Dances with Monsters(127)

So, he'd driven around to the back of the hotel near the garage where the valet kept the cars, and waited until he spotted a valet attendant. He waved him over, seeing the attendant's eyes widen in recognition.

"Hey," the young man had said, grinning. "You're the One-Hitter-Quitter."

"It's actually just Heath," Heath had replied flatly. "Listen. I'm not tryin' to deal with that bullshit around front, man. Can you let me in through the valet entrance? I just want to go up to my room. I got my family here."

"Sure," the attendant had said, nodding vigorously. He pointed at the car. "You want me to take care of that?"

"That'd be great," Heath had answered, and let the attendant park the car. The attendant had reappeared to open the entrance door for him and Heath had slipped him a nice tip before disappearing inside and using the service elevator to get to his floor, managing to bypass all of the nonsense outside completely.

Now, he was forced to enter the lobby again, noticing that there were a good number of people milling around. A lot of them were young women, more hangers-on, and though they were with some of the other fighters, whom he ignored, they eyed him openly. He scanned the room for his family, looking to find them and get the hell out of there as fast as possible.

The first thing he saw was Lana's tousled blonde head, where she stood at the bar just in front of his brother. He saw his father drinking what looked to be sparkling water or soda, and then he saw Drew and his eyes widened slightly.

He didn't know why he'd expected to still see her in her ripped up T-shirt and her Converse, but the first place his eyes went to was her rear end. It was set off to perfection in a pair of tight, ripped skinny jeans. Tucked into the jeans she wore a simple, ribbed black tube top that hugged her trim abdomen. To add a touch of modesty, there was a leopard print scarf draped around her neck, hanging down to the middle of her stomach. As he got closer his eyes slid to her feet, seeing them encased in black, peep-toe pumps decorated with a long gold zipper on the outside edge of each shoe, stretching from toe to heel. Her long dark hair had been coaxed into waves and tumbled down her back. It was a simple ensemble but it set the shape of her body off to perfection and Heath couldn't help thinking she looked good enough to eat.

Everyone glanced up as he approached, but his eyes were glued to Drew. Her dimples suddenly dug into her cheeks as her brown eyes lit up at the sight of him. It filled him with that strange but pleasant feeling, one that made him feel like she always seemed to be so excited to see him. His hand automatically went to circle her waist as he greeted his family, Connor surprising him with a hug. He returned it awkwardly.

"You guys ready?" he asked, desperate to get out of the hotel and away from all of the prying eyes. His hand unconsciously tightened on Drew's waist.

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Connor replied. "I'm starving." They used the hotel transportation to head to an Italian restaurant a few miles away.

Once they arrived and Heath could see that there were just average people, families, in the restaurant, he relaxed, and they had a good time together, all things considered. Lana and Connor bemoaned how much they were missing the girls, even though they'd been looking forward to getting away. Maggie and Lucy were staying with Lana's family. Connor asked him how the afternoon went, and John wanted to know how he was feeling in terms of the fights the following day. Heath answered their questions but was getting distracted because every so often, under the table, Drew's hand would find his thigh and squeeze. She wouldn't look at him, wouldn't behave any differently, but he had to suppress the urge to jump every time she did.

Suddenly, he was eager to return to the hotel.

Unfortunately, Lana and Connor weren't quite ready to call it a night. They didn't get away from the girls very often, they said, and they wanted to have a few drinks before they retired for the night. John bid them a goodnight and retreated up to the suite he was sharing with Heath, leaving the group of four in the now-empty bar.

"Wonder where everyone went," Lana mused after they got their first round of drinks. Heath opted to drink water, but Drew was having a glass of red wine.

"Probably out," Heath replied with a shrug. "Wherever the other fighters went."

They stayed and drank at the small table for a while, talking and laughing quietly amongst themselves. As she had at the restaurant, Drew would run her hand over his leg intermittently. At one point he met her eyes over the rim of her wine glass and felt blood rush through him at the look in her eyes. They were dark with some kind of need, full of promise.

He wondered if John would end up with the suite to himself tonight.