18. Chapter Eighteen

18

Chapter Eighteen

Brittany

I ’ve been trying to lose Kieran for about two miles but he’s insistent on putting his life at risk to keep up. I’m mad at him, but I don’t want him dead so I slow down and head home knowing he’s going to pull in right behind me. I’m buzzing with anger by the time I pull into my spot. Long gone is the cloud I was walking on after giving him head behind the pool house. Or the bliss I was feeling when I told Clara we’re seeing each other. He let me believe that we were keeping this under wraps when really not only did he know everyone knew. He also was no longer speaking to his brothers if it didn’t have anything to do with work. I reach for my car door handle but the door is swung open by none other than Mr. tall, dark, and dickish.

“What the fuck, Brittany?” Woah he first named me, again. “Were you just seeing how fast my bike can go? Because I promise it tops out at a higher speed than your car does.”

“What the fuck is right, Kieran. I said I wanted to keep things quiet, so you just decided to leave out that your entire family knew already?” I’m screaming by the end of the sentence but I could give a shit less. He’s just as pissed as I am if not more, his body vibrating as he rips his helmet off his head.

“Excuse me for not offering that information up, I’ve been trying to fucking stay alive at work, build something real with you, and take down some of the biggest monsters on the coast. Forgive me for not correcting you and your need to hide me away like some toy you don’t want anyone to see you playing with.”

“That’s not true and you know it, and it looks like my reasons are valid after all. You’re not speaking to your brothers because of me. This is the exact thing I was worried about.”

“Yeah, that’s what you were worried about, my fucking brothers.” He’s cut off mid rant by his phone ringing. He pulls it out of his pocket and answers the call. I can’t hear what’s happening on the other side of the call, but I don’t need to. From Kieran’s side it’s clear as day. Especially when he says, “Yeah, that’s perfect, I’ll get Ryan and we’ll be at The Pit twenty minutes before my call time.”

He kills the call looking straight into my eyes, “I can’t do this right now. I have somewhere to be.”

“Kieran, if you leave right now to go fight, lose my number.”

He gives me a sad small smile and nods, “Have a good one, Brittany. I hope you’re not ashamed of the next man you decide to be with.”

His remark cuts deep just like he wanted it to. I’m not ashamed of him, nor have I ever been. Kieran’s life is somewhat in the public eye and I have a past. My own monsters are no doubt looking for me. Which if I had to guess, they have every intention of finishing what they started all those years ago. But he wouldn’t know that, because he didn’t care enough or stay long enough for us to have that conversation.

Kieran tosses his loops in and his helmet back on. Before I can stop him he’s flying out of the parking garage. I could call Clara or one of his brothers, but I can’t betray him like that. No matter how pissed off I am at him he trusted me with that information. There’s also that little fact that they don’t think I’m good enough for him. That’s the only reason that they’d be so mad at each other. Clara must have told them what she knows of my past. I can’t even be mad at her, that’s her real family. At the same time, I’m so mad he didn’t stay.

He swore.

* * *

Have you ever walked into a room and felt like everyone’s eyes were instantly on you? That uncomfortable feeling of being watched and judged? Like you want to run to the bathroom and make sure your dress isn’t tucked into your thong? Yeah, that’s exactly what I feel like as I walk into this run down warehouse. Women dressed in practically nothing. Men in different varieties of athletic wear.

I found this place by asking my coworker, Simone, about it. She’s a Jersey native and knew exactly what I was talking about. She works with the lawyer across the hall from Jax so we interact and see each other frequently. She asked if I wanted her to come with me, but I just promised her we’d go another time, and that I was meeting up with someone but his service cut out.

Now that I’m here I’m rethinking my plan. I’m only here to find Kieran, talk him into leaving, then go home. We can’t be together but I don’t want him to get hurt either. I’m slowly making my way around the room when the announcer fills the area, “And now, what we’ve all been waiting for. Kieeerannnn Byrrrrnnne.” Shit.

Kieran comes out from where I’m guessing the dressing rooms are and holy shit. I’ve seen so many versions of him. But this version? Black and silver gym shorts, hands wrapped, hair sweaty, his chest and abs on full display, and pumped with adrenaline. I’m pretty sure I just swallowed my tongue. Kieran makes his way to the middle of the ring and jumps around on the balls of his feet before moving to his corner and allowing Ryan to put some clear stuff on his brow. They’re whispering about something I obviously can’t hear but you can tell by their body language that whatever it is, they’re bickering. I don’t even realize that they’ve called Kieran’s opponent to the ring until he’s already in his corner too.

I try to push my way to the front when I smack right into a hard chest. Mumbling out a quick, “excuse me.” I try to keep walking when I feel a hand wrap around my arm.

“Brittany?”

Double shit, there’s no way. What are the odds? Reluctantly I bring my eyes up to the face I know for a fact belongs to that voice. Whiskey eyes lock onto mine. “Hey, Boss man?” Jackson stands in front of me in a baggy hoodie, basketball shorts, and sneakers with a black hat pulled low over his brow.

