HerCreed-ARE-epub Read Free

fire inside them.” A fire he saw in her but didn’t want to acknowledge nor encourage. “The drive they have to win is equal to only one other thing. Can you guess what that thing is?”
    “Sex.”
    No hesitation, and his dick did not jump again. ‘Cause that would be wrong. “You got the topic right, but what about it specifically?”
    Nibbling her bottom lip, she crossed one leg over the other and seemed to be considering her answer.
    He liked that she didn’t just blurt out nonsense. She thought about what she was going to say, which actually made him care what her answer would be. Almost as much as he cared what color her panties were if she were wearing any at all.
    Which he didn’t because again—wrong.
    “Exhibitionists. That’s what they are. Being more than okay to take or be taken in a room full of strangers, fans.”
    “Correct. But why is that important?”
    “Because you can’t check out while it’s happening. The audience will notice. The other fighters will notice, too, and they could use it to their advantage to rattle the other fighter at a later date. If their head isn’t in the game, it could jeopardize the reputation of the owner and the Rapers themselves.”
    Fuck . “Correct.” She’d said it better than he normally did when talking to other people in the same league. Not to mention pitching to his legion of kinky sponsors. And he’d definitely not been so poised at her age. Not that he was that far away from seventeen, being only seven years older than her—if the age she gave him was correct.
    Which he still doubted.
    “So why were you out at,” glancing at his watch, he cursed, knowing he’d missed most of the first fight, “two AM?”
    “Sunday stroll?”
    “It’s not Sunday.”
    “Must have missed flipping a few days on my day planner. My mistake.”
    She was bright, smart. “What’s your story? You’re pretty, seem to have an intact head on your shoulders, don’t seem strung out, but instead of partying with your friends, you’re sneaking in here to watch the fights? There’s more to you than meets the eye, I bet.”
    “The Transformer’s franchise tagline. Nice.”
    “I do my best to educate others among the ways of the cool. Now, quit stalling. Talk and don’t lie.”
    “I don’t lie. It’s unladylike, I’m told.”
    His lips twitched, but he kept the smile in check. He did not need to enjoy verbally sparring with her. So he didn’t. Much.
    Holding up a hand, she started ticking fingers off. “My parents didn’t love me; my teachers didn’t understand me; none of them got their monies’ worth out of my therapy, years ago; puberty is setting me on a path of self-destruction…” She actually rolled her eyes at that one. “And God forbid I actually have a mind I tend to use and speak up for myself. Crazy. I know, I know. Yet, no one can seem to get a handle on my problem. Shocking.”
    The girl had walls and walls up around herself, and he wanted to take them down. Every one of them. She had a look about her. The same look he’d seen on foster kids, and he’d seen a hell of a lot of those, but the look didn’t fit her.
    She just didn’t fit into a category he could place, and he had a hard as hell time walking away from a human Rubix cube. He walked to his mini-fridge and pulled out two water bottles. Handing one over to her, he uncapped his own and leaned against the edge of his desk.
    Studying her, he tried to put a few of her pieces together, but didn’t come up with much. “What school do you go to?”
    “I don’t.”
    “Why not?”
    “Long story.”
    He hazarded a glance at the clock above the mirror. He didn’t have time. “I’ve got time.”
    “No, you don’t.”
    “Says who?”
    Nodding in his direction. “You do. You grind your teeth when you’re busy and trying not to show it.”
    He had to relax his jaw. Twice. Something he never let anyone else see. “How do you know I do that?”
    Shrugging seemed her “go to”