Page 19 of Poison Touch (Monarch Vipers #1)

EDGE

Gunner slaps the mat three times. I release him. Sweat coats our bodies, and our breaths come out in pants. He rolls over and rubs the pain out of his arm and neck. I walk over to the table, grab our water bottles, and toss one to him. I take a long, deep drink.

Gunner tests my skills, pushing them to the max every time. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I can take him down and get him into a position that’s nearly impossible for him to get out of. But he puts up a fight and challenges me every step of the way.

“Thanks, man,” I say once I catch my breath.

He gives me a side-eye glance and takes another swig of his water. “For what?”

“You know, for letting me kick your ass every day.”

“Fuck you,” he says while huffing out a laugh. After draining his water bottle, he balls it into a plastic ball and tosses it at me. I catch it and send it back in his direction.

“Hey! Knock it off,” the sensei hollers from across the gym. “You’ve got ten more minutes of practice. You better use it.”

With his back to the sensei, Gunner rolls his eyes as he climbs to his feet.

“Let’s go again,” I suggest.

Kade and Levi grapple on the far side of the gym, and our sensei holds the punching bag while Python practices his hooks, grunting each time his fist connects with the bag.

His quiet demeanor is almost disturbing.

He rarely ever says anything unless spoken to.

Python, otherwise known as Alex, is a year older than the rest of us.

He also went to Monarch Prep but broke free of the monotony before he was suckered into college.

Although we met him at one of the UG fights a few years ago, we knew nothing about him except that he was a great fighter.

Because he was a kid at Monarch on a scholarship, it didn’t take much for my father to brainwash him to join Venom.

He made the deal so sweet that Alex was all but drooling.

Three years later, I bet Alex regrets taking my father’s poisonous offer.

He’s been a different person ever since the night he was instructed to kill Evan West. He had no idea what he was getting into when he signed on with Venom.

None of us—not Kade, Gunner, Levi, or I—have talked to him about that night.

We act like it never happened. But I know for a fucking fact that night left a scar on each one of us, especially Alex.

The five of us have been taught to chug down the bitterness and regret and bury it as deeply as possible.

It’s what makes us the ruthless fighters we are.

Sensei calls time on our training. Without unwrapping the tape around his hands, Alex grabs his bag and heads for the door. The only reason he still comes to our training sessions is that he doesn’t have a choice.

None of us do.

After the guys and I take showers, we drive out to Le Chalet’s Subs, a hole-in-the-wall sub shop with the best sandwiches in the world.

I expect to have my usual, twelve inches of rare roast beef and all the toppings.

What I don’t expect is to see my little Ninja, the girl who’s been the topic of everyone’s conversations since she arrived at Monarch University only a couple of days ago.

It seems like she’s been here forever, yet she still seems like a shiny new plaything.

No matter what I do, I can’t get her out of my fucking head.

I even tried fucking her out by taking Brielle over the desk.

I knew Brielle wouldn’t pass up a fuck session.

So, getting her to skip class was easy. All it took was a quick text:

Lab 229—10 minutes

Ten minutes later, she showed up in the physics lab, panty-less and ready to fuck. But when none other than my mesmerizing firecracker of a nightmare walked in on us, all bets were off. My dick had never been so hard.

Ninja sits at a small table in the corner with her books splayed out and a half-eaten sandwich on a plate. She doesn’t bother to look up when we come in until Levi asks about the soup of the day. Fucking weirdo. Who eats soup after grappling?

She looks up with a blank expression and then returns to her studies as though we’re as insignificant as pissants. She picks up the soda can and takes a sip from the straw. I instantly imagine those lips wrapped around my?—

“Dude! What do you want?” Gunner slaps my arm, then points to Val, the owner behind the counter.

I grunt. “The usual, Val. Thanks.”

I turn my attention back to Ninja. She obviously finds it far easier to ignore us than for me to ignore her. At least, that’s the impression she’s giving off.

Gunner taps me on the shoulder. “Isn’t that—” He stops mid-sentence as he confirms it for himself.

His whole face brightens. The fucker turns it up to full blast, plastering on his come-fuck-me smile.

I’ve watched that work for a hundred other girls.

But he’s in for a rude awakening because there’s no way in hell it’ll work on Ninja.

I cross my arms over my chest and prepare to watch him go down in flames.

“Hey, Ninja, what brings you to this lovely establishment?” he asks, adding extra sauce to his voice.

