No Holds (The Fighter Series Book 4) Read online

  I push off the wall, determined to find out more about her. If she’s a member of the party, I should know her. And something like her, I sure as fuck wouldn’t forget.

  “Ryker, how are you doing?” Kevin, one of Jackson’s high school buddies, stops me, forcing his hand into mine and slapping my shoulder.

  I shake his hand. “I’m good. I need to—” I start, shooting another glance at the girl.

  “Jackson says you’ve got another chance at the pros?” He shoves his hand into the pocket of his brown slacks.

  I nod. “Thankfully, I was offered another chance. I need to—”

  I glimpse back where she was…was.

  Kevin’s brown eyes look around the room. “Hard to believe Jackson’s been tied down all these years.”

  “He always said she was the one.”

  He chuckles under his breath and shakes his head. “Told me the same thing. I saw it the night they met…”

  His voice dissipates as my eyes land on the beautiful brunette.

  “Yeah. Hey, man, it was good to see you. I’ve got to take care of something,” I lie, throwing my thumb over my shoulder and strolling off before he can stop me again.

  This time I’m locked onto her ensuring I don’t lose sight again.

  Her back is toward me when I approach, her hair flowing in long strands between her shoulder blades.

  “Excuse me? I know everyone in this room except you,” I say in the most charming tone I have to offer.

  She jumps slightly before turning around. Unprepared would be the perfect term as her beauty—up close and personal—slaps me the fuck across the face. Her eyes are golden-brown and innocent looking. Her nose is petite and small. She has high cheek bones and a slender jaw carrying the incredible smile I caught across the room.

  She’s downright gorgeous.

  I watch as she takes me in, her eyes surveying my large frame in front of her before raising her view back to my gaze. She swallows and regains her professional composure.

  “I know everyone here. Why don’t I know you?” I ask again.

  “I’m the event planner,” she says with a smile.

  “You mean to tell me Jackson let some of the control fall into someone else’s hands?” I feign surprise. I know he did. He had to. Sarah pushed him to do it.

  Her ample soft pink lips stretch further—pridefully—and she offers a slight nod.

  “Ryker.” I stick my hand out with a charismatic smile.

  “Whitney.” Her hand is small in mine. “Am I wrong to say you have to be Mr. Hayes’ brother?”

  “The better one.” Gently I squeeze her hand to give my words more emphasis.

  If it affected her, she doesn’t show it and pulls her hand out from mine. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  I spread my arms to the room. “All of this is your work?”

  “Yes, but Mrs. Hayes had a hand in it as well,” she says.

  I chuckle. “It’s Jackson and Sarah. The mister and misses are my parents sitting at the end of the head table.”

  “Force of habit.” She points to the room off to the side. “I need to go speak with my assistant. I hope you enjoy the rest of your time.” Even though her voice quivers with nervousness, her body language shouts she’s confident. “It was nice to meet you, Ryker,” she adds and then quickly strides away.

  I watch as she disappears behind the door covered with a white satin curtain. Part of me wants to follow her through the door and continue our conversation because I sure as fuck wasn’t done talking. But the other part, the sensible one without the ache between his legs, abandons the idea and turns back to the crowd.

  I keep my eye out for Whitney, glancing around the room every other fucking second to no avail as I mingle, trying to make my way back out of the depths of the crowd. I position myself beside a large white column where I’m able to have most of the room in my view.

  Kyce steps in beside me. “All these people here and you’re alone.”

  “I’ve made my rounds. Besides, everyone keeps asking the same questions about fighting. Repetition is boring,” I tell him with indifference.

  “You’d think by now you’d be used to it.”

  I take a taste of my rum and cola. “It’s the same questions over and over.”

  “I remember when fighting was all you’d talk about,” he says.

  Yeah. Me too.

  “I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy talking about fighting, Kyce. I’m sayin…”

  There she is.

  Kyce follows what took my sentence and hums in pleasure.

