“You fucking bastard,” I hiss, jumping to my feet and storming toward him. He blocks every punch I attempt, smirking like an asshole.
“Whatcha gonna do about it when you’re dead?” He moves his head to the side, and I miss his face. “You gonna give up and let me have your girl?”
“Over my fucking dead body, you motherfucker.” I get a punch to his gut and another to his jaw.
“That all you got? If so, I’ll have Maddie in my bed by Valentine’s Day.”
I fill with rage, wrap my arms around his waist, and push my head into his stomach, pushing him into the ropes and punching him in the ribs.
Tyler has his arms around my head, tightening his grip as I attempt to lift his body over my shoulders.
“She’s gonna look so goddamn sweet underneath me,” he continues in labored breaths. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed those perky nipple piercings.”
Standing and meeting his eyes, I grit my teeth and drive my fist in his gut. Over and over until I grab his throat and squeeze.
“You’re supposed to be my friend, you asshole.” I seethe, pushing my thumbs into his windpipe. “Talking about my girl like that makes you the biggest douchebag in the world.”
Tyler fights back, trying to loosen my grip, but the adrenaline pumping through my blood fuels my rage. I curse at him when he brings his knee up and drives it into my groin, making me drop to the ground.
He falls with me, sucking in air as he tries to catch his breath. I climb on top of him, throwing fists to his face, but he holds up his arms and blocks me. In one swift movement, he drives into my waist and flips me over, landing on my side. Tyler grabs my arm and pulls it behind my back as he pushes his knee into my ribs and other arm.
“Goddammit,” I hiss when he yanks my arm harder.
“You fuckin’ done?”
“Fuck you,” I spit.
Tyler releases me, then stands as he chuckles. I look up at him as he shakes his head and crosses his arms over his chest. The asshole was purposely pissing me off. “You’re ready.”
Chapter Nineteen
MADDIE
The last forty-eight hours I’ve been lost in my head about this damn fight. We’ve been counting down the days for weeks as Liam has trained and prepared, and now the day he leaves is here. Time flew by so quickly and honestly, I’m scared of what could possibly happen. Things never seem to go the way they’re supposed to, and while Tyler has explained to me several times how ready Liam is, it doesn’t make me feel any better about the situation. I understand the consequences, and it’s much more than him just getting his ass kicked. He could be killed. Losing him isn’t an option, but it could very well be my reality.
Tonight, I can’t sleep. I’ve been tossing and turning, and eventually, I roll over and look at the time on my phone to see it’s just past three. I’ve laid here with my eyes closed, counted to one thousand backward, but nothing is helping me get my mind off Liam leaving in the morning. We’ll say our goodbyes, and he’ll get on that plane and not return to me. Just thinking about it nearly brings me to tears, but I try to hold it in, something I’ve gotten really good at doing. Liam knows I’m upset regardless of how much I’ve tried to stay strong. Our future is literally in his opponent’s hands, and the unknown of what could happen drives me insane.
Eventually, I drift off, but it seems like only an hour passes before I’m being woken up by Liam. He nuzzles into my neck, and I smile at the way his lips brush against my skin.
“Morning, baby,” he whispers, and I turn to face him. “I have to get ready to leave in a couple of hours.” His voice is strained and sad.
“Morning.” It doesn’t matter that my eyes are burning or that I’m exhausted, I decide to get up too because I want to spend every minute I can with him before he leaves. After I brush my teeth and pull up my hair into a messy bun, I go into the kitchen where Liam is standing shirtless, filling up a mug with coffee. I lean against the counter and watch him, memorizing the way he looks right now. Glancing over, he catches me gawking and smirks. All the training he’s done the past few weeks has really done his body good.
And my vagina bad. Bad because all I want to do is jump him, and I’ve had to restrain.
After he takes a sip, he sets down the mug and walks over to me, then wraps his arms around my waist. I sink into his strong body, not wanting him to let me go, but our moment is interrupted when I hear a throat clearing behind us. Turning around, I shoot daggers at Sophie.