Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
I know Finn fought Dane like he could fight the world all at once without being fazed. But fighting a second-string football player from upstate with pretty-boy tendencies is a completely different animal from fighting a professional like Donnie Marks.
“Place your bets!” Lexi announces loudly over the din of excited hysteria in the room. People rattle off numbers and toss cash to both her and the runners, and somehow, she seems to keep up with it all.
“Fuck this,” Ace says and presses a soft kiss to Julia’s forehead. “I’m going up there. Even if it’s just to give moral support. Stay here, Lia.”
As he breaks away from the group and pushes through the people in front of us, I follow.
Julia yells my name and reaches for me, but I’m swallowed by the choking crowd of people before she can make contact. I glance back to see Blake pull her into the safety of his side, and when I turn around, I run right into Ace, who’s stopped to face me. “Scottie, what are you doing?”
“The same as you. I can’t just stand back there and watch.” I stare at him as he studies me, his eyes narrowing. I know I’m just supposed to sit back and keep my mouth shut, but Finn Hayes just kissed me, for shit’s sake. I’m not going to watch him get killed from a distance.
“Fucking hell,” Ace mutters and grabs my hand, dragging me to the front so quickly I have to run to keep up. He shoves into the thick crowd, forcing our way into a spot right behind Finn where he sits in a chair in the corner of the ring, getting his wrists and knuckles taped by a guy I’ve never seen before. Finn’s shirt is off, and his feet are bare, leaving only his jeans covering his long legs.
“You sure about this, Finn?” Ace questions loudly, but Finn doesn’t respond. It’s like he can’t even hear us. His eyes are fixated on his opponent across the ring.
“Final bets!” Lexi announces. “Final bets!”
People hold out cash and shout toward several bet attendants in the crowd, one of whom I think might be my calculus TA, and my throat nearly closes on itself.
“Son of a bitch,” Ace mutters and runs a hand through his hair before shouting toward Lexi, “I’ve got five hundo on Finn!”
“Ace!” I hiss. I can’t believe he’s getting involved in this right now. Lexi quirks a brow, pointing in our direction, and Ace snags five one-hundred dollar bills out of his wallet and holds them out toward the ring.
“What?” he whispers in my ear. “It’s not like I’m betting against him!”
“You heard him, Connor,” Lex commands a guy with auburn hair. “Five hundred from Ace Kelly.” Connor grabs Ace’s cash, and Lex records something on her clipboard.
I shuffle from side to side as people shove us from behind, and Ace glances over to the spot where we left Julia and Blake. Blake jerks up his chin, and Julia waves. All is good back there.
I shake my head. I sure as hell wish I felt like all was good up here. Lexi gives a nod to the guy with auburn hair, tosses him the mic, and climbs out of the ring to come stand by Ace and me as a bell rings and Finn and Donnie both stand in their corners.
My heart jumps into my throat and pounds there, choking me on my own saliva.
“You sure have a lot of confidence in your buddy,” Lex remarks to Ace, and he nods.
“Fuck yeah, I do.”
She eyes him closely and then smiles. “Good. Because I’ve got my money on him too.”
“We want a safe, clean fight, boys,” Connor announces into the mic as Finn and Donnie step toward the center of the ring. “No illegal shit, yeah? I went over the rules with you. Now, touch fists if you want.”
Donnie and Finn nod before bumping fists.
“All right!” Connor exclaims. “It’s time!”
Connor climbs out of the ring. A bell dings again. And the fight begins.
As Finn and Donnie circle each other, their eyes locked and their bodies in a defensive stance, vomit climbs the back of my throat to join my heart.
I don’t know anything about UFC fights or fighting in general, but I do know that Donnie and Finn at least appear equal in height and weight. Also, now that I’m seeing him with his shirt off, Finn Hayes is way more muscular than my brain could even imagine.
His muscles tense and flex as he jockeys from side to side in a way that would make girls turn a ten-second TikTok into a twenty-minute video, but my body is too hyped up on anxiety to think about anything but hoping Finn walks away from this fight okay.
Donnie throws out the first punch, and Finn dodges it with ease. But when he tosses out three more punches before I can even process the first, he manages to make contact on the last one. A dead shot to Finn’s nose. His head jerks back violently, and a shocked scream releases every vestige of air in my lungs.