What the hell have I stepped into?
Jenna glanced around at the other spectators. No one paid her any attention. Every single eye in the room was pinned on the action inside the ring, if that’s what it’s called.
Within minutes the match seemed to be over. The man named Brody grinned at the woman next to Jenna and spit out a mouthpiece.
Jenna cringed again. What a disgusting sport.
Brody lifted his arms in victory and stepped around the cage thing—that was the only way she could think to describe it—and then he jumped out of the fenced area and headed down a dark hall in the direction Jenna had just come.
The woman he was with plopped back down next to Jenna. She smiled at her and reached out a hand. “Shelly.”
Jenna took her hand. “Jenna.”
“Are you new? You look petrified.” She giggled.
“Is it that obvious?”
Shelly nodded. “Don’t worry. It’s only scary the first few times. You’ll get into it quickly. Who are you with?”
Jenna swallowed. “Mason Simmons.”
“Oh, ‘The Bullfighter.’ He’s fun to watch and sexy as hell. You lucky girl.” She elbowed her. “That was my man that just won. Want me to help talk you through it? Or has Mason already given you a rundown?”
Jenna shook her head. “Not so much.” The last thing she wanted to do was admit Mason had told her nothing about this. Less than nothing. He hadn’t even disclosed his involvement until about ten minutes ago.
The audience got louder as the announcer stepped into the center of the mat. “Next up we have two contenders from the middleweight division—Mason ‘The Bullfighter’ Simmons against Jorge ‘Badass’ Lopez.”
Jenna leaned toward Shelly to speak over the crowd. “Why do they call him ‘The Bullfighter’?”
Shelly laughed. “You really are new, aren’t you?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Watch how he bounces away from his opponent defensively, and you’ll understand. All he needs is a red cape, and you could mistake him for being at a bullfight instead of an MMA fight.”
Huh. Interesting. Jenna sat up straight in her seat as Mason stepped through an opening in the fence and sauntered toward Jenna. He winked at her before he took a seat where Brody had been.
Jenna’s face flamed red hot. She felt like some sort of groupie here to watch this man fight. “So how does this work?” She decided she had nothing to lose and might as well ask Shelly what was going on and familiarize herself with the sport, even if she did look like a lunatic.
“Okay, so the area inside the fence is called the cage.” Shelly pointed and glanced at Jenna.
“Cage. Got it.”
Shelly grinned and shook her head. “He told you nothing. Gah. Men.” She continued, “There are three five-minute rounds with one minute in between—unless someone wins before that, which Mason often does.”
“He wins?” Jenna bit her lip. Couldn’t she have kept the thought to herself? Besides, of course he wins, just look at him.
“Yes.” Shelly laughed. Her voice was infectious. “You’re going to love it.”
I doubt that. She had no interest in watching men beat each other, and she stuffed her hands under her thighs to keep from fidgeting and showing her stress.
The last two men had left the cage bloody. Gross. Two men in white wiped the floor.
As the announcer rattled off the height and weight of each contender, the crowd grew excited, and the volume went up in the arena once again.
Jenna couldn’t help but be sucked into the excitement. She leaned forward, admiring Mason’s back as he stood and bounced around in his corner. He stretched his neck in both directions, and Jenna licked her lips, wishing she’d had an opportunity to see his bare skin before tonight. He was ripped and sexy as hell.
“When the bell sounds, the first round will begin,” Shelly added.
Shortly after, there was a loud ding, and Jenna flinched. Shelly jumped from her seat, shouting immediately. Obviously she rooted for Mason. She turned toward Jenna and grabbed her arm. “Come on, girl. Get into it.”
Jenna stood, awkward being the only word she could use to describe how she felt.
Thank God for Shelly. She couldn’t have gotten any luckier than to have been seated next to this woman. Shelly held Jenna’s arm and continually spoke into her ear. “Mason has a mean right hook… See—there,” she shouted. “And that, that’s a sweep.” The other guy went down onto his back and scrambled to get back on his feet.
Mason was on him in an instant, though, and wrapped his arms around the guy’s neck. “Oh God. He’s going to choke him,” Jenna exclaimed.