Page 82 of Pulse
I glanced over my shoulder at the sound of Ren’s voice and smiled. “He wants to play nice.”
“You trust him?” she asked as she came to stand in front of me, all half naked and beautiful in her shorts and crop.
“Not in so many words, but it’s nice to have an ally.” She picked up my hand wraps and gestured for my hand. “He’s gotta prove himself first.”
Standing, I held out my right hand and she began strapping me in, weaving the binding through my fingers.
“Ren,” I said, shifting from foot to foot, getting jittery.
“Yeah?”
“I can tell you shit, right?”
“Of course,” she replied, edging closer as she bound my wrist up tight.
I took a deep breath. “I’m worried.”
“About…?” she prodded.
“Getting back in there.”
Her brown eyes met mine and she smiled. “You know what they say about ducks and water and riding bikes and all that.”
“You never forget?”
“You never forget.”
She dropped my hand and gestured for my left and began strapping that one too. I flexed my fingers on my right and let out a small sigh. She was good at strapping.
“You’ve got this,” she said, fixing her attention on my hand. “You know your shit Maverick.”
I grunted. “You don’t mind me using the name?” It was her nickname for me, her way of showing affection. It hadn’t occurred to me she might be bothered about it.
Spitfire shook her head and fastened the end of the wrap. “No. I’m bummed I have to share it with everyone else, but I’ll get over it.”
I raised my right hand and combed my fingers through her ponytail before wrapping it around my hand and tugging her head back.
“Sorry.”
“It’s cool,” she breathed, her cheeks flushing.
I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers, my blood igniting as her tongue darted out and licked against mine.
“Maverick!” We pulled apart as a booming voice tore through the change rooms. “Five minute call.”
Ren sighed as I let her hair run through my fingers.
“Give ‘em hell,” she said and a grin started to spread across my face.
“You’ve got it.”
Without a second thought, I strode out into the main room, dragging Ren behind me, her hand wedged in mine. People around us began to notice and started cheering and clapping as I carved a path to the entrance of the cage. I scanned faces as I went, looking for threats, familiarity, I didn’t know which. The promise of a fight had me amped up and Ren had me hot in more ways than one.
It’d be a blood bath tonight and I hoped to fucking hell it’d stay in the cage.
Hammer hadn’t made an appearance since the other night and I was edgy. Maybe this was what he wanted. Maybe he was using fuckin’ mind games to get to me. Maybe it was all in my head. Suddenly I was glad that Hamish was around to keep an eye out for trouble.
He’d have my back and I’d have his. I needed someone to trust and I wanted it to be Hamish, but it was still too early to give that unconditionally.
