Tyler's Undoing (Gloves Off #1)(44)

“I know,” I told her, stepping to the side, holding Kacey tighter. “I’m going to take her back to the room so she can get some rest. We had a busy day, I think a little relaxation is in order.”

Gabriella nodded at Bree and Cole before turning back to me, sneaking a quick glance at Kacey. By the look in her eyes, she knew Kacey was more than just one of my groupies. However, I could tell she was happy for me by the small smile splayed across her lips.

“Well, you all take care and I hope she gets to feeling better. Dehydration isn’t fun. But I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the fight.”

“We’ll be there.”

She smiled at us all and waved before taking a seat at the bar, where none other than Bradley Thompson sat glaring at me. Some things would never change. He didn’t like any of Gabriella’s friends, especially me because I was the one who took her away from him. But now he had her back.

“Let’s go to our room, beautiful,” I murmured in Kacey’s ear. Her eyes were closed, but I knew she wasn’t asleep from how tense she was in my arms. “She’s gone, Kacey. You have nothing to worry about with her. You are the one I want to be with.”

She relaxed just a little bit, but not much.

“Tyler, I’m going to have Kacey’s food boxed up and we’ll bring it up to you,” Bree offered. “She needs to eat something.”

I nodded and started out of the restaurant. When I got to the room, I carried Kacey straight to the bedroom and laid her down so I could fetch her a bottle of water. Lying beside of her, I pulled her into my arms and brushed the hair off of her face. “Are you hungry?”

“No,” she whispered. “I’m just really tired.”

Opening the bottle of water, I lifted her up in my arms and pressed it to her lips. “I know you’re tired, but you need to drink more . . . and I also know you’re pissed about Gabriella.”

Sighing, she opened her lips and slowly drank half of the bottle before lying back down on my chest and closing her eyes. “She’s always going to be there,” she whispered regretfully. “I can’t compete with her constantly being around you.”

Holding her tighter, I caressed my fingers up and down her back and kissed her forehead. “You’re wrong,” I murmured. “She can’t compete with you.”

I was hoping she would talk to me or at least acknowledge that she heard me, but once her breathing started to slow, I knew she was asleep. I needed to find a way to convince her.





By late morning, I was dressed and ready to go to the arena, but Kacey was still asleep. She had gotten up in the middle of the night to drink another bottle of water and went straight back to sleep, without saying a word. I could still feel the tension between us.

Her skin looked normal, not pale and definitely not clammy and cold like it was last night, which made me feel a little bit more comfortable. I still hated leaving for the arena without talking to her.

“Do you want me to wake her up?” Bree asked. “She’s going to be pissed if we leave without her.” Bree and Cole had been sitting in the living room for the past twenty minutes, while I kept watch over Kacey, hoping she’d open her eyes.

I didn’t want her angry, but more importantly I didn’t want her being miserable in the stands with screaming people all around. “Yeah, but she needs her rest,” I interjected. “If you’ve ever been dehydrated before I’m pretty sure you’d choose rest over sitting in a crowded arena. I can only hope she’ll understand why we left her.”

In her hands, she held a black and green MMA Pride T-shirt that matched the one she was wearing. Setting it down on the coffee table, she agreed, “I understand. If you don’t want her mad at you, you can always suck up by ordering her favorite Godiva chocolates. It is the way to win any girl’s heart.”

Cole snorted and threw his hands in the air. “And why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“Because,” she explained, smiling wickedly up at him, “I had to make you work for it.” Laughing, she kissed him on the cheek and then turned back to me, her smile waning. “I just know she’ll want to see you fight, Tyler. But I understand that we need to leave her alone.”

“She’ll get plenty of chances to see him fight, Bree,” Cole replied, putting his arm around her shoulders. “You, however, are going to get to see me kick Pax’s ass tonight.” By the excited gleam in his eyes, he was ready for his fight against Paxton Emerson, one of Kyle’s friends.

“Let’s hope so,” Bree agreed. “I’m tired of seeing your ass get handed to you by Tyler every day.”

“Have you seen this guy?” Cole asked, pointing at me, laughing. “He’s f*cking huge, just like his father. There’s no way in hell I’ll ever beat him.” He turned his gaze toward me. “Speaking of which, is he coming tonight?”

“Yeah, he’s in town. He called about thirty minutes ago to tell me he was on his way to the arena. My agent’s going to meet us there too.”

Both had just landed at the airport and they were going to ride over together. Instead of staying overnight, my father decided to get a flight home directly after the fight so he could get back to my mother.

“Why don’t you guys head on and I’ll see you at the arena in a few minutes. I need to do something first,” I told them.