  She scans over the crowd quickly and then makes her way to the bartender exchanging a few quick words before nodding and walking away.

  “Damn,” Kyce exhales.

  “Fucking exquisite,” I add.

  He leans in to me. “Hate to be a cock block, but you don’t look like her type.”

  I grin at the lack of faith. “I can be.”

  He laughs, scratching the side of his face. “She won’t give you the time of day.”

  She’s standing in front of the table, inspecting the plates of food and motioning with her fingers to the servers behind it. I wink at Kyce and push off toward her, making my way past Mom and Dad’s table with tunnel vision on the beautiful Whitney I’d like to see naked underneath me.

  I’m thirty feet away and then, “RyRy!” Gracie calls out and wraps her little arms around my waist.

  “Poohbear.” I squeeze her.

  She’s been the apple of my eye since she was born. I was there that night, impatiently pacing the little ass waiting room with Mom and Dad sitting calmly but excitedly. Late in the evening, Jackson came out in the blue scrubs the hospital made him wear over top his clothes with a large grin and said we could go back. A squishy pink-faced angel was placed in my arms and I instantly fell in love with the little girl.

  “I’ve looked everywhere for you,” Gracie says.

  I cast a glance back to Whitney and am met with sexy, soft, and compassionate eyes observing us. She quickly blinks whatever her thoughts are away when she notices me watching her and sinks back behind the damn curtains.

  “You have? I’ve been here.” I turn my attention back to Gracie’s hazel eyes she got from Sarah.

  She sweeps her brown hair off her face and crosses her arms, scowling. “Where?”

  I lean and point at where I’ve posted for the majority of the night. “Right over there.”

  “I didn’t look there. Why would you be there for?”

  I chuckle. “Have you been having fun? There’s food galore.”

  She rolls her eyes jamming her hand on her hip, over her white dress with pink flowers. “There aren’t any kids here.”

  “There are too. I’ve seen many kids.”

  “Unk Ry.” She looks up at me like I’m plain stupid. “I don’t mean babies. I mean kids my age.”

  “Guess I didn’t pay much attention, huh?”

  “Daddy says you’re taking me to Amelie’s,” she says.

  Mentally, I sigh. Once Amelie learned Sarah had nabbed Jackson’s heart, she set hers on me and makes it very, abundantly clear she’s available. Although she’s pretty, obsessed doesn’t fit my bill too well. You can’t cling onto something that moves around as much as me. I’ve tried my hardest to steer her in Kyce’s direction, but she isn’t interested in him.

  “Can we go now?” Gracie asks donning her hazel-eyed puppy dog stare.

  I’m a fucking sucker for it. Every time.

  I grasp her little hand in mine. “Let’s go tell your dad and mom bye. We have to find Kyce too.”

  Luckily, I talked Kyce into walking Gracie into Amelie’s. It didn’t take much to convince him I’d be safer in the truck. But let me be the first to tell you that shit’s hard to discuss with a nosey eight-year-old in the backseat. Even speaking in code, the nosey-eared secret agent understands every damn thing and giggles to let it be known she does.

  Chapter 3

  I’m grabbing my k
eys from my dresser and am about to head out the door when my phone rings.

  “Dude. Come to the gym,” Kyce says.

  I laugh. “What the hell are you doing there?”

  “I came thinking you’d be here. So, come on.”

  “I’ve got other things planned tonight. I’ll have to pass.” I walk out the door.

  “Oh yeah? Give me one reason why you shouldn’t and I’ll give you a better reason why you should.” By his tone, he’s up to something.

  I crank my truck, back out of the driveway and pull out of the neighborhood. “I’m heading to Abby’s.” I smile knowing, hands down, I just won that dispute. “I was at the gym for hours this morning. No matter what you tell me, there isn’t anything going to change my mind.”

  He grunts. “Well…I still think I have you beat, but since you’re not here to piss on your territory, I’ll see what I can accomplish.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” I ask with a laugh.

