Fighting for Love (Second Chances #4)(46)
“Really? Who? What do you say to them?”
Nonchalantly, he shrugged and said, “Let’s see … the last time it was Parks Miller and you know how he used to think he was the shit being the quarterback and all, right?”
I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Oh yes, I remember him very well.”
How could I forget him? Matt didn’t know, but Parks used to try to get me to go out with him all the time. He didn’t understand how a girl like me could ever like a guy like Matt. Parks was basically the leader of my group of friends, but when I started spending more time with Matt and not with them they began to shun me.
Trying hard not to laugh, Matt continued with his story, “So anyway, I’m being interviewed after a fight and he comes up talking about how we went to school together and hung out. It was funny because I knew who he was, but as serious as I could be I looked dead at him and said I had no idea what the hell he was talking about. Then I turned right back around to the guy interviewing me.”
Snickering, I looked up at him in admiration. “Good for you. I bet he hated that, but it serves him right for being such a jackass.”
Matt’s face lit up and he laughed. “Oh, you should’ve seen the video. His face turned bright red before he marched away. The thing is, if I didn’t have to work every day after school I’m sure I would’ve been a better quarterback than him.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I agreed.
Finally, we had made it to the dressing rooms where all of the fighters were able to change clothes and get prepared for their fights. Garrett and Carter were talking heatedly up ahead, and when they saw us Garrett came rushing up, his face a mask of worry. Carter followed close behind. They both glared at me, which didn’t make me feel too comfortable, and by the look on Matt’s face he knew something was up; he could spot a problem a mile away.
“What’s going on?” Matt asked.
Both Garrett and Carter glanced quickly my way, and then to Matt. “Uh … there’s a slight problem with your room,” Garrett said. “I think there’s a … something wrong with …” He fumbled for the right words and it was obvious he was trying to think of something to say off the top of his head. He wasn’t doing a very good job.
“Leak,” Carter finished while gaping at Garrett. Rolling his eyes, he turned back to Matt and said, “There’s a water leak in your room and it needs to be fixed. I think someone will be down here soon. Why don’t you two go walk around or something.”
Incredulously, Matt scoffed and walked right past them, dragging me along. “Guys, really? You know I used to work in construction before I started fighting. Leaky pipes are nothing.”
When I peered over my shoulder at them, Carter and Garrett both mouthed the word ‘no’ and shook their heads. What the hell was going on? We were almost to Matt’s room when I jumped in front of him, stopping him with my hands on his chest.
“Hey, you don’t need to be dealing with all of that before your fight. Come on, show me around the arena. I’ve never been here before,” I told him in mock excitement. Whatever was going on I knew I had to keep him out of his room.
Matt guffawed and reached for the handle on the door. “Angel, I promise I’ll show you around the arena once I help them fix this. I do have other skills besides fighting.”
As soon as he opened the door and walked in, I held my breath and closed my eyes. I didn’t have to look to know it was Carter who flanked me on my right because I could feel the tension pouring off of him.
“This isn’t going to be good,” he warned. “I don’t know what’s going on, but whatever you have with Kyle is going to f*ck him up.”
The moment he said Kyle’s name, I immediately opened my eyes and all I could see was red. What the hell had he done now? As soon as I rushed into the room, I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands as I stood there, frozen in horror gazing about the room.
“Oh my God,” I cried frantically, disgusted at the sight before me. “Matt, this isn’t what it looks like, you know this.”
He stood there with his back to me and I had no idea what he was thinking because he hadn’t said a single word. All over the room there were pictures scattered on the chairs, the floor, and on the table of me and Kyle when I thought he was Caleb. Shaking with rage, I grabbed a handful and crushed them in my hands.
If there was ever a time when I wanted to seriously cause someone bodily damage it was now, especially when Garrett and Carter looked at me as if I was the biggest whore on the planet; both wore scowls and sneers of disgust. They had no clue what was going on.
Someone had secretly taken pictures of me and Kyle when we were together, and they were all with us either touching or kissing. The ones when we were alone at the beach were the worst because we were lying on the sand and I’d let him touch me without restraint. There were even some when we were in the bedroom at Hayley’s house, after he’d pushed me onto the bed and started kissing me. I intentionally kept mine and Kyle’s intimate moments from him for good reason, but now he was seeing it all up close. The decision to protect him just blew up in my face.
Matt still hadn’t said anything and that scared me most of all. He should know it was all a setup, that it didn’t mean anything. My heart thundered in my chest as I waited there, scared to breathe for fear that any sound would set Matt off. He was a ticking time bomb ready to explode and I had no idea if I was going to be blown up with it.