Ninja looks up at him. Her face is unreadable. There’s a fifty-fifty chance she’ll either laugh and invite him to sit or throat-punch him.

“Lay off, Gun!” Val warns from behind the counter. “Don’t you start harassing my customers. Especially that one.” She points in Ninja’s direction with a large knife. “Kinsley has been coming here a lot longer than you.”

I chuckle to myself as Gunner gets reamed out. Then, as Val’s words sink in, I’m curious as to why we’ve never seen her here. At every turn, this little enigma becomes more and more perplexing. It’s as thrilling as it is fucking irritating.

“She just moved here. How the hell does she even know about your place?” Gunner asks.

“You know, I’m sitting right here and can hear everything,” Ninja says.

Val interjects. “You boys have been regulars for years, but this one here”—she nods toward Ninja as she wipes her hands on a dishrag—“she’s like family. So back the hell off.”

Gunner grips his heart. “Val, you’re wounding me with your harsh words.”

“Harsh but true, boy. What can I get you? The usual, too?”

Gunner strolls over to Ninja as if he’s getting ready to make a move. She, in turn, looks up at him as if she’s already bored.

“How’s that art project coming?” he asks.

“It’s not,” she replies.

Levi sits down across from her. “You want help with that…”—he shifts her book to look at the subject—“biology?”

“No thanks. I think I got it,” she says.

“Bro, you couldn’t help her if you wanted. You barely made it through biology.” Gunner slaps his twin on the back. “Nice try.”

Levi knocks Gunner’s hand away. “Dude, trust me. I got this.”

Ninja pulls her book back into place. “Sure ya do.”

“You want me to tell these boys to get lost?” Val asks.

Ninja looks up to Val. “Nah, they’ll get bored with me in no time.”

As I watch their back and forth, I’d bet my entire trust fund that Ninja will never become boring.

Even now, she’s doing the most mundane thing, homework, and I’m unable to look away from her as I lean against the glass fridge that’s filled with bottles of water and cans of soda.

It’s not that I don’t trust my boys. I trust them with my fucking life.

They’re like brothers. But I never told any of them I saw her the night of the last fight—the night her father was killed.

Hell, I never thought I’d see her again.

And for some fucked-up reason, there’s this tugging in my gut that has me on alert with anyone wanting to get close to her, even my best friends.

This invisible need to protect her has grown on its own, and it’s getting out of my control.

Levi points to her tattooed forearm. “I got to say, you don’t look like the type.”

She looks up at him with those icy blue eyes. “You don’t know my type.”

“Oh, I bet I do.” He grins as he squares his shoulders and rolls his neck.

She sets down her pen and settles back in her chair, waiting.

Levi folds his arms on the table. “Let’s see. You ride a blacked-out, badass motorcycle. You have a big dragon tattoo, probably hiding more ink under those tight clothes. You got face piercings that Monarch girls never have. And you can climb a rope faster than Edge over there.”

He points over his shoulder at me. Ninja follows his gesture, and our eyes capture each other’s.

She slowly licks her bottom lip and then pulls it between her teeth.

I wish it were my teeth biting that lip.

Her eyes trail down to my arms to my busted-up knuckles, then back up to my face.

In just those few seconds, questions emerge in those ocean-blue eyes.

Levi taps her forearm to get her attention back on him.

“Yeah, so what? You see what everyone else does. That’s all obvious stuff. But that sure as hell doesn’t mean you know me,” she says.

He cocks his hand like a gun, pointing it at her. “That’s the thing, they still can’t figure you out like I can—who the real Ninja is.”

“And, old wise one, what did you come up with?” she inquires.

“Your secret boyfriend is Tarzan. You like the kinky shit, and you’re in a motorcycle gang.” He smacks the table. “And just like that, I’ve blown your cover.” He points his thumbs back at himself. “That’s right! This guy right here!”

Gunner bursts out laughing. Kade even has a grin on his stoic face.

Ninja’s lips curl up on one side. “Wow! Are you like Sherlock Holmes’s sidekick? Because I must say, that was quite the deduction.”

Levi slams his hands on the table again. “See, I knew it. Bam!” He reaches up for a fist bump against his brother’s waiting knuckles.

Ninja rolls her eyes and picks up her pen. “Now that you have me all figured out, I’m going to get back to work.” Her gaze passes over me once more before she lowers her head, easily dismissing us and giving her full attention back to her books.