Chapter Eighteen
KARLI
I had seen dozens of fights in my lifetime, but watching Nick’s had been the hardest for me. I winced every time that big fist connected with his pretty face or that perfect body. I was happy for him when he won, though, especially since he looked so happy.
“I’m going to congratulate him,” Michaela said. She’d come with me today for moral support. If I had a choice, I would have skipped it altogether, but Dad insisted I be there. My work was done now, though. The clean-up crew would take care of the rest. I didn’t plan on sticking around and coming face to face with Nick. “I never got a chance to thank him for saving me that night at the frat house.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you out front.”
“Really? You’re not going to at least congratulate him?”
“No. I’m trying hard to stop doing things that lead him on.”
She grinned. “Like sex in the break room?”
I gave her a sarcastic smile and said, “Yeah, like that.” Rolling my eyes, I told her, “Don’t be too long. I’m hungry.”
“Well, I better get in line then because his groupies are already piling up.” I glanced back up at the octagon. Michaela was right; the line to see him and get an autograph was already at least twenty deep. I watched her go over and get in line before I snuck out the side door and literally ran into Ethan. He was smaller than Nick, but he was solid. It was like hitting a brick wall. He had to grab onto my arms to keep me from falling backwards.
“Whoa! Is there a fire in there?”
I smiled. “Hi, Ethan. Did you just get here?”
“No, I saw the fight. I had to step out while the crowd was going insane to take a phone call. My little brother did good, huh?”
“Yeah, he did great. It was a little hard to watch sometimes, though.”
“I’m getting better at it,” he said, “But I know what you mean. I was going to see if he wanted to go out for a celebratory dinner. Do you want to join us?”
“Um…no, thank you. I actually have plans with my friend Michaela.”
“She’s welcome, too.” People were crowding out of the event center and bumping into me. Ethan steered me over away from the doors and when we found a spot that we wouldn’t get run over, he said, “I thought we agreed to be friends.”
“We did, but I’m just not sure Nick and I can manage the friends thing.”
“Sure you can; that’s why you do things in a group.”
“What kinds of things are you going to do in a group?” I looked toward Michaela’s voice. She’d come up behind us and she was giving Ethan a curious once-over. He turned and looked at her, and I almost heard the sounds of angels singing as their eyes met. I somehow managed to keep a straight face as I said,
“Ethan Grant, this is my friend, Michaela Taylor.”
“Well, hello there.” Michaela gave him one of her prettiest smiles as he held out his hand. She took it and as they shook, he said,
“It’s nice to meet you, Michaela. That’s a really pretty name.” She giggled. I almost rolled my eyes. They were still holding onto each other’s hands. I cleared my throat and said,
“We should get going, Michaela. I’m really hungry.”
Ethan let go of her hand and said, “I was just telling Karli that you and her were invited to celebrate Nick’s win with us over dinner.”
I tried to convey my thoughts about that to my friend with my eyes, but she wouldn’t even look at me. “That sounds nice,” she said. “I was waiting in line to see Nick, but it was taking so long that his bodyguards finally called it.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Ethan said, “But you’ll get to see him in person and get your autograph if you go with us to dinner.”
“Michaela…” I tried. It was no use. The only things she could see at the moment were Ethan’s blue eyes and dimples.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Well, Santori’s is Nick’s favorite. He loves Italian food, so I thought I’d take him there.” He glanced at me then and said, “Besides, it’s off the beaten track and we can probably eat in peace without Nick’s groupies harassing him.”
“I love Santori’s,” Michaela was saying. She was being honest, at least. It was one of her favorite restaurants.
“Good. It’s settled then.” He turned to me and as if I were an afterthought, he added, “What do you think, Karli?”
What was I going to say? Michaela had already decided we were going. I felt like I didn’t have a choice. But I wasn’t sure I wanted one. The idea of seeing Nick sent a thrill straight through me. “Sure, as long as Nick doesn’t mind.” Ethan smiled.
