Chapter 5 Definitely Not In Over My Head
Jax
God, she’s gorgeous when she’s pounding into someone’s face like that.
I mean, give the girl some credit, she’s wailing on someone twice her size and then some.
She’s wild, savage, crazed in ways that intoxicate me, pull me in like a moth to a flame.
I mean, fuck, how often do you meet a girl like her?
Works on bikes?
Check.
Can beat a grown-ass man?
Got it.
Knows how to bite back?
Definitely.
Color me pink and tell everyone I’m falling in love.
I might as well be. Watching her makes my whole body feel wired.
He charges like he can win by being big, shoulders forward, fists swinging heavy, and she just keeps sliding out of reach, never where he expects her to be.
She clips him with a quick jab to the ribs, then another to his side, clean and annoying.
It doesn’t knock him down but probably makes him feel stupid for missing.
He grunts, curses, and tightens his face like he can’t believe this is happening in front of everyone.
He starts swinging wider after that, trying to catch her with something big, and it only makes him easier to read.
She snaps a kick into his knee, not flashy, just efficient, and his leg dips for a second.
The crowd reacts instantly, a loud inhale rippling through the ring, followed by shouted laughs and several people yelling “Oh, shit!” from somewhere behind me.
He lunges to grab her, hands reaching for her hoodie, and she ducks under his arms and shoves his shoulder as she passes, sending him stumbling a step too far.
He turns back on her with pure frustration, breathing hard now, throwing punches that look more desperate than planned.
She doesn’t give him time to reset. She steps in when he overcommits, cracks him in the face with a straight shot that snaps his head back, then follows with another before he can even find his balance.
His feet hesitate before he drops flat, hitting the concrete hard enough to make the front row flinch.
There’s a half-second of silence, like the room has to catch up, and then it breaks open all at once, cheering, yelling, money already changing hands while she stands there, calm, like it took no effort at all.
It seems she gets the same reaction from the crowd every fight.
“Winner!” The announcer yells into the mic, lifting her arm without her consent.
She pulls it down and scowls before stretching her shoulders and lifting her chin as she walks off the ring. Can I call it a ring? It’s tape on the floor, and not even good tape. It’ll tear and fade by the end of the week.
“Think she’s taking visitors?” I nudge Elias, mischief brimming in the way my blue eyes twinkle under the fluorescent lights.
Elias crosses his arms, his shoulders just as big as the guy who’s down on the floor. The EMT in him wants to check on the guy; the chivalrous part of him wants to check on Raine. So I push for the latter.
“Well, I’m going. You’re welcome to come.”
Theo is quick with a remark, muttering under his breath like always. “I’d like to see her deck you in the face when you annoy her.”
“Me?” I gesture to my chest in mock offense. “She would never. I’m too charming.” I point to the dimple that stays on my face at all times, even when I’m not smiling.
“Charming. Annoying.” Theo huffs, holding both hands up like he's physically weighing options. “What’s the difference with you?”
I smirk at him, draping my arm over his shoulder and essentially taking him under my wing. “Watch and learn, Professor. Here’s something I can teach you.”
Theo has never been one to score with the opposite sex, being too shy. Frankly, I think women scare him, but he'd never admit it. Part of me wonders if he's ever been laid at all.
He says he has, but I think he's just covering.
“You're the last person I want to take advice from when it comes to women.” He rolls his eyes but lets me guide him through the crowd anyway. Saying one thing but feeling another, like always. Theo's defensive and prickly when it comes to me, but neither of us would survive without the other.
I push past the thicket of men placing bets near the front and cut through the narrow opening of the metal doors I watched her cross earlier.
“I'm the best person to take advice from, and you know it.” I wink at him, a smirk too smug spreading across my face, knowing that between the three of us, I've charmed the most women out of their panties.
Elias’ hand lands on my shoulder, covering the whole damn thing as he pulls me back, preventing me from tripping over a misplaced board.
“My savior.” I exhale it dramatically, blinking up at him like a damsel in distress. “Marry me?”
“You couldn’t handle me,” Elias shoots back immediately, face too serious for the joke.
I can never read him all the way.
I grin anyway, because this is our thing.
People have always assumed I’m just a flirt, like it’s a personality defect instead of a coping mechanism, but the truth is simpler and way less interesting: I’ve always liked who I like.
