The Last Round

Sutton

"Come on, Sutton, it's just one night! And your book will still be there when we get home. Please can you just try and have some fun, okay? You always have your nose buried in a book when there's a whole world out there waiting for you. You're missing out on everything around you, letting life pass you by while you hide behind pages. One day you're going to look up and realise the world has changed without you. New people you could have met,

new experiences to try, memories you could have made, all gone because you were too busy reading about someone else's life instead of living your own. You can't spend your whole life hiding in books, Sutton. One day you're going to have to put them down and actually live."

Ruby, my older sister and personal pain in the ass, tugs on my arm, pulling me through the swarm of people packed into the underground fight club she somehow forced me to come to.

I huff loudly, already regretting coming with her.

"I would much rather be reading about dragon shifters finding their fated mates and broody vampire kings claiming their destined queens than standing in a dirty warehouse filled with sweaty bodies rubbing against everyone, not knowing what personal space means, and drunk fools that can't hold themselves up."

Ruby rolls her eyes at me. "Not everything can be a fairy tale, Sutton. You never know, you might just like having all those sweaty bodies rubbing up against you. You might even enjoy it."

"Don't be so fucking gross, Ruby. Can you not smell all that body odour? I think I just vomited a little at the smell."

"That's just the smell of testosterone, the smell of a real man. Take a big whiff, Sutton. You can't get that smell from one of your books."

"Easy for you to say. At least my books have romance. What exactly does this place have besides the smell of unwashed men and a bunch of idiots punching each other in the face?"

She rolls her eyes. "God, you're such a nerd. It's time to leave the books at home and live. Live and enjoy the life you've been given instead of wasting away inside your head or buried in your books."

I glare at her. "Excuse me? I do live and enjoy the life I have. Just because it's not the life you want me to live doesn't mean I'm some kind of glasses-wearing, corner-hiding nerd. I just... prefer other worlds to this one. Nothing can hurt me there, and it's my life. I'll live it however I want."

Ruby grins at me. "Well, we're here now, and there's nothing you can do to change that. The least you can do is enjoy the experience. Come on, Sutton, live a little. You never know, this could completely change your outlook on the outside world."

I doubt it, but I'm here now, and I promised to try.

She'd been harping on at me for weeks to put my books away and actually spend some time with my sister instead of disappearing into fictional worlds every chance I got.

Earlier, she'd shoved an outfit into my arms, insisting she'd bought it for herself before discovering it was too small.

The lie would have been a lot more believable if the jeans weren't exactly my size and the off-the-shoulder top hadn't made my eyes stand out.

Ruby might have been many things, but subtle wasn't one of them.

And since her boyfriend, Lane, was already waiting outside in the car with an extra ticket, I'd eventually surrendered.

Not because I wanted to come.

But because arguing with Ruby was like arguing with a brick wall. Exhausting, pointless, and somehow guaranteed to end with her getting her own way.

We weave through the sea of bodies, pushing closer to the cage in the centre of the warehouse. The air is thick with sweat and adrenaline, while the metallic tang of blood tinges my nose.

"Ugh," I mutter in disgust, wrinkling my nose at the smell.

Ruby doesn't care. She's just happy to be here.

She grabs my hand, dragging me closer. "Hurry up! This is the main fight! They're supposed to be badass and crazy. This one guy, Iron, is so hot. He's the reason there are so many people here tonight. They all come just to see him."

I groan.

Of course she would bring me to the main event instead of one of the earlier fights with fewer people around.

Grrr.

I fucking hate people. They're all in my space.

Lane chuckles beside us as we squeeze through the crowd. He wraps an arm around Ruby's waist, pulling her against his side before pressing a kiss to her forehead. She immediately smiles up at him.

"Careful, babe. You sound a little too excited. Are you trying to make me jealous?"

"I am excited, and no, of course not. You're my only one and you know it," Ruby shoots back. "I've been waiting all week for this and I can't wait."

Lane shakes his head, an indulgent smile pulling at his lips before he looks at me.

"Glad you came, kid. It's about time you hung out with us."

I narrow my eyes. "Kid? Lane, I'm only five years younger than you."

He laughs, reaching over to ruffle my hair like I'm some annoying little sister he's been stuck with.

I slap his arm away and step out of his reach, chuckling. "You're twenty-four, not forty. Stop acting like a grandpa and calling me kid."

Ruby snickers at our back and forth.

I love that she found someone willing to joke around and have fun instead of walking around with a stick shoved up his ass.

Before either of them can say anything else, the announcer's voice booms through the speakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your main event of the evening-"

The crowd erupts around us, people shoving closer to the cage as whistles, cheers, and shouted bets echo through the warehouse.

"In the red corner, weighing in at two hundred and twenty pounds of pure destruction... Iron Kane!"

The energy in the room changes instantly.

A strange heat slides down my spine as the crowd somehow gets even louder, everyone around me suddenly desperate to catch a glimpse of the man stepping into the cage.

Then I see him.

And every coherent thought leaves my head, and for a second, I genuinely forget where I am.

I forget about the crowd, I forget about the smell, and somehow I forget about the fact I never wanted to be here in the first place.

Because the man walking towards the centre of the cage,

looking like he just stepped straight out of one of the fantasy novels that are piled beside my bed.

He's tall, so fucking tall, broad, and covered in tattoos that stretch across his chest, disappear beneath the waistband of his shorts, and crawl up his neck like dark shadows. His black hair looks slightly messy, like he dragged his hands through it before stepping into the cage, and his face...

God, he's got a strong jaw, and full lips, Dark eyes that somehow manage to look completely blank and unreadable while making my stomach twist itself into knots, I have only read about eyes so dark.

The man is beautiful in the most dangerous way possible, like the villain in a book who destroys everything he touches and somehow still gets the girl.