  “Your girl is here,” he says with a cocky, but matter-of-fact tone.

  “Uh-huh? And who is my girl?”

  “The gorgeous chick from Jackson’s party.”

  I laugh, not believing him for one damn second. “You’d say anything to get me there.”

  “She’s on the treadmill now looking all types of sexy and sweaty.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “As a heart attack. But since you’re not here, I’m going to take a shot and see if I can squeeze—”

  “Don’t fucking think about it. I’ll be there in a few.”

  He’s cackling with victory when he hangs up.

  I whip my truck around at the next light and head toward the gym less than ten minutes away. I’m not sure what has me acting on Kyce’s words. He can be a sneaky bastard without reason. But since the first time I saw her, she gripped me. Something has me completely drawn to her and she invades my thoughts. Most of the time I don’t realize my mind has traveled to the thought of her until my dick aches and it catches my attention. So for Kyce’s sake, he better fucking hope she’s there.

  “Abs. I’ve got some shit that’s come up. I’m not going to make it.”

  I figured I wouldn’t leave her hanging in the dark and have her think I’d ditched her.

  “You’re just now calling me to tell me this?” she bites her annoyance.

  “It just came up.”

  “I’d like to ride one thing in particular that pops up around me.” She giggles. “Can you swing by tonight when you’re done?”

  I fight off my cock-brain. “Not tonight, Abs.”

  She huffs. “Dammit, Ryker. I had plans. Good plans. Naughty plans. And new toys.”

  Well, fuck.

  “We’ll have fun soon. I’ll call you later.”

  I hang up before my dick can change my mind and pull into the parking lot, heading toward the back. The best thing about adrenaline is how I can feel it perk up every cell coursing through my blood before it strikes gold at my heart. My pulse is thundering with suspense. Excitement. The thrill…

  I walk into my area of the gym, the one I designed for all my needs, and head toward the blue door, which leads out to the main area of the gym.

  Kyce steps out from my office with the cheesiest smile. “I knew you’d fall for that shit.”

  The fuck did he just say? I crane my neck toward him and glare with a murderous scowl.

  Quickly, his smile is ripped from his face and he throws his hands up in a surrender. “She’s still here. She just got off the treadmill and went to the locker room.”

  I don’t reply and yank open the door.

  “Dude! You can’t go into the women’s locker room,” he fusses from behind me.

  I look past my shoulder. “I didn’t plan on it.”

  Right as I spot her, my feet quit moving. She’s as stunning as ever. Her gym bag is thrown over her shoulder, her hair pulled into a tight ponytail with her black workout capris displaying the skin on her calves. But as much as I’d like to sit here and admire the sight, something’s wrong. Her face is red with anger and her top lip is curled, brows pinched tightly together. She’s visibly rattled.

  A large man in a douchebag white tank top with spills of sweat soaking through the front, is hogging her personal space. Every step back she takes, every movement she makes to retreat, the bastard is right there with a cocky fucking grin not allowing her to leave.

  “I bet your cunt tastes salty,” he has the fucking audacity to say.

  She gasps as her face blanches and takes another step away.

  My feet are moving again, much fucking faster.

  He doesn’t see me coming until I’m directly in front of them, placing Whitney safely behind me. The guy’s my height, but not nearly my size. His eyes darken as he straightens himself and puffs out his chest even further than what he had when trying to impress Whitney.

  “Hey,” he hisses. “I’m having a conversation here.”

  “Get the fuck out of my gym,” I growl.

  He blows a cocky breath.

  “You’ll not come into my gym and disrespect anyone like that. Get out of my gym. I won’t repeat myself.”

  He narrows his dark beady eyes. He’s fucking nuts if he thinks he’s intimidating. Hard lines form on his face. “You can’t kick—”

  “As the owner, I can do whatever I’d like. I’m not repeating myself.”

