to me, his eyes on the screen. “Damn, can you believe he made it?”
“Yes. Absolutely. He wouldn’t give up until he did.”
“I don’t know about that,” he mumbles. When I look over at him, he pulls his eyes from the screen, and I see sadness in them. “He would’ve given it up for you.”
I hurry and look away before Ryder can read me. “No, he wouldn’t have. He’s smarter than that. And besides, I wouldn’t let him.”
The fight commentators go through Killian’s and Hugo’s stats where we learn that they’re nearly perfectly matched in height and weight, but that Hugo has a little longer reach on Kill.
Killian’s expression is cold, and I recognize the look of him being in the zone. Hugo flaps his arms to rile up the crowd, but none of it seems to faze Kill.
“Fuck, you guys beat me to it.” Jonah drops down on a chair close to us, leaning in over his knees to study the television. “Need a little privacy to watch my boy’s first fight. Loud as hell out there and—”
“Shhh!”
Jonah grins at me, popping both dimples. “Guess I’m not the only one.”
“Dammit, you assholes.” Blake drops into a seat opposite Jonah. “Didn’t think anyone would be in here.” He squints at the television. “Killer looks fucking lethal. Hope they have an EMT close by. Something tells me Webb’s gonna need—”
“Oh my God, shhhhhhh!”
Blake’s eyes widen at my outburst and Jonah simply chuckles.
The announcer does his spiel, but I’m deaf to most of what he says because I’m stuck on Killian. He’s shaking his arms out, rolling his head, and staring at Hugo as if he could knock him out with mind power alone.
The ref directs them together and gives them the “fight fair” speech. Killian lifts his fists to touch knuckles, but Hugo tells him to fuck off, which I can see by reading his lips and his pretty obvious hand gesture.
A slow evil grin spreads across Killian’s lips, flashing his black mouth guard, and my heart pounds in my chest, and heat pools between my legs.
He’s deadly and powerful and… I miss him.
With a swipe of the ref’s arm, the fight is on.
“Get him, Killer!” Jonah’s nearly out of his seat, glued to the screen.
Killian remains calm while he and his opponent circle each other. Hugo taunts Kill. I can’t tell what he’s saying, but his lips are flapping. Killian remains focused.
Hugo swings. Kill dodges the hit and goes back to circling.
“He’s waiting for his in,” Blake says.
“Yeah, he could take that clown down, but he’s waiting for an opening to jab.”
Ryder and I share a quick glance, not fully understanding the conversation between Blake and Jonah.
Hugo swings and connects with Killian’s face, but he bounces right back like he’d never been hit.
“Come on, Killer! Take the shot!” Blake’s standing up now.
I chew my lip, hoping Killian isn’t getting stage fright. “Come on, Kill. Hit him,” I whisper.
They circle each other, Hugo’s taunts getting wilder.
“He’s gonna drop his hands,” Jonah says.
I don’t know who he’s talking about, but tension between Jonah and Blake strings tight as they hover close to the television.
“That’s it.” Blake says. “He’s waiting for him to—”
Hugo drops his hands.
Killer swings.
Connects to Hugo’s jaw.
The guy drops.
“Holy fuck!”
“Knock out!”
Blake and Jonah are yelling in unison while the roar of cheers from the training center are almost deafening.
Ryder tackles me from the side as I watch a startled Hugo stagger to his feet only to fall again.
“He did it!” Ryder shakes me from my shock. “His first fight and he knocked the guy out in thirty-seven seconds!”
Jonah’s hands are in his hair. Blake’s are propped on his hips, and all of us stare at the screen with grins so big we can hardly contain them.
“He did it.” My voice shakes with the powerful emotions swirling inside me. “I knew he could do it.”
The announcer holds up Kill’s hand, and I can’t help but laugh at the mix of joy and shock on Killian’s face. Something tells me he thought he’d have to work a little harder for this win.
Caleb wraps him in a hug and says something in Killian’s ear that makes him nod. Then Kill disappears behind bodies as his training crew surrounds him in congratulatory hugs.
All of them, including Fleur.
She winds her way through the bodies and presses her front to his. The camera zooms in, and I don’t miss the way all the guys back off a bit to give them space. In what seems like slow