Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Someone must have added another stick to Frankie’s ass because his frown deepened. “That’s not happening.”
I raised a brow. “You think you can control that?”
“Yes.”
“I fucking doubt that.”
“Why? Because you’re too—”
“Knock it off, asshole.” Ari leaned over and tapped her knuckles against Frankie’s forehead. Frankie grumbled but kept quiet. “Lotto has a point. Troy doesn’t play by the rules. We can’t trust him.”
“So we can’t trust Troy, and we can’t trust River.” Bones sighed and glanced at me. “Who can we even trust?”
“Ourselves.” I shrugged and set my hands on my knees. “The way I see it, we have three options. One, become headliners but be at Troy’s mercy until he grows bored of us. Two, let River join us and try out for the circuit. Which, by the way, we might not even make the final roster. Three, say no to both and continue the way we were before.”
“What, broke from lack of talent and relying on underground fights to skirt by?” Frankie rolled his eyes. “If we want to go legit, we need to bring in fresh blood.”
“So sign River to a contract,” Ari said.
“But we need money to pay his contract,” Bones argued, “and where are we going to get that, if not Troy or more fights in the underground?”
“Which would require us to sign River. Again.” Ari glanced at me, fluttering her eyelashes in thought. “Do we even want him on the team?”
Fuck yes we did. That was a no-brainer. He was one of the best and wanted a place to thrive. We could give him that and more. It definitely helped that he was also sexy as fuck. He had muscles in all the right places, and his blue eyes were as haunting as the deep sea. His little smirks spiked heat in my body whenever he shot one my way. I wasn’t going to say no to more chances to see him slick with oil or sweat.
But as much as I was admittedly a horny bastard, I was also a fucking realist. And realistically, River was our best bet, no matter which way we decided to go.
“He’s better as a friend than a foe,” I said.
“So you’re all going to walk all over me again?” Frankie’s glare pierced each one of us. “First the shit with Troy, now this. My opinion matters, too, in case you fucking forgot.”
“We never said it didn’t.” Bones frowned. “We’re listening.”
“And talking in circles.”
“Why don’t we take a break?” Ari pushed from her chair. “Frankie, come with me to the office and run some numbers. Maybe it’ll help. Or clear your mind.”
“Tell me one situation when math ever cleared someone’s mind.” Frankie snorted and stood up next to her. “Bones, get back on the bags. You haven’t done shit today.”
“Ari’s the one that called this meeting before I could.” Bones unzipped his hoodie and threw it off to the side. I had to fight not to lick my lips. His white undershirt clung to his abs and showed off every ripple of muscle. “Is Teo coming today?”
“I’ll call him.” I picked up my phone. After Heathens Hollow, you’d think Teo would want to up his game, but he was still as content to skirt through fights as ever. “I’ll talk to some people. Get a feel for what they’re thinking.” If others thought it was a legit offer, maybe tryouts wouldn’t be so bad.
“All right, let’s meet here in an hour.” Ari’s smile slid into a little playful grin. “Or two, if you want to go pick us up some tacos from Waco’s down the street. They reopened last week. My treat.”
“Look at you, Miss Moneybags.” Bones barked a laugh. “Guess I need to work up enough sweat for Señor’s Beefy Burrito.”
“And watermelon margarita. So get to the bags.” I grinned. “I’ll order for us.”
“That’s why I love you.” Ari blew me a kiss before she sauntered off to the back office, Frankie hot on her tail. My eyes were glued to their asses as they went. Hopefully, we could figure this out soon and revisit the more fun parts of our after-victory.
Bones elbowed me. “You gonna stay here and watch before that?”
I shook my head. “I need to talk to some people I know. Find out what’s going on.”
Not just about Troy or the Circuit, but with River, too. Bones was right. Something was up with his “retirement” and sudden return to glory. There had to be a reason he wanted to be on a “legit” winning team. If we ultimately decided to go with Troy, it wouldn’t be with River on our side.
The question was: why?
Someone was bound to know, and before we decided, I needed to find out why.
Based on the answer, I might need more than one watermelon margarita before the night was over.
Chapter
Two
ARI
“The numbers don’t lie.”