More of Us ( A Love You More Rock Star Romance #3) - Laura Pavlov Page 0,41

pounced. His trainer called time and I moved to my feet and helped him up.

“Damn dude. You sure you don’t want to start fighting? You’ve got a knack for this,” Simon said before moving to get a drink of water.

“I’m sure,” I said, walking over to grab a bottle from Gio.

“Those were some good moves, brother,” my trainer said.

I looked over at Jade. She was studying me, and her gaze was intense.

“You okay?” I asked before wiping my face with a towel.

“Yeah. Just fighting the urge to jump in and be your backup,” she said, and Gio barked out a laugh.

“Please do not jump in there. He’s got this handled just fine.”

I smiled. I got it. I was the same way with her. No way in hell would I ever stand by and watch someone fight her.

“Two more rounds and we’re out of here, okay?”

“Yeah.” She licked her lips, and I leaned over the ropes and kissed her cheek. I wanted to do a lot more, but we weren’t there yet.

“Alright lover boy, let’s go,” Gio said.

The second round moved just like the first. We each got a takedown and wrestled around on the mat. The third round intensified, as we both tried out a few jabs and sidekicks. Simon had me in a chokehold until I broke free and I heard Gio arguing with Jade.

I scrambled back to my feet, and Simon shook his head. I chuckled and dove at him one last time and took him down. We wrestled around, going back and forth for the last few seconds. We were well matched, and he’d pushed me hard.

“Nice job, man. I couldn’t keep you down today, which is probably a good thing because I think your girl was about to jump in and go spider monkey on my ass,” Simon said, chugging some water and winking at Jade.

“Turns out he didn’t need backup,” she teased, and he fist bumped her.

“Damn. She’s a keeper, dude. Any girl who’s got your back like that,” he said.

It didn’t matter what Jade and I were right now. She always had my back, and I’d always have hers.

We said our goodbyes and walked out to the car. “You hungry?”

“Yeah, always,” she said, buckling herself up.

Jade and I were definitely making progress, and I knew she’d been all spun up last night when I said goodbye to her. I wasn’t going to see her for a few weeks, so I wanted to make sure I left her thinking about me after today. Dick would have full access to her while I was at back-to-back shows over the next few weeks.

“Let’s grab a pizza and go out to Oak Street Beach,” I said, knowing it was her favorite thing to do. Jade had brought me there when we first met, and it would forever be a special place for us.

“Okay. I haven’t been there since the last time we were there together,” she said, as she gazed out the window.

It was a gloomy day in Chicago. The sky was gray, and fall was around the corner.

“You don’t take Dick there?” I pressed, because I needed to know.

She turned to look at me and rolled her eyes. “No. I haven’t taken Richard there.”

“Interesting,” I said.

“You’re overthinking it. We just haven’t gone yet.”

“Or you don’t think much of him.”

She laughed but didn’t respond. We stopped to grab a pizza before we parked at the beach, pulled the blanket from my trunk, and made our way down to the water.

“You going to sing me a rendition?” I said, reminding her of the time she sang me Shining Star in this same spot. I knew I loved her that day, but I was too chickenshit to admit it back then.

“How about you sing me something new. You said you wrote me something.” Jade leaned back on her elbows and stretched out her legs.

“I thought you wrote something, too? You never showed me.”