“Nothing.” I sit up, run my hand through my hair. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s how to hide what I feel and who I am. Even Blade Saw, my best friend and business partner, doesn’t know about Club Sin.

    “Maybe you should’ve taken a day off after the big fight.” He racks the bar for me and pulls off the weights. “You could have gotten lucky last night. That ring girl who was falling all over you after the fight was at Score asking about you.”

    “Not my type,” I mutter.

    “What about Penny?” He adds lighter weights to the bar, and we change positions. “The way you went after that bastard over at the pool table, I thought you were finally gonna make your move.”

    “What do you mean ‘finally’?” I lift the bar off the rack and hold it while Blade Saw lies on the bench and adjusts his grip.

    He looks up at me and grins. “Everyone knows you’ve got a thing for her. That’s why we all stay away.”

    “I don’t have a fucking thing for her.” I purposely drop the weight a few seconds before he’s ready, and he grunts in annoyance. “She’s a friend.”

    “Sure. You risked your career beating on Juice Can in the middle of the stadium after a professional fight ’cause she’s a friend.”

    “You want that bar on your fucking throat?” I don’t know what the hell is wrong with Blade Saw. Usually he’s the most laid-back member of the team, always chill, never rocking the boat, never prying into a dude’s business…

    He pushes the bar up, his arms shaking with the effort. “So.” He locks and lowers, straining against the weight. “If you’re not interested in Penny, I’m gonna ask her out.”

    Jesus fucking Christ. Not going to happen. I can’t have her, and it’s not fair of me to stand in the way, but Blade Saw and Penny?

    “Her friend Cora was checking you out.” I try a diversion tactic instead of breaking my best friend’s arm.

    “Seriously?” Blade sits up on the bench. “She was hot, and my family would love to see me with a Southern girl.”

    As did mine. And now Avery is part of the family. Just not with me.

    “I didn’t think she’d go for a guy who only had a business degree,” he continues. “She’s super smart. She’s getting a master’s in engineering.”

    “You’re not a moron.” I pat him on the back. “I wouldn’t have gone into the distillery business with you if you were.”

    “Gee, thanks.”

    His gaze flicks over to the workout area where Fuzzy, a cop by day and MMA coach by night, is teaching his Punch or Perish class that I’m doing my best not to watch because Penny and Cora are there. So far, I’ve only looked over every thirty seconds or so, preparing myself in case Penny gets it into her head to talk to me about last night.

    “Maybe they’d be interested in a threesome,” he muses. “I could have them both.”

    Don’t hit him. Don’t hit him. Don’t hit him.

    I hit him.

    “What the fuck?” Blade Saw jumps up, holding his jaw. Fucking pansy. It was only a light jab.

    “Slipped.”

    His face twists into a scowl. “You think I don’t know you, but I do. What’s the worst that can happen? You ask her out and she says no. You move on. Look at me. I fell for Sandy. Got dumped. Got back together with her. Got dumped. Fell for Jess. Got dumped. Not much of my heart left, but I’m still standing and taking shit from you.”

    “I’m not good for her,” I say honestly. “She’s sweet and innocent. She looks like she stepped out of one of those romance movies where they run through fields of flowers. She needs a good guy, a nice guy. Not someone like me.”

    Blade Saw snorts a laugh and wipes himself down with a towel. “Are we talking about the same Penny? The girl who jumped on stage and rocked it with the death metal front man or who goes crazy on the dance floor whenever we’re at a bar? The girl who tore the head off one of the submission dummies and made it through Fuzzy’s beginner classes in record time? You’ve got selective vision, my friend. There’s a lot more to her than sweetness and light.”

    And there’s more to me than even my best friend knows. We all have our secrets. But some are more dangerous than others, and there’s no way I could ever involve Penny in the dark side of my life.

    * * *

    After working out with Blade Saw, I meet my coach, Andy, to go over the schedule for next week. It took me a while to get used to the fact that going pro is not a solo event. In addition to MEFC, I now have a team behind me, including my manager James, my agent, a fitness trainer, a public relations consultant, and a nutritionist. Torment is also part of my team as a coach. They handle all the details so I can focus on training for the next fight.

    We spend a few hours going over some new moves and practicing technique before I finally hit the shower, then head out the door.

    “Rampage.”

    Although I’ve managed to avoid Penny all evening, my hopes of a clean escape are dashed when I hear the tap of heels on the floor behind me. Damn Penny and her sexy little shoes. Most men love women in stilettos, and at Club Sin, the rule is the higher the better. But Penny, in those fucking little heels with the sides cut out, drives me insane.

    Everything about Penny drives me insane. From her silky brown hair to her creamy complexion, and from her soft curves to her feminine clothes. If I wasn’t who I was, with the secret she now knows, I would have asked her out the first day she stepped foot in Redemption. But girls like Penny don’t belong with sadists like me. I learned that lesson the hard way.

    “Can I talk to you?” She runs up behind me, catching my arm as I push open the door.