Looking at him now, I finally understand why the heroine always forgives him. Even after all the terrible things he's done. Even when every red flag is waving right in her face. Some men are just impossible to look away from.

My gaze drifts over his body before I can stop it, taking in the broad shoulders, hard muscle, and thick thighs beneath his black shorts.

Every part of him looks powerful, built for violence and destruction, while the tattoos flex and move with every step he takes, making them come alive.

I can't stop staring.

I need to stop staring.

Seriously, Sutton, stop staring.

Why can't I stop staring?

"Wipe your chin, you're drooling," Ruby says, nudging me in the ribs, smiling huge her teeth are showing.

I'm damned if I don't actually wipe my chin.

Then it happens.

One second, I'm watching him from across the cage, completely fascinated by the man standing under the lights, taking in every devastating inch of him.

The next?

He's looking right at me.

My breath catches in my throat, not in my direction, not somewhere in the crowd. At me.

His dark eyes lock onto mine with an intensity that makes my stomach drop. It feels like being hit by something physical, like the entire room tilts beneath my feet and suddenly I'm struggling to remember how breathing works.

For a moment, I can't move, can't think.

I can't do anything except stare back.

The crowd around us fades into the background. The noise becomes distant.

Everything disappears except the man standing on the other side of the cage, Iron Kane, or whatever the announcer called him earlier.

And somehow, impossibly, he's staring at me like I'm the only person in the room.

A strange heat spreads through my chest as he takes a slow step forward, moving towards my side of the cage.

Then another.

My pulse pounds harder with every step he takes in my direction, slowly getting closer to me.

There are hundreds of people here tonight.

Hundreds.

Yet somehow it feels like he's walking straight towards me.

No, that can't be right, can it?

I swallow hard.

Then he lifts his hand and points directly at me.

My stomach drops to the floor so fast it feels like I've missed a step.

Confused, I glance over my shoulder, but there's nobody there.

I look to my left, then my right, but everyone is focused on the cage. No one is paying attention to me.

Slowly, I turn back towards him.

He is still watching me, and still pointing.

A small smirk pulls at the corner of his mouth before he points again, making it painfully clear there has been no mistake.

Me.

He's pointing at me.

My fingers hover over my chest. "Me?" I mouth the words.

His smirk widens. Then he nods. The simple movement sends my heart into complete chaos

And before I can talk myself out of it, he lifts two fingers and curls them towards himself, silently telling me to come closer.

My heart slams against my ribs, rattling my chest.

Lane nudges me so hard I nearly stumble. "Holy shit, Sutton.

Go."

I should say no, I should stay exactly where I am, I should remember that I don't know this man at all, he is a stranger, stay your ass put, Sutton, do not go to the complete stranger, no matter how sexy he is, I think to myself.

But instead, I find myself taking a step forward in his direction.

Then another, and another.

I don't stop until I'm standing right beside the cage, close enough to see the sweat glistening on his tattooed skin, close enough to make out every detail of the ink covering his body, close enough to catch the scent of leather, cedar, and something that is unmistakably all man.

He bends slightly, lowering himself towards me.

And when he speaks, his voice is so low that only I can hear it.

"What's your name, beautiful girl?"

I completely malfunction as every thought in my head immediately abandons me. One second I know my own name, and the next I'm mentally calling for mayday while standing there staring at him like an idiot with my mouth hanging open, desperately trying to remember how words work.

"I-uh-I'm..." I swallow hard, my mind going completely blank. Shit, what's my name again? Why can't I think? It's my name. I've had it my entire life, yet somehow the second this gorgeous man starts talking to me, my brain decides to pack its bags and leave.

"I'm Butt-on."

The words leave my mouth before I can stop them.

Closing my eyes in horror, I mentally smack myself. Stop thinking about his butt, you dirty whore.

"Sutton," I blurt out quickly. "My name is Sutton."

A smirk tugs at his lips, and God help me, it does ridiculous things to my insides.

"Sutton," he repeats slowly, rolling the name around like he's tasting it, seeing if he likes the sound of it. Judging by the look in his eyes, he definitely does.

His voice is low and rough, carrying just enough amusement to make my stomach flutter.

"You got a man, Sutton?"

I shake my head a little too quickly.

"Uh, no. Nope. Definitely not. No man. I don't have a man."

Shut up, Sutton.

His grin deepens.

"Good."

I blink at him, my brain already hanging on by a thread and somehow managing to short-circuit even further.

"Why?"

A low chuckle rumbles out of him before he lifts a hand and brings it to my face. His large palm cups my cheek, his touch surprisingly gentle for a man who looks capable of breaking bones for fun.

My pulse pounds so hard I can hear it in my ears as he tilts my face slightly to the side.

"See that door over there?"

I nod slowly, if a little awkwardly, considering he's still holding my face and I'm struggling to remember how oxygen works.

His thumb brushes lightly against my skin before he turns my face back towards him, forcing my eyes to meet his again.

"Meet me there after the fight."

My stomach flips.

A completely laughable amount of confidence suddenly appears out of nowhere, making me far braver than I have any right to be.

"What if I say no?" I Sass him

His eyes darken with amusement, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"You're not going to say no because I'm not giving you the choice."

The certainty in his voice steals whatever argument I was about to make. Before I can respond, he leans in slightly, closing the small distance between us.

His mouth brushes mine, so lightly that I almost convince myself I imagined it. The touch is barely there, soft and fleeting, yet it feels like he's handed me a taste of something dangerous and knows I'll spend the rest of the night wanting more.

Then he's pulling away from me.

"See you soon, beautiful."

And just like that, I'm left standing there staring after him, wondering if my entire life changed in the space of thirty seconds.

Maybe Ruby was right.

Maybe I needed to get out more often.