13. Vortex #2
“My sister would cut you off at the ankles,” I retort with a grin of my own. But maybe he’s right. Maybe I do need a sparring partner.
Maybe he isn’t the rusty one.
“Maybe I should be sparring her instead, then,” Havoc counters as we trade blows.
“She’d kick your ass, and your pride would never recover,” I tell him. It’s surprisingly easy to go back and forth like this, verbally and physically, and I can almost see what Seven sees in him. When he’s not being a prickly asshole, he’s at least amusing.
And he needs this more than I’d thought.
Even though we’d talked the day I’d threatened Erica Reese, that had been an anomaly, not the norm.
I land a kick against his side, and Havoc grunts through the pain. He’s starting to sweat.
I reach up to wipe sweat from my own brow.
“If this is your best, we’re in for trouble,” I say with a wide grin.
Havoc barks out another laugh. “If I weren’t on your side, you’d have lost three times over by now. Those Clubs assholes would have kicked your ass so hard.”
I snort. “Don’t be ridiculous,” I tell him, my voice deadpan. “I never even would’ve gotten past the fucking door, let alone ended up in a fight with them.”
That makes Havoc stop to laugh for real, and I use the opportunity to land another punch.
“That’s cheating!” Havoc shouts, but he recovers quickly enough to kick me across the back of my legs. I stumble forward a few steps before finding my footing.
“All’s fair in love and war, and this is definitely war,” I retort, and this time I’m the one in a defensive stance.
We trade more blows, the pain blooming across my body. I leave multiple bruises across Havoc’s arms and chest.
My hands are starting to ache, and my breathing is coming in heavy, but I have to admit, it’s good.
“Come on, Havoc, I’m starting to think you’re the one who’s all talk,” I say, grinning widely.
Havoc rolls his eyes, but he takes the bait and lunges forward.
I widen my stance to catch him off guard—but he grapples me instead of punching, and we both fall onto the living room carpet.
Forget boxing; we’re wrestling now, Havoc’s sweaty skin sliding against mine. He tries to pin my arm, and I roll over, using my superior size against him. I get my arm across his collar to pin him in place.
“There’s no getting out of this now,” I say.
“Unless I fight dirty,” Havoc responds, right as he drives his knee up and toward my groin.
I have to roll again to avoid it, and that lands him on top of me instead. It’s been a long time since I’ve wrestled, and even though I try to flip us back over, he has me down.
Havoc grabs my wrists to pin them against the floor, and that has his face directly over mine. His lips are only a few inches away.
Havoc stops moving. I can hear our panting, I can feel his breath against my lips.
I could close the distance between our mouths in a split second and see what Seven likes about kissing him.
I can see it in his eyes; he’s considering the same thing.
I reach up, grabbing him by the hair. Havoc leans in, his nose angled to the side.
Then he suddenly pulls away. I let go of him, and we both roll to the side.
I lie there, staring up at the ceiling. My heart pants hard in my chest.
“Sorry,” Havoc mumbles. “Heat of the moment. Adrenaline. Fighting. Y’know I get off on the rough stuff.”
I glance over, and I see the obvious erection tenting his jeans now.
Given that I’m half-hard myself from the adrenaline alone, I can’t say I blame him. “Yeah,” I say, even though I’m not into anything rough unless it’s for Seven’s benefit. But there’s something about the thrill of a fight that has me going, too. “It’s not like we’re going to do anything about it.”
“Right,” Havoc agrees. “You’re not my type anyway. Unless you want to bend over for me and let me ruin your delicate little hole.”
I scoff at him. “My delicate little hole is staying virginal, thank you very much. Besides, who says you’d top?”
Havoc gives me an amused look. “Of course I’d top. I won the fight.”
“We had a stalemate,” I correct him, wiping more sweat from my brow. “And one we are never, ever talking about again.”
“Stalemate? Sounds like something a loser would say.” Havoc sits up and sighs loudly. “You just don’t want Seven to know you can’t handle yourself in a fight.” After a beat he adds, much quieter, “But don’t worry. I’m not in a hurry to tell Seven about this either.”
“He’s going to want to know where the bruises came from,” I remark, sitting up as well.
I sigh, sobering. “You two need to talk it out. He’s beating himself up over all of this, too.
I think he understands that what he did was wrong, but I’m not convinced he knows why.
” I blow out a breath, then stand. “We may have steamrolled him a little to try to get him to understand.”
Havoc scowls up at me. “You and Caleb ganged up on Seven? What the hell? I’m gonna kick your ass for real.”
I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “He did this to me, then he did it to Caleb, then he did it to you — and he’s getting cannier every time. This isn’t something we can let get worse, Havoc.”
Havoc finally stands up, only to immediately sit down on the couch.
“Yeah. Probably not.” He reaches for the beers and grabs another bottle.
He has to search to find the bottle opener hidden among the couch cushions.
“I’ll talk to him soon. This week. Tomorrow.
I don’t know. I just need to get my head on straight so I don’t blow up at him. ”
I nod. I want to tell him to get it over with, but I also don’t want to be the reason he loses his temper with Seven and everything gets worse. “What do you want me to tell him?”
“That I’m working through my shit but I’m not mad at him?” Havoc takes a sip from the bottle. “At the end of the day, I’m bigger and stronger than him, right? I could have backed off. I’m the one who can’t control myself.”
Yeah, and I could’ve stopped him from choking himself on my cock, but I hadn’t either.
I don’t want to say that, though.
“And I’m bigger and stronger than you,” I do say, my voice quiet, “but I still let him manipulate me. It happened, Havoc. We can’t change that. All we can do is make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Guess Caleb’s actually the strongest out of the three of us,” Havoc says with a dark chuckle. He shakes his head and glances at me. “Thanks for stopping by, but get out of here, man.”
I nod, grabbing my shirt and pulling it back on. Then I pause, glancing at him. “Hey. Do you have any contacts with the Diamantes? Caleb has a meeting with Blake Heart and Trent’s in contact with Virgil Club, but Valentín Diamante is a secretive bastard.”
Havoc scowls. “Seriously? I don’t want to deal with them anymore. Those fuckers…” He stops and sighs. “It’s for Seven?”
I nod. “Yeah. We need to know what offers the Lockwoods are making.”
Havoc bites his lip. “I never wanted to see that pendejo again.” He sighs. “I’ll ask around. I don’t think they want to see me either, but maybe he wants to get a punch in.”
I don’t ask who he is. As long as it’s a Diamante, that’s a step closer. “Set up the meeting. Take Caleb with you. And me too.”
Havoc laughs. “I can probably swing Caleb, but there’s no fucking way they’d let you in.” He grins at me. “You’ll have to trust me to cover his ass. And let’s face it, I’d do a better job than you.”
I shake my head. “You’re an adequate backup, I’ll give you that.” I get my socks and shoes back on. “Anyway, enjoy the beer. I’ll talk to Seven.”
“Bye! I’ll take you down for real next time! At an actual gym!” Havoc says as I make my way to the door.
Rolling my eyes, I let myself out.
Well, that went better than I thought it would.
Even if I do have to figure out how to explain the bruises to Seven, it’s worth it.