Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Then talk back,” I offered with a smile. “Misty should know what she’s dealing with.”
“And so should you.” Frankie sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “The cage isn’t like normal boxing. There’s no rules. Until someone’s peeled off that mat, anything goes.”
“Especially at Heathens Hollow.” Bones ran a thumb over the tattoo of his namesake on the back of his hand. “Troy isn’t going to call a fight unless someone’s about to die on his property. Not that it’s stopped him before.”
“I don’t have to follow those rules, though. Right?” My leg started bouncing against the floor. “I could keep it legit.”
“If you want to die, sure,” Lotto added. “You’re going to have to break the rules, angel. Get dirty. It’s the only way to win.”
“A simple KO isn’t going to be enough for these pricks,” Frankie agreed. “Troy wants a show. Which is why Perk’s Gym is a complete pain in our asses right now.”
“It’ll be a show regardless of how I win.” I smirked. “And yes, I’m going to win. I know it won’t be easy, but Dad taught me everything he knew, and I want to make him proud. In the right way. As clean as possible.”
“He’d be proud of you anyway, Ari.”
My breath hitched at how sincere Frankie sounded. I glanced at the picture of Dad and me that sat on the edge of my desk. I kept the reminder there so I knew what I was fighting for. Taking on Misty was no different. Everything I did, I did for him and his legacy.
“Circle back to that when you see my blocking,” I teased to keep from crying. That was Dad’s specialty. The best offense was a solid defense, or so he always said.
“We’ll have to see Misty’s, too.” Lotto patted his front pocket where he kept his phone. “She might try to keep it as legit as possible, since she’s a boxer.”
“Yeah, but she’s training with River and Jace now. Boxing background or not, we don’t know what she’s going to be like in the ring now.” Bones stared directly at me, his jaw tightening. “You have to be prepared for anything.”
“Well, that’s why I have the best trainers in all of Seattle,” I joked.
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Lotto shifted his gaze over to Frankie. Clearly, there was something there I didn’t know about.
“I didn’t say what kind of training.” I fluttered my lashes at the three boys. Each of them shifted in their seats. A flash of power ran through my veins, but I tempered it with a small shake of my head. We could focus on the extra-curricular type of training later. Right now, I needed to focus on the actual fight at hand. “So you’re going to help?”
“I have conditions,” Frankie growled.
I tried not to roll my eyes. Of course he did. “All right, shoot.”
“We find you a fight beforehand. You need to know what you’re getting into.”
“Sure.”
“You scope out a few other fights in the meantime,” Lotto added. “See how they move around the ring and how they cheat. No bets. Just observation.”
“Fair.” It sounded boring as hell but gave me an excuse to go support Bones and really see how he changed in the ring.
“You don’t complain. At all.” Frankie’s jaw tightened. “My training is going to fucking suck, Ari.”
“Trust me. I know,” I teased and kicked a leg out toward him. “I’ve told you that you could be a little nicer. Teo nearly pisses his pants every time you come close.”
“Because he needs to be better, and so do you.”
I blew out a breath before nodding. “No complaining out loud.” When Frankie narrowed his eyes, I grinned. “I’m going to cuss you out in my thoughts, Frankie. Better to know it now.”
“One last thing,” Bones said. We all turned our attention to him. “This doesn’t come between us. Training is one thing. Our relationship is another. What happens on the bags stays on the bags.”
A content silence enveloped the room. Though we all nodded silently, I knew we were thinking the same thing. At the end of the day, the four of us were more than aching bodies and militant training.
“And—” Frankie began.
I let out an annoyed ‘ugh’. “Am I in boarding school or something? For a place with no rules, you’re giving me a million.”
He ignored me and gripped the edge of his chair. “If I say you’re done, you’re done.”
“I won’t agree to that,” I answered immediately.
“If you want to do this, you have to trust me.”
“And you have to trust me.” I stood up from the desk. “I’ll know when I’m done and tell you. Deal?”
Lotto nodded, but Bones and Frankie looked less than enthused at my proposal. Eventually, Bones sighed and ran a hand over his stubbly chin, his sign of agreeing. Frankie shrugged and muttered something I couldn’t hear. Probably for the best, because if he was being an asshole again, I didn’t think I could hold my tongue. Begrudging agreement was still agreement, and I wasn’t going to blow this now.