Page 96 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series

The next evening, after throwing myself wholeheartedly into crew practice and inhaling my dinner sandwich of choice, Zach diverted me from the walk back to our dorm, pulling me instead toward the gymnasium.

I’d almost forgotten it was Fight Night once again.

“Oh shit, are you fighting tonight?” I asked him as he tugged me through the gym doors and into the basketball arena that was dimly lit and smelled of sweat and Clorox. “Warn a girl, Ferrero. I would’ve brought a change of panties.”

He smirked at me over his shoulder. “You’ll see, Princess.”

The festivities were well underway. The usual ring of gross, sweaty boys hovering around the thick tumbling mat created the makeshift cage for the fights while the single lamp hanging overhead illuminated the fighters.

Dane had his bullhorn and was egging the crowd on as the sound of their bloodlust filled the room, the shouts and jeers echoing off the high gym ceiling.

Bennett and Noah waited for us at the edge of the mat, the other students giving them a wide berth.

Noah wore Knight-Tech-branded gym sweats— where did he get those?

—and his hair was wet and smelled like chlorine, which meant he’d done his swim workout this evening.

Bennett had just come from crew, so he was in his usual long-sleeve crew team shirt and my favorite little training shorts that revealed his long, powerful legs.

“You’re drooling, sweetheart,” Noah said into my ear as he pulled me into his side.

I nuzzled into his neck to take a nice sniff of him, sighing at his familiar clean-laundry scent mingled with the chlorine.

“Bennett wears those shorts to torture me. He’s been doing it since the night last semester when he barged into the weight room and shut off my music because he was being a massive dickhead. ”

Bennett tore his eyes away from where John Tyler was wiping the floor with some B-Dorm out-of-towner. “I shut off your music because hearing one of my dead best friend’s favorite songs made me feel like someone was stabbing me in the fucking chest.”

I melted a little bit in Noah’s arms, and I gave Bennett a slack, moon-eyed stare. I managed to croak, “Oh.”

He returned my gawking with a dark look, like I was in trouble for that moment all over again because yes, I had deceived them, and yes, I had assumed they’d forgotten me like I’d tried to do to them. I wouldn’t apologize for the former, but I’d been wrong on all counts on the latter.

Dane interrupted our little stare-off by shouting into his bullhorn, “Winner, John Tyler Ashmore! I know, I know, big shocker for all you regulars here at Holywell Fight Night.” He paused to peruse his clipboard, his eyes widening at whatever he saw slated next.

“We have a challenge fight on the books for tonight. You all know what that means—the challenged fighter has to accept the fight or forfeit any and all titles from the past year! So, Chad Hendrickson, step into the ring because you’ve . Been . Challeeeeenged !”

My body vibrated with excitement. I watched Chad march onto the mat with his usual bravado—I knew he wasn’t used to losing out here—but there was an air of uneasiness about him.

He’d fucked up, and Zach was about to call him on it.

Dane put his bullhorn to his lips again. “Alright, challenge accepted! Will the challenger please approach?”

I expected Zach to strip and waltz onto the mat. My jaw hit the floor when Bennett strode forward, shucking his crew T-shirt as he arrived in his corner.

The entire gym gasped at Bennett’s shirtless state, the crowd now taking in his beautifully carved body and the angel wings that stretched across his broad chest, glimmering under the fluorescent bulb that hung above the mat.

“Oh, look at Spencer, publicly declaring how fucking gone he’s always been for Jolie Knight,” Zach said with a chuckle.

“He’s… he’s never let anyone see his tattoo?” I asked, my eyes glued to Bennett as he gave Chad the stoniest, most dangerous glare I’d ever seen.

Noah grinned next to me. “Only his tattoo artist, Zach, and I had ever seen it. We aren’t sure how he kept it from the crew team, but he always said it was his ‘private fucking business.’ Now look at him. He’s just a lovesick fool, isn’t he?”

It was me who was the lovesick fool. The things I felt for Bennett even back when he was being an obstinate ass had been intense enough—now I worried I was going to implode under the weight of it all.

I sniffed, blinking back the tears that threatened to emerge and ruin my reputation completely. “It’s still hard to believe,” I whispered .

“Believe it, baby girl,” Zach replied. “We’re all that fucking gone for you. Now, watch Spencer give Chad what he deserves for the way he’s treated our girl.”

And I did. The usually rowdy crowd was almost subdued, watching in horrified awe as Bennett quickly and efficiently beat the ever-loving fuck out of Chad.

It was violent, bloody, and gorgeous. It took both Zach and Noah to finally peel Bennett off his sniveling, almost-unrecognizable opponent long after Dane had called the fight.

And then Zach clutched me tight, my back against his chest in a dark, quiet corner of the locker room, as Bennett held my hips in his bruising grip and fucked me mercilessly, still high on the adrenaline of the fight and drunk on our love—on our obsession —all while Noah guarded the door and praised me for taking Bennett so fucking good.

That night, I slept like the dead.