Page 32 of The Club

I slug him in the gut.

He lets out a grunt and backs off, dancing around to let the lights play over his shoulders.

Goddamn Dominic. I’ve seen no sign of him for four fucking days, but the fact that he’s here right now means he was watching me the whole time.

I duck a right hook before uppercutting into my opponent’s chin. It snaps his head back. He staggers. Now he’s pissed.

He comes in swinging. I duck and wheel around behind him for a kidney shot. His back bows.

I’m pleasantly surprised when he loses it and puts that gym body to actual use. He’s too slow and clumsy to dodge many of my half-strength hits, but he manages to get me in gut twice while I’m hunting for Dominic from the corner of my eye.

When his right cross grazes my cheekbone, I hook his left knee with my foot, yanking him off balance while I smash my fist into his jaw. He drops.

I feel like it’s been four minutes, so I kick him in the ribs.

He taps out.

I immediately look to the VIP section and see Dominic taking off his waistcoat. Our eyes lock as he unbuttons his shirt. I start getting hard as he pulls it off, revealing his muscular torso. It’s funny how his body looks so different from the one I just put on the floor. His muscles move differently. His aura is darker, like the fact that he kills people somehow shows.

He takes off his shoes and socks then walk down the steps to the ring. Usually, there’s softer entertainment between the fights, but the tension between me and Dominic is palpable. Everyone is watching. Even some of the pole dancers have stopped their routines.

Either Dominic isn’t hard or he’s wearing compression shorts under his snug dress pants to hide it. Both possibilities annoy me. My dick is bulging in my jeans by the time he’s walking across the mat.

“Where the hell have you been?” I ask the second he reaches me.

He punches me in the gut. As I curl around his fist, he grabs my hair.

“Focus, Rafael,” he growls into my ear.

I yank upright to headbutt him, but he’s ready for it. The hand gripping my hair pulls me off course. My throat is exposed now, and he grabs it.

It’s a dangerous position for me, one I have to get out of. I bring up my knee and nail him in the side. It throws me off balance, and I hit the floor, but I’m free. I scramble back and burst to my feet as Dominic comes at me.

He grabs my wrist, obviously aiming to grapple tonight. I use his hold to swing myself around behind him. I get my free arm around his neck and jump up to hook my legs around his waist. It won’t end well for me, but it’s worth it to press my dick against his lower back and get my mouth by his ear.

“How much have you thought about my ass?”

He can’t flip me over his head with my legs hooked around his waist, so he goes for a modified shoulder toss, throwing himself down with me. He lands on top of me. The impact stuns me enough that he gets out of my chokehold.

“You shouldn’t be here, letting other men touch you.”

I jack my legs up and get one hooked around his neck, yanking him off me. I slam him to the mat.

I snarl, “If you don’t want to touch me, someone else will have to.”

I’m halfway up when he hooks me and slams me down. He grabs my hard cock through my jeans. I gasp—and his fist slams into my face.

Dazed, I only dimly register him getting up and stalking away.

***

I’m in the alley when they jump me.

Here’s the thing.Thisis actually what I came here for. I knew the official fights wouldn’t do much for me. (I’m not counting Dominic—I didn’t expect him.) I came here because I knew there was a very good chance that some shithead who got his ego bruised in the ring would come after me with backup. And, yeah, Mr. Gym Muscles has brought three friends.

Here’s another thing. If my head was a messbeforeI came here tonight, it’s an absolute Jackson Pollock now.

So I don’t put up a fight. I barely wanted to in the first place. (Like I said, this is what I came here for.) So now? I let them hit me. When they shove me away and my back hits the alley wall, I start laughing.