Chapter 31
Thirty-One
Jaclyn
No one ever told me that watching a fight happen, a brutal one where they don’t show any mercy or humanity, would send adrenaline straight to my veins.
I think everyone in the club feels the same way because how they yell “Night!” as he enters the cage is unlike anything I have ever seen.
This is my second time attending a fight and it’s only because Natalia begged me to come since she didn’t want to come alone. Chris is here but Natalia says he is always too busy talking to Kayden about the fight. Max is somewhere dancing his little heart out in the club while the four of us are just watching Hayden enter the cage as if he is a god.
“Who’s fucking ready?” a guy in a black suit yells in a microphone as Hayden and the other fighter come face to face. Everyone cheers and yells. Natalia screams Hayden’s name, being his number one supporter. “We have the one and only, Hayden Night! And against him is Gareth Johnson!”
The guy in the black suit talks to Hayden and Gareth in a hushed tone, talking about the rules while Hayden looks around the club, not caring per usual.
When Hayden’s eyes go to me he smirks. My cheeks can’t help but heat up and I look away from him and instead look at Natalia who is beaming at her brother.
It’s like we share some dirty secret that no one knows but us and it gets me excited.
“He is totally going to win. He always does,” Natalia says to me.
“How many of these fights does he do in a week?”
“It depends on him and his agent. Sometimes he doesn’t do any fights in a week and other times he does one every single night.”
“Illegal fighters have agents?” I almost laugh because that’s ridiculous.
“Yea. They need to find people to have a match with them. They also need to make sure the fight will bring in money for the club. Hayden’s agent owns this club so if anything, his agent is paying Hayden a ton of money for bringing in so many customers.”
“How long has he been fighting for?” I ask, can’t help but feel curious about Hayden and his past with illegal fighting.
“Since high school. When Hayden got taken in by my father and mother, he showed up to a family friend's gym in the middle of the night all bloodied.
“Hayden’s adopted?” I ask.
He doesn’t call his parents by mom or dad, Hayden mentioned the Night’s taking him in, and now Natalia mentions how he showed up at Carter’s friends gym in the middle of the night as a kid.
“Yea. They see him as their actual child though since they have gone through so much with him. Hayden has given my mom and dad hell throughout the years but they still love him unconditionally. I was always jealous of how much attention they paid to Hayden but I know they did that because he needed it,” Natalia says as she watches her brother in the ring. I look at Hayden who is staring at his opponent with a serious look on his face. He looks like he is ready to kill. “Come with me to get a drink before the fight starts.” I look away from Hayden and look at Natalia.
“I’ll wait here. I don’t want to miss anything, plus I don’t think a drink is a good idea.”
“No come with me, please. I don’t want to leave you here,” Natalia begs and I nod my head.
It’s probably a good idea to stay with her anyways.
Natalia and I walk through the crowd of people who are eager to get a closer look at Hayden .
They are still going over the rules so we have enough time to get a quick drink.
I wait near the bar while Natalia asks the bartender for a drink. Chris and Kayden are sitting at the bar watching Natalia and me while talking to one another. They are watching the fight from the bar because Kayden told me he hates how crowded it gets.
Once Natalia gets her drink we walk back into the crowd of people and go to the front, pushing our way past everyone. People curse at us and call us vulgar names but we ignore them, Natalia ends up flipping someone the bird which makes me laugh.
I look up at the cage at the same time I see Hayden throw a harsh punch to Gareth’s face. Everyone cheers for Hayden as he pummels Gareth against the cage.
Gareth grunts and puts his defense up while trying to block Hayden’s punches. Hayden ends up throwing Gareth on the floor and kicking him in the stomach before straddling Gareth and aiming punches at his face non-stop.
Everyone is cheering for Hayden and Natalia is yelling his name. Seeing his muscles bulge with each punch sends a shiver down my spine and I take a deep breath to calm down the adrenaline that is running through my veins.
