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Jax lands a punch straight in the middle of my face, and I stagger back.
“Come on, Princess!”
I roar in frustration, grabbing my headgear off and throwing it to the ring. Jax smirks, but Finn ducks underneath the ropes to enter the ring. “Hey, hey.” He slides his brother an incredulous look.
“If you don’t like that name, stop acting like one.”
“Jesus, Jax. What do you think ‘hey, hey’ means?” Finn throws at him.
Brawler enters the ring next, coming up behind me. He’s so close that it immediately relaxes me. “You okay?”
“I’m just frustrated at myself.”
Jax arches a brow at his brother as if to say, “I told you so.” He takes his gloves off and then his headgear, highlighting his dark hair and knuckle tattoos once more. “I can tell you’re thinking too much.”
Brawler places his hand on my shoulder. I immediately stiffen, but that isn’t weird, right? Brawler is…what? My fight organizer? He can touch me, can’t he? I mean, I’m allowed to have friends, aren’t I?
Brawler slips his hand off as soon as he feels my reaction.
“I know you know this, Kyla,” Jax says, using my real name again. He only used Princess before to get a rise out of me. Asshole. At least it worked. “But your head has to be in the present. We can’t spar if you’re not in it.”
I nod, knowingly. He’s one hundred percent right.
Finn quirks a smile. “I volunteer as a good listener.” He winks at me and pops his eyebrows up his forehead suggestively.
“Kyla has enough fanboys.” Magnum’s voice sounds just behind us. He’s moved closer. The sound of me throwing my headgear down probably caught his attention.
Finn mouths ‘fanboy’ to his brother as if he’s all broken up about being called that. Me? My back stiffens. Magnum says I can trust him, but that sounded a hell of a lot like a jibe. Maybe he disapproves of the whole Brawler and Oscar thing.
I follow Jax’s lead and take off my gloves. Finn had a pair of neon pink ones here waiting for me today, and I’m kind of in love with them. He also stocked up on more clothes in the apparel section, getting cuter sports bras and more women’s gear in. Earlier, he asked if he could take a picture of me decked out in my fighting gear, so he could put it up in the gym. He thinks it will attract customers or something like that.
I think he’s delusional, but I agreed anyway. That is, I agreed until Magnum spoke over top of me and told me I’d have to check with Johnny. Then, Finn rambled on about doing a legit photo shoot in the gym with lighting, makeup, and a real photographer. The Heights Crew guys are a lot like celebrities in the Heights. Everyone knows who they are. They’re celebrities for the real world, dealing in organized crime rather than starring in fictional tales about organized crime. Maybe he thinks that’s what I’m going to be, but I still think he’s crazy.
Finn throws me a fresh hand towel, and I use it to wipe the sweat from my face and hands. He gestures toward it with a mocking smile. “What do you think, bro? Sell that on eBay?”
My mouth drops. He goes to take it back from me, and I move it out of his reach.
“Oh, come on,” Finn says, laughing now.
“No one wants this shit.” I grip my sweat towel tighter in my hands, trying to figure out if he’s joking or not.
He takes a slug of water. “You obviously haven’t heard anyone talking about you lately. Everyone who steps in here is buzzing about The Princess. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have to get a bigger venue to hold your fights. You’ll be turning people away.”
I turn to glance at Brawler. His neck pulses, moving the ink displayed there up and down. It’s fascinating watching it, as if the angel is alive. But what the hell? Sweat towels? He’s certifiable.
“It’s been brought up,” Brawler says. “We’ll see how the first fight goes.”
My gaze narrows at him. No one’s told me about this. He gives me a small shrug, and I shake my head. At school, people have been acting like I’m some sort of movie star, but I thought that was mostly because of Johnny and being involved with the Heights Crew. Everyone who’s in the Crew gets treated with respect, and if they don’t, the offending parties get the shit kicked out of them. That’s just how things are.
“Okay,” Finn says. “I’m getting the sense the towel is a no-go, but still think about the poster. Kyla: Uppercut Princess. One badass bitch.”
I press my lips together. I don’t feel like a badass bitch today. I flick my gaze to Jax. Boredom has set in on his face, and it’s obvious Finn’s the dreamer in this business partnership of theirs. I suck up my pride and walk toward Jax, holding my hand out for him to shake. “Thanks for the training session. I’ll be more focused tomorrow.”
He grips his large hand in mine, giving it a squeeze that’s just the right amount of pressure. I have no doubt he’s stronger than that, but if he used his full strength to shake my hand, he’d probably break it.
Magnum moves the ropes apart, so I can duck under the top one and swing my leg over the bottom. He takes my sweat towel from me, eyeing Finn warily. It almost makes me laugh. Almost. Finn may have been serious on that one, although he’d be sorely disappointed when the thing didn’t sell.
I throw a t-shirt on and wave goodbye while heading to the gym exit. Magnum strides ahead of me, making me wait while he checks the perimeter outside. I glance over my shoulder to find Finn and Jax staring after us, and I just know that all this extra security is playing into Finn’s head about how I’m supposedly this famous fighter. I wonder if they even know about the shootout. I’m sure they’ve put two and two together by now that I’m Johnny Rocket’s girlfriend, but the part about being in danger? That’s uncertain.