Page 10 of Rush
He jabbed a finger at me. “I spent years beating the shit out of guys who tried to tease me with that shit, you know.”
“Enough,” Ash said with a frustrated sigh. “Get out of here, the both of you.” To himself, he muttered, “Clowns.”
Pushing through the gap in the mesh, I slipped out of the cage and snatched up my shirt and shoes.
In the change rooms, I threw my hand wraps into my locker and pulled out a towel. My face still stung from Cole’s punch, and I rubbed my jaw. Never thought I would see the day when a woman would split my focus during a fight again, even if it was during training.
There was this guy from one of the boys’ Catholic schools that had tried to feel Jade up at a party once. I dropped him, and she screamed at me to stop. When I hesitated, I got clocked by his mates for my trouble. Here she was doing the same thing, except I was a grown-ass man, who should know better, and she wasn’t even here.
Cole didn’t say anything as we hit the showers, but I could see the look in his eyes. The one I knew said a roasting was coming…just as soon as he picked the right moment. That usually meant when he had my undivided attention.
As I dressed, Cole emerged beside me in a waft of steam and dragged on his jeans.
“Where’s your head at?” he asked, shoving my shoulder. “You’re all over the place. Still pissed at getting knocked back for a fight?”
Cole and I had been mates for years. We started hanging out in our senior year of high school, two teenage delinquents both as bad as each other. My parents would’ve liked to blame my new friend for me barely graduating, but it would’ve been a lie. I was failing pretty damn well on my own. Short attention span, disinterest in anything other than fighting… I could’ve been describing Cole just as much as I’d been ticking off my own special qualities as an overexcited eighteen-year-old.
Neither of us was destined for University, and I couldn’t think of anything worse than being shoved into an apprenticeship laying bricks or fixing someone’s shitty pipes under their house. So a play for professional sports it was, though I didn’t escape the part-time shift work at the local factory canning baked beans until much later.
Now I was just a numbskull on the brink of breaking into the big time. Provided the AUFC could find me someone decent to fight.
“It’s frustrating,” I said with a scowl.
“At least you’re in line. I’ve still got work to do.” He rolled his eyes.
That was the difference between Cole and me. He was impatient as fuck, and me… I suppose I’d been lucky.
“But I don’t get it,” he went on. “You were all over the shop out there. That’s not like you. You got blue balls or somethin’? I’d look, but I don’t want to have the image of your crooked dick seared into my brain.”
I scratched my crotch and shook my head. “Nah.”
“Like shit.” He turned to rummage through his locker.
Sitting on the bench, I stared at the wall, my thoughts wandering yet again. Should I have waited around a bit longer yesterday? Should I have asked for her number?
“I ran into Jade yesterday,” I said absently.
“Ginger Jade?” Cole asked, slamming his locker closed. “No shit.”
“Yeah. I saw her down on Victoria Street.”An absolute mess.Thinking about what Hunter did to her, I felt like punching his face in. What a cocksucker.
“What’s she like all grown up? Still got your balls in a vice?”
I snorted. Seemed like she did, but I wasn’t about to tell Cole that. He would take the piss outta me for months. Endless entertainment.
“She’s some high-flying marketing exec in the city now,” I said, pulling on my boots.
“She single?” Cole raised his eyebrows suggestively. “You always wanted to tap that. Maybe it’s a sign.”
“Her engagement had just broken off,” I replied with a scowl. “I’m not interested in sloppy seconds. Especially not Ballinger’s.”
“Hunter Ballinger?” Cole snorted and rolled his eyes. “The pussy with a softball bat?”
“The one and the same.”
“Good for her. Marrying that twat? She dodged a douchebag bullet if you ask me.”
For once, I had to agree with him. Finding out her fiancé was cheating had to sting but better it happened now than after. I imagined he would’ve made her sign a prenup in his favor, which meant she would’ve been completely screwed when she inevitably discovered his extracurricularfucktivities.