“Miss Mitchell, this is no place for someone like yourself.” He takes in my jeans, baggy sweater, and messy bun. I know the second he gets to my red and puffy eyes because his chest puffs up.

“Have you been crying?”

Before I can answer I hear the unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh. The sound almost taking me back to the nightmare the first fourteen years of my life was. Turning my head to the ring I see Kieran standing there arms spread out not even trying to defend himself.

“What the fuck is he doing.” Jackson and I whisper at the same time.

My eyes widen as Kieran’s opponent swings his foot out and connects with Kieran’s ribs causing him to stumble back. Everyone’s screaming so I know he can’t hear the terrified noise that escapes my throat, but at that exact moment his head snaps to where I am and his green eyes lock onto mine.

Something in his expression darkens as he starts fighting back. When they separate to take a break before the next round Kieran stalks over to Ryan throwing his hands out and yelling. Jax asks me something but I don’t hear him because those green eyes lock on mine with barely contained rage. What looks like hurt is shining through them like a beacon calling me to him.

Ryan throws his hands out yelling something else as he turns and walks away from Kieran and directly towards me. My eyes flint around the room looking for my escape when my feet start moving. It’s not until a few steps in that I realize Jax is leading me.

“Is that why you’ve been crying? Britt, do you need help? I can get you far away from him, but we have to go now.”

My feet stop on a dime as I look at him confused, “Yes. No. I mean—” Shaking my head I try again. “Yes, Kie is why I’ve been crying. No, I don’t need help.”

Jackson’s scanning my face for any sign of my lying when Ryan’s voice rings behind me.

“You heard her Hill, she doesn’t need help. If I were you I’d take your hands off Kie’s girl before he comes out of that ring. You remember what happened last time, right?” Ryan gently pulls me behind him, keeping one hand on my hip.

“Last time was a fluke, and we got the last laugh now didn’t we? If I was you I’d get back to your boy, he must be losing his touch.” He tilts his head towards Kieran who is currently too worried about what we’re doing to dodge half of the hits, nevertheless throw any. Jax smiles at me with his usual warmth and kindness.

“See you in a few days, Mitchell. Use my number if you need me before then.” Before waiting for my response he turns on his heels and disappears into the crowd. Ryan turns his menacing expression onto me.

“Want to explain to me how the fuck you know him? And why you’re here with him?”

“Nope.” I make sure to pop the P before pushing my way to the ring with Ryan on my heels. I’m pretty sure I hear him mumble “trouble” but I ignore him. This is all Kieran’s fault anyways. Ryan gently steers me to the corner where he was standing earlier.

Folding my arms and giving all the attitude I can muster I stand there and watch as Kieran finally decides to fight back. I can’t believe how graceful he looks bobbing and weaving. Even his punches look elegant while also powerful. I swear I blink and Kieran’s on the ground with his opponent underneath him. They flip a couple of times before Kieran has him in what looks like a headlock .

It isn’t five seconds later when the guy taps and Kieran’s hoisted off of him by the guy who’s acting as the ref. Kieran’s hand is raised in victory, and he turns his whole body my way. Lust, fire, happiness, and a little doubt shines in his eyes. My plan was to play hard to get for no other reason than my feelings are still hurt from earlier. I’ve spent all day crying because it was extremely apparent that I hurt his feelings, and no matter how hard I act hurting his feelings makes me really sad.

Kie on the other hand looks like a sex god walking around with his perfectly tan skin, even at the end of the winter. His eyes twinkle with something that makes my gut churn and his grin that typically has me melting at his feet has me second guessing myself. I mean he broke it off with me. What if he came here and had some pre-fight fun with some random girl. Maybe that smile isn’t really for me. No, I can’t handle that.

Turning on my heel to take off the way I came. Kieran’s hand, gentle but firm, wraps around my arm. He pulls me back around so I crash right into his sweaty, hard, pumped full of adrenaline bare chest. My breath is knocked straight from my lungs on impact and my eyes lock onto his. He looks like he’s teetering right on the edge of outrage and being extremely turned on.

“Not so fast, little darling . We have things to talk about.” He brings his hand down my arm, twining our fingers together. His lips find my ear as he whispers, “I am sorry, Brittany. I have a lot of questions and we need to talk about it all, but I need you to know right now that I should have stayed and I’m so sorry.”

“Stay? Swear?” My eyes mist over on their own accord.

“Yeah, baby. I’m staying. I swear.” He presses his lips to mine while picking me up by the backs of my thighs. When he pulls away he’s smiling. “I know we need to talk, but I’ve got a lot of adrenaline pumping in my veins…” He lets his sentence trail off and I laugh shaking my head at him.

“Take a ride on your bike then, Byrne. Because I’m closed for business until we talk this out.”

He pouts for a second before conceding and heading into the dressing rooms, “Okay, that’s fair.”