“Just a friend.” I finish slipping on my shoes and kiss her temple. “Just pick one, babe, you look hot in anything.”

She smiles. “You choose.”

I pick the closest one and hand it to her. “Don’t take too long or we’re going to be late.”

She comes out of the bedroom an hour later and I almost kick myself for not checking her clothes properly. Bright red. Strapless. Hugs every single curve. Barely covers her ass. “Maybe you should change.”

“Ky!” she almost yells. “It took me forever to get ready and you chose this—”

“I’m kidding!” I’m not. “Let’s go before I strip that dress off of you with my teeth.”

She raises an eyebrow in challenge.

“Don’t tempt me, Maddy.”

She giggles the entire cab ride to the club while watching me squirm in my seat. The way she’s dressed—the way she looks at me—the way her fucking hand slowly creeps up my thigh...she loves the power. Thrives on it.

Me? I’m just doing everything I can to not take her right here and now. “If I get into a fight with an asshole that looks at you the wrong way, or looks at you period—call Jackson. He’ll bail me out.”

She laughs, but I’m dead serious. I even make her save Jackson’s number in her phone.

Ky: I’m at Zero.

DeLuca: Got caught up, I’ll be there in ten.

I get carded at the door. The bouncer takes one look at Madison and lets her through.

We walk through a narrow hallway to get to the club doors. “The walls are vibrating,” she says, her hand pressed against the wall.

The music intensifies tenfold when we step into the club. She stops in her tracks and winces, covering her ears and plastering her face to my chest.

I hold her head in my hands and tilt it back, my eyes scanning her face. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s too loud!” She presses her hands firmer against her ears. “It hurts!”

My eyes narrow as I take in her state. She looks like she’s in genuine pain. I want to leave, but I already told DeLuca I was here. “Can you deal with it for fifteen minutes?”

“I think so,” she shouts.

“Let’s get a drink, okay? It might help.”

She nods.

I use my chest to block one of her ears and my hand to cover her other one. At the bar, I order two shots of whiskey and hand one to her. We stay in the same position while we down them.

“You okay, babe?”

Her face scrunches in discomfort. I press both my hands to her ears and she covers them. She nods in answer. “You’re so damn cute,” I tell her. She responds by getting on her toes and kissing me quickly. She tastes like whiskey. After a moment, her hands loosen, and she pulls away. “Another one,” I mouth. She smiles, knowing exactly what I want. She kisses me again, her hands now on my chest. Mine remain on her ears, hopefully blocking out enough of the music. She slowly relaxes and leans into me, letting me drown in the taste of her. There’s a moment of silence while the songs change, but she doesn’t notice. She keeps her lips on mine, curled into a smile as we try to maintain the flow of our kiss—the same flow we’re now so accustomed to. Her arms wrap around my waist, bringing me closer to her.

A thump on my back has me stumbling forward. We pull apart, just as I shove at the body standing beside me. Madison squeals, her hands covering her ears again. “What the hell’s your problem?” I shout, but my attention’s on Madison. I pull her into my chest again, covering her ears with a second barrier.

“I was trying to get your attention,” a deep male voice shouts back. I look up to see DeLuca; jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. “Looks like you were both too pre-occupied,” he says, his eyes on Madison. He jerks his head at her. “What’s her problem?”

I look at Madison. My shirt hides most of her face, but I can see her eyes squeezed shut. I switch my attention back to DeLuca. “Can we make this quick? It’s too loud in here for her. It’s hurting her ears.”

“Huh,” he says, still fixated on her.

“Anytime you want to quit staring at my girlfriend would be perfect.”

His eyes move back to me. “Sure.” He taps at his phone quickly. I wait impatiently. A few seconds pass, then he motions with his head for us to follow. Madison stays plastered to my side as he leads us to the back of the club and into an office that has to have been sound proofed. I release Madison, and she slowly removes her hands from her ears. We sit down on the couch in the corner of the office while DeLuca watches her intently. “Better?” he asks her.

She nods.

“Do you need a drink or anything?”

She smiles awkwardly. “I’m fine. Thank you.”

“You sure?”

I interrupt their little back and forth. “Why did you want to meet?”

He rubs the back of his head and looks at Madison again. “Um...” His gaze flicks back to me; then he blows out a heavy breath and shakes his head. “It’s not important, man. I’ll text you. Just get her out of here.” He taps his phone a few times. “A cab’s waiting out back. It saves you from going through the club again.”

“Thanks,” I say, but all I can think about is the attention he’s paying to Madison. A tiny part of me is grateful—but the rest of me is pissed.

She mentions her ears are still ringing while we’re in a cab heading home. As soon as we get into my apartment, she goes straight to the bedroom. She strips out of her clothes, leaving her in nothing but her bra and panties and climbs into bed, throwing the covers over her head. I pull out my phone and start looking up how to treat ringing ears when a text comes through from DeLuca.

DeLuca: Call me when you can.

“Babe, I got to make a call. Will you be okay?”

Her hand pokes out from under the sheets and she waves me off.

He answers first ring. “Hey.”

“What’s up?”

“So, I wanted to talk to you about who you’ll be fighting.”

“Okay?”

“His name’s James Hayden. You should be able to find some info on him online. He used to train over at JL Ju-Jitsu.”

“Okay, thanks.” I’m about to hang up, but then I think fuck it. I’d rather deal with this shit now than let it eat away at me. “I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

“Yeah?” he asks.

I give it to him straight. “I’m not happy with the way you are around Maddy.”

“Maddy?”

“Yeah. Madison. My girlfriend. You can’t seem to take your eyes off her—and to be honest—it pisses me off and it makes her uncomfortable.”

Silence.

Dead. Fucking. Silence.

I thought I might have fucked up, got too personal. But after a long-ass moment, I heard him sigh. “You’re right,” he says. And I find myself both relieved and surprised. He adds, “I apologize.”

Silence again.

I wait.

And wait.

“Okay, good talk,” I mumble.