Part of her was filled with trepidation. She didn’t know what to expect tonight, and she couldn’t figure out why she was here to begin with. She didn’t even like fighting. But her curiosity had gotten the better of her earlier, and she came to see what all the fuss was about.
The other part of her was excited. She hadn’t expected that, and she’d been denying it for the last two hours. It had nothing to do with the fights themselves, and everything to do with the hot, tatted up dad of her favorite student.
Freezing as the thought drifted through her mind, she squeezed her eyes shut and gave her head a shake. No. She didn’t care how good-looking Ian Gallagher was. She couldn’t. It wasn’t right to lust after her student’s father. But more than that was the pit in her stomach, telling her this was wrong. She was betraying Kyle’s memory by being so interested in another man.
Kyle would want her to be happy. Holly knew that. But emotions trumped logic when it came to this sort of thing. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t go there with another man. She would forever be comparing him with Kyle, and she knew he would never measure up to her love. That wasn’t fair to anyone new, and it wasn’t fair to her, either.
Kyle’s death left a huge, gaping hole in her heart that would never heal, and another loss would cripple her in ways she didn’t think she’d be able to come back from. She’d barely managed to fight her way back to the land of the living after Kyle. There had been a few times when she didn’t think she’d ever be able to function as a human being again.
No, she couldn’t go there with Ian. So what in the world was she even doing here?
A gasp from the crowd drew her attention to the ring, where two men were pummeling the crap out of each other. Her stomach turned as the big man in the ring punched the other so hard, blood poured down his cheek. The other man staggered back for a second before throwing his own hit, just as punishing as the one he’d taken.
She covered her eyes, stomach queasy. She couldn’t believe that people actually liked watching this, but looking around, it was clear they did. Sometimes she didn’t understand her fellow man. How they could take pleasure in watching two people hurt each other and do their level best to kill each other, she’d never understand.
A sickening thud sounded from the ring, and that was her cue to go. Coming here had been a mistake, in all ways except one. It had never been clearer to her that even if she were looking for someone new to date and fall in love with, it couldn’t be Ian. They were far too different, far too apart in their world views. Watching thirty seconds of this fight was enough to make that glaringly obvious. So maybe she could put this silliness behind her now and forget about him.
Finally walking outside, she took a deep breath of the chilly night air, the queasiness fading now that she was away from the fighting. Gripping her cane tightly, she began slowly walking back to her car. She had to be careful not to step into a hole and throw herself off balance.
“Holly!”
Freezing at the sound of her name in the deep, gravelly voice she already knew as well as her own, she tried to compose herself before turning around. Damn having to walk so slow. She could have been back in her car and out of here by now if her leg was healthy.
She forced a smile. “Mr. Gallagher.”
Anything else she might have said, as well as every thought in her head, flew right out the window as her eyes landed on him. Mouth instantly drying, she swallowed painfully as she ran her eyes up and down his tall frame.
All he had on was a pair of shorts. That’s it. Even his feet were bare. His hair was slicked back from his face, emphasizing the angles, but she couldn’t bring herself to care about that right now. Her attention was on the rest of his body. He was so huge when he was covered up that she hadn’t thought it was possible for him to look any bigger. She was wrong. Oh Lord, was she wrong, and in the best possible way.
And now her mouth was literally watering. From dry as the Sahara Desert to Niagara Falls in the space of a heartbeat. His shoulders were wide and thick, and she followed them over to his collarbone, where he had a word she couldn’t read from this distance inked onto his skin. Her eyes drifted down to his pecs and then slid to his abs, chiseled and standing in stark relief. He had a V of muscle on his hips, pointing to an area she forced herself not to look at. It was a hard-fought battle, but she just barely managed to keep her eyes from going there. His thighs were rock hard, leading to calves that were also well muscled.
Eyes sliding back up his body, she counted tattoos. One on his leg and thigh, three more on his side, more still on his arms. By the time she looked at his face again, she gave up trying to count them all. Meeting his eyes, she flushed as she saw they were dancing in amusement. Trying not to look like she was bothered, she cocked an eyebrow at him.
“This is probably the last place I’d expect to see you.” He took a few steps closer. “From the way you talked the other day, I thought you didn’t care for fighting.”
“I don’t, but I got curious and wanted to see one for myself.”
“You didn’t stay long. I di
dn’t see you when I arrived, and here you are, already leaving.” He was so close.
Resisting the urge to back up, she cleared her throat. “Yeah, well. I might not have seen much, but what I did see was more than enough. This kind of thing isn’t for me.”
“It’s not for everyone,” he acknowledged. “But you should stay a little longer, watch me fight. I’m up next after Seth and Noah.”
“That’s okay. I’m ready to head back home, but, uh—good luck.” As much as she hated fighting, she had a sinking suspicion that watching Ian would do the exact opposite of turning her off. So much for the hope that knowing he enjoyed the kind of fighting she saw inside would end this crazy attraction.
Of course, that was before she got an eyeful of him in nothing but the black shorts he was wearing.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay, Holly?” he asked, blue eyes intense.
Shivering as his voice caressed her nerve endings, it took her a moment to realize he called her by her given name. Come to think of it, he had when he first called out to her, too. She wanted to be upset at his use of her first name, but all she could hear was his deep baritone wrapping around the syllables in her name in a loop in her mind, and goosebumps coated her skin. Forget upset. She’d just enjoy a bit of indifference right now, because she didn’t need another reason to feel attraction for this man.
And the way he said her name was definitely a checkmark in the attraction column. She just had to do her best not to let him become aware of it.
“Holly?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “We’re on a first name basis now?”
He cleared his throat, and she watched in fascination as he shuffled his feet. “It was on Shelby’s school paperwork. The name stuck.”