“Well, if anyone can do it, and be great, it’s you.”
“You know you’ve always got my back. I love you.” Blair threw her arms around her neck, and Fay hugged her best friend to her. “I love you. I love you. We’re going to be sisters as well.” Blair suddenly gasped. “What if he proposes to you? That would be amazing!”
“Whoa, wow, maybe we should call this night to a close. Marriage. I mean, come on. We’ve only just…” She wasn’t about to tell her best friend that just last night she lost her virginity. There were some things Blair didn’t need to know.
Marriage was a huge deal.
A scary one.
Blair chuckled. “We’d be sisters for real. Oh, my, you have to let me be your maid of honor.”
“Stop, and I think you need to drink. We’re not talking about marriage. Your brother and I, it’s so new. Totally new.”
Their glasses were filled, and Fay drank her shot back, feeling the effects of the alcohol as it started to warm up her body.
Marriage was a big step. She didn’t even know what label to call their relationship. If they even had a relationship. She was so confused, and Blair wasn’t helping.
Fay had always assumed her best friend would be pissed at any girl who tried to date her brother, and yet here she was, perfectly content with it.
What the hell was she going to do?
They finished their last shot, and Blair dragged her out onto the dance floor. She didn’t have a strong threshold for alcohol, so it didn’t take long for her to start feeling slightly dizzy. The dancing helped, but then they did more shots and more dancing.
The night was fun, and partway through, Fay didn’t even have a clue what she was worried about or what was going on. Blair was much better at controlling her drink.
Fay couldn’t believe she’d had sex with Blaze Carter. The sexist guy from her childhood. The crush that never went away. The guy who excited and terrified her with equal measure.
At that moment, she wanted him so badly.
It was time to call a cab.
****
With Blair taking Fay out for a girls’ night, it left Blaze with nothing to do. When his cell phone pinged with a text, he saw it was the location for the next fight, which also conveniently happened to be tonight.
He sent Blair a quick text to let her know he was going to be working. Fay had left her cell phone at home, and he was going to have to talk to her about that. Her safety was his biggest concern. The only reason he wasn’t stalking her right now was that she was with his sister, and he knew his sister would take care of her, or at least try to.
After leaving his apartment, he got into his car and parked several blocks away from the main fight zone. These were his rules he refused to break. When he approached the old, abandoned warehouse, he sensed the crowd even before he entered. There was an energy within the air.
He’d been to this place before. There was nothing special about it, but he found the changing rooms, where Gus was waiting.
Normally he’d be out, working the crowds, getting them to part with their money. He didn’t look up, and Blaze heard him exhale a breath, looking a little … torn.
“What’s up? Why are you not out getting me money?” Blaze asked.
Gus lifted his head. “Blaze.”
“The one and only.”
“I didn’t think you were going to make it.”
“Huh?”
“Normally, like after the last one, when the cops come, you don’t like to come for a few fights. Stay low and all that. Keeping your head down.”
“Yeah, well, got nothing to do, and I’ve got a bit of time to make up.”
“You don’t have to fight tonight.”
Gus was normally his guy. The one who told him he had all of the bastards beat.
“What’s going on?” Blaze asked, removing his shirt. He’d forgotten to take it off in the car. Fay and Blair were already distracting him.
“Shit, you know. Ugh…”
“What?” Blaze asked.
“O’Neal called.”
“Yeah.” O’Neal was his boss. The one who owned the strip club and who he did odd jobs for, like hunting down assholes that didn’t pay him back.
“He wants you to lose this fight,” Gus said. “You know what that means.”
Blaze gritted his teeth. There was always a chance O’Neal would turn on him. He suspected that for all his good-guy talk, O’Neal was a mean son of a bitch. He had a small smidge of power, but he didn’t like the people around him to get too big. It would seem he thought Blaze was getting that way.
“I know.”
“You’re not to throw the fight.”
“Oh, I know.”
“He’s sent three of his guys,” Gus said. “They’re out there waiting.”
Blaze smirked. “And what makes him think that will work?”