Fight Read Online Free PDF Page B

You ’ re here. I ’ m here. ”
    “ At
least we have something to eat and drink. ”
    Winter half smiled. She looked at
my hands again. She touched my right knuckles and said, “ You have to tell me about this. ”
    “ I
already did. I ’ m a fighter. ”
    “ I
don ’ t know what that means. ”
    “ None
of the guys in the MC fight? ”
    “ You
mean … drunk and fight? ”
    “ No.
I mean for money. ”
    “ I
don ’ t know. I was never
invited. ”
    “ That ’ s a good thing, ” I said.
    We drove back to Winter ’ s place in silence.
    I went inside first, gun drawn, and
did a quick check of the rooms. I had no clue what to do to protect her other
than follow my gut and try to mimic things I ’ d
seen in movies.
    We sat, ate, and drank.
    Not quite a dream meal or a dream
evening, but it was something. And the beer was cold and good. I watched Winter ’ s eyes following my knuckles
each time I lifted and lowered my food and my beer bottle.
    It took me four beers to finally
start to open up a little.
    “ I
fought a guy called Killer Kidd, ” I said. “ That ’ s where the wounds came from. ”
    “ Oh.
Okay. ”
    “ It ’ s an underground thing. It ’ s all I ’ ve ever known to survive. Okay? I train, I fight, I
earn money. ”
    “ So
you win all the fights? ” Winter asked.
    I gritted my teeth. I felt like a
jackass not being able to admit why I was actually there with her. Not because
I was a winner, but because I was a loser.
    “ I
survive, ” I said. “ That ’ s all that matters. ”
    “ I
know the feeling, ” Winter
said.
    “ Yeah?
Then tell me about all this. How ’ d
you end up here? ”
    “ How
much time do we have to talk? ” she said with a grin.
    “ For
you, darling, I ’ ve got all
night. ”
    Christ, Tripp, are you seriously
flirting with her?
    Winter started to smile bigger,
those pretty blue eyes flirting right back at me.
    I quickly stood up and grabbed the
empty containers. I put them in the brown paper bag they came in and walked to
the kitchen. The entire place wasn ’ t
really that big, which meant I couldn ’ t
get far from Winter.
    I walked to the window and looked
out. There was an open field behind the converted garage. Then there were
lights of the town, the city, the night settling.
    “ What
are you doing? ” Winter
asked.
    “ Just
looking. ”
    “ So
what ’ s your plan? I mean,
this doesn ’ t make sense to
me either. ”
    “ What
doesn ’ t? ”
    “ Why
you ’ re here. I don ’ t understand why the club can ’ t protect me. Or why they can ’ t just send me somewhere. Or … if someone really wants me dead
that bad, why even bother protecting me? ”
    I slowly turned. “ That ’ s how you value your life? ”
    “ How
do you value yours, Tripp? ”
    “ This
isn ’ t about me. I ’ m asking you a question. ”
    “ I
don ’ t know how I value
anything. ”
    “ You ’ re just upset, ” I said. “ Mourning. That ’ s
normal. And for the record, the guy who sent me here is more powerful than
anything you could possibly imagine. The MC might be rough and tough bullies
who control what they want, but the guy I work for controls everything. It ’ s organized. And it all looks
legit. ”
    “ So? ”
    “ Point
is, darling, if this guy wants you alive, then your life has value. ”
    “ You
know, that ’ s the sweetest
thing anyone has said to me in a long time. ”
    I swallowed hard. I turned back to
the window. I was better off that way. Winter was driving me crazy. Her beauty,
her voice, her appeared innocence, her need to be protected, it all turned me
on. It was so bad that I was actually standing there at the kitchen sink
getting hard.
    It took me a few minutes to calm
down before I could grab another beer.
    I leaned against the back of the
couch. “ I don ’ t want to rip into fresh wounds
here, but do you have any idea who would kill your husband? ”
    Winter coughed and grabbed for her
drink. She drank, coughed, drank again.