Uncaged Love #4: MMA New Adult Contemporary Romance Read Free Page B

after me, really caring about me, since my dad died when I was eight. “I’m pretty tough.”
    His clear gray eyes search my face. “Just about the toughest girl I know.” He looks back at the cage. “You got any folks?”
    My chest gets all tight. This is why I don’t make friends. I don’t ask about their lives, and they don’t ask about mine. “No,” I say. Maybe I can keep it simple.
    “No mom, no dad?”
    “No.”
    “Sisters? Uncles? Nothing?”
    He’s not going to let this go. “I never knew my mother or any of her family. My grandfather died in Vietnam. My grandmother died when I was six. My dad died in an oil-rig explosion when I was eight.” I realize how much death I’ve just mentioned. But that’s how lives go. People live, and people die.
    “I’m sorry,” Buster says. “You live in foster care or something?”
    I think carefully how to handle this. “I had a stepmother. I left when I was able.”
    “All right,” he says. “That all makes sense. I just wanted to know if I had someone to answer to if something happened to you in there.”
    I relax. That’s all he was worried about. Who to call if I got hurt. “Nope. Nobody.”
    “Colt is somebody,” Buster laughs. “But he’s probably not going to leave your side anymore. You’ve got him pretty locked up, from what I can see.”
    I’m not sure about that. “If you need somebody, Zero works across the street at the cafe. He probably knows me best.”
    “Good to know.” Buster looks past me. “I think one of your girls is here.”
    I’m relieved this tricky conversation is over.
    But when I turn around, the girl standing in the doorway is Annabelle Warren.

Chapter Four  

    “Hey, Annie — Annabelle,” I say. Damn, I have to be careful. “You ready for some strength work?”
    Annabelle nods. Buster picks up the tangle of bands and heads back toward the weight room. I open the box of sandbags. It will be amusing to see how this girl fakes struggling with tiny eight-pound discs.
    I’ve got her doing some arm work when a couple other girls come in. I show them the drills and switch Annabelle to squats. The morning falls into a typical rhythm of moving the girls through the training, although I am watching Annabelle pretty close.
    That’s why I notice her whole body going stiff when the accordion door opens a half hour later. I think it must be Colt, but when I turn to look, it’s Lani.
    The two of them exchange similar “what the hell” looks.
    Annabelle quickly pretends to be in pain from the workout and scrunches up her face as if that was all that was getting to her. I have no idea what this is about. I expect Lani to come up and talk to her, since clearly they’ve met. But Lani strides right past her. Maybe they dislike each other. That would make sense, given their reaction.
    Now I have two things to ask Lani about. If she knows Annabelle, and also about that night after Parker’s match. But there’s too many girls to attend to for now. Annabelle is careful not to look behind her at Lani, even when Lani starts a steady rhythm on the speed bag that enthralls the other girls.
    A couple of them walk over to her. “How do you do that so perfectly?” one asks.
    Lani chats with them as she keeps her pattern on the bag. I take a smaller sand weight to a girl struggling with her tricep lifts and keep an eye on Annabelle. Everything about this makes my hackles rise.
    My phone buzzes against my skin. It’s Colt on his lunch break, I’m sure. Knowing I have a message from him waiting on a free moment makes me feel better. If Lani doesn’t know Annabelle, I’ll ask him about his ex-girlfriend’s last name when I get a chance to talk to him. I need to tell him what is happening. We shouldn’t keep any secrets from each other.
    If it is her, it’s so strange she would show up now.
    Unless.
    My body shudders with a chill.
    Unless Brittany sent her.
    Pieces start to fall together. She’s still trying to get rid of me. She