Camden's Redemption (Gloves Off #4)(21)

“I thought they would be,” he chuckled, walking past her to the hallway.

“What is she talking about?”

We came to a door that opened to another staircase leading down. “Follow me and you’ll see.”

Shouts of laughter boomed throughout the stairwell, and when I got to the bottom, I couldn’t believe my f*cking eyes. Not only were there pool tables, but there was something bigger and better that caught my attention.

“Holy shit,” I said in awe. “I know what I’ll be gambling on tonight.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Jason asked.

I pointed to the mats where a couple of guys were wrestling. “Do any of your buddies like to fight? I could give them a run for their money.”

He snorted. “You sure about that? Have you seen the guys in here? They’d kick your ass.”

“What the f*ck ever.”

“All right, but remember, you brought this on yourself.” Jason led me over to the corner where a group of guys were hanging out and laughing. When we approached, they all stopped and regarded me warily. I was an outsider. Not only could I see it in their eyes, but I could feel it.

Jason turned to the group. “Guys, this is Cameron James. He’s a friend of my sister’s and new in town. I thought I’d show him around a bit. I think he wants to give us some of his money.”

They all smiled. “Do you wrestle?” one of them asked. He stepped forward and held out his hand. “I’m Wyatt, but everyone calls me by my last name, Erickson.” The guy was shorter than me and stockier. He could no doubt throw a brutal punch.

I took his hand and shook. “Cameron,” I said and let go. “I do wrestle, but it’s more along the lines of mixed martial arts.”

“You interested in sparring with us?” another guy asked. This one was taller and definitely more arrogant judging by his sneer. Little did he know I could have him on the mat in under two seconds.

I held out my hand. “And you are?”

“Reese,” he said, taking my hand firmly.

Smirking, I let go. “Well, Reese, I’d love to spar with you guys. I’m assuming you fight for money?”

“Hell yeah,” someone else said, slapping me on the shoulder. “But judging by the looks of you, I think I’m gonna pass. You can fight those other fools.” Jason laughed and I turned around to see who it was. He had short brown hair, and was dressed like a cowboy with a wide smile on his face.

“Cam, this is Gabe. He’s good friends with B,” Jason informed me.

I shook Gabe’s hand and then he leaned in close. “Go for Reese. He needs some of that air knocked out of his head.” He slapped me on the shoulder again and took off toward the pool tables.

I looked Jason. “Brooklyn and Gabe aren’t . . .”

He chuckled. “Fucking each other? Hell no. I’d kick his ass if he ever tried. Luckily enough, he hasn’t . . . yet.”

Gabe looked like he was in his early thirties, probably a good five years older than Brooklyn. In my case, I was younger than her by two years. That was definitely working against me.

“So are you interested in a little friendly boxing match?” Reese asked.

He threw a pair of boxing gloves in the air and I caught them. “What are the rules?”

Reese secured his gloves and grinned wide. “There are no rules. The first one to give up loses.”

I strapped my gloves on and smacked them together. They were bulky, but it looked like I didn’t have a choice in wearing them. “How much are we betting?” I asked.

Erickson whispered in Reese’s ear and they both chuckled. “How about five hundred? Is that too steep for you?”

The thought made me laugh. “Five hundred it is. Let’s see what you got.”

I walked past him onto the mats and the whole room shifted. Everyone stopped what they were doing to come watch us and shouted for Reese as he circled the mat. Jason ventured to the middle and waved for us both to approach.

“All right, you two, let’s get this party started. On the count of three. One . . .” he took a step away. “Two . . .” Another step. “Three.”

Reese swung first and I dodged with a smile on my face. It pissed him off and he charged again. What a f*cking idiot. This was going to be fun.





NOW THAT I was just one of many watching Camden, I decided to take a week off. It felt good to relax and sit around the home I’d left for four months. It smelled exactly the way I left it and my bed had never felt so comfortable; except, something was missing. My brother gloated by sending me texts of how he and Camden were out at bars drinking. I could only imagine what else they were doing and who they were taking home. I didn’t give a rat’s ass who my brother screwed around with, but I’d spent months keeping women away from Camden. He was sure to make up for lost play time.

It wasn’t until just recently I’d figured out the underlying reason why I did that. I didn’t want to see him with other women. In fact, the thought outright pissed me off. Whatever Jason’s game was, it wasn’t funny. But I pretended all was right in the world and that their gallivanting about didn’t bother me.

My phone buzzed on the counter and I groaned. It was Friday night and everyone was expecting me to be at the bar. It was most likely Gabe wanting to challenge me in a game of pool. Too bad I didn’t plan on going. However, when I looked down at my phone it was Mason.