Max gapes. “I—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Keller snarls, cutting off any excuse Max was about to offer. The fighter steps forward, crowding Max against the exam table.
“Keller…” I start to tell him to back off, to let Max leave. I don’t need him fighting my battles for me, but stop. The truth is, I want him fighting my battles for me. I want him to protect me, to keep me safe, to eliminate any doubt in my mind that when he’s around I have nothing to fear.
Keller is nose to nose with a visibly shaken Max. I don’t blame him for being afraid. Not one bit. Keller’s liquid silver eyes are cold and hard, like chips of flint. That frightening glare would render anyone incapable of speaking.
“I’ve already warned
you several times to stay the fuck away from Britt. Now I’m going to make sure you listen, you little fucking pervert.” The venom in Keller’s voice makes the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Goose bumps sprout on my heated skin.
“Y-You can’t hit me,” Max says, his eyes darting around the room, searching for an escape that doesn’t exist.
“Keller…” I say in a hoarse whisper. “Please don’t.” The thought of Keller throwing away his career because of me, because of someone like Max, is unthinkable.
Keller’s eyes flick over to mine, and the warmth is back for that brief second we share before they return to Max, hard and cold once more. “Get the fuck out of here.” He wraps a huge hand around Max’s arm and pulls him over to the door. Keller opens the door and shoves Max out, not looking back when Max stumbles and falls to the ground. Keller merely slams the door shut behind him.
“You didn’t have to—”
“Yes, I did.” I can tell by Keller’s rigid posture and tight jaw that there will be no arguing with him. Keller isn’t one to mess with, and Max has pushed him to his limits.
Keller stalks over, shirtless and barefoot and so breathtakingly beautiful. He puts his fingers under my chin, keen eyes roving over my face. Satisfied, Keller steps back, running his hands down my arms and sides, checking to make sure I’m unharmed.
“I’m fine. He didn’t touch me.” I grab his hand with mine and lift it to my mouth, pressing a kiss on his palm.
“He better not fucking touch you or speak to you like that again,” he snarls, his face twisting into a bone-chilling grimace. “I’ll kill him.”
“You can’t hurt him, Keller. You’ll lose everything.”
The big fighter stares at me, gray eyes shimmering. I suppress a shudder when that strange memory flicks through my mind again as I meet his silvery gaze. It’s there, just out of reach as I try to grasp it.
Silver eyes. Huddling with a girl. Boots. Gunpowder.
Unable to make sense of it, I blink away the images to see Keller giving me a look of amazement.
“Britt, the only thing I care about losing, is you.”
Keller
“Gabriel, I want that little shit fired.” I pace the length of my trainer’s office, so furious I’m seeing red. “He tried to put his hands on Britt again.”
“Now, Killer, it can’t be that bad. Maybe you’re, you know, overreacting because of your feelings for Britt.” Gabriel sits calmly behind his desk, hands folded, watching me go back and forth as I rant.
“No.” I shake my head. “You haven’t seen what he does. He fucking sneaks up on her, Gabriel. He watches her without her knowledge. He’s spying on her, trying to catch her alone. It’s fucked up and I want him gone.”
“Listen. I will talk to Britt and Max, sim?” I stare at the man, and damn it, if he doesn’t so much as flinch. “Boa, boa… I’m glad we agree.”
It takes a minute of concentrated breathing to pull myself together. Once I’m sure I’m not going to hit something, I put my hands on Gabriel’s desk, leaning over it to get in his face. “I. Don’t. Trust. Him, Gabriel. I want him gone.”
My trainer sits for a minute, thinking it over while making me crazy waiting for him to respond. “Fine.” Gabriel gives a sharp nod. “He has been acting strange lately. If this is how you feel and you think he is a threat to Britt,. I will dismiss him and you can have Jerry, você está feliz?”
“No, it doesn’t make me happy, Gabriel. Firing that douchebag makes me fucking ecstatic.” I stalk over to the door, turning to face Gabriel before leaving. “Just know, if he goes near her again, I’ll kill him.” With those parting words, I storm out.
I quickly clock Max hovering by one of the cages, trying to make it look as though he’s not watching for me when I know damn well he is. And he should. If he so much as breathes wrong, he’ll find a size fourteen foot wedged up his ass.
The door to Britt’s office opens and she breezes past me toward Gabriel’s. I nod, but don’t stop her. We don’t interact at work any more than we have to in a professional nature. The last thing I want is for the other fighters to resent Britt or treat her shitty because she’s with me. Unfortunately, that little fucker Max probably spread all the rumors about us already.
God, I could just fucking squeeze the shit right out of him.