Page 15 of Ignite
Ali coughed nervously, picked up the bottle, and started picking at the label again. Little pieces of paper fluttered into her lap, but she seemed oblivious to the mess she wasmaking.
“Why do you fight?” she asked out of nowhere. “I mean… When I saw you the other night, I was shocked. Aren’t you afraid of gettinghurt?”
I guess this place was confronting the first time anyone came here. You could describe it with all the adjectives in the dictionary, but seeing it was another thing entirely. I couldn’t bullshit her if she asked. There were guys who had to be wheeled out on a gurney and taken to the hospital. There’d been guys who’d died—not many—but they’d bit the dust. Everyone understood the risks of fighting here. There was no forcing anyone to get in thatcage.
“It’s cage fighting, Ali,” I said. “No one goes in there with the illusion they’re not going to get hit. No one isinvincible.”
“So why do you doit?”
It was my turn toshrug.
“You don’t have anything else you could bedoing?”
“No,” I said. “Idon’t.”
I glanced away, my cock softening. I wouldn’t need that cold shower afterall.
“Listen, I’ve got to go,” I said. “Yougood?”
She looked disappointed, but she nodded. “Yeah. I’mgood.”
Rising to my feet, I hesitated, beginning to feel bad I’d brushed her off so abruptly. I offered her a small smile. “You look really good, youknow.”
Edging around the coffee table, I strode off, leaving Alibehind.
Getting involved with her would be bad. Verybad.
7
Alison
It was more than amakeover.
With Liam’s introduction and Faye’s help, I now saw the beginning of a plan to drag myself out of the pile of shit my life had devolved into. It mightn’t have looked like much from the outside, but underneath the surface, it was a life-changingmetamorphosis.
As I walked down the street toward the office, I wondered about the handsome cage fighter and the beautiful bartender. Could I call them my friends? I wasn’t reallysure.
There’d been times I was desperate for a friendly face and some human connection. I’d thrown myself in with the wrong crowds and gotten walked all over. After a while, I stopped trying. My attempts always ended up the same way, so what was thepoint?
I looked at Liam, and I saw the dreaded word romance. Romance equaled rejection in my world, and I couldn’t help recalling the way he’d acted on Saturday night?. Was it the makeover? Or was he picking up on my unrequited attraction? I didn’t know. Either way, he’d hightailed it after the conversation had gotten a little too personal. I wasn’t surprised, but I couldn’t say I wasn’t disappointed. He was the first person who’d spoken to me like I mattered in a long time. That meant something tome. ?????
Standing outside the office, I pushed my thoughts aside and checked my blouse. The button was still done up, the silky material draping perfectly over my breasts. There was no gaping hole and definitely no safety pin needed. Raking my hands through my hair, I wiggled my toes in myboots.
I glanced at the time on my phone. Eight fifty. Usually, I would’ve already been sitting at my desk for half an hour doing work I wasn’t paid for, but today, I was rocking up just on time.Good.
Step one was complete, and now it was time to suck it up and go inside. I felt like puking into the pot plant by thedoor.
Swiping my security tag on the sensor, I pushed inside the office, my stomach rolling. My gut instinct was to put my head down and hurry to my desk, avoiding eye contact at all costs. It was the same thing I did every morning, but today, I was determined to lookup.
I’d just had the weekend of my life, and I wasn’t about to stop the momentum. I needed to gather every last shred and use it to my advantage. It wasn’t enough to merely look the part, I had to play it awell.
Black pencil skirt, knee-high boots with a killer heel, cream long-sleeved blouse with black polka dots, and black fitted blazer with a cute little bow that sat over the small of my back. Minimal makeup, my lips coated in a blushed red, eyes dusted with a smoky copper, and lashes inky black. I thought I’d done really well thismorning.
Turning onto the office floor, I held my head up high, striding through the open plan like I was on a catwalk. Silence. I dumped my bag onto my desk and turned on my computer. Silence. Walking back to the kitchenette, I took out the tin of instant coffee.Murmurings.
Glancing up at the water cooler, Susan, Fiona, and their minions were staring at me, their mouthsopen.
“Can I help you with something?” Iasked.
