Branded

“I’m in. Find me a fucking pair of gloves,” I bark, reaching over my shoulder and grabbing a fistful of shirt, yanking it up and over my head.

“Holy fuck, are you serious?” Collin asks in surprise as I chuck my shirt at his face.

“Get me a goddamn pair of gloves before I fight him with my bare hands,” I order.

Collin races off without another word, shouting to Finnley at the food table and telling all the guys in the department the good news as he goes in search of a pair of gloves.

Motherfucking piece of shit is going to wish he never laid eyes on Phina when I’m finished with him.

The rushing of blood in my ears as I circle Dax drowns out the sounds of the crowd screaming all around the ring out.

“Oh, come on. Do you really want to do this?” Dax asks.

I smirk, stopping in front of him to stretch my arms and waist. “You have no idea how much I want to do this.”

Dax shakes his head at me, putting his gloved fists on his hips.

“I’m not fighting you, man.”

The bell on the side of the ring dings, signaling the start of the round.

“You better put your fucking fists up, because I’m sure as hell fighting you,” I threaten as I advance on him.

He doesn’t even have time to lift his arms. I put all my weight on my front foot and let my arm fly, my fist connecting with his cheek. His head jerks to the side with the force of my blow and I stand there with my fists up in front of my own face, waiting for him to get back into stance.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” he yells, holding his glove against his cheek. “This is a charity fight, asshole. You’re supposed to take it easy!”

I shake my head at him as I bounce on the balls of my feet.

“Fuck you! You better throw a fucking punch or you’re just going to look like a big pussy,” I argue, jabbing my fist quickly into his ribs.

This hit does the trick and immediately pisses Dax off. He charges towards me, but I refuse to take a step back. He gets right up in my face and I should probably take advantage of the situation and knock his ass out, but something in the look on his face makes me keep my hands stationary in front of my face.

“YOU’RE the one being a pussy! I know this is about Phina, you stubborn fuck! How about you just talk to her instead of trying to prove something by beating my ass?” he shouts.

“STOP TALKING AND FUCKING FIGHT!” I yell back.

I take another swing at his face, but he easily blocks me.

“I am NOT going to fight you! There is nothing going on between us, dickhead!” Dax yells, taking a step away from me.

I follow him, throwing more punches that he smacks away with his gloves.

“Really? Could have fooled me!” I argue, punching him as hard as I can in the chest.

He stumbles backwards, groaning and coughing as he rubs his glove over his chest. Once again, he stalks towards me and gets right in my face. “She doesn’t want ME, you clueless bastard! She’s been looking at you like she wants to fuck you into next week ever since you stepped into this ring.”

That throws me for a loop and I make the mistake of dropping my guard. Dax takes the opening and slams his fist into my eye and I go down like a ton of bricks. The dinging of the bell clamors over the cheers and shouts from the crowd as Dax puts his feet on either side of my body and leans down over me.

“Get your head out of your fucking ass and go get your girl. I don’t want her, she doesn’t want me. The next time you and I get in a ring together, I won’t take it this easy on you, you dumb fuck!”

He storms off and I let my head fall back onto the floor of the ring and stare up at the lights in the ceiling, calling myself every kind of asshole.

Collin’s face leans over me a few seconds later, covering up one of the lights. “Well, that was a pretty pathetic display of prowess, Nancy. What the hell was that?”

Lifting up one of my arms, he wraps his hand around my forearm and yanks me to my feet.

“That was just me, being an asshole,” I grumble as we bend down to exit the ring.

My eyes are closed as I sit on the bench in the small locker room on the other side of the station, far away from the noise. With my back and head leaning against one of the lockers, I think about just how big of an idiot I was and it pisses me off even more. Dax has been working overtime to try and figure out what the hell is going on with Phina and I act like a jealous dick because he makes her laugh and gets to hold her. I have no right to any part of Phina and that thought just makes me even angrier. If my face didn’t feel like someone smacked it with a two-by-four, I’d probably get up off this bench and apologize to Dax. I’m lucky he didn’t kick me when I was down and turn my face into hamburger meat after the way I acted.

I hear the click of the door opening and closing, but I keep my eyes sealed shut, knowing it’s probably just Collin coming in here to fuck with me some more. If I open my eyes right now, the stabbing pain in my cheek and eye will get even worse.

“If you came in here to call me Nancy again…ah, fuck it. I can’t even threaten you. My face hurts too much.”

My nose immediately fills with the smell of spicy perfume and though I know it’s going to hurt like a motherfucker, my eyes open wide and my jaw drops when I feel a soft hand press against the bruise on my cheek.

Phina has pushed her legs in between mine and she stands in front of me like a fucking goddess, a light from the ceiling surrounding her head and making her red hair glow like the sun as she stares down at me.