her arm wrapping with mine as we walked through the main room toward the door.
Colton looked up from the woman again, his body straightening as he called out, “Exactly where do you think you’re going?”
Haley and I stopped in place, her green eyes looking to me for an answer.
Tilting my chin with as much authority as I could, I said, “I’m taking Haley upstairs with me. And I’m a Rose, so I don’t think you have the right to question-“
“Laying it on a bit thick there, aren’t you?” Colton grinned. “Whatever. Have fun.”
Haley and I glanced at each other, both of us moving quickly to leave the room.
As soon as we burst into the hall, we broke down laughing. It took a few minutes to gather ourselves again, our arms linking together as we practically ran down the hall to see what type of trouble we could get into next.
Callan
Jacob swung out at me, and I dodged left, easily countering his strike with my own. His body pulled back at the hit, eyes narrowing on me as he lunged forward again only for me to dodge him. It was pissing me off.
“What the fuck is going on with you?”
My voice was tense, my anger practically boiling after the conversation I had with Franklin that morning.
In the mood I was in, it would have been better to have Connor spar with Jacob this morning, but I decided to step in instead, if for no other reason than to bleed out some of the aggression inside me.
Jacob’s eyes met mine as he bounced back, his fingers stretching before curling into a fist again.
“Me?”
We circled each other, sweat dripping down our bodies from the hours we’d spent fighting already.
Toward the back, Connor watched silently, a quiet presence that waited his turn for the day he’d first walk into the ring.
“Nothing is going on with me,” Jacob answered, his fist shooting out to barely catch me on the shoulder.
“You’re the one being an asshole today.”
I laughed, catching him off guard when I lunged forward to sink a well-placed hit to his gut. It wasn’t enough to hurt him. I’d restrained the force behind it. But I didn’t appreciate how I’d been able to land such a critical punch.
“You’re fighting for real tomorrow. Don’t think the guy you’ll face is less of an asshole than me.”
I shoved him back when he came for me again, our bodies colliding and sliding off one another as we retook our positions to start again.
Behind us, feminine laughter burst out, Jacob’s eyes scanning right toward the sound. I took advantage and lunged forward again, catching his foot with mine to trip him and take him down.
Jacob fell like a sack of rocks, but his teeth slammed together, a low groan climbing up his throat before he signaled for me to step back.
“Fuck!”
He sat up to grab his ankle, his jaw ticking furiously.
“Son of a bitch. What the fuck was that?”
Chest and shoulders moving with heavy breath, I looked down at him just as Haley came running into the room.
“Jacob?”
She went to her knees beside him, and I turned to find Lisbeth standing at the doorway to the room, her eyes dancing between Jacob and me.
Pissed that Jacob’s focus had broken enough for me to take him down, I snapped at Lisbeth, my voice far too harsh.
“What are you doing here?”
Lisbeth jumped at the tone of my voice, backing up so that half of her was hidden behind the doorway.
Below me, Haley was whispering to Jacob, her hands going to his ankle that he shoved away.
“Is it broken?”
Jacob’s eyes lifted to mine. “No. Just give me a second.”
“Haley, get the fuck out of the way.”
She shot a look at me, her expression tight with fear. Without hesitating more than that, she jumped away from Jacob while I reached down to grab his hand and pull him up.
Once on the foot, he limped back, his teeth gritting.
It was all I needed to make a decision I knew he’d hate.
“You’re not fighting tomorrow,” I barked, unable to control the anger in my voice.
“The hell I’m not.”
My eyes shot down to study his ankle. Already there was swelling.
Ignoring the look Jacob gave me, I shook my head and turned to Connor.
“Get your hands taped and come back to spar with me. You’re going in place of Jacob tomorrow.”
Jacob rushed forward at me, but the second his injured foot hit the ground, he fell back. “Goddammit.”
Seeing that Jacob truly was out of the game,