Outmatched

“Then don’t fucking do it.”

“We need that money, Dean. I either fight or I sell the gym.”

“There are always ways to get money. I’ll get a job.” He leaned in. “A real job. No more messing around. I’ll find something good.”

I gave him a weak smile. “It won’t be enough. Not with the limited time we have left.”

Dean moved to speak, but I lifted a hand. “It’s no longer just the money. That asshole has it in his head to see me fight. This isn’t just about money with Fairchild. The fucker has a psychotic inability to take no for an answer. And he’s made it clear he’ll mess with me if I don’t do this.”

Dean leapt to his feet and paced. “Son of a bitch. There’s gotta be a way around this.”

I sighed and watched Dean pace.

“That … that …”

“Fuck?” I supplied wryly.

Dean grinned wide. “Yeah.” His smile dropped. “He’s treating you like a freaking zoo exhibit. Pay a ticket and watch the great Rhys Morgan step back into the ring. Fucking hell.”

Something sparked and rippled through my mind. “Wait. Stop.”

Dean halted mid stride and faced me. “What?”

That something danced around, growing bigger. “A zoo exhibit, you said.”

“Yeah, uh, what?” He huffed out a laugh. “I’m not following.”

I stood and picked up where he left off pacing. “It struck a chord. What if I did an exhibition fight?”

“Isn’t that what Fairchild wants?”

“Yeah—no. I mean, what if we”—I gestured between us—“organized a fight? An exhibition fight, for charity.”

Dean chewed his lip as he watched me. “For charity? But how does that help us?”

“I don’t know …” I kept pacing. “It might not work. But if I put on a fight, I pull the rug out from under those fuckwads. If we make it for charity, maybe somehow we can find a sponsor for the gym. Find a way to help not just ourselves, but the community too.”

Slowly Dean’s expression lightened. “It could work.” He paced the other way, both of us wearing a groove in the floorboards. His stride grew quicker as he mulled over what I’d said.

“It could work, Rhys.” He sounded excited now. “But I have no clue how to get something like that started. Do you?”

I stopped next to the kitchen counter. In my mind, I could still see Parker standing there, pretty as a sunrise, her eyes alight as she watched me get ready to cook. I’d been falling for her from the first. She gave me hope, made me want to reach further, raise my head a little higher.

I didn’t know shit about organizing a fundraiser, but I was fairly certain she did. I met my brother’s eyes and smiled. “We need Parker.”

I needed her. That was the truth. I needed her in more ways than one.

I grabbed my phone and called her, filled with satisfaction that I could do that. Shit, I missed her already. I wanted her. I wanted her so bad, I felt like I was missing something when she was gone.

She answered with a breathless voice. “Hey, you.”

A goofy smile pulled at my mouth as my head went hazy with lust. “Hey, Tink. What are you up to?”

“Thinking about you.”

Jesus. I was so gone on this girl.

“Good answer.” I grinned, then told myself to focus. “Can you come over? I need you.”

“It’s like that, is it?” She sounded cheeky, and sexy as hell.

I laughed. “It’s always like that where you’re concerned, babe.”

At my back, Dean gagged. And I shot him a look before focusing on Parker. “Ahem. I need that too. But Dean’s here right now.”

“You told him, didn’t you?” Pride filled her voice. Pride for me.

“Yeah. And we got to talking about the fight. I have a plan. Want to help me with it?”

She didn’t hesitate. “I’ll be right over.”

Because she was my girl. My right-now girl. And, right now, it was enough for me.

Nineteen

Parker

Zoe was a terrible liar.

I watched her warily as we walked up the front steps of Rhys’s gym. Her dark, intelligent gaze took in the building, her frown deepening as we walked through the doors.

Under the guise that she wanted to be in on the meeting between Rhys and the event manager, Fiona, for Zoe’s charity Street Warriors, she was tagging along to Lights Out.

Considering Zoe let Fiona have free rein as event manager, we both knew Zoe was really using this as an excuse to meet Rhys. However, since Ren and the guys had already met my boyfriend (yes, I was calling him that in my head now), I wasn’t going to quibble with my best friend over this.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t nervous as heck to see what she’d think of Rhys, and I didn’t want him feeling any pressure either. He already had enough stress in his life.

Two weeks ago, he’d called me to his place after his discussion with his brother. Not surprisingly, Dean had learned about the loan when he dug into the gym’s finances. Upon finding out the extent of the debt and whom it was owed to, Dean proved himself to be a good brother. He immediately began brainstorming with Rhys and they’d come up with the idea of a charity fight.