Gareth bucks his hips and gets Hayden off of him before throwing a punch to Hayden’s jaw. I can hear Hayden hiss making me wince and grab onto the cage, anxious for Hayden to focus and get his head back in the game.
“He’s good, isn’t he?” I look to my right and see a guy watching the two fighters in the cage. He has a drink in his hand and the soft smile on his face almost looks terrifying. “I’ve been friends with Night since freshman year.”
“You know Hayden?”
If he knows Hayden then why haven’t I seen him before? He only ever hangs out with Chris, Max, Kayden, and Natalia.
The guy nods his head and finally turns his head towards me.
He’s a good looking guy. Dirty blond hair that is cut short, dark blue eyes that steal your voice and his body looks like Hayden’s, a fighter's build.
“Yes. We fight and train together. I’m Eric.” Eric offers his hand which I take. Eric smiles at me and looks at Hayden. “He has always been one of the best fighters at the club. That’s why Marco can never let him go.”
I furrow my eyebrows, still staring at Eric. “Who’s Marco?”
“Hayden’s manager. He owns the club.”
At that my eyes go to Hayden who is staring straight at me. Gareth is on the floor trying to get up from Hayden’s punch.
Even though I am not in front of Hayden and can’t see his eyes clearly I know there is so much darkness and anger in his gaze as he stares at me it almost steals my breath away.
Next thing I know Gareth is on his feet and gives Hayden a hard punch across his face that causes Hayden to hit the cage. Hayden keeps his eyes on me even as Gareth throws punches left and right to his face and some body shots.
“Sometimes he gets distracted when he's fighting,” Eric says, making me look at him.
Eric already has his eyes on me and he’s looking at me intensely. My body screams for me to leave and go back to Kayden and Chris.
Which is exactly what I plan on doing.
“Right.” I smile at Eric and grab Natalia’s hand. She is too drunk and focused on Hayden to know what's going on around her. “It was nice meeting you,” I say politely before dragging Natalia out of the crowd.
She whines about not wanting to leave but I ignore her.
The guy just gave me bad vibes all around and my head was telling me to get the hell out of there before something bad was about to happen.
I walk up to Kayden and Chris, giving Natalia to Chris who holds her in his arms while she keeps her eyes on the fight.
“What’s wrong?” Kayden asks, making me look at him.
His eyes are filled with worry and I didn’t realize my hands were shaking until now. Anxiety rushes through me and it’s one of the worst feelings in the world.
I pull out my phone and see my blood sugar is at 180.
I’m fine so why do I feel like everything isn’t?
I pocket my phone and look at Kayden. “Nothing. It was just getting crowded in there.” I turn my head and see that the fight is over. Gareth is on the floor while Hayden stands straight, his chest heaving up and down as his eyes are trained on me. His stare still makes me feel weak and causes tingling everywhere but I force myself to turn my head to stop looking at him. Kayden’s eyes are squinted as if he’s trying to figure something out. He does that a lot. “I want a drink,” I state before walking towards the bar.
I wave down the bartender and ask for two shots of Fireball.
It’s a good thing I’m not driving tonight.
Chris drove us here. Like always, he is the designated driver.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Chris asks, raising an eyebrow at me. His arms are still around Natalia. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I’m fine. I’m only going to have two to loosen me up a little,” I say as the bartender comes back with the shots. I smile and give him twenty dollars and tell him to keep the change .
I gulp down both the shots, wincing when it goes down my throat, slightly burning.
“No more,” Chris says before turning to the bartender and whispering something to him. Instead of ordering another drink Chris gets water for me and tells me to nurse that down. “I know you would rather have more shots but I don’t feel like seeing you in a hospital again.”
He’s no fun.
Time seems like it flew by fast because when I turn around I immediately bump into a warm, bare chest. Hands grip my waist and pull me against a solid warm body. I look up and see Hayden looking down at me, fury filled in his eyes.
He looks pissed.
So very pissed I can’t help but feel excited about what he might do this time.
