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“Fuck,” I grit, rubbing my pecs.
“Damn, she got you good,” Jez calls.
I turn to glare at the women. “Only because you distrac?—”
My legs go out from under me as Delaney sweeps her leg around to knock me down. My ass hits the mat, and I bounce a little.
“What the hell?” I demand, glaring up at her.
“I’m not gonna take it easy on you just because we fucked,” she sasses, but then her cheeks turn a bright pink, and I can’t stop my laughter.
“Well, I guess Delaney’s officially family,” Cece says matter-of-factly.
Delaney covers her face with her hands and drops to her knees in the ring. I move closer to her and lower her hands.
“If you’re gonna be hangin’ around all of us, you’re gonna have to get used to people knowing your business.”
Delaney levels her gaze on mine as she takes a deep breath. “I can’t believe I blurted that out for all of them to hear.”
“Honey, forget about it,” Skye calls. “We sure as shit don’t care who you’re banging.”
“Oh, God,” Delaney mumbles.
“Why don’t we get back to the show?” Mel says, stepping up to the ring. “I, for one, would really like to see Delaney kick some ass.”
I stand and turn in a circle to take in everyone. “Any takers?”
“You’re done already, Thorn?” Jacob asks with a laugh.
“Watch it, prospect,” I snap. “‘Cause you’re next.”
“Aw, hell,” Jacob mutters as he enters the ring.
Delaney rises to her feet. “Wait a sec,” she says. “That’s it? Y’all are just gonna forget what I said?”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Cece asks.
“Well… no.”
“Then let us watch you take Jacob down,” Apple says with a hint of pleading in her tone.
“What did I ever do to you?” Jacob asks, spinning around to face Apple.
Malice’s ol’ lady shrugs. “Nothing.”
I glance at Delaney. “You ready, sweetheart?”
She stiffens her shoulders and shakes her arms as if to rid herself of the past few minutes of embarrassment. “Always.”
Two minutes later, I’m standing outside the ring, and the two of them are squaring off. Jacob bounces on the balls of his feet, and Delaney watches his every move. When Jacob throws a right hook, she dodges the contact before throwing several punches of her own, none of them landing.
“C’mon, you can do better than that,” Jacob taunts.
“Pretty sure you can’t handle a better version of me,” Delaney counters.
“Give him all you got,” Skye yells, and the rest of the women cheer her on.
“Kick him in the nutsack!” Violet shouts.