The Fighter's Stubborn Lover (The Burton Brothers Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

sport. But she thought of Edward and shivered.
    “Think you could pull off those moves?” Mason asked. He came up next to her at the edge of the mats.
    “Me?” She shook her head. “I’d probably faint before I could even think about escaping!”
    “Oh, I bet you could do more than you think. Especially if you were afraid and your fight or flight response kicked in. Adrenaline’s a wonderful thing during times of intense stress.”
    Avery looked at him. “Really? I thought it only gave you a quick burst of energy.”
    “It does. But is also increases your heart rate and breathing. That can translate into strength, endurance, and even the ability to temporarily ignore pain.” She pulled back. He smiled and waved at the fighters. “Mostly, it just gives you that little bit of extra umph needed.”
    “That ignoring pain stuff—is that why some fighters continue to fight even after their face has been turned to hamburger?”
    “Where’d you see that? I thought you weren’t a fan of the sport?”
    “How can you ignore something that’s all over cable TV these days? And there are the videos, and the commercials for fights. I get that its big business, but it seems to me the fighters are the ones being exploited.”
    “They’re making money, too. But…well, you don’t fight to fight. There are a lot of reasons guy get into the ring. And sometimes…well, sometimes it’s just sheer determination—you have to keep going to prove to yourself that you can. You learn after lots of experience how to ignore certain things.”
    She punched a hand into her coat pocket. “Like blood running into your eyes, or dripping off of your opponent onto your chest, or the inability to see out of your eye because it’s completely swollen shut?” She said, glancing at the scar under his eye “How many times have you been injured fighting?”
    “Enough. Nothing real serious though. But nice try there to try and get me to see your point of view and switch sides. Except that’s never going to happen.”
    “Really? I’m not sure you and I would agree upon what constitutes a serious injury. So where’s Dustin?”
    “About that, let’s step outside. The music’s starting to give me a headache.”
    She smiled. “Really? Don’t you listen to it this loud when you’re training?” Avery asked. She followed him back outside, pulling her coat tight as the cold air hit her face and stung her skin.
    “Yeah. Mostly it helps me focus on what I’m doing. Having the music loud keeps the guys from talking too much, and makes them pay attention to the training task in front of them.”
    Avery shivered. She glanced back at the gym and then at Mason. “I can see that part of it. My first semester of college, I couldn’t study in my dorm room if it was quiet. I’d turn on both the television and the radio.”
    He gave a laugh. He had a good one—deep and genuine. “Sounds chaotic.”
    “That’s what my roommate said! If my parents hadn’t…” She let the words trail off. She didn’t want to remember that time. The hole that the loss of her folks had left inside her. Her asthma had kicked up again then.
    She’d had an inhaler as a kid, but she’d thought she’d grown out of it. And then she’d started losing her family. It had seemed as if her chest had been crushed by those losses—leaving her always gasping for air. Now, here, in the crisp cold air, she could feel a tickle in her chest—a little shortness of breath. Cold always kicked it up again.
    Mason led the way toward the larger building—what seemed to be the main lodge. Thankfully, he didn’t pick up on the comment she had let drop about her parents. “You didn’t get along with your roommate?” he asked.
    She glanced at the snow. She was glad it had stopped coming down. About a half an inch of new powder over the surrounding landscape. She glanced at Mason—why was he being so friendly now? And where was Dustin? She shook her head. “No, we did. But she