Dances with Monsters(129)

"So we done with this dumbass shit now?" he went on quietly, smiling a little to take the sting out of his words.

One side of her mouth stretched a little wider, and he saw a shadow appear in her cheek. "Yes," she answered.

He smirked at her and slid a hand under her hair, gripping it lightly. He brought his lips to hers. "Just don't make me wait too long," he teased gently. She rolled her eyes but pressed her lips against his, sucking gently at his bottom lip. He had just taken a firmer grip on her to feast on her mouth more deeply when he heard a voice.

"Yo, Heath. Sorry to interrupt…"

Heath glanced up, a growl of annoyance in his throat, and saw Carter Steele striding down the hall toward them, a slightly amused and apologetic look on his face.

"What you want, man?" Heath demanded, his hands slipping down to grip Drew's waist loosely as she stepped away from him slightly.

"I want you to go get some sleep," Carter replied, folding his arms. "You got a big day tomorrow, man. C'mon. Keep your head in the game."

Heath sighed. He knew what he was supposed to do as well as anyone; the plan had been to not get caught by his sometimes-trainer-manager.

Carter turned his slight smile on Drew. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but our boy needs his rest. He's got a lot of fights tomorrow."

Drew bit her lip, her face flushed from being caught. "Right. I got it."

Carter lingered until Heath glared at him. "Can I get a minute?" he demanded. Carter rolled his eyes and gave them his back, pacing a few steps down toward Heath's suite. Heath knew that Carter would stay out there all night to make sure that Heath eventually went to his own room. He sighed and glanced down at Drew.

"Sorry," he murmured. "He'll stay out here all night if I don't –"

Drew half-smiled and placed a hand on his chest. "It's all right. Go. You need your rest."

There was not much else to say, nothing that he wanted Carter to hear him say, anyway, so Heath just looked at her and half-smiled, running a hand slowly through her hair.

"Go," she said, more insistently. "Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

He leaned down to give her a final kiss, a goodnight kiss, and then pulled away. His body screamed in annoyance, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice. And, frankly, he did need the rest.

"Good night," he said softly. She smiled and stepped inside her room, pausing to blow him a kiss before she shut the door.

Heath turned and walked back toward his room. Carter glanced over his shoulder, grinning.

"I trust that you can keep yourself inside your room tonight?" he asked, mock-sternly.

Heath gave him a withering look. "Fuck you, Steele."

"I'll take that as a yes," Carter said, waiting until Heath had unlocked his door and stepped inside. "Sweet dreams, brother!"

Heath shut the door in his face and rolled his eyes in irritation as he heard Carter laughing at him all the way down the hall.





Chapter Twenty-Seven


When Drew woke up the next morning, her stomach was a jumble of nerves.

She wasn't sure why but all morning she felt extremely anxious at the thought of going to the First Niagara Center for day one of the tournament. Heath had allowed John to accompany him to the arena as he prepared for his first round of fights. He had left early that morning to ensure he had plenty of time to stretch, hydrate, eat, and in general "Zen" himself, as he called it, before he took to the ring. He had knocked on her door that morning to let her know he was leaving. Drew had wanted to say something encouraging, give him words of wisdom, something really deep and profound for him to ruminate over while he prepared himself, but all she could manage was a lame, "Good luck."

Now, later that afternoon, she was showered and dressed and in the lobby of the hotel, too nervous to eat a late lunch in the hotel's on-site restaurant. Lana was eating a chicken Caesar salad and fruit, and Connor was enthusiastically attacking a giant bacon cheeseburger and fries. Drew sipped at a cup of tea and nibbled a little of the fruit salad that she'd ordered.

"You seem nervous," Lana commented. "He'll be fine."

Drew wanted to tell her it wasn't just the prospect of witnessing the fights. While she wasn't particularly enthused about Heath going to war with overly aggressive men who wanted to bash his face in to better their chances of winning a couple million dollars, she knew and was confident that Heath could handle himself. She decided she was more bothered by the fact that she just didn't know what to expect or how she would react to it, but she simply didn't feel comfortable expressing that to them.

"It'll be fine," Connor was saying. "You understand these types of tournaments?"