Page 23 of Arm Candy Warrior

I roll my eyes into the back of my head. “I will if everyone stops using that name.”

“I like it,” Mag says, shrugging.

I glare at the back of his copper head. The trainers shake hands with Magnum, Brawler, and I. “Jax,” by the way, the first trainer says. He’s the more serious one. Cropped, jet black hair glistens with sweat. He’s a few inches shorter than the other trainer, but no less fierce. Tattoos adorn each knuckle.

“Kyla,” I tell him.

He nods, and it’s possible I actually have a shot of him calling me Kyla instead of Princess. Like a mutual respect kind of thing. I like him instantly.

The other trainer, Finn, I’m not so sure I have a shot. He’s more playful, and even though they’re brothers, the two trainers couldn’t be more opposite. Finn has lighter hair, pulled back into a short ponytail. He has some height on his brother, and a bit more weight to him too. They’re both good looking. Obviously. I mean, I don’t need to explain how hot I think fighters are anymore, do I? I have a type. Maybe Oscar, the star quarterback, or Johnny, the gang leader’s son, don’t play into that type, but that’s okay. I’m an equal opportunity hottie lover.

Magnum takes over. I just stare while he explains to Finn and Jax that I’ll be fighting in the underground fights and that I need a place to train.

“Well, officially,” Finn says. “We don’t condone underground fighting.” A giant grin splits his face. “But unofficially, we’re all for it.”

Jax gives him a look. Yep, he’s definitely the more serious brother. He doesn’t look like he’s quite so sure about this. He opens his mouth, and I’m almost positive he’s about to tell me to get lost when he says, “Tell me you have something more appropriate to train in.”

He stares me up and down, looking at my clothes with distaste, and I grin. “Trust me, I wouldn’t wear these clothes if I didn’t have to.” He gives me a strange look, but I don’t bother explaining. The story is just way too involved. “You got a shop in here?”

A smile swallows Finn’s face. “Did someone just ask about our shop?” He raises his eyebrows at his brother in quick succession. “Someone’s going to eat those words about selling attire being a gigantic waste of money.”

Jax blows out a breath, and I try to contain a smile. Brothers are fun.

“Right this way,” Finn says, hiking his thumb over his shoulder. He brings us to the corner of the gym. There’s mostly guys’ stuff, but there are a few sports bras, and I honestly couldn’t care less if I wear guy’s sweats or women’s. I’ll just have to get a smaller size in the men’s cut.

Magnum reaches into his back pocket and takes out a black wallet. Of course. The color is unsurprising. He opens it and extracts a credit card. “You’re not paying for it,” I say, placing my hand over his to stop him.

Magnum turns to look at me and then points to the name on the card. Rocket Enterprises. Ah, well, okay. I guess that’s acceptable. “I’ve been instructed to make sure you have everything you want.” He hands the card over to Finn. “Put the training fees on there as well.”

Finn looks positively giddy as I grab clothes from the racks. “I’ll try these on.”

“Whatever you want, Princess.”

I scowl at him, which only makes him more light-hearted. What is with guys loving to piss girls off? It makes me want to punch something.

I walk by Brawler, and underneath all the clothes I’ve just piled on, he slips the small, nondescript phone into my palm before I head to the changing rooms. Before I even start to change, I quickly scroll through the texts on my phone. As usual, they start out casual and then turn more frantic when I don’t answer. I don’t even bother checking any of the voicemails she’s left other than the last one. “I need you to call me. Okay. Bye.”

She’s pissed. Rightfully so. It’s been too long since I’ve checked in.

I dial her number, counting the rings and hoping she’ll pick up instead of leaving a voicemail. If I have to leave a voicemail, I’ll just have to call her again tomorrow, so she can grill me about what I’m doing and why I can’t return her calls right away. “Hello?” she says, breathless.

“Hey,” I say, tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth.

The phone crackles for a moment because of the heavy sigh she releases right into the speaker. “You’re okay.”

“Yeah,” I tell her. “I’m okay.”

“Do you remember when I told you I was okay with you going to high school somewhere else that I also said one of the stipulations was that you checked in with us regularly? That hasn’t changed.” She groans. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you do this.”

“I’m okay,” I say. “Really. I just got caught up doing things, and the phone was…not working, so I couldn’t call you back on it.” Well, that sounded lame as fuck.

“I’m worried about you,” she says, her voice breaking. “I think you should come back.”

“I—I can’t,” I say. “Everything’s fine here, really. You know I can take care of myself.”

“I just…” She breathes out. “I think Anna would’ve hated that I let you do this. I—”

“It’s one year,” I tell her. It’s the same exact reasoning I used on her to get her to agree to this in the first place. “I’ll be off to college next year anyway, so it’s fine.”

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