Chapter 5 Definitely Not In Over My Head #2
“Hold on,” I protest, throwing my hands up. “That was one time.”
Theo groans like he’s reliving it in real time. “You nearly collapsed my lung.”
“It wasn’t that bad—”
“You told me, and I quote, ‘Trust me, it’ll clear the jump.’” Theo’s voice turns flat with rage as he keeps going. “Then we hit the ramp, and you landed on me.”
I grin, unable to help myself. “Minor miscalculation.”
“You cracked my rib.”
“Minor detail.”
Theo scoffs like he’s still offended on principle. “You called me dramatic while I was wheezing.”
“You were dramatic. You said, ‘Tell my mom I love her.’”
“I couldn’t breathe!”
“You were fine ten minutes later.”
“Because Elias wrapped me up and told you to shut up for the rest of the night.”
Elias doesn’t even glance up from the tape, like he can multitask and roast us at the same time. “Best fifteen minutes of peace I’ve ever had.”
Raine’s smirk turns real this time, her mouth twitching before she bites it back like she refuses to give us the satisfaction. “You two are idiots.”
“Confirmed.” Elias tears the last strip of tape with his teeth, which is always sexy as fuck.
“Hey.” I clutch my chest, offended. “We’re talented idiots.”
He ignores me completely. Of course he does. “Try not to lead with this hand,” he tells her as he presses the gauze flat, his palm lingering a fraction longer than necessary.
She flexes her fingers, testing the wrap like she might be able to intimidate it into holding. “Can’t make promises.”
Theo edges in, cautious as ever, like he’s approaching a wild animal instead of a woman with bruised knuckles. “You really shouldn’t fight again tonight.”
“If I listened to every man who told me not to, I’d be living in a ditch by now.” She stands as she says it, rolling her shoulder like she’s checking herself for weak points, still deciding.
Elias rises with her, reminding everyone in the room exactly who the tallest person here is. “Then promise me you’ll come find me after.” His voice is steady, all business on the surface. “I’ll check your ribs and make sure nothing’s worse.”
“You want me to promise?” Her eyes cut to his, then slide to me like she’s looking for the joke hiding under it.
“I want you to keep breathing.”
She holds his stare for a beat too long before her gaze flicks away. “Are you all this persistent with everyone, or am I just lucky?”
“Just you.” I lean into it like I’m being helpful. “We specialize in difficult cases.”
She exhales, the sound landing somewhere between annoyance and reluctant amusement. “You’re all impossible.”
“That’s true.” I tip my head, letting my grin do the heavy lifting. “But we’re charming about it.”
“Debatable,” she shoots back, but her tone softens as she looks at Elias again. “You done patching me up?”
Elias stares at her and then his kit, not wanting to let go of her hand to pack it up. “For now.”
“Good.” She pulls her hand free like she’s reclaiming herself. “I’ve got another round to win.”
Theo’s frown deepens, warning already loaded. “Raine—”
“I’ll be fine.” She’s moving as she says it, already walking. “You can stop babysitting me.”
Elias watches her go, jaw working like he’s chewing on everything he didn’t say. “She’s going to fight again.”
“Yep,” I reply simply, popping the p for emphasis.
Elias shakes his head like he can somehow stop this stubborn-ass woman we're all trying to woo from fighting again. “She shouldn’t.”
“Nope,” I cross my arms with a grin, knowing we're all going to go watch her anyway.
Theo looks between us, resigned and irritated at the same time. “We’re following her anyway, aren’t we?”
I give them a slow grin, eyes focused on her back. “Obviously.”
Elias gives me that quiet, patient look that says I’m exhausting him. Theo mutters something about bad influences and still follows. Some habits run deep.
Raine’s already back in the taped-off square by the time we squeeze through the crowd again. The other fighter’s bigger, meaner, but slower. She reads him like a manual—duck, hit, pivot, repeat.
Every punch she throws looks hardy and heavy, every block a middle finger to the world.
The crowd’s eating it up, shouting her name like they actually know her.
Theo winces every time she takes a hit. Elias just watches, cataloguing damage.
Me? I’m mesmerized. There’s something about the way she fights that hits every nerve I didn’t know I had.
The guy swings wide and eats nothing but air.
She lets him overextend, pivots behind him, and shoves his shoulder just hard enough to make him stumble forward.
