Perfect Illusion (Perfect 1)

EIGHT

For the rest of the day I let the confrontation between me and Beth play in my head. Guilt chafes at me at how small I know I made her feel. I never liked fighting with my sister.

Even when we were kids, I couldn’t bring myself to get angry at her if she did something to upset me. There was enough animosity around the house as it was that I wanted to protect her more than I wanted to pick fights with her.

Perhaps she was counting on my anger to pass just as easily as the other times.

I shake my head silently. As harsh as my words were when I wielded them in the courtyard, it was well-deserved.

Especially after telling me that she’s still seeing Jax.

Beth can do whatever she wants with him. As far as I’m concerned, they belong together.

In the fiery, blazing pits of hell.

Perhaps I can just ignore her for the rest of my life. It’ll be difficult to navigate around the awkwardness if we bump into each other around campus or our once-a-month family dinner with our dad, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. Denying Beth the attention she craves will serve as sufficient payback, I suppose.

But with Jax I need to hit back harder. Bolder. Play the only game that he’s ever taken seriously, more so than his own life—the underground.

I remember mocking him about how obsessed he was about it when we first started dating, and he looked at me dead in the eye and said You can laugh all you want, princess,but in the underground, you fight to survive. It’s a sick, twistedmicrocosm of life. Except there’s only one difference. Life canfuck me over time and time again, but in that cage, I controlall the elements. I control whether I win or lose. And there’s nobetter fucking feeling than that.

God, I really hope he leaves that final fight against Kayden on a stretcher.

It’s almost evening by the time I’m finished with classes.

I steal a quick bite to eat from Caffeinated before rushing over to Breaking Point to meet Kayden. When I saunter in, I pass by a group of guys throwing practice jabs at each other on the mats and weave through the impressive display of modern gym equipment on my way to the large cage sitting in the middle of the gym. The cage is empty with the exception of the half-naked tattooed man I’m training with today. He has his back to me, busy strapping on his gloves.

Blood red, to keep with his brand.

“You’re late,” Kayden calls, not bothering to look over at me.

“Yeah, I know,” I say in defeat, dropping my bag on the outside edge of the cage and bunching my hair into a slick ponytail.

I purse my lips as I sneak another glance at Kayden. He’s practicing a couple of shadowboxing movements to get some momentum going. His tattoos shift every time he makes a jab-cross combo, and his baggy shorts inch down, resting hazardously low on his hips, making no attempt to haul them back up. I have a feeling it’s on purpose. When he feels me staring at him, he pivots toward me, and a mischievous grin twitches on his lips, causing his dimples to pop.

Ahhhhh shit.

Those dimples. I’m fairly certain they exist on men for the sole purpose of torturing women. And it’s working too well.

“How long have you been training today?” I say, clearing my throat along with my dirty mind.

Kayden’s arms fall limply to the sides. “Two hours so far. Ran three miles today, worked on technique, and ended with half an hour on the bag.”

“Good. I see you’re sticking to my schedule.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of crossing you,” he murmurs.

“We’re easing into it today, right?”

“You wish.” I slide into my MMA gloves and head up the stairs and into the cage. “We’re sparring today. During these first few weeks we’ll be working on getting you into good shape for the knockouts. Based on the tentative schedule you sent me, it’s unlikely you’ll be encountering Jax during those rounds so that’s good. I have a feeling they’re hoping you’ll end up in the finals against him because it’ll rake in a large audience. So let’s not focus on him just yet,” I explain, and Kayden nods in understanding. “Our main focus is to close the gap in your game and increase precision. You’ll be fighting against other fighters roughly in your weight category, so upskilling what you already know will be enough to get you through the semifinals. Later, we’ll zero in on what kind of skills you’ll need to equip yourself with during your fight against Jax. Fighting against him is a completely different ballgame, so I hope you’ll be able to keep up. But for now, I just want to see what you’ve got.”

“That’s fine with me. I’ve been practicing all day,” Kayden says, a dangerous glint in those grey eyes. “Meanwhile, I heard that you got yourself into a fight of your own today.

With Beth.”

“How the hell do you know that?” I chuck my towel on the floor.

“Some dude recorded it and it went viral on Twitter.