“Eric’s here,” Hayden says before looking at Kayden.
I keep my eyes on Hayden, not focusing on what he’s saying to Kayden, admiring the way blood runs down his eyebrow where his piercing is. I reach up without thinking and graze my finger against the little barrel.
Hayden doesn’t pay attention, as if this is the most normal thing I have ever done to him but I feel the way his hands grip my waist tightly.
“She can’t leave out the front door,” Hayden says, making me focus back on the conversation.
“Why not?” Kayden asks. Hayden’s eyes talk to Kayden’s in a way no one understands but them two. Kayden sighs from behind me but I still don’t keep my eyes off Hayden. It’s the alcohol making me feel all dizzy and that’s why I can’t keep my eyes off him. Shots work fast when you’re busy not paying attention to the world around you. “We’ll meet you at the car. I’m assuming you want to have a few words?” I can hear the teasing tone in Kayden’s voice.
Hayden doesn’t say anything though, all he does is clench his jaw.
“But I want Jaclyn,” Natalia pouts as Chris pulls her away from Hayden and I.
Kayden follows behind them, eyeing Hayden and I. Hayden grabs my hand and pulls me away from them, going through a crowd of people.
“Where are we going?”
“The back door.”
I furrow my eyebrows. “Why?”
“Because you’re causing trouble for me princess, so because of that we have to get out of the building another way.”
Hayden doesn’t say anything else as we walk out of the crowd of people and head towards a dark empty hallway. The darkness sends chills down my spine making me walk closer to Hayden as he grips my hand.
The music is getting quieter and quieter as we get closer to the end of the hallway where there is a door .
“Why are you mad?” I ask Hayden as he opens the door. He doesn’t say anything as he walks out the door and all of a sudden I am pushed against the wall. I’m hit with a wave of memories from the night in Utah and my lips part. “What are you doing?”
“What did Eric say to you?”
I furrow my eyebrows. “Eric? What do you mean?”
“What did he say to you, Jaclyn?”
I shake my head lightly. “Nothing. He was just saying you were a good fighter.”
“And then he touched you, yes?”
I scoff and shake my head lightly. “To shake my hand, Hayden. God you’re ridiculous.”
Hayden takes a step closer to me so that his chest is pressed against mine. “If you think I’m bad princess, then you have no fucking idea what you’re getting yourself into with Eric. So stay the fuck away from him.”
I roll my eyes. “You can’t do that. You have no right to order me around and tell me who I can and can’t talk to,” I argue, trying to get his hands off of me by pushing his chest but he doesn’t let go of my waist.
“If I see anyone lay a hand on you again, I won’t hesitate to end their life,” he says in a husky tone before smashing his lips on mine.
My lips open on their own as Hayden devours my mouth, licking and grunting. He presses his hips against mine. I close my eyes and lean my head against the wall as Hayden licks my lips and thrusts his tongue inside my mouth.
One of his hands trails up my body until it rests on my throat. Not squeezing or anything, just resting his hand there and guiding me through the kiss. Butterflies erupt in my stomach and I feel like I’m losing air again and kissing him is the only way to breathe properly again.
My mind is cursing at me for doing this again with him but it feels too good to stop.
His finger presses against my throat making a sound escape from my mouth against his. He thrusts his tongue inside my mouth, sliding it against mine. I shiver in his arms, opening my mouth for him to do it again.
He smiles in the kiss and chuckles deeply, kissing me again and again until I feel like I’m going to faint.
The kiss is like the one in the closet, needy but also so forbidden as if we shouldn’t be kissing.
And kisses like the one he’s giving me right now is possibly one of the best kisses ever.
“I just never learn my lesson when it comes to you do I?” Hayden says, his lips hovering over mine so we’re breathing in each other’s mouth. It feels so intimate doing this with him. Sharing the same breath and just breathing into one another. I can’t help but love it. Hayden presses a quick, all consuming kiss to my mouth before letting go of me and grabbing my hand. “Let’s go.”