Page 108 of Keep Your Guard Up
“Ah, I wouldn’t worry about Al. He’s totally team Chari,” JJ stated, shrugging his shoulders and downing the rest of his Mountain Dew.
“Chari?”
“Yeah. Chari. As in Chance and Mari.”
I stared at the person in front of me that I, myself, had labelled as my best friend. “The fact that things like that don’t weird me out anymore kind of concerns me,” I replied.
JJ smirked and opened his mouth to speak when I heard her.
“Let me in! I told you—I’m the owner of the goddamn gym Riordan trains at!”
I bolted to the door and swung it open, narrowly missing JJ’s face from how close behind he was.
“HEY!” I bellowed.
The three hefty security guards stopped and looked to me.
If I wasn’t so occupied by the fact that she was currently being restrained, I probably would have laughed at how it took three grown men to keep her still in the first place. “You heard her. She’s with me.”
They glanced down at her before turning back to me.
“Get yourfuckinghandsoff of her!” It was like the whole world around me had gone radio silent. I tunnelled in on the hands that were still wrapped around Sunny’s wrist and waist. The second my foot hit the ground, they dropped her roughly onto her feet.
Pricks.
“You made it.”
I heard JJ slip inside behind me.
JJ, I owe you one, mate.
“I’m sorry I got caught up after weigh-ins and then the meet and greet, and then I lost my hotel room key and then I get this call from Dad’s facility saying he’d made a jailbreak trying to come and see you fight and so I had to hustle for a last-minute ticket for him and drive out to go and fucking get the trickster himself and then I get here and they said there was already a ‘Marilyn’ inside and I tried to reason with them but those assholes couldn’t believe that two people could have the same fucking name and I—”
I cut her off and pulled her into my chest. Her gorgeous red dress was flush against me. I was probably getting sweat on it, but I didn’t care.
She was here.
My home is here.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I pulled away, the gold on her eyelids shimmering under the low light. The shiny, golden colours on her face highlighted the honey brown her eyes were today.
She is happy.
And I was beyond whipped over this girl.
“Can you do me a favour?” I asked. “Stay with Hogs and JJ tonight, okay?”
She looked at me with that fire crackle in her eyes, like she was readying to push.
“No problem,” she replied.
~
“Better!” Al yelled. “Fuck yes, Chancey boy! Much better!”
I bumped the pad to signal a break.
