Breaking Beast (Pounding Hearts)

by Izzy Sweet

  I’m getting ready to stand up and head back to Ethan’s room to help soothe the sting of the loss when Reaper walks out. Reaper grins at me and it feels like he just punched me in the gut.

  What. The. Fuck.

  The air goes out of me and my heart starts racing. I’m not sure what’s going on. There’s just something about that grin, even swollen and lopsided, that does something funny to my insides. I feel like he found my dial and cranked my temperature all the way up.

  I felt this or something like this when I first passed him in the hall. His eyes fell upon me and when they met mine it was like there was a jolt. It was some kind of weird electrical shock. I shook it off then, thinking perhaps it was my imagination running wild. But now, I’m not so sure…

  Reaper walks past me, tall and triumphant. Fans in the crowd congratulate him on his win and thank him for such an entertaining match.

  My knees feel weak as I stand up. I turn and watch Reaper walk out. He talks and takes some time to interact with his fans. I watch him, waiting for him to leave, and while I’m waiting, my eyes start to wander down. For such a brute, his ass ain’t half bad.

  Fuck. I so did not just do that. I so did not just check Reaper out.

  It feels like forever that I wait, waiting for him to leave so I can walk out myself. And the entire time my eyes keeps betraying me, they keep sneaking peeks. They keep checking Reaper out.

  Maybe it’s just pheromones I try to reason, I try to justify to myself. Maybe it’s all the testosterone in this arena. It must be a chemical reaction, a product of all the brutality I just witnessed. He just proved he’s the alpha male. This must be why there're so many other half-dressed girls hanging around. There must be a perfectly logical, perfectly scientific reason to explain why we’re all looking at him and I'm practically drooling all over myself.

  Finally, Reaper laughs with a fan, waves goodbye and walks off, seemingly oblivious to all the female attention he was just receiving.

  I let go of my breath, and I wasn’t even aware I was holding it. I grab my purse, sling it over my shoulder. Now that Reaper is gone I can focus again on Ethan.

  I feel like I just popped and all the steam let out.

  I’m nervous about meeting up with Ethan. I don’t know how this is going to go. Usually after a fight Ethan would be celebrating. There would be girls, booze and other fun stuff. But not tonight, not after a loss. I don’t know how the rest of the night is going to go.

  Ethan can be kind of a sore loser.

  * * *

  “This is all your fault, Avery,” Ethan growls at me and crowds me into the wall.

  I walked into Ethan’s room knowing he would be pissed off after the fight, but I didn’t expect him to take it out on me. After I walked into his room, he shot me a glare over the heads of at least other dozen people. Not wanting to deal with his attitude, I’m tired and just want to go home, I tried to make a quick exit. I wasn’t fast enough though. He caught up with me in the hall.

  “Look Ethan, I know losing sucks,” I try to reason with him. “But you fought well. I’m sure you’ll win the next one.”

  Ethan’s hands slap against the wall, leaving me trapped on either side by his big meaty arms.

  His head leans down and his baby blue eyes glare at me as he says, “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have lost this one.”

  Now that’s not fair. I frown as I meet his glare. He’s being completely unreasonable.

  “How is this my fault?”

  Ethan growls and his glare drops to my mouth. “You didn’t give me my kiss for good luck.”

  It’s so absurd I almost laugh. His superstition has gone up a whole new level. “I’ve never had to kiss you before.”

  Ethan’s face comes closer, stopping only a hair away. “You do now.”

  What? I don’t think so. “No,” I say. “I’m not kissing you.”

  “Yes, you are,” Ethan snaps and presses his mouth against my mouth.

  At first, I’m so shocked I don’t do anything. Then Ethan moans and he must take my lack of action as acceptance and that just pisses me off. I shove at his chest and must catch him by surprise because I successfully push him off.

  “Stop!” I scream at him. “Think about what you’re doing!”

  “You owe me!” Ethan roars and shoves me hard into the wall.

  My head slams back and I see stars.

  Chase

  “You owe me!” I hear a man bellowing as I exit the small curtained off area where Doctor Miles was checking over my jaw. My jaw is slightly swollen from a punch I took. It’s not as serious as I thought though, just tender and in need of the cold compress I’m pressing against it.

  Dale laughs beside me as he steps past the curtain. “Someone must have...”

  I’m not sure what he was going to say next, I don't hear much beyond the blood rushing in my ears as I see the raven-haired hottie's head slamming back into the cinder block wall.

  I am a man who is more often than not able to keep the calm. The one who breaks up the fights, the one who doesn't yell or scream when I’m mad. I am the one who keeps the dark lizard part of my brain in check. Somewhere deep and dark in my body, I have that beast locked up in shackles tightened down, never allowing him to escape.

  Not during my fights. Not in any relationship. And never when I am dealing with anyone except for myself. I do not allow the beast out, and he stays buried inside and chained to a steel wall of self-discipline.

  I have no excuse at all for the next forty-five seconds.

  I snap after witnessing Ethan shove the girl into the wall. The beast is in control now and he's got one chain off with only one more barely restraining him…

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