Page 46 of Scarlett and the Kiss Thief

Oh my God.

The bell dinged and Jacob lifted his arms up into the air.

“Miller! Miller! Miller!” Everyone started chanting. I just watched in horror as the blood on his cheek dribbled down his chin, landing on his chest.

Jacob.

Some guys were already helping O’Reilly to his feet. He seemed okay. Not that I really cared. He’d been taking such cheap shots.

Jacob wiped his face off with a towel and hopped off the side of the ring. He shook O’Reilly’s hand.

“See,” Sophie said. “He’s fine.”

“He’s not fine! Do you not see his face?! He’s bleeding.”

“He really seems okay to me,” Sophie said and pointed to him running up the stands toward us. Jacob had a huge smile on his face as he scooted past the few people in his way.

Sophie slid to the side so he could sit between us.

“Awesome match,” Sophie said.

“Thanks.” He ran his fingers through his hair as he turned to me.

I knew he was smiling. But I was still worried. “Jacob, are you okay? You got hit really hard…”

“Did you not see the other guy?” he said with a laugh.

“Jacob, it’s not funny.” I lightly touched beneath this cut. “This gash looks pretty deep. Should we go to the emergency room?”

His eyes searched mine. “I’m okay, Scarlett.”

“Are you sure? What if you need stitches?”

“Stitches?” He laughed. “It’s barely a cut.”

I think he’d believe me if he looked in the mirror. I grabbed the towel that was draped across his shoulders and blotted the cut.

He winced.

“See. It’s worse than you realize. I really think we need to at least get this cleaned off…”

“Scarlett, I’m fine. Really.” He grabbed my hand, lowering it and the towel from his face. And he didn’t let go.

“You swear?”

His fingers tightened around mine. “I swear.”

I took a deep breath. Somehow him holding my hand had calmed me down. I looked down at our hands, but I was a little distracted by the fact that he was still wearing just boxers. And no shirt. I stared at his six-pack.Stop staring at his abs!“Okay. But if you’d let me clean the cut I’d feel a lot better.”

He smiled at me. “Trying to get me all alone, Scar?”

I laughed. “You wish.”

“I mean...” He lightly nudged me with his shoulder. “Yeah…I do.”

He wanted to be alone with me? It felt like my heart was beating in my throat. I smiled up at him. This felt like the perfect time to lean in and kiss him. No, it wasn’t how I really expected my first kiss to go. With his face bloody and him wearing barely any clothes. But now I couldn’t picture it any other way.

I almost leaned forward, but then I remembered one tiny issue. Operation Too Hot to Handle. I couldn’t kiss him yet. Not until I came clean. I never wanted him to think I only kissed him to make Axel jealous. “Do you think maybe we could go somewhere to talk in private? I need to tell you something.”

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