Page 60 of Chasing You

He throws a light punch to my shoulder with a laugh. “Nah, I’ve got my sights set elsewhere.”

All of me wants to ask where, or more like who, but I don’t. Instead, my eyes fix on the small woman walking towards us. “Leo, hey.”

“CiaoLuna, this is Miles, the guy I was telling you about.”

“Right,” she nods, her short hair falling in front of her eyes. “Nice to meet you, Miles.” She flicks it out of her way before shaking my hand.

“Hi.”

“You guys want to meet Boulder, right?” Leo and I exchange a look that must look like a yes to her because she yells across the gym in Italian, and not a second later, a hulk of a man is striding across the gym towards us.

His head is shaved, and he’s got muscles the size of an entire continent, making it look like it’s hard for him to simply get over here.

Leo and I exchange a glance, and the look in his eyes tells me he’s never met this giant before either.

“I’m Boulder,” he says as a way of greeting.Very fitting.

Leo puts his hand out in a gesture. “Hey Boulder, I’m Pebble.” I can’t contain the snort that escapes me as Boulder looks down at Leo’s outstretched hand and swallows it up with his own enormous one in a handshake. “We heard you’re holding a tournament this weekend.”

“You heard right.”

I speak up, interrupting the two of them who are still locked in an awkwardly long handshake. “I was wondering if you’ve got space for one more.”

“I’ve got space,” is all he says. “You got a way to get to the city by tomorrow?” I just nod, I’ve got my truck. “Then you’re in.” He finally lets go of Leo’s hand.

That was oddly easy. He’s not even going to ask anything about my skill level? He’s just going to throw me in?

“Will he be fighting you?” Leo asks, attempting to shake his hand out subtly.

“Well, that depends on if he makes it past the first round,Pebble.”

Leo’s eyes narrow as he looks Boulder up and down,surveying him and his huge muscles. He gives me one sideways glance before saying, “We’re in.”

“We?” I ask, as Boulder gives a terse nod before walking away.

“Well, you’re gonna need a cornerman.”

chapter twenty-five

MILES

PRESENT

Sweat dripsdown my forehead as Leo squirts water from my bottle into my open mouth. “Dude, I know you said you could fight, but I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t think you’d get this far.”

That pulls an exhausted laugh from me. “Thanks for your vote of confidence.”

“Well fuck, you’ve got it now. The crowd is loving you.”

I’ve barely left the ring since my first fight this morning. I’ve fought in six matches and won every single one. The guy in the tight purple booty shorts gave me a good run for my money in the last round, giving me a nice dark bruise on my left eyebrow that I know I’ll sport for at least a couple of weeks. But in the end, his energy wore out and he started getting sloppy.

Leo is right, the crowd is backing me all the way. Cash is being passed around the room, whether the betting is legal, I’m not sure, but I’ve seen some damn happy faces when I won my last two matches paired with hands full of money.

My sister appears next to Leo. “Jesus Christ, Miles. You’re scaring the shit out of me!”

I frown. “I’m winning.”

“He’s winning,” Leo echoes, equal confusion marring his features.

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