Shadowboxer (Tapped Out 1)

“What?” I met her gaze, sure I’d misheard.

“I only want you.” Her lips quivered before she firmed them and walked forward into my arms. Hers encircled my waist, holding on tight. “I don’t know what I’m doing either. But we can figure it out. We have time.”

I jerked back and gazed into her liquid brown eyes. “Do we?”

She nodded.

“Not good enough. Tell me you’ll stay. That you won’t leave, no matter what. Even if I screw up and make things worse somehow. If I harm you without knowing it. If I fucking spank you when you want me to stroke.”

The corner of her mouth lifted. “Pretty sure that will never happen.”

“Mia.” I gripped her chin. “Promise me.”

“I already did once.”

“Give me the words again. Please.”

”I promise.” She wrapped her hand around the back of my neck and tugged my head down to hers. Kissing me tenderly at first, then adding a rough slice of teeth. “I’m not leaving you.”

I dragged her against my chest and buried my face in her hair. “Goddamn you, I love you. So much it makes me insane. More insane. Not working with a lot there to begin with.”

She gave a watery laugh and pressed her cold nose into the crook of my shoulder. “And you said you weren’t a poet.”

“I don’t like to brag.”

She laughed again and eased back to graze the area beneath my injured eye with the tips of her fingers. “I have to go to work later. I called in and asked Carmine to put me on the schedule. Since I won’t be making my big payday from the fight, I’ll need to pick up more hours to cover my rent. It’s going up.”

I thought it over for about five seconds. “Stay here.”

A shiver went through her that I was sure had nothing to do with the cold. “With my sister?”

“Yeah. Why not?”

Slowly, she shook her head. “You’re too much.”

“Better than not enough.”

Her gaze dropped to below my waist for a fraction of a second before returning to my face. Much to my shock, a smile curved her mouth. “No worries there.”

“Thanks for reminding me I’m wearing just a towel. Maybe I’ll use it to tie you up and turn you into my love slave.”

“No turning required,” she murmured, lifting her face to mine.

But before our lips connected, she slid her mouth to my cheek. “You’re just going to let it go?”

I tensed. “What?” I asked, knowing full well what she meant.

Costas. Always freaking Costas.

“You believe I thought the worst of you but that’s okay. We’ll just fuck it out, right?”

“Well, now that you put it that way…”

“I decked him, Tray. Right in his goddamn eye. Just like you taught me. I didn’t fracture his eye socket, but I gave him a nice shiner.” She wiggled her fingers, revealing the split knuckles I’d missed. “Jesus, that hurt.”

I grabbed her hand and kissed the cuts, lifting my eyes to hers. “My hero.”

“I owed him one.” She shrugged. “Besides, he’s still talking about going out with Carly. Maybe getting his clock cleaned by her sister will kill that idea.”