Page 18 of Minotaur Bar (Minotaur Bar #1)

I take a deep breath as I tape up my knuckles, deep in thought while in my room by myself. It’s rare that I’m alone now. Tess is always here, bossing me around to do this and that for her. It’s so fucking sexy when she asserts herself. I love watching her make all the stubborn bulls melt at the bar and eagerly give into helping her or complying with what she says. Fucking suckers. And I’m the biggest one of all. I get to call her mine. I know they’re all jealous, even if they smile in my face and tell me how much I deserve to be happy.

I don’t want the other bulls to be lonely. But I’ve waited a long time to find my girl. I’ve basically been celibate for years before red came prancing into my life. I had given up any hope of finding true love. I thought it was a dumbass fantasy. But with Tess, it’s that and more. And I get why lovesick fools are so enamored now. How they’re drunk on what the heart feels. Because it is real. It may be few and far between, but fuck, I found it. I found my fucking partner. The one I want to see the world with, make love to anywhere, and banter back and forth with. Tess is it for me. And I’m about to win this fucking fight night for her.

I’ve put in a lot of work over the last month to get ready for this evening. And I’m excited to see what the other bulls are about to bring. I know it won’t necessarily be easy. They don’t have the same motivation as I do though. My girl is going to see the entire thing. And I can’t wait to show off for her.

“Havoc!”

Tess calls from the other end of the apartment.

“In here, red,”

I say back as I take one last look at myself in the mirror.

“Baby!! Your ass is so fat! You been up here doing squats nonstop? I mean, look at that thing! I just wanna bite it, it’s so juicy!!”

She runs up to me and uses both hands to play my ass cheeks like they’re a pair of bongos.

“FUCK, YOU’RE SO SEXY! WOOO!!”

she screams. I shake my head, loving every second of her wild verbal rant.

“You like?”

I ask, turning towards her with my hip cocked, sticking my ass up for her in my tight spandex shorts.

“All for you, babe.”

“That’s fucking right!”

she snarls, yanking my face to hers by my horn. I growl, immediately nuzzling her neck and biting at her flesh teasingly.

“I love you, red. Your wild compliments mine,”

I say, holding her body to my chest.

“Also, you look fucking gorgeous. That dress never had someone so fucking hot inside of it.”

“I think so too, about both things you said,”

she teasingly agrees, scrunching up her cute nose.

“You ready? All the fighters are here. The trucks are outside steadily serving food. By the way, I’m getting nachos from one of them! Duke has shown the judges to the table. Cash says he’s doing good at the bar. And security has been having every human stepping foot inside signing the liability wavers. We’re ready to rock, big guy!”

Her smile is dazzling as she rattles her list off to me. I love that she’s as invested in this place as I am. I can see us tending bar together for years to come. It lights a fire inside of me.

“I’m ready, red.”

We kiss each other passionately before heading out the door.

*****

The preliminary rounds go by quickly. I win my fights, barely breaking a sweat on the first one. One good fucking hit to the cheek and I knock out a young bull named Ruckus I’ve seen come around a few times. He’s a good sport about it. It takes him longer to come to than it did for me to fight him. But he gives me a hug afterwards and laughs it off.

I have a little more trouble taking my semi-final opponent down. Bruiser is a regular, one I’ve mostly gotten along with. He told me he was putting in as much work as I have over the last month and it shows. We end up going the full three rounds and the decision is left up to the judges. It feels good when Tess announces my name over the mic and the ref holds my arm up. Bruiser is pissed off, but he shakes my hand. I promise him a free round on me, and he lightens up a tad as he stalks out of the ring.

I watch as Tess, dressed in her pretty black sequin gown with a slit up her thigh, laughs at something her friends Ginger and Maggie are saying in between rounds. She’s grown close with the two minotaur females and the three of them often hang out together when Tess isn’t working. They stand above the ring with her, centered on the stage I built. She’s safe, secluded and they’re having fun watching the fights and drinking beers together. It makes me feel good to know they’ve bonded so well. She looks around and finds me staring at her, her cheeks turning a hint of red as she waves at me, beaming. She’s having a great time. And so am I knowing she’s out of harm’s way. Tess blows me a kiss that I rip out of the air and hold to my heart. She mouths the words I love you and I mouth them right back, feeling drunk off her affection. What a gods damn babe.

“You ready, Havoc?”

Gambler asks me as he approaches the ring. He’s my last fight of the evening. The one I need to get through to win this thing for Tess. I wouldn’t say we’re friends, but we don’t hate each other either. We’ve just always rubbed each other the wrong way. He’s not a bad bull, just not my brand of beer.

“Let’s close thing out with a bang, shall we?”

I reply as he nods curtly.

“I’m taking home that trophy,”

he says, checking the tape on his knuckles.

“Your girl doing ok?”

“What?”

I ask, caught off guard that he’s asking about Tess.

