It wasn’t easy, though. Not with Parker’s thighs bracketing mine and her hands gripping my sides. By the time we pulled up to the docks, I was practically sweating. It was a relief to park and get some much-needed distance from my tiny tormentor.

She handed me her helmet and smoothed her hair. “All right.” She took a deep breath that did great things for her tits, and then let it out. “Let’s do this.”

We both looked up at the massive, sleek yacht hovering at the end of the private dock. People were already crowded on its multiple decks, the windows aglow in the setting sun. Laughter and chatter drifted out into the night.

I took hold of her elbow and guided her forward. “Act like you own the place and you will.”

She glanced up at me with a bemused smile. “Is that how you do it?”

“What do you think?”

“That you just admitted you’re full of hot air,” she said lightly, and making me chuckle.

But despite my swagger, as soon as we stepped onto the pale wood mid deck, a sweat broke out on my lower back. The crowd was thick with bleached-toothed, rich assholes and gorgeous women. Everyone had a drink in hand and everyone was exposing those white-capped teeth with fake-ass smiles.

The yacht itself was stunning. Sleek, polished wood panels and brilliant white leather furniture, multiple decks, each with its own full bar. There was a sunning platform at the aft deck, and a big-ass hot tub on the middle deck where women in string bikinis frolicked.

I’d been on yachts like this. I could even appreciate the craftsmanship and beauty of the vessel. It was the human element that got under my skin and crawled around like ants. It was too familiar. Too much like that world I left behind. The world I never belonged in but was pulled into to provide entertainment.

I rolled my shoulders, and Parker glanced up at me.

“Are you all right?” she asked in a low voice.

“Of course. Piece of cake, babe.”

I doubted she believed my bullshit. Whatever she might have said was lost as Fairchild glided up to us.

“Morgan!” He was all smiles and wearing a white linen suit with purple velvet slippers. Honest-to-God purple slippers—with his initials embroidered on them in gold thread. I choked back a snort as he reached for my hand and pumped it. “Good to see you.”

He afforded Parker a glance. “And Ms. Brown.”

“Parker, sir. Please call me Parker.”

“Parker,” he repeated blandly. “Fine, fine.” His watery gaze landed back on me. “Let me show you around, Morgan. Ever been on a boat?”

“One or two.” I took hold of Parker’s elbow, feeling the tension humming through her arm. “We’d love a tour.”

Actually, I’d love to toss him overboard, but hey, being in his company was what both Parker and I needed. So, I’d deal.

Like a king, Fairchild strutted through the crowd, slapping shoulders, shaking hands, and all the while introducing me. “Rhys Morgan. The Widowmaker. And his friend Parker.”

Somewhere along the way, I grabbed a glass of champagne off a waiter’s tray and handed it to Parker. She gave me a tight but grateful smile and took a healthy swallow. “None for you?” she asked, leaning in to be heard over the increasing chatter.

“Nah. The stuff gives me a shitty headache.”

Her lips pursed again, and I knew she was fighting the urge to correct my language. I wouldn’t be surprised if she eventually brought out a swear jar. But Fairchild had heard me and dropped his conversation with a loud older man wearing a palm tree-printed silk shirt.

“Let me get you a real man’s drink,” he said.

Parker muttered into her glass as he led us over to a bar.

“What’ll you have, Rhys, my boy?”

“Ice water, if you have it,” I said to the bartender.

“Would you like it in a glass with lemon?” she asked.

This place.

“I’ll just take the bottle.”

“Water?” Fairchild scowled. “Live a little, man.”

I accepted the ice-cold blue glass bottle of water the bartender offered me. “I’m responsible for getting Parker home safely. And I don’t drink and drive.”

Wrong thing to say. His scowl turned on Parker as if it were her fault I wasn’t chugging down a beer with him, and she visibly stiffened.

“Plus,” I added, “I’m teaching a class early tomorrow and I like to stay in top form.” Absolute bullshit. Not the class, but a beer wouldn’t hurt. Fairchild didn’t need to know that, though.

He perked up. “You’re teaching classes? Boxing?”

“Tomorrow is kickboxing, but, yeah, we do boxing classes as well.” I took a sip of the water. Jesus. It actually tasted better than usual water. “My gym, Lights Out, offers all sorts of classes. You should stop by. I could hook you up with a private instructor.”

And then you can show your appreciation by becoming our sponsor.

He hummed. “Maybe I will. But you shouldn’t be teaching classes. You should be in the ring. Would you consider fighting again?”

My gut turned to lead and my throat closed. I wasn’t on some fancy yacht anymore. I was sitting on the hard-plastic chair that cut into my thighs and put a kink in my back. The same chair I sat in for three days straight, waiting in vain for Jake to wake up. Sitting there as the doctor told us Jake was brain-dead. Sitting there, watching as Marcy decided to pull the plug, that Jake wouldn’t want to be left in a bed like that.

It was the day I found out my dad had lost almost all my savings on a bet that had Jake winning with a KO in the eighth round. He’d been knocked out in the seventh. Never to rise again.

Bile burned up my throat, and I swallowed convulsively. I was going to be sick. All over Fairchild’s purple and gold slippers.

A smooth, slim hand slipped into my loose grasp and squeezed.

Parker.

I blinked down at her, confused, and she smiled up at me, all bright and sunny.

“Rhys once told me it was best to tap out on top,” she told Fairchild.

Lies. But also true.

I licked my dry lips. “True. My time in the ring is over.”

Fairchild frowned but nodded with clear reluctance. An awkward tension had settled over us and I couldn’t find a way to cut it. Parker, on the other hand, glanced around the boat and then turned back to Fairchild. “This is a beautiful craft, Mr. Fairchild. Am I mistaken or are those solar panels you have there?”

He glanced at the area she pointed to. “It is. Now, Morgan. About this so-called retirement.”

I held up a hand. “Sorry, Fairchild, but can you point me in the direction of the bathroom? Nature calls.”

I barely listened to his directions before I got the hell out of there, unable to listen to another word about me going back to the sport. The bathroom was down a long hallway, near the bow. Connected to a stateroom, it was glossy and quiet. I ran cold water over my wrists and splashed my face. Bracing myself on the sink, I stared into the mirror, hardly recognizing myself.

Lines of strain bracketed my mouth and crept out from the corners of my eyes. I was thirty-four going on fifty-four, and I was hiding out in a bathroom like a chickenshit.

“Buck the fuck up, Morgan.” Pushing off from the sink, I opened the door and came face-to-face with Parker.