Mason:Inked Reapers MC(73)

Kait said nothing, but she knew that of course it wouldn't. She wanted  what Anna had with Robert. She wanted to go out on dates and feel like  she was a legitimate part of Jasper's life, not just a place for him to  find physical comfort.



"I can still set up that double date you know," Anna suggested brightly.  "But you'd need to be quick. Robert's friend is a handsome guy, and  he'll get snapped up soon if you don't move on him."



Kait dropped her gaze to her own salad and pushed the plastic container  away. She had suddenly lost her appetite. Her blonde hair fell around  her shoulders as she chewed her lip and tried to ignore her friend's  concerned look.



"I don't like seeing you like this," Anna said softly. "You don't seem happy."



"When I'm with him, I'm so happy," Kait recalled Jasper's last visit  with a bittersweet smile. "In his arms, he has the power to make the  whole world melt away. And I … I get lost in him. But then when we're  apart, it kills me."



"Sounds intense."



"It is!" Kait insisted fervently. "It's almost … too intense. It's either  all or nothing, and I kind of want the in between stuff. The cinema  trips. The meals out."



"Have you told him how you feel?"



"What do you think?" Kait grumbled. Jasper was hardly easy to approach  on matters of the heart. A part of her remained wounded from their  encounter at his gym when he'd told her she would always come second to  his training.



"Well, maybe you should," Anna coaxed gently. "If you guys are like  together for real, he'll hear you out. He'll want you to be happy."



"You think so?"



"Sure."



Kait's phone buzzed noisily on the table between them. Reaching for it,  Kait was unable to suppress the smile which pulled at her lips when she  saw that the message was from Jasper.



Hey beautiful, can I see you tonight? Xxxx
                       
       
           



       


"Ooh, from lover boy?" Anna asked teasingly.



"Uh huh," Kait bit her lip and looked down at the message. She knew that  what Jasper was really asking was if he could come round and ravage  her. That was all they ever did. They had intense, passionate sex, and  then they returned to their respective lives.



"So?" Anna prompted her friend.



"He's going to come around later," Kait was suddenly blushing like an embarrassed school girl.



"Ooh," Anna mocked with a raise of her pruned eyebrows. "Will he be staying over?"



"No," Kait sighed, already knowing the answer to that question. "He's got a huge fight tomorrow."



"That sounds like an excuse."



"No, it really is a huge fight for him. One that will make or break his career."



"You sound convinced."



"I am," Kait nodded furiously.



"Then why are you so upset about being a booty call if you've already made peace with it?"



"I'm not a booty call," Kait ground her teeth and put the phone back down. "I'm his girlfriend."



"So are you going to watch this big fight?"



Kait fumbled for a response. Jasper had yet to invite her to come and  watch his latest big match, but surely that's what a girlfriend would  do? Go along to support her man?



"My advice for what it's worth is surprise him at the fight. Turn up to  support him. If he's pleased you're there, you're his girlfriend. If  he's angry you turned up, you're his booty call."



Kait absorbed her friend's suggestion, knowing that deep down Anna was  right. She was just terrified that if she turned up at the fight Jasper  would only be mad at her which would confirm all her fears about them as  a couple.





Chapter 52



"So, are you feeling ready?" Carl asked, his voice fringed with concern.  Jasper leaned forward, resting his elbows upon his knees. They were in  the changing room at the venue for his next fight, and he could already  hear the distant chanting of the eager crowd.



Jasper tensed the muscles in his arms. He certainly hoped he was ready.  But despite all the hours he'd put in at the gym, each time he walked,  he felt sharp stabbing pains in his one knee. Back at his apartment he'd  topped himself up with pain medication, but he doubted it would be  enough to numb himself for the duration of the fight.



"You have to win this," Carl warned, growing pale when Jasper failed to  respond to him. "I made it very clear how important this fight is."



"Yes," Jasper looked up at his agent, annoyed. "You've made it clear, Carl. I get it. Trust me."



"Let's just hope all these extra hours you've put in at the gym have been worth it."



"Tell me about it," Jasper agreed. He felt like he was constantly on the  verge of exhaustion. He didn't spring out of bed after a day of  excessive training the way he used to when he was younger. What if he  was just too old to fight? He couldn't think like that. With a brisk  shake of his head, he banished the negative thought to the back of his  mind.



"Just go out there and give this guy hell," Carl offered encouragingly.



"I intend to."



Jasper remained sat rigidly on the sofa of his changing room. This was  the time when he needed to focus, to descend down a black hole of  thought focusing only on the pin prick of light at the end. He had to  visualize winning, convince himself that he'd already won. He took a  deep breath and exhaled slowly, expecting to hear the thunder of  applause in his ears, but instead he heard Kait gasp in pleasure. He was  thinking about her again. He clenched his hands tightly together as  they had started to shake. Why was he thinking about her now? His mind  needed to be clear. He needed to be focused.



Carl had already left, aware of Jasper's pre-fight ritual and needed for  solitude before he entered the ring. Only Jasper wasn't currently  alone; Kait was in his mind polluting his every thought. When he tried  to imagine throwing a crucial punch, he thought of the way she smelt, of  how soft her hair was when he ran it through his fingertips like spun  gold.



"Focus," he snarled angrily at himself. But it did no good. Kait was all  he could think about. Getting to his feet, he started to anxiously pace  about, thinking that some movement might help banish Kait from his  mind, but it didn't. With each tense step he took, fresh images of her  popped up in his mind's eye.



"No, no, no," Jasper was shaking his head as he walked back and forth. "Focus."                       
       
           



       



A brisk knock on the door caused him to cease pacing. The door opened, and Carl was standing there, his expression unreadable.



"It's time," he told Jasper.



"Right, yes, let's go," Jasper clapped his hands together and bounced up and down on the spot, trying to fire himself up.



"You've got this," Carl told him as he patted him on the shoulder as the  pair of them walked down a corridor towards the arena. The chanting of  the crowd made the walls around them eerily tremble. They sounded louder  than usual, more riled up. The noise made Jasper even more apprehensive  about the fight. Usually he played off the energy of the crowd, but now  it was subduing him. He wasn't ready for this.



Already, his knee was causing him to grind his teeth together, and he  was merely walking. What would happen when he was maneuvering around the  ring or trying to execute a round kick?



"Come on, it's go time!" Carl had to shout to be heard over the roar of  the crowd. Jasper could just make out the distant boom of the announcer  calling his name. The crowd grew even louder.



Bunching his hands into fists by his side, Jasper took a deep, steading  breath, pushed open the double doors before him, and entered the arena.





Chapter 53



The crowd was on their feet when Jasper entered the arena. People were  eagerly waving homemade banners at him and screaming his name. Kait also  stood up and felt her heart quicken when she saw him striding  confidently towards the ring. His head was held high, and his shoulders  were pushed back. He looked so handsome yet fierce. She pitied whoever  was coming up against him as his opponent. At least she did until they  came out.



For a few seconds, the crowd died down so that the announcer could welcome to the ring "Timmy the Terror from Tamworth."



With a name like Timmy, Kait wasn't expecting much, but she was wrong.  His name didn't do him justice. He was equal to Jasper in both height  and build with a shock of fire red hair atop his head and pale skin  adorned with numerous dark tattoos sleeved up both arms.