“This time it’ll stick.”
“Ha. Sure.” His friend suddenly broke out in a grin. “Hey, so when can I expect the deets about your lady friend? You know, the one you almost boned in the alley yesterday?”
He stifled a sigh. It had been too much to hope that Reed wouldn’t bring it up. “It was nothing,” he mumbled.
Reed smirked. “Didn’t look like nothing.”
“Well, it was.”
Liar.
All right, so maybe it had been the furthest thing from nothing. Maybe he’d stayed awake half the night thinking about Skyler. Maybe he’d jerked off three times before the arousal had finally dissipated, and even then, it still lingered under the surface, waiting for any opportunity to rear up again.
But he didn’t regret sending her away. If she didn’t have the word “relationship” written on her forehead in huge block letters, he might’ve given in and taken her to bed, but he got the feeling she was the kind of girl who wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than a commitment. Well, Gage didn’t do commitments. He wasn’t cut out for relationships—past experience had proved that—and he wasn’t about to risk breaking another heart.
Women like Skyler deserved better than a breathless, hurried screw outside a nightclub, and besides, she was only twenty-four, which made her way too young for him. Not that he was an old man at the ripe age of thirty, but Lord, he felt that way sometimes. Felt like he’d lived ten lifetimes already.
“Fine, I’ll drop it,” Reed said. “Just know that I wholeheartedly approve of last night or any future nights you might spend with your mystery girl. It was kinda hard to tell from a security feed, but she looked hot.”
Gage rolled his eyes again. Of course Reed approved. Hot was the only requirement the guy had for hooking up, with temporary coming in at a close second. Reed was a player to the core, and had been from the moment Gage met him, back when they were two punk-ass teenagers growing up in South Boston. They’d both dreamed of becoming professional MMA fighters, though Gage’s style leaned toward boxing while Reed was an out-and-out brawler, not above fighting dirty. And they’d both retired at the same time, taking the cash they’d earned over the years to open the club.
“Are you fighting tomorrow?”
The abrupt demand summoned an inward groan. “Yeah.” He kept his tone vague.
“Only one more after that, right?” Reed asked carefully.
“Two more.”
“And then you and Mitch are square?”
“Yep.”
“You sure about that?”
He met Reed’s uneasy expression head-on. “Damn sure.”
After a beat of silence, his friend heaved out a breath. “I sincerely hope Denny appreciates what you do for him, bro.”
“He does.”
“Yeah? ’Cause I don’t see a lot of gratitude coming your way.” Reed took a quick drag, this time polite enough to exhale in the opposite direction. “Look, you and I go way back. Which means Denny and I go way back too. And in all these years, not once have I heard a thank you leave that little bastard’s mouth.”
Gage stiffened. “Watch it, man. He’s my brother.”
“Doesn’t make him any less of a bastard.” Reed leaned forward and snuffed out his cigarette in the ashtray. “The way I see it, a real man cleans up his own messes.”
He didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer. Because Reed was right. Denny always took the easy way out, and for Denny, the easy way meant handing his problems over to his big brother to fix.
Gage wasn’t stupid, though. He knew he was fully to blame for Denny’s dependence on him. His fault for cutting his kid brother too much slack. But Denny wasn’t as strong as him. He wouldn’t have survived their childhood if Gage hadn’t been around to protect him.
It hadn’t come as much of a surprise when Denny grew up to be an addict. Gage’s little brother was too weak to deal with real-life problems. He preferred to hide behind the high and let Gage bail him out whenever he messed up.
But Reed was right about another thing—Gage couldn’t keep rescuing his brother. He might’ve signed up for three months’ worth of bruises, cuts, and broken ribs to keep Denny out of danger, but after he paid off his brother’s debt, he was done. Cutting him loose for good this time.
Un-fucking-likely. You’ll never stop protecting him.
He ignored the internal accusation. Mostly because it was too depressing to dwell on.
“Anyway, I’d wish you luck for tomorrow, but we both know you don’t need it.” Reed looked ready to say more, but the loud buzzing of his phone interrupted the conversation. He swiped the handset off the desk and answered with a quick, “Yeah?” Then he paused, and the shit-eating grin that stretched across his face raised Gage’s hackles—especially since it was directed at him.
“Take her up to Gage’s office. He’s on his way.” Reed hung up, the smile widening. “Guess what, bro? You’ve got a visitor.”
His pulse sped up at the same time an exasperated breath flew out of his mouth.
Goddamn her. He’d told her not to come back.
“So…it was nothing, huh?” Reed’s expression conveyed sheer and total enjoyment.
Gage bit back a curse, then left the office without another word.
Chapter Three
Skyler paced the small office, already second-guessing her decision to show up tonight…until the door swung open and her nerves evaporated like a puff of steam.
The man who appeared in the doorway was even sexier than she remembered. Decked out in all black, he lingered for a beat before stepping inside and shutting the door behind him.
The closer he got, the faster her heart raced. She devoured the sight of him, the form-fitting pants hugging his long, muscular legs, the snug T-shirt molded to his sculpted chest. Her mouth ran dry when she spotted the tattoos curling out from his sleeves. No color, just black flames and curved designs inked into his tanned flesh, making him look dangerous and badass and really, really hot.
“Why did you come back?” A deep rasp, his eyes glimmering with equal doses of irritation and desire.
“You know why.”
Skyler had never felt more brazen as she met him halfway. She didn’t touch him or lean in to kiss him, but you’d think she had with the way his gaze flooded with heat.
“I meant what I said last night, Skyler—you don’t need or want a man like me in your life.”
So resigned, which only heightened her curiosity, her need to get to know this man. “You act like I’m here to propose marriage.” She smiled faintly. “But we both know I came for something else. Gage.”
His eyes narrowed. “You asked around about me.”
“Actually, I Googled you.”
“Yeah, and what’d you find out?” He didn’t look angry, just intrigued.
“That you really do own this club. That you used to be a professional fighter. And as far as I can tell, you’ve never been arrested for a crime.”
“I see.” He slanted his head. “And that’s good enough for you, huh? You’re still prepared to let a total stranger fuck you? To spread your legs and let me shove my cock inside you?”