More and more guys crowd around the ring to watch as we duel, all of them calling my name in support and spurring me on.
“Come on, Shorty. Knock him on his pretentious arse,” a familiar voice booms over the others.
Glancing over, I find Xander standing there with a wide, proud smile on his face.
‘You got this,’ he mouths, giving me the confidence boost I needed.
Theo is still drinking from the bottle of water someone gave him when I fly at him, knocking it from his hand and sending it spinning across the gym.
I lock down every single emotion other than the anger and hate he ignites in me, and I lay into him with everything I have.
My muscles scream, my lungs burn, but fuck, as the sweat starts to cover both of our bodies, I’m pretty sure I’ve never felt better.
“Umph,” Theo grunts when I manage to swipe his feet out from beneath him and he lands on his back so hard it sends a tremor through my body.
I don’t give him even a second to recover though, jumping on top of him and wrestling him hopefully to victory.
“Come on, Shorty. You can do this,” Xander screams as I pin Theo’s hands to the mat above his head.
I stare down at him, our eyes locking as our chests heave.
Damn locks of hair that have escaped my band hang around my face, and sweat trickles down my spine as I wait for victory to be announced.
A smile twitches at his lips, and I can’t help but grind my hips down on his when I feel him growing hard beneath me.
“Gotta say, Hellcat,” he says between heaving breaths. “I’m impressed.”
I scoff, not wanting any kind of praise from him.
“Five,” someone shouts, finally beginning the countdown to my epic win. “Four.
“But,” he says, his eyes darkening and his smirk growing wider.
“Two.”
“Not that impressed.”
A squeal rips from my lips as he flips us.
We switch positions, his grip on my wrists so tight I swear my bones rub together.
“You started celebrating too early, babe. Take this as a lesson. Never assume victory until it’s called.”
“I hate you,” I seethe, trying to buck beneath him, but he’s like a lead fucking weight pinning me into the mat.
“You sure, or do you just hate how much you want me?”
“Five,” someone calls again as he lowers down, bringing our noses so close they almost touch.
“Arse. Hole.”
“Aw, come on, Hellcat. We both know you can do better than that,” he taunts.
“Fine, you self-righteous, self-absorbed, pretentious, arrogant arsehole. I hope karma fucks you up the arse with a cactus for this bullshit. Sideways.”
“Fuck, It gets me all fired up when you tell me you love me,” he breathes, his eyes locked on my lips.
“Two.” I barely hear the countdown as electricity crackles between us.
“You must be gutted you lost, babe,” he drawls. “Now you’re not going to get anything you want.”
“One.”
A wide, smug smile lights up his face but he doesn’t sit up. He doesn’t move a fucking inch.
“Get off me, wanker.”
But he does the fucking opposite despite my attempt to move him.
The tip of his tongue runs along the edge of my jaw, tasting me until his nose hits my ear.
“That’s the thing though, Emmie.” A shiver rips through me, hearing him growl my name. “You might be getting me hard as fuck with your sinful body and wicked words. But the only person who’s going to be making me come any time soon is you.”
Desire shoots through me like a lightning strike and my thighs clench, something I know he hasn’t missed.
“Run out of Vaseline already, boss?” I quip.
A growl rumbles deep in his chest.
“And you can deny it all you like, but I know just how badly you want to make me fall apart for you right now. How much you want to give in and get on your knees before me.”
“Fuck you,” I hiss, my breathing only coming faster as the image he so vividly painted plays out in my mind.
“Nah, because you didn’t win, so you’re not calling the shots. I am.”
A gasp rips from my lungs as he suddenly jumps up, allowing a rush of cold air to race over my burning skin.
“Aw, don’t be a sore loser, babe. It was a good fight.”
He grins down at me and holds his hand out to help me up.
Ignoring it, I push to my feet, my eyes lingering on the more than obvious boner he’s sporting behind his shorts.
“There’s only one loser here, Cirillo. And that’s the one standing looking with a hard-on for a girl he can’t have. I suggest you stop in the shop on the way home and buy yourself a new tub of lube, because you’ve got some long, lonely nights ahead of you.”
“It’s cute that you think I care that these arseholes know I want you. Hell, I bet most of them are hard for you right now too.”
I scoff, keeping my eyes on him, not wanting to look at anyone else and have that statement confirmed.
He surges forward, his hot fingers wrapping around my throat as a gasp ripples through our spectators.
“Only difference is, I’ll be the only one to witness you begging when you come to your senses and realise just how badly you need me.”
“Wrong. I’ve got all I need in my top drawer. As you well know. And,” I add for good measure, “I’ve got a box of brand new batteries ready for tonight.”
“Now that is something I’d pay to see, Hellcat.”
The thought of him standing on the other side of my window watching me makes my insides turn to molten lava.
“Maybe I’ll leave my curtains open. Give you a good show.”
His fingers tighten on my throat in warning, but his eyes burn with lust at the suggestion.
The seconds tick by as we stare at each other, the tension crackling so loud I’m sure everyone around us must be able to hear it.
One second I’m convinced he’s about to slam his lips down on mine and make me forget my own goddamn name with his drugging kisses, and then the next, I’m stumbling back and colliding with the ropes as Xander drags Theo away from me and throws him into the opposite ones.
“Get the hell out of here,” he growls in his face.
I’m unable to rip my eyes from them as they square up to each other.
“Xan,” Gunner shouts from the sidelines.
Neither of them reacts to him. Hell, they don’t even move.
“You fucking care about her at all, then you’ll walk away right now.”
Theo’s jaw tics as he glares pure death at Xander.
But something in his words must break through, because after a couple more tense seconds, Theo’s eyes dart to mine.
“Yeah,” he says. “I won, so I get to choose what happens next.”
My heart pounds, assuming that he’s going to make some kind of asinine request. But after allowing his eyes to take a leisurely trip around my body, he takes a step back.
“I’ll see you soon, Hellcat. Don’t forget that promise you made me about the curtains.” He winks before ducking under the rope, swiping his discarded hoodie and t-shirt from beside the reception desk and blowing out of the gym like he didn’t just make the world shift beneath me.