“I heard she took a horn to her stomach. That’s nasty business,” he says.

“That was months ago,”

I growl, wondering what his angle is.

“You trying to distract me?”

“Is it working?”

he laughs. I stand up, my full height just a tad bit taller than he is. We bump chests, the tension growing between us. Ok, maybe I do hate him.

“You’re about to take one of my horns, asshole,”

I threaten him. He gives me a dark smirk.

“I’m fucking ready to beat your ass, Havoc. Don’t be thinking too hard about your girl while I pummel your face in.”

I go to throw a punch when my arm is caught from behind.

“Whoa, there. Save it for the ring,”

Duke says as he pats my back.

“Get the fuck out of here before you start a real fight, Gambler. Get on in the ring.”

“With pleasure,”

he says, sauntering off as I let out a huff of extreme annoyance.

“I’m about to fuck that bull up,”

I hiss as Duke laughs, nodding his head.

“Oh, I’m well aware. He’s about to regret riling you up. But if you punched him before the start of the fight, you would’ve had to forfeit.”

“Glad you were there,”

I reply.

“Fuck that bull! Every time I think I’m being weird about not connecting with him, he pulls some shit like that and reminds me why I don’t fucking like him.”

“He’s a prick. Just wait for the bell, then kick his ass,”

he says with a wink, pushing me towards the ring. I climb over the rope, watching Gambler as he jumps around, putting on a big warm-up act. I take a second to look around and really ground myself in the moment.

I feel the dirt beneath my hooves, as the ring is nothing more than some posts with thick, heavy rope strung between them. I see the immense amount of spectators who came out to have fun and support Duke’s great idea. I smell beer and fried food, my mouth watering. I hear Tess from above calling down to me to tell me how hot I look, which makes me giddy at her praise. And I can taste this victory, just out of my fucking reach. But I’ll get there. I zone in on Gambler again, my fucking game face on, ready to punch the shit out of his arrogant ass.

“Ladies and bulls. Minotaurs and humans alike. Are you ready for your championship fight tonight?!”

Tess bellows into the microphone as everyone goes wild around me. I can feel my adrenaline coursing through my body, pumping out through my limbs.

“Fighting in the green shorts, with two knockouts this evening, is Gambler!”

I roll my eyes as he does some weird roundhouse kick that makes the humans ooh and awe. He did have a couple knockouts, but the guy is all show.

“And fighting in the opposite corner is the most handsome minotaur I’ve ever laid my human eyes on. Sexy as shit in his slutty little crop tops. He’s the owner of your favorite bar, keeping you all shitfaced and me satisfied with multiple orgasms a day,”

Tess rambles off as I throw my arms out wide.

“Really, red?!”

I call up to her as she and her friends lose it. The crowd roars with laughter as Tess struggles to get it together.

“Sorry, cookie! I couldn’t help it!”

she shouts back without using the microphone.

“You’re good in bed, baby!”

I roll my eyes but am secretly loving how publicly Tess is celebrating my skills in the sack.

“Anyway, got off track there for a second,”

she says, using the mic once more.

“Let’s hear it for Havoc!”

The crowd cheers wildly, the bell sounds, and Gambler is walking towards me as I advance to the center of the ring.

He throws a punch right out the gate that I see easily, my body ducking to avoid it. He swings around, replanting his hooves, watching me as he gets squirrely again. He tries to come at me, but I sidestep him, pushing him forward from behind as he stumbles a bit. It has the desired effect. He’s pissed off and begins to charge. I lower my horns, planting my hooves as the clack of bone rings out through the night. We’re both grunting heavily. I’m trying to stay in place as Gambler does his best to knock me down. But I’m not going anywhere.

He pulls back, leaving his middle open. I land a punch right in the center of his gut. He gasps for air, his face now vulnerable as he struggles to pull it together. My fists fly into his jaw. Left. Right. Left. His head rears back again and again as he begins to tumble backwards. First on his hooves, then onto his ass. With one last savage kick, he’s fully on the ground, blood and saliva pouring from his mouth as the ref calls the fight.

The sound around me is deafening as the spectators eat the knockout up. Gambler is carried out of the ring and tended to by medical staff as I take a victory lap around the dirt, smacking hands and shouting loudly. And then I see my girl. She’s beaming at me, screaming into the microphone that I’m the winner. Her praise does something primal to me and I let out the biggest low I’ve ever produced. She practically faints as her arousal becomes evident. She stands speechless with her mouth open in shock, Ginger and Maggie dying at her reaction.

Duke walks into the ring and hands me the gaudy trophy he and Tess picked out, complete with a bunch of cash in the center of the gauntlet. I rip the rubber bands off the money and start to throw it into the crowd. I don’t need it. I’ve got my prize, looking down on me with teary eyes, pride painted all over her face.

I won the fights tonight. But I won at life the second Tess walked into mine. And I’ll never, ever take that for granted.