Page 71 of Knockout Queen

I stay in my seat and sip on my drink. The longer this draws out, the more out of place I feel. I’m just sitting here, drinking, watching people look at me. I act cool about it though, kicking back, pretending I’m having a good time by nodding my head to the house music with the hard bass.

Before long, Jax approaches the table. He’s handsome in his clubbing outfit, and judging by the looks he’s getting from females surrounding us, I’m not the only person who thinks so. He has that hint of danger, too, with the tattoos on his knuckles. He holds his hand out, and I stare at it. “Come on, Princess,” he says. “You don’t want to waste that dress, do you?”

Hesitantly, I put my hand in his. When I gaze to where they were dancing, Finn is gone. I look up at Jax curiously, but he only has the usual frown on his face that he wears around me. He edges his hand around my back and pulls me close enough, yet far enough away that one of the guys isn’t going to chop his dick off for touching me. Smart move, honestly. I move my face toward his ear. “You don’t want to get involved in this, Jax. Trust me.”

“I’m already involved,” he says. “Finn doesn’t know when to say no, and I go where Finn goes. Plus, I couldn’t stand to see you just sitting there all by yourself the whole night. It looks strange, and if you’re going for casual, this is casual. You better call off your boyfriends when they realize we danced though. I really don’t want to have to fight four dudes at once.”

I smirk. Jax is badass. Strong with a ton of power, but my money would be on my guys. Strength in numbers.

Not that it would ever get to that.

“I don’t want either of you involved,” I say instead. We’re basically just standing in a sea of people now. The writhing bodies next to us make us sway together, but that’s it.

He completely ignores me. “I’ve been meaning to tell you I don’t think it’s a good idea that you fight anymore.” My lips purse, but he just chuckles. “Every time you fight, something terrible happens. You got in an accident and accused of murder.” He looks at me pointedly. “Then, the venue you’re fighting at gets shot up and bombed. I think that’s some terrible luck.”

“The Heights is terrible luck,” I grumble.

“Don’t I know it,” he breathes.

Jax slices a guy a look who starts dancing behind me. The dude doesn’t stick around. Hell, neither would I, not with that glare. I meet Jax’s gaze when he looks back at me. I sigh. “I wonder how long I have to stay here.”

“They didn’t tell us much. Which is fine by me,” he tacks on. “The less we know the better.”

A-fucking-men. “So, where did you make Finn go?”

Jax smirks. “Why do you think I made him go somewhere?”

I drop my head to the side. “Seriously? He was right here, and now he’s not. I’m guessing since you decided to rescue me from my lonely, pity party of one, you didn’t want him anywhere near here...which...is actually really cool of you.”

Jax’s face turns sour. “If only Finn got that I’m trying to help.”

“He’s a good guy,” I say. “You both are.” The song changes after another minute, and Jax and I step away from one another. “Thanks for the dance.”

“I’ll be around,” he says. “If you decide you’re going to leave, just give me a signal or something, and I’ll be out right behind you.”

I give him a nod and slip back to my table. Except, when I get there, another body is sitting casually across from the seat I was occupying. I try not to start when I realize it’s Cole. I don’t think any of us thought he’d be out at the club tonight. “Hey,” I say, strutting back in my too high heels to sit across from him.

“Out by yourself?”

I shrug noncommittally. “Something like that.”

He leans in, gaze flickering with danger underneath. Maybe it’s the low lighting in here and the fact that I can see his dragon tattoo sticking out of his shirt. “Does my cousin know? Seems like something he wouldn’t want you doing.”

“Can’t a girl have a night off?” I say, edging the drinks that I’d been drinking to the end of the table. No way will I be drinking from them again. I’ve heard too many horror stories about roofies slipped into drinks.

“Who was the guy you were dancing with?”

My stomach tightens. He’s asking way too many questions. “A friend.”

Cole leans back in his chair and side-eyes me. “You better not be breaking my cousin’s heart.”

I look away before my face reveals anything. “So, how many of your guys are in here right now?” We’re in a neutral club, one we picked out because we didn’t want to go into a Crew-owned club because we figured that would be a place less likely to be frequented by Gregory or anyone else.

“A fair few.”

“Is that what your guys do when they’re not blowing up buildings?”

Cole’s lips press together. “It’s a dog eat dog world.”

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