Page 65 of Jax

Psycho glares at me as he walks toward his guys on the other side of the cage. Jax kneels before us, taking my attention away from the sick bastard to my avenging angel. His muscles ripple as sweat drips down his forehead and over his chiseled features before rolling off his stern jaw. He beckons me closer, and I lean toward the cage. He sticks his thumb through the wires and wipes my cheeks. “He’s not going to make you cry again, baby, I promise.”

“I’m just happy,” I tell him honestly. It’s so good to see Psycho get taken down a peg or two. So damn good. I’d love to be the one doing it myself and that will happen as soon as the FBI comes but I also know my drawbacks. There’s no way I could go toe-to-toe with Psycho in a fight so I’m lucky enough to have someone want to do it for me. I peek over Jax’s shoulder and watch Psycho’s followers narrowing their gazes at us. “Hey, be careful,” I tell Jax. “He won’t want to be seen as weak in front of everyone. Plus, he really wants the damn gym and bar. He’ll do anything,” I warn.

“No faith,” he taunts, grinning.

“I’m trying,” I tell him. That’s one thing that’s failed me my entire life. It’s like his knuckle tattoo. When you hope less, you don’t feel the fall as heartily as you do if you’re so filled to the brim with faith. The fall after hope is devastating.

“Hey,” he says, his gaze following mine. “I was wrong, you know? Hope is good. I have so much hope about your future right now. All we have to do is get through today and then not to sound cheesy as fuck, but the sky is the limit.”

“That did sound pretty cheesy,” Finn snarks.

“Shh,” Leenie shushes him. “They’re having a moment.”

I grimace. “Guess you’re going to have to get that tattoo removed.”

He shakes his head. “Nah. Tattoos are just reminders of who and what we were at a certain point in time. It’s like telling the memory of our lives, and when I look at this now, I think about how glad I am that I was fucking wrong about you.”

I tangle my fingers with the few he can fit through the cage. “Kick his ass, Jax. Make him feel how he made me feel.”

“My pleasure.”

Jax stands and faces the other side of the ring. He shifts his weight from foot to foot, clapping his hands together like he’s a gladiator from Roman times about to head into the Coliseum. When the bell rings, Psycho turns as well. I scan him from head to toe because I don’t trust one hair on his head. He won’t play fair. I just don’t know how yet.

Psycho comes into the fight much smarter this time. He throws short punches to test his reach. He has long, dangly arms so he can reach Jax before Jax can reach him. He gets in a few good punches as Jax covers up but then Jax explodes like a bull coming out of the chute. He grabs Psycho’s hair, holds him there while he rains punches down on him. Psycho manages to wiggle out of his grip and then throw himself on his back. Jax backs away. “Come on, get up.”

“Too scared to face me on the ground?” Psycho taunts.

I roll my eyes so hard I’m afraid they might fall into the back of my head. Jax just grins though. “Not of a pussy who’s afraid to face me on his feet. Get up and let’s go. I’m not finished with you yet.” Psycho stays on the ground while Jax gets angrier and angrier. His hulking, sweaty body turns crimson as his temper rises. “Get the fuck up!”

Psycho places his hands behind his head. “I’m good down here.”

I move my gaze to Psycho’s group, watching them. When I find Lyla, I nod at her again. When all this shit goes down, I’ll find her right away and tell her how to get out of here unnoticed. Or I’ll see if she wants to stay and face the music with me. Truth be told, she isn’t in as deep as I am.

Next, I inspect Tiron. His gaze is shuddered but I track it anyway. For some reason, he seems to be watching Psycho’s feet. As I turn my attention back toward the ring, Jax lunges at him, roaring. With only a slight movement of Psycho’s ankle, the overhead light glints off something. A blade. “Stop!” I shout.

It’s too late. Jax is already committed. With a quick swipe of his feet, Psycho slices the blade through Jax’s midsection. It isn’t a full-on plunge as Jax parries the blade affixed to Psycho’s toes away but it’s enough to make Jax hiss.

Jax levels his arm over Psycho’s throat. “You’re a cheat,” he growls. “A rapist. An abuser. You’re fucking scum.”

Jax’s blood drips onto Psycho and the light blue floor below the both of them. Psycho thrashes. “I do what I have to.”

“This is who you want to follow?” Jax bellows, staring at Psycho’s side while his opponent gasps for breath. “Someone who only cares about himself? Ask yourself when the last time he actually did something for you was? Or did he always ask something of you?”

I catch Lyla’s gaze again, my heart racing. If Jax is still talking, I guess I shouldn’t be all that worried about his current wound. I motion for her to come stand next to us. She looks at the group and then at Psycho before shaking her head quickly. Widening my eyes at her, I motion for her again. She shifts her feet one way but then Psycho’s girl grabs her hand, keeping her firmly in place.

“Fuck,” I whisper under my breath.

“That’s the girl?” Leenie asks.

I nod, trying not to make my movements noticeable by those on the other side of the cage. I don’t need them thinking that something is up.

Jax crying out makes me spin my head back toward the fight. Psycho’s feet, along with the blade, is on Jax’s thigh. He lets up, allowing Psycho room to get away with his feet thrashing. Jax manages to block most of his kicks but he gets scratches and scrapes on his arms in the process.

Luckily, the bell rings but when Psycho turns his back to move to the other side of the cage, Jax runs after him. He grabs the back of his neck and forces his head into the metal wire. He holds it there with his left hand and then starts punching him again and again, keeping all of his weight on his right foot while blood pours from his left thigh.

Psycho’s side starts yelling, throwing accusations at Jax that he doesn’t hear or doesn’t care about. Psycho was the first to bring a knife to a fist fight so all bets are off now. Jax kicks Psycho’s legs out, and the fucker falls to his knees.

Jax doesn’t stop there. He lifts his leg up and stomp kicks him right in the face. Psycho crumbles to the mat, and Jax backs away slowly, limping.

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