Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
He swings the knife, but I dodge out of the way and grab his thick wrist. I see a flash of panic in his eyes when he realizes how fucked he is. I turn his wrist, pushing on a pressure point until he drops the knife with a scream. It clatters on the ground and I kick it under a car.
I headbutt him in the nose and it splits open, spurting out blood. I’m still controlling his wrist, so I yank him down and knee him in the face so hard his eyes roll into the back of his head. He goes limp in my arms. I drop him for the second time tonight and go check on Victoria.
She rolls her window down and looks at him lying on the pavement with wide eyes.
“Everything is okay,” I tell her with a comforting smile. “Just go home and we’ll talk soon.”
She looks back at me and nods. She’s taking all of this well, even though she does look a little shell-shocked. I didn’t want her to see me in this environment. Not like this. I wasn’t even going to fight tonight, but then she didn’t show up and I had so much energy to burn.
I don’t want her to think I’m some lowlife, aggressive psycho. It’s just… fighting is fun for me. It’s a challenge. It’s a sport. It’s an adrenaline rush. It’s not who I am. It doesn’t define me.
“I’ll see you around,” she says as she starts her car. I step back, wishing the night ended better than this.
“Yeah,” I whisper as she drives away. I watch her car until the lights disappear into the distance.
The prick on the ground starts moaning as he wakes up.
“Thanks for nothing, asshole,” I say, stepping on his hand as I walk back to the bar. He hollers and curses at me the whole way back. I don’t even look at him.
I head back to the table with an unfamiliar lightness in my body. The night might not have ended perfectly, but I did get a kiss. The best kiss of my life.
I’m on cloud nine as I take my seat while another fight starts in the cage.
My mind races with ideas on how to raise money for the library. I just want to make everything right for Victoria. I want her to be happy. I grin when I come up with something.
“Hey,” I say, getting everyone’s attention around the table. “I have an idea to raise some money for the library. We can auction off dates at the firehouse.”
“Yeah, no thanks,” Ethan says, shaking his head.
Mason crosses his arms and laughs dismissively. “No fucking way.”
“I’m not doing that either,” Colton says.
“Neither am I,” Doug says, taking a sip of beer. “I already have a girlfriend.”
Mason chuckles. “Oh yeah? Who?”
“Victoria,” Doug says, dead serious.
Mason shakes his head and laughs. I squeeze my hands into fists under the table.
Doug looks confused. “What? What’s so funny?”
“If you hadn’t noticed,” Mason says, pointing to me with his finger, “she was talking to James all night.”
“Because he was sitting next to her,” Doug says. “She was being polite.”
“He walked her to her car!”
“Because there are ruffians around.”
Mason shakes his head in disbelief. “Did you see James’ face when he walked back in? He was smiling ear to ear!”
Doug frowns. It’s finally dawning on him. “But…”
“She’s mine,” I say, clarifying it for him.
He looks right at me in disbelief. “But I called dibs!”
I grit my teeth as I stare back, giving him one final chance to let it go.
“You have to honor the dibs!” he says. Fuck, this guy doesn’t know when to quit.
“Should we settle it in there?” I ask, pointing to the cage while I glare at him in warning.
He gulps as he looks up at the guy getting his face punched in.
“No, no,” he finally says, putting his hands up in surrender. “We’re good. She’s all yours!”
I take a sip of beer as I glare at him. “Damn right, she is.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Victoria
I’m up early doing what I do best: Planning.
Over my coffee this morning, I decided that I will restore the old railway station to its former glory. I did some research and I found out that it wasn’t the building’s first fire. It had a massive fire sixty-three years ago and went through a major reconstruction, which makes me feel a bit better. My accident wasn’t the end of the building’s life. It’s just going to be one more chapter in a long illustrious history that will go on long after I’m gone. I’ll make sure of it.
I also found the top restoration guy in the area. He worked on restoring the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, so he’s really good. I called him and he said he’d come check it out with his crew. It’s not going to be cheap though.