I pushed myself up to my feet and said, “You don’t know anything.” Then the room spun, and I fell back into my chair. “Shit. I can’t date Ian anyway. He doesn’t want me. But I like Chris. We kiss.”

Chris and I had kissed a few times since we started dating, yet I still wasn’t sure I even wanted to be dating him. One thing was for sure—Alexa’s nagging wasn’t helping me figure it out.

Ty reached across the table and put his hand on mine. “She’s right, you know.” He leaned in. “I was at the last fight. I saw how you were with Chris. He jumped in to save you from that guy who was bugging you, and you barely said thank you to him before you ran back to sit next to me, and your eyes were on Ian the entire time.”

“So? Was I supposed to be all, ‘Oh, my hero!’? I’m not like that. I can take care of myself.”

Ty’s eyes widened. “Are you listening to yourself right now? You are so full of shit. That whole evening, you had been telling me how you liked to pretend the fighters were fighting for your honor.” He lifted his hand as if to wave me off.

I responded by waving him off too, but didn’t say a word. Damn, I had to be drunk. Usually I had a comeback for this kind of stuff.

“Whatever, MacKenzie. And then there was the way you kept on flying to the cage anytime Ian was hit.”

“That’s my job,” I said. God, what the hell was this, an intervention?

“What about the ride to the ER? What was that in the back of my car? I saw him holding you. Damn, y’all are both idiots.”

They might be right, I did like Ian, but so what, he would never be mine, and I still thought I could make things work with Chris. Maybe. “Can we please talk about something else?” I said, flagging down a waitress and ordering another round of shots.

Ty and Alexa shared a look, then relaxed a little, leaning back in their seats. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that their prying was over, for now anyway.

I abandoned any thoughts of getting laid, realizing that wasn’t what I wanted or needed. As for what I did want, I had no idea, so I tried not to think about it, instead throwing back a few more shots than I should have, forcing us to leave before the club even got busy.

On the way home I passed out in the back seat.

When I woke up, we were parking in front of Alexa’s house. She and Ty helped me inside and set me on the sofa.

“Alexa, I’m really sorry about tonight. You guys are right, Ian is totally flipping awesome. He’s hot, right? But he’s also so sweet. Did you know he’s teaching me self-defense?”

Alexa smiled. “Get some rest.” She pulled a blanket up over me, and I was out again.

Eighteen

Ian

It felt good to be back at the gym. Chris’s gym, that is. I was only there to talk business with Chris, still doing all my training at the home gym, but I was going stir crazy, and it was great to see the guys again.

“Hey, gimpy,” Chris said to greet me when I walked into his office.

“Hey, douche-roll.” I sat down on the couch. “I see you’re still running this place into the shitter.”

“You didn’t see the new talent when you came in?” he asked.

I assumed he was talking about the guy who was making meatloaf out of one of the guys in the practice cage. “Where did you find him?”

“That’s Jonah. He’s the guy I brought in to train with you.”

“Yeah, uh, I don’t know if you noticed, but I can’t really fight right now.” I pointed at the arm strapped to my chest in a brace.

“He was looking for a new gym and excited about moving to the city, so I told him to come anyway. He’s integrated into the family quite well.”

“What is he, welterweight?” I asked.

Chris shook his head. “Nope, he’s middleweight, just like you. He’s already had several pro fights. You need to hurry up and get yourself back together so you can try him out.”

“We’re working on it.” I looked out through the one-way glass to the gym’s treadmill. It was empty.

“She doesn’t work today.”

“Huh?” I turned back to him. “Yeah, I know. How are things going with you two?” I hadn’t meant to ask, but when it came to MacKenzie, I couldn’t help myself. I had to know.

He nodded. “All good. I’m thinking about asking her to come with us to Vegas for the fight. Obviously it would be good to have her there to help you with your last-minute training, but I also thought it would be nice to stay after with her and do a long weekend.”

Fuck. That was what I got for asking. Now I couldn’t find my stupid words. And to make it worse, I think my mouth might have been hanging open.

“What? You think it’s too soon?”

I shrugged, then shook my head. “I don’t know, dude. I’m not dating her, you are. Have you asked her yet?”

“No, I was hoping to ask her this Friday. I have a big date planned, and I thought that would be the big reveal at the end.”

I hated this conversation. I knew I needed to stay out of MacKenzie’s love life, but that didn’t mean I wanted to hear about other people enjoying her.

Thankfully my phone buzzed. I dug it out of my pocket. It was Sophia.

“Hey, Sis. Where the hell have you been?” I got up and motioned to Chris that I had to take the call, and stepped out of the office.

“Hi, Ian.” Her voice sounded overly casual. “I’ve been busy. Sorry I haven’t called you back. Look, I need a little help…do you think you could loan me some money?”