Tyler's Undoing (Gloves Off #1)(9)

“I simply don’t date steroid-taking brutes who walk around thinking they’re God’s gift to women. You’re just not my type. Nice to meet you, Tyler. Have a good day.” With those last words, I turned on my heel and stalked off, leaving him to stare incredulously at my back.

I had to say . . . his reaction was priceless.





“DUDE, I THINK you lost your touch,” Cole teased, chuckling loudly. He was standing with Bree, so I walked over and joined them, after I watched the feisty, blonde-haired vixen walk out the front doors. So I’m not her type, huh? We’ll see about that.

Cole Bennett was one of my closest friends and competing in his second year for the Light Heavyweight title. He also had a smart ass mouth, which I needed to make sure took a hard hit the next time I sparred with him. He was one of the good fighters, but his mouth was sure to get him into trouble one day. Most could say that about me too, especially when I joked around with my friends and their women. Pushing the limits was what I was good at, plus I had fun doing it.

Bree smiled apologetically and shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry about that, Tyler. What did she say to you?”

“Well, let’s see,” I started. “I commented on how beautiful she was. Then, she basically called me a steroid-taking douche bag. How’s that for a recap? I take it she got her heart broken recently?”

“I don’t think so,” Bree replied, furrowing her brows. “She’s never said anything to me about it. I honestly thought she’d go for you, out of all the people here. I guess I was wrong.”

Cole chuckled again and slapped me on the arm. “Face it, Rushing. You’re just upset she shot you down. You can’t always win them all you know.”

“That’s not what I was doing,” I countered matter-of-factly. Then admitted to Bree, “I mean, yeah, maybe I was trying to subtly hit on her by giving her compliments, but usually girls go for honesty and all that shit. Also, I figured being your friend and all, she would’ve heard good things about us.”

“I did talk you up,” she claimed wholeheartedly. “Kacey has a lot going on right now, so that’s probably what her problem is. I don’t know if she’d want me telling you her life story, but she has it kind of rough right now. She moved here about a year ago, and she doesn’t have many friends.”

She paused and quickly glanced at Cole, then back to me, sighing. “We both work in the bar at AquaKnox. That’s how I met her. I thought getting her out and meeting other people would be good for her. I hope in time she’ll come around and start having some fun. It took me forever to get her to even come here with me.”

I wondered what was going on with her. Not that I ever gave a shit about that kind of stuff, but there was something about Kacey that interested me. Maybe it was that she turned me down and I saw her as a challenge. I didn’t like to lose at anything.

“Are you working this weekend?” Cole asked Bree.

“Yeah, it’s our weekend to work. Why?”

Cole glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and smiled. We were on the same page.

“Because,” I cut in, “maybe we could all do something together, after you get off of work. Do you think Kacey would be up for that?”

She bit her lip and peered hesitantly at us both. “I’m not sure. After the way she just acted, I don’t know what to think. What exactly do you have in mind?”

Grinning from ear to ear, I quirked a brow. “Well, you said she just moved here, right? Meaning, she probably hasn’t seen much of Vegas. I think I have an idea on how to break the ice.”

Bree tilted her head to the side. “Hmm . . . I don’t know if I like that mischievous look in your eyes, but I’m down for whatever you have in mind. We both get off of work at ten-thirty, so make sure you let me know what’s going on.”

Cole bumped her in the arm. “I’ll text you and tell you what the plan is.”

Giggling, Bree reached down to grab her gym bag. “I guess we’ll see you both then. Make sure it’s something fun.” Turning on her heel, she started to walk off, but I had one last request.

“Bree,” I called out.

She circled around. “Yeah?”

“Don’t tell her I’m going to be there, okay? I’m pretty sure she’d bail if she knew.”

“Tyler, I’m not stupid,” she exclaimed. “And believe me, she’d get out of it. Kacey is one of the most determined girls I’ve ever met. I hope you know what you’re getting in to. She deserves a good guy.”

Unlucky for her, I wasn’t a good guy.

“If you call me tonight maybe we can come up with a plan to break the ice before then. I have some ideas to get her warmed up.”

“Sounds good,” I replied. “I’ll get your number from Cole.”

Smiling one last time, she turned on her heel and stalked off. Cole didn’t say another word until she walked out of the building. “Okay, Rushing, what’s your end game? I’ve never seen you put out this kind of effort to get a piece of ass, not even for Gabriella.”

Obviously, Kacey was going to make me work for it. “I don’t know. There’s something about her that’s different. Maybe it’s the outright loathing she has for fighters that turns me on. There’s just something about her that’s unattainable, and you know how much I like that.”