“I can see why he loves you now.”
I blink, thrown by the sudden shift. “Huh? Who are we talking about?”
“Reid,” she says. “You probably already know, but I just want to make it clear there’s nothing between us. You don’t have to?—”
“Whoa, no.” I hold up a hand, letting out a laugh that’s a little too loud, a little too forced. “There’s nothing going on between Reid and me. We used to hook up, that’s all. It wasn’t serious.”
“I think it was,” she says quietly. “I’ve seen the way you look at each other. He’s clearly head over heels for you.”
“No, he’s not,” I say quickly. “Trust me, he’s not.”
She shrugs, unconvinced. “Okay.”
“I mean… if you love someone, you don’t just disappear in the middle of the night the day after their birthday, right?” I say, the words coming out faster now. “A day after they tell you they loveyou. After they pour their heart out, and you make love, and then have a fight, and then?—”
I stop myself, realizing I’m spiraling and oversharing.
But she just laughs.
“Sounds like a story,” she says.
“You don’t know the half of it.”
We don’t get to talk much more because the class starts, but I make a mental note to pick this up again later.
I’ll also suggest the self-defense class idea to Reid.
On the way out, I’m about to ask Amanda if she wants to do the cold plunge with me later when Key bursts in, waving his arms.
“Emergency!” he shouts. “Where’s Reid?”
“In his office, probably. Why?”
“Because Luke and Talon are about to kill each other.”
CHAPTER 24
Luke
The taste of blood in my mouth isn’t enough to snap me out of it.
Neither is Talon’s follow-up blow to my gut. When my right hook lands across his jaw, I almost crow in victory.
Talon’s a big son of a bitch, but he’s not actually all that good at fighting. Probably hasn’t had to do it much. Most people just look at his face and leave him alone.
On the other hand, I’ve trained in a few different martial arts—mostly out of boredom, partly because I have a bad habit of ending up in fights that make no sense. I can take him down if I want to.
The only problem is that every one of Tal’s blows lands like a hammer, heavy enough to crack bone.
And I get the feeling he’s holding back.
That pisses me off more than anything.
I lunge, tackling him to the ground to take away his size advantage. It’s like trying to flip a boulder, but I manage it. I take a couple of hits to the ribs and gut on the way down, then drive my head into his face.
Bastard.
Muscle memory kicks in. My left foot goes around behind his ankle, I turn my waist, and I trip him, sending him down again. Not that it seems to bother him. He practically bounces back up again, and a well-timed left hook catches me in the eye, rattling my brain, but I keep swinging.