Women. Men. The in-between. The vibe. The mouth.
The way someone looks at me when they think I’m trouble.
I’ve never been confused about that part.
I’ve always been confused about him, though.
Elias never gives much away. His expression stays locked down, controlled, and if I want the truth, I have to watch his eyes: the micro-shifts, the way he tracks exits and threats like they’re part of his bloodstream.
Even when we flirt, it always feels like I’m tossing matches at a wall and trying to see if anything catches.
“What are you like in bed, Elias? Something tells me you’re more dominant than soft.” I drag my gaze over him for a second longer than necessary, then start walking again, mostly so I don’t have to stand there and wonder what he’s doing with his face.
He matches my pace without looking at me, eyes scanning ahead like he’s on shift even when we’re off. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I really, really would.”
“Dominant,” Theo muses beside us, like he’s solving a math problem.
“Look, even the professor sees it.” Another laugh slips out of me, loud in the hall, the sound bouncing off the metal walls and the empty space and making me feel more alive than I should.
I keep moving since lingering is dangerous, and not just because we’re somewhere we probably aren’t supposed to be.
The whole thing is illegal anyway. No VIP section.
No official rules. Just doors and shadows and quiet that makes you want to poke it with a stick.
So, exploring we go, in search of our strong girl. I let the banter carry me while I pretend I’m not still wondering what Elias’ silence means, unsure whether he flirts back because he feels it too or because he’s just letting me run my mouth until I tire myself out.
Mmm.
I'd let him spank me.
Elias doesn't say anything, spotting her ahead with furrowed brows. He moves quickly, cutting in front of Theo and me when he sees her sitting on a metal bench, looking up at the ceiling like she can see all the answers to her problems written there.
He's kneeling in front of her in a blink, reaching into his bag without a word. She blinks a few times before her brain finally catches up and lets her mouth open.
“You're not supposed to be back here.”
“We don't tend to follow the rules, Sunshine.” I smirk, dragging Theo with me as we approach.
“You're hurt.” Elias frowns, staring at her bleeding knuckles. “May I?” He holds his hand out for her to place her palm in, ready to treat the damage.
She thinks it over, clearly not used to having someone take care of her. Reluctantly, she skims her fingers over his, and Elias doesn't let her take it back.
“This might sting.” Elias gives her the warning without looking up, already tearing open a packet like he’s done it a thousand times.
“I’ve had worse,” she mutters, chin tipped in that stubborn way that makes me want to both applaud and shake her.
He works, quiet and clinical, disinfecting her knuckles with a gentleness that doesn’t match the blood on the floor.
She doesn’t flinch once. I, however, am a delicate flower apparently, since I hiss every time Elias dabs one of my stupid little cuts with a cotton swab.
Raine just blinks at him like she’s waiting for the kindness to come with strings.
Elias presses along the edge of her knuckles, checking for breaks, his fingers firm but careful. “You’re lucky.”
She snorts like the word offends her. “Yeah, luck. That’s what this is.”
His gaze flicks up to her face for half a second, then drops back to her hand like that’s safer. “If you keep pushing, you’ll make it worse.”
“I need the cash.”
I step in before Theo can open his mouth, seeing the lecture loading. “You hear that, doc? She’s practical. Let the woman work.”
Theo folds his arms and exhales like I’m a migraine with legs. “You’re encouraging bad decisions.”
“I’m appreciating hard work,” I shoot back, because those are not the same thing and he knows it.
Raine’s eyes cut between us, one brow lifting as she tracks the exchange like she’s filing it away for later. “You two always like this?”
“Only when he thinks I’m wrong,” I tell her, dead sincere.
“So constantly,” Theo fires back without missing a beat.
That earns the smallest sound from her, half laugh, half scoff, like she tried to stop it and failed. Still counts. Elias glances up mid-wrap like he heard something rare, then goes right back to his job like he didn’t.
He finishes cleaning and digs in his bag, pulling out a thin rib guard like he’s been waiting for his moment. “Here.” He holds it out. “Wear this under your shirt next time.”
She eyes it like it might bite her and shakes her head. “And you just carry that around all the time? No thanks.”
“You never know. People make dumb choices.” Elias cuts a look at me that feels way too personal.