Page 6 of Ignite
The water cooler bitches were still making my life hell, management was still overlooking me, my inbox kept filling up with twice as much work as everyone else’s, and I was still alone. There was nothing more I wanted than to pick up my computer and hurl it across the room, declare to the entire office that I quit, and leave in a whirlwind, delivering a slap right on Susan’s sour face on the wayout.
That same night, I went back to TheUnderground.
Maybe I wasn’t very bright. Maybe I wanted to test myself. Or maybe I was infatuated with the mysterious Blade, who’d kissed me like no man had ever kissed me in my life. Whoknew?
I wasn’t a complete idiot. I didn’t know the guy, he didn’t know me, and there was no such thing as love at first sight. Especially not for me. But he’d saved me from my own stupidity, so I guess that was why I felt drawn tohim.
He was fighting again tonight. I sat in the bleachers, a ticket stub from another bet in my pocket, and waited patiently for the fight tostart.
This time, I caught the end of another, two different men punching the shit out of each other until one dropped. It went on for a long time, the blood flowing, and their fists smashing. A few times, they locked together and had to be broken apart. Then they wrestled on the ground, desperate to get the upperhand.
I didn’t know much about fighting, but it looked like MMA to me. A mixture of different moves from all kinds of disciplines. An anything goes kind ofsport.
This time, when the fight was done, one man was literally dragged from the cage. I watched with raised eyebrows, wondering if he was okay. I was almost expecting a thick line of blood to stain the floor in his wake, but the ground was clear, and they disappeared off to the side. No one seemed surprised by it atall.
There was a short break before the next fight began. This time, Blade was fighting a guy named Pickaxe, who turned out to be a much smaller guy. A little weedy looking, but I supposed it would make him fast on hisfeet.
When Blade walked into the cage, prowling like a hungry lion, the entire warehouse shook as the crowd roared. I was beginning to see how much of a favorite he was in this place by the way people reacted. When he wasn’t saving stupid women like me from guys like Mountain, it seemed he was blitzing the cage, winning Championship points like no one’sbusiness.
Blade circled the cage, running his fingers along the chain link, touching anyone who came up and offered their appreciation. When he came around to the side I was sitting on, his gaze raked thebleachers.
His gaze met mine through the sea of faces, and recognition flooded his features. All I could do was shrug, and he narrowed his eyes before turning to face hisopponent.
Such ananticlimax.
The fighters toed their lines, and the bellrang.
Dancing around one another, they jabbed a few times, testing defenses. There were a few cries of “Get on with it,” and Blade seemed to be just as frustrated. The other guy was playing it toosafe.
Blade charged, his fist sailing past Pickaxe’s defense, and his wrapped knuckles slammed into the guy’s face, snapping his head to the side. A zap of electricity coursed through my veins as I watched, and I rose to my feet, edging out into the aisle so I could seebetter.
Before Pickaxe could recover, Blade struck again, bringing his knee up high and striking the other fighter in thestomach.
Pickaxe fell to the ground, and Blade followed, ramming his fist into the guy’s temple. His head cracked against the concrete, and I winced, my stomach rolling. That had to hurt likehell.
Blade pulled his hand back and paused, allowing a second between blows for the guy to tap, which he did. His palm slapped against the ground, and the fight wascalled.
The referee grabbed Blade’s hand and lifted it high, the crowd calling his name and stamping their feet. Like he’d decided the crowd had gotten their fill of theatrics, he wrenched his arm free and strode from the cage, the door opening just in time to let himpass.
The move was so abrupt I began to wonder if he liked fighting here at all. Getting hit like that had to do some damage, so why was he riskinghimself?.
Sitting on the bleachers, I let my mind wander as the crowd moved around me, a hundred different scenarios presenting themselves. It could be anything at all. The man was a stranger even though he’d shoved his tongue down mythroat.
I didn’t expect Blade to seek me out. Not really, but when I saw him climbing the bleachers, his eyes on me, I froze, completely snapped out of my daydream. I wasn’t used to the attention, and I felt myself shying away, my lips tingling. Last night, he’d just walked up to me, wrapped my hair around his hand, and pulled me in. Just like that. All alpha male. I was starting to understand the attraction the water cooler bitches were gossipingabout.
“Either you’ve got a death wish or I misjudged you,” Blade said, sitting beside me. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees, his gaze raking over thecrowd.
“You doubled my money again,” I said hastily, flashing my ticketstub.
“Have you got a gambling problem now?” His voice had a rasp to it that made metingle.
“No, but I can afford steak this week rather than chickendrumsticks.”
He glanced at me, his eyebrow raising. Just one. The other stayed where itwas.
I shrugged, pocketing the ticket. “When you’re as little as me, you take any win you canget.”
He straightened up. “You’re not solittle.”
