Banging Reaper (Pounding Hearts 1)

Ethan responds almost immediately to me.

Ethan: Meet me at the arena tonight.

Me: No, we need to talk now.

Ethan: Can’t. Busy. If you wanna talk, you know where to find me.

I know he’s not that busy. He’s probably hanging out with his posse and pre-celebrating. Now that he knows I want something from him he’s going to manipulate me.

“That fucking dick,” I hiss between my teeth.

Sebastian looks up at me with his knowing cat eyes and meows as if he’s agreeing.

***

He did it. I know he did. Four on one at six. When I gave that message to Ethan, he looked so damn smug and pleased. Ethan wants to win so badly he set up Chase. Hoping to what, though? Hurt him so he can’t fight? No, Ethan wants to fight him, he’s anxious and been irritable about the three-month delay. If he did it, he did it to injure Chase. He did it to give himself the advantage.

If he did it, I might just kick his ass myself before he even gets a chance to step in the cage.

All day I’ve been stewing. All day I’ve thinking about what to say to Ethan. If I’m not thinking about Ethan, I’m thinking about what I’m going to do if I run into Chase. A part of me really hopes we do run into each other. Even if it’s just for a moment.

I pull up to the back parking lot of the arena and my heart does a little flip-flop when I see Chase’s black Impala parked in the back corner.

If I run into Chase, will he even talk to me? I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve his attention. Who am I even kidding? He’s probably already moved on from me. I’ve heard Ethan’s friends talking before, jealous of how the fighters get so much easy pussy. What if he has a girl with him? Oh my God, I think it will kill me.

I rush into the back entrance and the bouncer manning the door eyes me up and down, checking me out with a critical frown. I’m not showing enough skin and I don’t look official. I have a VIP ticket and front row seats, but I’ve decided not to wear the outfit Ethan picked out. I’ve chosen a black tank top with a modest cut and a pair of tight fitting, butt flattering jeans. Subconsciously I know I picked this outfit out because Chase really loves me in jeans.

Chase.

All day my thoughts have been stuck on Chase. Is he hurt? Does he miss me? I’ve survived the past few weeks by trying my damnedest not to think about him. Out of pure survival, I locked all the memories away. I convinced my heart that what we had was just a short lived fling… a kind of young infatuation that was never meant to be. He offered me everything, and I pushed him away. I’m a silly fool. I know it now. I realize it. I own it.

I wish I never accused him of trying to control me.

After the bouncer decides it’s easier to wave me through than turn me away, the sounds of guys whooping and loud music blaring leads me to Ethan’s rematch party. I push my way through the crowd. I look for Ethan but I don’t need to find him. He’s been expecting me. He appears out of nowhere and throws his arm around my shoulder.

“Hey, I’m glad you decided to come,” Ethan grins, but he narrows his eyes as his baby blues take in my tank top and jeans.

“We need to talk,” I say quietly. We’re being watched. The room is packed, guys and girls are standing elbow to elbow. There’s too many people in such a small place, to me it feels too loud and too suffocating. “Is there somewhere we can speak privately?”

“Sure,” Ethan says with a grin. Squeezing his arm around me, he leads me through the crowd and out into the hallway.

“How about here?” Ethan asks, pulling me into a dark corner.

It’s not as private as I would have liked but then again if he tries to hurt me again, someone is bound to see.

“Here is fine,” I tell him and cross my arms over my chest.

Funny, now that I’m peering up at him, I’m not quite as brave as I imagined I’d be.

“So, what do you want to talk about, Ave?” Ethan asks. His baby blues warm with heat, dragging slowly up and down my body.

I take a deep breath then ask, “What does four on one at six mean?”

Ethan’s eyes drop to my lips. He doesn’t seem the least bit bothered by the question. No, unfortunately, he seems to be much more interested in me. “What do you think it means?”

I lean back into the corner, creating space between us and whisper, “I think it means you hired some guys to mess with Reaper.”

Ethan scowls and steps into me, filling up the space. “Why do you even care? Is that why you came here to talk to me?”