Page 68 of Resisting Temptation (Men of Honor 3)
As soon as I enter through the doors the sound of a little girl’s laughter, and an over-dramatic male’s groan, echoes through the room.
“That was a good one, kid, I surrender. I’m out.”
I look over at the sparring ring to see Ruth Jean decked out in padded gear and Sawyer lying on the ground, it seems as if she’s the one who just put him there. Jaxson stands on one side of her, looking amused, while Cade stands on the other side looking proud. My heart does a little flip like always at my first glance of him.
“Oh no you don’t, you bully!” Ruth Jean shouts back, giving Sawyer a tough looking face. “It ain’t ovwer until I say it’s ovwer!” She runs and jumps at him.
Sawyer quickly covers his crotch with one hand while he catches her mid-air with the other. “Hey, easy, girl. What did I tell you about making sure to be careful of a particular spot?” he scolds with no heat as he holds her in the air above his head.
Ruth Jean peers down at him intently and makes a fist at him. “And Tade says no mewcy!”
Jaxson chuckles. “That’s right, Evans, so stop being a pus…wimp and man up.”
Sawyer glares over at him, “Why don’t we trade spots then, assho…” he stops, catching himself, “and you can risk your di… parts. I need to keep mine in working order so I can…”
“Okay, I’m here!” I interrupt with a laugh before Ruth Jean can hear any more of this conversation.
“Faif!” She squirms out of Sawyer’s arms and flips over the ropes of the ring before racing over to me in all her gear.
I catch her with a smile. “Hey, sweet girl. I’m so sorry I wasn’t at school waiting for you, I got stuck in traffic.”
“It’s otay. I was so happy Tade was dere.”
“I’ll bet you were.” Looking over, I watch Cade as he jumps down from the ring. My eyes travel down his powerful body as he makes his way over to us. I take in his black athletic pants that hang perfectly off his lean hips and his white muscle tank that showcases the beauty of dark ink that’s woven up his cut arms. Pieces of dark hair peek out from under his black beanie and I immediately get the overwhelming urge to slip my hands underneath and run my fingers through it. Lord, the man is seriously sexy.
His usual blank expression turns harder the closer he gets to us. Uh oh. Is he mad I asked him to pick her up? I put Ruth Jean down next to me and smile nervously. “Hi. Thanks again for…”
“What the hell happened to you?” he shouts, ripping my sunglasses off my face.
I quickly remember the black and blue shiner I’m sporting from Ryan the other day. “Oh, it’s nothing. It was just an accident.”
He grasps my chin and turns my face to get a full look at it. Rage twists his features. “This does not look like an accident. It looks like someone hit you.”
“Someone did,” Ruth Jean pipes in heatedly, “Twistiphwor got into a fight wif a mean boy and de boy hit Faif.”
“It was just an accident,” I rush to explain when Cade looks like he’s about to explode. “He was swinging for Christopher and hit me instead.”
This doesn’t seem to make him feel better. “And let me guess. You jumped in the middle to stop it.”
I stand up straighter at the disapproval in his tone. “Of course I did. I wasn’t going to stand by and let them beat each other to a pulp.”
He grinds his teeth and I realize this is going to get ugly fast if I don’t diffuse the situation. Reaching over, I grab his hand gently and try to ignore the tingles of awareness that shoot up my arm. “Really, Cade, I’m fine and Christopher feels awful about it, even though it wasn’t his fault.”
When he doesn’t respond, I take my glasses from him and put them back on. “Thank you again for picking her up. I was really panicked when I couldn’t get a hold of anyone.”
He visibly relaxes and thankfully lets me change the subject. “No problem. I told you if you ever needed anything you could call me.”
“De guys was showin’ me some stuff. Isn’t dat wight, big guy?” Ruth Jean says with a wink.
Cade puts his fist out for her and she knuckle bumps him. I smile as warmth explodes through my chest.
Things go quiet and I quickly realize I’m staring at him like an idiot. “Well, little miss,” I drag my attention to Ruth Jean, “I thought we would go get an ice cream and I’ll take you to the park for a bit before we head home. Christopher is out for a while with a friend.”
She claps excitedly then looks at Cade. “Awe you gonna tum too?”
I jump in quickly to save him from having to explain. “Cade has to work, but maybe another time, okay?”
Her face falls in disappointment. “Otay.”
I hear him clear his throat. “I can come for a bit.”
My gaze snaps to him in surprise. Ruth Jean squeals and launches her padded self at him. He catches her easily; not looking as uncomfortable as he normally does with her. What did I miss?
“Are you going to pay for it?” he asks her, pretending to be serious.
She shrugs. “Shoure, tan you wend me some money?”
I laugh. “I’ll lend you money, but first why don’t you take off all that gear. You can’t eat ice cream with your face covered like that.”
Cade puts her down and helps her out of the gear. Afterwards, she runs over to Sawyer and Jaxson. “See ya, guys. I’ll be back anoder time so you betta be weady fwor me.”
Jaxson gives her a fist bump, “See you later, kid.”
Sawyer bends down and picks her up by one leg. She shrieks with a giggle as he hangs her upside down. “Actually you better be ready for me, kid. Next time I’m not going to go so easy on you.”
