Maybe This Time (Maybe #1)(25)

I close my eyes shut again.

I can’t watch this. Can I?

When I open my eyes, Lyle is lost, swept away with the crowd. He just left me. Fucking *.

I watch as they circle each other, bouncing on their heels. Reid suddenly lifts his leg in a kick, pulls back, then comes at full force with another punch. He gets his opponent up against the cage with his arms around him, punching at the back of his head. The crowd goes wild, and I turn my head to look for Lyle once more, but can’t see him anywhere. I glance back towards the cage, where Reid is the victor. He has blood dripping from his nose, but besides that, he looks untouched. The other guy, however, looks completely battered.

Why does Reid do this?

And why keep it a secret? Is this why he won’t be with me?

A growl escapes my mouth when I see no other than Xander, Ryan, Dash and my dad standing around Reid.

I see red. I don’t think I’ve ever been so mad and hurt in my entire life. And when the blonde chick steps up next to Reid, I lose it.

It takes me a good ten minutes to walk over to them, the crowd bumping me and I can’t walk as fast as I wish in these four inch heels. I’m tempted to take them off, but looking at the floor I would probably need a tetanus shot. When I finally near them, Reid's gone missing. Cursing under my breath, I walk up to the group of men that have become my life.

“Fancy meeting you all here,” I say dryly, containing my emotions.

Four pairs of eyes glance at me, with emotions ranging from shock to guilt.

“What are you doing here?” My father growls, looking angry. He’s angry?

“This is where my date brought me,” I say, sneering the word date.

“What the f*ck?” Xander roars, looking me over.

“I’m fine,” I assure him, throwing accusing glances at each of them. My dad and Xander look angry, Ryan looks apologetic and Dash is smiling at me, looking like he’s relieved I finally know.

“Where is he?” I ask, not needing to explain who I’m talking about. When they don’t answer, I raise my voice. “Where the f*ck is he?”

“Come on, I’ll take you,” Ryan says, walking over to me. He tries to take my arm but I pull away.

“Don’t be like that, babe,” he says sadly, his brow furrowing.

“You guys all lied to me. What, you don’t trust me?”

“Of course we trust you, this isn’t exactly the place for a woman,” he says in a gentle tone that grates on my nerves.

“I’m not fragile, Ryan.” He opens the exit for me and I walk out.

I see Reid leaning against the wall, wiping blood from his nose. He throws the towel over his shoulder, and then the blonde leans up and kisses him on his mouth.

I turn away, as fast as I can, tears forming in my eyes. Ryan mutters a curse behind me, and then I hear him yelling Reid’s name. I let myself fall into the crowd, until I find the entrance we came in from. I run out, into the car park, and look around, wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do now. My phone keeps ringing and I see Reid, Ryan, Xander, Dash and my dad’s numbers pop up. When I see Lyle leaning against his car, I grin. What an unlikely saviour.

“Lyle, I need a ride somewhere and you aren’t getting any action tonight,” I notify him when I approach his car.

He scowls. “Fine. Only cos your dad will probably kill me otherwise.” I get into his car, exhaling in relief when we get onto the main road. I put my phone on silent, not wanting to talk to anyone right now.

“Why did you bring me there?” I ask him.

“I always come to the fights when I can, and I didn’t wanna miss it over a date. Then when I found out who your dad was I figured you'd wanna go anyway,” he explains.

“Why? What does it have to do with my dad?”

“Your dad runs the fights, Summer,” he says, looking at me like I'm insane. I take a minute to absorb this information. Dad organizes these fights.

Well, that's f*cking news to me.

“Where are we going?” he asks, his eyes on the road.

“I don’t wanna go home,” I sulk.

“You can come crash at my dorm room,” he offers.

I must look suspicious because he laughs at my expression. “My roommate is away, you can sleep in his bed.”

“You sure?”

He nods, his eyes darting to me, then back on the road. "Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you. I actually like my balls.”

“Where was that line of thought when you left me alone in the middle of the chaos?”

“I lost you, I tried to find you. I texted you, too,” he says.

I check my phone and there's indeed a message from him asking where I am. I ignore the twenty six missed calls and check my messages. Five from Reid, which I don’t bother to read. Instead I text Xander and tell him I’m safe, and I'll be home tomorrow. He replies instantly, saying to call him and he'll come and get me, but I ignore it.

“So they fight for money?” I assume.

“Yep. Entrance is two hundred each, and that goes into the prize money for the winners,” he explains.

“What do you know about Reid Knox?” I ask.

“Besides that I wouldn’t wanna mess with him?”

I roll my eyes. “He wins a lot?”