade? That was a pretty significant gesture… right? But he did have a complicated relationship with his father, so maybe it wasn’t as sentimental a gesture as I was interpreting it to be.

“Are you staying the night today?” Red asked, looking over at the other boys.

“We’re going riding tonight,” Lonny told him.

“Hey, nobody told me,” Red complained.

“Yeah… and most people take that as a hint.”

“Fuck you!” Red said.

I laughed and left the boys to their antics. I went upstairs and had a quick shower in my tiny little bathroom. I put on sweats and collapsed onto my bed. My body was tired, but my mind was wired from the workout. I was supposed to have training with Ryder this morning, but when I had walked into the training arena, he was nowhere to be found. Apparently, he had sent word that he had errands to run and he had told some of the other guys to train with me. I had to admit; I had been a little disappointed. I didn’t mind training with the other guys, but it wasn’t the same as it was with Ryder. And lately, the two of us had been getting along a lot better.

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