The other fighter was out cold. Ice had won. I started bouncing up and down on my feet and waving my hands along with Stacey screaming in delight. My fighter had won. If I belonged to him for this night, didn’t he belong to me?
My cheeks flushed when his eyes found me again as the referee took his hand and put it in the air to declare him the victor. I clapped and cheered for him. This time, when he winked at me, I couldn’t help myself. I smiled back at him.
CHAPTER SIX – ALEXA
The crowd dispersed as Stacey and I waited. I thought we should go too, but Stacey convinced me to order another drink and enjoy the VIP seats as we let everyone else leave first. We chatted about the moves we had seen in the ring, and I could tell that Stacey was amused at my sudden change of heart about the sport.
When Marcus appeared in front of us a few minutes later, Stacey didn’t seem surprised.
“Ladies, Mr. Malone has invited you backstage. Would you like to follow me?”
I faltered in my response, but Stacey elbowed me in the rib. “You know, Marcus, I have a previous appointment that I have to get to, but I know Alexa would love to accept Mr. Malone’s invite.”
Marcus nodded as I gaped at Stacey. “Come with me, and I’ll make sure you both get where you need to go.”
“Thank you, Marcus,” Stacey said in a low voice that made me roll my eyes.
She grabbed my arm and pushed me behind Marcus as he made his way around the ring. “What are you doing?” I hissed to her under my breath.
“Getting you laid, girlfriend,” she said confidently.
“I’m not…getting laid,” I said.
“Are you kidding me? You’re a liar if you tell me you aren’t a whole lot of hot and bothered right now. Every girl in this arena would kill to be you. Why do you think so many of them are hanging around? You actually have a shot with Ice. You could ride the stallion that made a million girls’ panties wet tonight. Don’t be an idiot, Alexa.”
Was she serious? I didn’t say anything else as we made our way through the tunnel and into another part of the arena that was sectioned off from the general area. We approached a door, and Marcus tapped on it.
“Mr. Malone? Your guests are here.”
The door opened, and I felt my insides quiver. There he was, appearing freshly showered with his hair still wet, standing in the doorway in nothing but a towel. He saw me and grinned. “Ladies, I’m so glad you could come tonight.”
“Great fight, Ice. Really,” Stacey said. “But I’ve got somewhere else I need to be. So you and Alexa will have to occupy each other without me.” She couldn’t even say the words without starting to giggle.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Shayne said in a tone that told me he wasn’t sorry at all. He leaned across the doorframe and swept his hand inside. “Alexa, please, come in.”
It was now or never. I could be Stacey for just one night. I could have some fun before I went back to the real world. When would I ever have a shot with a guy like this again? Probably not. It would be a nice memory of the one time I did something completely reckless and out of character. I took a deep breath and nodded. As I moved past him into the room, the hair on the back of my neck stood up at his closeness. I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
“See you later, Alexa. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Stacey called out behind me. That didn’t leave much at all. I started to wave, but Shayne closed the door with a nod.
With my exit blocked, and it was just the two of, I found that it was hard to breathe if I looked at him too long. I averted my gaze and spun around to take in the room. There was a long bench in front of a row of lockers. A few metal fold-up chairs set off to the side in the corner. A stuffed couch that appeared to have seen better days was shoved up against the wall to my left, and a small hallway that probably led to the showers. A floor to ceiling mirror dominated the wall to my right. The room had a well-used but barren look about it.
“Lots of room for just one guy,” I said. It was a stupid comment, but I was nervous. I didn’t know how this whole thing worked. Did we chit-chat first or just get to it?
“It’s ten times better than most of the locker rooms I end up in,” Shayne said as he moved around me. His hand settled on the small of my back, and he gently pushed me further into the room toward the corner with the seats. I felt the burning sensation of each individual finger through the material of my top. “I’m glad you and your friend came tonight. I wasn’t sure that you would.”
I doubted that. He struck me as the kind of guy who was used to getting what he wanted. “Stacey’s so into this kind of thing that I couldn’t have kept her away if I tried,” I said. My voice sounded strange. Light. Airy. “It was a good fight.”