When he turns, pissed and confused, she snaps a low kick into his shin, then another into the outside of his thigh, chopping him down piece by piece instead of trying to end it with one pretty hit.
He charges again, and she meets him halfway, not backing up, just slipping to the side and driving a short punch into his gut that folds him a little. She follows with a quick knee that lands more on his hip than his ribs, and he grabs for her out of pure desperation.
That’s when it happens.
His forearm clips her wrist as she yanks free, I know that she’ll want to swear later when the swelling shows up.
I see her fingers flex once, annoyed, before she tucks the hand in close like nothing happened.
The crowd doesn’t even catch it, too busy reacting when she uses his momentum against him, twisting out and sweeping his leg so he hits the concrete hard.
He tries to sit up, blinking like he forgot where he is, and she ends it with a clean shot to the side of his head that drops him flat again.
The warehouse erupts, noise and money and people yelling stupid things, and I’m buzzing because she’s violent and unfairly hot.
Raine shakes out her hand once like it’s nothing, rolls her shoulder like she’s resetting, and walks off without so much as a glance back.
We push through after her. Elias is already moving, Theo right behind him, and I follow last, still grinning.
Outside, the air is thick and damp, and she’s leaning against the wall under a flickering streetlight, rotating her wrist slowly like she’s trying to decide whether it’s worth admitting it hurts.
“You done stalking me yet?” Raine asks without opening her eyes, head still tipped back against the brick like she’s daring us to admit it.
“Define stalking.” I drift a step closer anyway, feeling rules are optional around her.
“Following without permission.”
“Then no.”
Theo pinches the bridge of his nose like he can physically hold back a migraine. “We just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
She cracks one eye open, her gaze landing on him first and then sliding it to me. “You’ve got a real problem with boundaries.”
“Comes with the job,” I tell her, like it explains anything.
She pushes off the wall, shoulders squaring as if she’s about to walk right through us. “What job? Annoying me?”
“You’re really good at spotting talent.” My grin comes easy as I follow her with my eyes. “I’m impressed.”
Elias steps in before she can fire back, attention already dropping to her hand the second he notices the way she’s holding it a little too still. “You need food,” he offers, but his body gives him away, fingers hovering near her wrist like he’s asking permission without using words.
“I need quiet.”
“You’ll get both.” I point across the street at the line of food trucks. I’m not above bribery. “Come on. It’s late, we’re hungry, and I’ll buy.”
“I’m not—”
“Hungry. I know,” I cut in, hearing her stomach snitching. “But the way your stomach is growling says otherwise, so either you join or you stand there judging from a distance.”
Her glare could kill a man, specifically me. Unfortunately for her, I’ve built immunity.
“Fine.” She reaches for the hair tie on her wrist and yanks it off to twist up her ponytail, and Elias’ hand closes gently around her arm before she can get far.
He doesn’t make a big deal out of it, just turns her wrist palm-up in the wash of the streetlight, thumb pressing along the side with that careful, professional calm.
“Hold still,” he murmurs, eyes narrowing as he checks for swelling, then runs two fingers lightly over the spot where she got clipped like he’s mapping bruises before they bloom.
Raine’s jaw tightens, but she doesn’t pull away. “One stop,” she says, like she has to remind herself she’s still in control. “Then you leave me alone.”
“Scout’s honor.” I cross my heart, dead serious about it.
Theo’s voice comes out flat behind me. “You were never a scout.”
“That’s unimportant,” I shoot back, already turning us toward the trucks while Elias releases her wrist like he’s filing the whole thing away for later.
We fall into step beside her anyway, the three of us keeping pace like we’ve been doing this for years, even though she keeps trying to pretend we’re not.
The warehouse noise fades behind us until it’s just boots on cracked pavement, streetlights buzzing overhead, and the smell of the food trucks getting stronger with every block.
The first truck hits like fried heaven. Grease and onions, smoke curling out from the vent, something spicy enough to sting your eyes.
I order four burgers and extra fries before anyone can start acting reasonable, then snatch a soda off the ice and hold it out to Raine like it’s a peace offering she didn’t ask for.
She stares at it for half a second, like she’s deciding whether accepting it makes her weak, then takes it anyway.
“See?” I lean in, grin already loaded. “Progress.”
“Barely.” She cracks the tab and takes a sip like she’s proving a point, eyes still on me over the rim.