“He’s not going to mind.”
The place was almost completely emptied out before the fighters started to emerge. When I saw Kevin come out, I excused myself and went over to talk to him. It wasn’t like Michaela and Ethan would miss me. They seemed to have already hit it off.
“Hey, Kevin!” The poor kid was looking around at a few of the other fighters that had already come out. They were all three surrounded by scantily clad women clamoring for their autographs. No one but me seemed to notice Kevin come out. The loneliness I could see in his eyes was almost palpable in the air. Maybe it was a sibling thing. For his sake, I hoped not.
“Hey, Karli.”
“Great fight.”
He smiled. “You’re such a liar, but thank you.”
“I’m not lying. It was your first real fight, right?”
“Well, when I was fighting underground, I beat bigger guys than that one.”
“Ask my dad.” As soon as I said “my” dad, I hesitated. He shook his head.
“You don’t have to do that, Karli. He’s your dad, no matter what.”
“Anyways, I was going to say that size is only part of the reason a fighter wins a fight. I’m sure he’s gone over that with you and I’m sure you know it. You were distracted tonight. It happens. It won’t happen next time.”
“Thank you, Karli. Can I give you a hug?”
“Of course.” We hugged and while he was squeezing the life out of me, he said,
“Blood or not, I already feel like you’re my sister.”
“Good, I always wanted a dorky, little brother that I could beat up.” He laughed. I was happy to see him smile. I was even happier when a cute, petite girl approached him. She had blue hair and a nose ring and was wearing a tank-top with a flowy skirt. She looked like a pixie.
“Hi,” she said, shyly.
“Hello,” I said. When Kevin didn’t say anything, I elbowed him in the ribs. He cleared his throat and said,
“Hey.”
“My name is Elaine,” she said softly. “I just wanted to tell you that I thought you were amazing, Kevin.” I was glad I was wearing my sunglasses because he lit up like the sun. I smiled at Elaine and then at him and smacked him on the arm.
“See you at home later, bro.”
He laughed. “Yeah, see ya.”
By the time I got back over to where Michaela and Ethan were still flirting hot and heavy, Nick was coming out the door. Suddenly, there was a flurry of female activity and the big bodyguards flanked him and held them back slightly to keep them from jumping on him. I saw him smile and my heart sped up, and then his eyes met mine and it began to beat so hard in my chest that I thought it might explode.
He said something to one of the guards, but I couldn’t hear what it was. The guard stepped in front of him and made a path through the adoring fans for Nick to walk through. He was blowing off close to fifty women for me because he thought it was what I wanted. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how unfair I’d been to him.
“Hi, Karli. Did you see the fight?”
“I did. You did great.”
“Thanks.”
“It was hard to watch,” I admitted as I looked at the bandage on the side of his face. “How is the cut?”
“Sore, but I’ve had worse. I just hope it doesn’t take away from my astonishing good looks.”
I laughed. “Yeah, me, too. Hey, Ethan asked Michaela and I to join you guys for dinner tonight. Do you mind?”
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I’d like that.”
“Can I ask you a favor first?”
He grinned, almost seductively. I tried not to shiver. “Absolutely,” he said.
I smiled back and shook my head at him. “Not the kind of favor you’re thinking of.” He stuck out his bottom lip and I laughed. “Will you sign at least a few autographs before we go? Those poor girls look crushed.”
He looked over at the group of women still staring at him and glaring at me and then he looked back at me, confused. “Are you encouraging me to sign autographs because it doesn’t matter now that you decided not to be with me?”
I shook my head slowly and said, “No. I’m asking you to do it because I decided that I did. If I’m going to give this a shot…if you still want to…I’ll need to start by trusting you.”
“You won’t be sorry,” he said with a gorgeous smile. He turned back toward the women and then looked over his shoulder and said, “Oh and I still want to – badly.”