Denying the Bad Boy(19)

Frost was owned by Dylan Frost, a former UFC champion who had since retired at the age of thirty-five due to a leg injury. He had opened this gym to help other guys that had been like him and just needed a place to let off steam without the regulations and rules of the gyms around OSU. It was almost an underground kind of place, where a lot of big names came by when they didn’t want the pressure of a chain gym.

“Sheppard?”

Alex stopped hitting the bag and turned to see Vincent, one of the fighters training for an upcoming Columbus MMA tournament walk up to him. His knuckles were already taped up, and a grin was in place.

“Hell, no, dude.” Alex fully faced Vince and shook his head. He knew that look, and there was no fucking way he was going to get in the ring and spar with him.

“What?” Vince’s lip and eyebrow ring glinted under the florescent lights.

“Don’t act fucking cute. You know damn well why you came over here.”

“All right, well quit being a pussy and fight with me.” Vince was already moving toward the ring. Alex gritted his teeth. He was warmed up, but Vince was a machine, and knew a hell of a lot more moves than Alex did. The last time they fought Alex sported a nasty fucking black-eye and limped for a week No way in hell Alex was a pussy, and could easily handle his own, but shit, Vince was a beast in the cage, was training to be in the UFC, and could kill a man with a few strategically placed moves. “I swear, no kidney shots, and I’ll stay away from your face, pretty boy. I wouldn’t want you trying to hook up with some chick looking like the shit got beat out of you.”

Vince was a cocky asshole, and rightly so since he was the King of the cage, but if he wanted to fight, then so fucking be it. Alex had enough adrenalin pumping through his veins that he felt the power flowing through him. Another fighter came up to him and started taping his hands. Vince bounced on the balls of his feet in the cage, staring at Alex with an amused look on his face. Once he was finished prepping he climbed into the ring and faced off with Vince.

“This time you’re the one that’s gonna have the black fucking eye.”

Vince threw his head back and started laughing. “Well, bring it on, pretty boy.”

Alex didn’t wait, just moved closer, his fists raised and his sole focus on Vince. They rounded on each other, and in a quick move Vince and he were on the ground grappling. Vince tried to use a kneebar to get Alex in a submission hold, but he flipped around quickly and had Vince on his belly with his arm behind him in an armbar.

“You fucker,” Vince said through a strained chuckle.

Alex could have broken his arm, or at the very least dislocated it, but that wasn’t what this was about. Vince twisted and moved out from under Alex, and then he found the two of them in a clinch, a move that had both of them face-to-face, their arms interlocked together, and their rapid breathing identical. Alex started throwing close shot to Vince’s ribs. Vince grunted out in pain, and satisfaction filled him.

“Damn, Alex, you been training.” Vince grunted again, but in a seasoned move Vince was now behind him with his thick forearm around Alex’s neck. It didn’t matter how good Alex was at bare-knuckle fighting, Vince knew his moves, and was an expert at Sambo, a Russian martial art. Vince slammed his free fist into Alex’s side, and he grunted. “I saw you at Rocko’s.” Vince tightened his hold on Alex’s throat, cutting off more air. “Was gonna hit you up to hang out, but then I saw this smokin’ hot brunette with killer legs.” Alex felt his anger rise at the way Vince spoke about Mary. “You bangin’ that shit, dude? ‘Cause if you’re not, I’ll be all over that.”

Alex saw red and was shocked by the force of which his rage grew. He was friends with Vince, but something inside of him snapped when Vince talked about Mary like that, like she was just another lay. Tensing, he used all of his strength to maneuver himself out of Vince’s hold, spun around, and clocked him right in the fucking eye. Vince stumbled back, and a look of surprise crossed the fighter’s face right before his own anger masked his features.

“Damn, guess I know what buttons to push.” Vince rolled his neck on his shoulders and started bouncing on his feet. “So talking about that pussy is a no go, yeah?”

The asshole was baiting him, wanting an all-out brawl, and Alex was falling right for it. He couldn’t help his reaction, though. He couldn’t help the way his motherfucking blood boiled at the thought of Vince getting anywhere near Mary. In fact, it pissed him the fuck off to think of any asshole getting their hands on her. His emotions reared up like a fire-filled monster, wanting to take down anything and everything that came between him and her, but he knew how fucked-up that all sounded. Mary was never going to be his, in any sense of the word, but he grew violent at the thought of Vince or any douche trying to get to her.