  My glare steadies. My expression, although wanting to laugh at this douchebag, remains solid. We have a stare down, but eventually lunkhead accepts it without an altercation. I watch, not moving, as he slams into the men’s locker room and then back out, unchanged with his gym bag in his fist. He peers at me, anger still fueling his glare, before storming out the front door.

  I twist to a wide-eyed Whitney. “You good?”

  She’s visibly shaken but she nods. “Yeah.” She blinks and then recognition settles in. “I’m…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause a scene.”

  I laugh. “I heard what he said to you.”

  Her cheeks flush with embarrassment and she quickly looks away.

  “There you are,” a blonde woman approaches us, eyeing me as if I’m an enemy. “You all right?”

  Whitney’s smile is fake but firm. “Yes. Some creep didn’t like the word no and had some colorful word choices for me.” She glances up at me. “Thank you, Ryker. I’m sorry for the disruption.”

  Don’t think her remembering my name fell on deaf ears…

  I laugh again. “Quit apologizing. A jerk like that doesn’t belong in my gym. I won’t stand for it.”

  “Ryker.” Andrew claps my shoulder and sticks his hand out for me to shake. “You’re here out of your norm. How are you, man?”

  Andrew has been coming to the gym for many years, at least three or four times a week. He’s dedicated to whatever fitness plan he has. One day while I was venturing around the gym, he stopped me and started some small talk. He told me about himself and asked about me. We stood there for at least twenty minutes shooting the shit. He’s a cool guy with no bad vibes steaming off him.

  I shake his hand. “Good and you?”

  He looks between the girls and grins at the blonde. “Exhausted. Rick will wear you out. I thought Lily was going to pass out on me.”

  Lily, the blonde, smacks him in the chest playfully. “I wasn’t.” She sobers up and looks me dead serious in the eye. “Are you supposed to feel like Jell-O after?”

  I try to stifle a laugh but when Andrew bursts out, I can’t contain it. “Yeah. Until you get used to it.”

  “Andrew is taking you back to your car, right?” Whitney asks Lily. She appears to already be past the uncomfortable comments from the dickhead.

  “Yeah,” Lily answers.

  “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you both,” she says before glancing up at me. “Thank you again.”

  I watch her rush out the door, a little disappointed in myself for not pursuing it more.

  Andrew slaps my shoulder agai
n. “Wipe the drool, man. You’re more than likely wasting your time. Penetrating her walls can be a tedious job. It’s hard to gain her trust.”

  “And then there’s the fact you’re unbelievably good looking. Not that it’s a bad thing, but Whitney tends to stray away from anything she believes can cause her to come unhinged,” Lily tells me with a curious but knowing smile.

  “How would she know if something is right if she doesn’t give it a chance?” I counter.

  “I’ve asked her the same thing,” she replies with a shrug.

  “She thinks dating leads to too many dead-end encounters. Most men want in her panties before trying to get to know her. She’s gorgeous, secure, and smart,” Andrew adds.

  I look at the door she just exited and then back to the couple. “I’m glad you enjoyed the class. I’ve got to get going.”

  Kyce is knocking the punching bag around when I reappear in my area. He smiles his award-winning grin and spreads his arms. “And to think you doubted me.”

  “You’re known to be a shit.” I stand behind the punching bag and brace it for him.

  He looks at me confused. “You really like the girl?”

  “I don’t even know her,” I answer.

  He takes a few punches and then bounces back on his right foot. “Girl’s got curves all—”

  “Careful, Kyce,” I warn. “Keep your thoughts off her.”

  He laughs loudly. “How would you know who I’m thinking of when I’m pounding it out in the shower?”

  I remain solid, only narrowing my eyes.

  He hasn’t stopped cackling. “Then why haven’t you asked her out?”

  I tighten my lips. “Haven’t had the chance.”

  “I think you’re wishing for something you know you can’t have.”

  I release my hold on the bag and arch a brow. “Have I ever not gotten what I wanted?”

  A wicked smile scorches his lips. “Pai—”

  “Don’t you fucking finish that,” I growl, slicing my view to him.