Fighter(21)

After a moment I nodded. He cared enough about her not to pull her into his world. My respect for Chris grew. I didn’t know what to say except, “Thank you.”

He laughed. “Don’t thank me for that. Thank me for keeping your brothers away today.”

“What?”

“Dean came to me. They’d figured out why Jax was fighting, and he wanted me to help him bring Jax in. I told him no. I needed my fighter to fight, and I reminded him that you’re probably here with the whole purpose of taking Jax to jail tonight.” He paused a beat. “You are, right?”

The crowd reached a deafening level. I leaned closer and said, “Yeah. I want to take him in.”

“I thought so. There’s a car waiting for you after this.”

And with that, we heard a thud from the ring. Jax had delivered the last punch. He stood above Charles, who was passed out on the floor: a knockout. Jax whirled around and threw me a grin. The referee called the match and held Jax’s arm up in victory. It was done.

Well, almost.

Chapter Nine

We didn’t take the ride Chris had offered. Jax insisted on riding in style, so we trucked it back toward the rented Camaro. The trip took forever. Without the anxiety of ducking and running from my brothers, Jax was more relaxed, which meant the charismatic Jax came out—or actually that just meant he wasn’t holding back or hunching down in his hooded sweatshirt anymore.

The hood went back, and he collected congratulations, fist pumps, and phone numbers left and right as we made our way down the sidewalk outside of Sally’s. Getting out of the parking lot was near impossible. A crowd formed around him with more congratulations, and because the doors had been left open, the music spilled out and a dance floor formed right in front of us. People stood on car hoods, sat on trunks, rode on other people’s shoulders, and a dance-off soon began. Jax started grinding against me. When people saw that, more drunken guys began thrusting their hips at us, moving in a circle. Jax kept one arm around my waist, anchoring me to him. He laughed and was clearly enjoying himself.

Then the shots started coming. A waitress brought a tray of them. Jax said no, but the guys next to him insisted on buying the whole thing. They wanted to drink with the champ. Soon mini cups of Jack, Jim, and Johnny were passed around everywhere. Our town wasn’t a big one, so when a local became the champion of the underground fighting ring—and he wasn’t a Monroe—it was a big deal.

“Hey!” Haley shoved past a couple of girls trying to get Jax’s attention. She gave them a dark look and winked at me.

I waited. She was going to do something.

She did. I watched as she purposefully moved backward into one girl, stepping on her feet. When the girl cried out, Haley whipped around. Her elbow got the other friend, but there were two more girls joining them. They were busy looking down, patting their breasts and plumping them up, so they didn’t see what they were walking into. As they drew closer, the friend Haley had gotten with her elbow stepped into them, bumping heads, and both of them fell back. One tripped and went to the ground. As she did, her skirt bunched up around her waist and left her entire thong exposed—well, not her thong, but everything else: asscheeks galore.

Her friends rushed to block her from view and help her, cursing at Haley, but Haley didn’t seem to mind. She drew up next to me with a satisfied smirk. This was how it had been when Jax and I were dating. Oh, I had not missed this.

Jax leaned over, still holding me securely in front of him, and rested his chin on my shoulder.

“Hey, Haley,” he said, and a good whiff of liquor came with his words. I wrinkled my nose.

Haley saw my reaction and chuckled again. Reaching into her purse, she took out a mint and held it up for Jax. “Congratulations on the big win.”

He took the mint and popped it in, wrapping his arm once again around me. “Thanks. I didn’t have to throw it or anything.”

“Now you just have to go to jail, huh?” She gave me a look.

“Yeah. I just want to celebrate a little bit,” he said. His hand spread out and slipped under my shirt.

Crap. He was drunk. It wasn’t illegal for him to be drunk, but it didn’t look good.

His fingers began rubbing back and forth over my stomach, and he nuzzled under my ear. One of his fingers dipped down, nestling inside my waistband. My body heat had gone up a notch as he began nibbling my skin, but when his finger dipped into my jeans, a furnace came on full blast. I started fanning myself.

Haley watched all of this with her lips pressed together. She disapproved. I didn’t care. I couldn’t care. What this man could do with a simple touch was beyond me.

“Yeah, well, now you just have to deal with Dale’s family,” she told him.

My family. My brothers. Jail.

The reminder cooled me right off, and I gave Haley a thankful look.

She harrumphed. “I figured.”

She wasn’t talking to Jax. That was meant for me, and I knew exactly what she meant. She knew we’d been intimate over the weekend.

I leaned away from Jax’s searching mouth. “What? You can’t blame me. Hello? You and Dylan. He’s my brother.”

“I haven’t jumped into the sack with your brother,” she said. Her cheeks grew pink. “And it’s called flirting.” She waved a finger at us. Jax caught the tip of my earlobe in his teeth. “That’s way beyond flirting, Dale. You can’t even lie to me about that.”