"I cannot believe he talked to us! He actually stood there and talked to us! How cool was that?"

I giggled, then turned my head towards Justin. "I guess it was cool," I acknowledged as we walked down the street, heading for the nightclub. I had to laugh. Justin can act like such a kid at times. And it has me thinking if we would've had backstage passes for a meet and greet with Gunner. He probably would have embarrassed me by how he would have acted around him.

"You guess?" Jake asked, sounding bothered by my response. "It was way beyond cool. I've never seen anyone talk to fans on their way back to the locker room. Usually, they leave the cage and head straight back to the showers."

"You may have thought it was cool, but it wasn't for me," I responded, thinking back to how he was looking at me before and after the fight. Not once did he remove his eyes from mine. And I'm pretty sure I was blushing the entire time he talked to us. Gunner's smirk, that smile, had my insides burning with desire, and I could feel that fire traveling throughout my body.

At the time, I felt a bit creeped out, but at the same time, I thought it was a bit exciting. I've never had that kind of reaction with any guy I've ever come face to face with.

There was no way I would act like my brother and be excited about a guy that'll never be. The difference is my brother loves how he fights; I, on the other hand, was feeling lust for a guy who, like celebrities, doesn't know us ordinary women exist. By the look of Gunner, he probably has an Elle Woods type of girlfriend, or he's one of those guys who sleeps with many women-his fans.

I needed to get away from Justin and his friends and headed to Lakesha and Melinda. "That guy was so in to you; you know that?" Melinda excitedly said.

"He was really into you... we all saw how he was looking at you," Lakesha said enthusiastically.

Maybe I should have just stepped behind everyone and not talked to anyone. I didn't feel like talking about the Gunner guy anymore or about how he looked at me. All it did was ignite the fire burning inside me.

And I was not too fond of it.

Well, that's not entirely true either. The man was godly gorgeous and exciting, and I liked how my body reacted just by looking at him. But he's not my type, as I'm not into men who fight.

I laughed. "No way," I responded, blowing it off. "I'm afraid I have to disagree with you on that."

"He was looking at you and only you while he talked to us," Melinda said, smiling ear to ear, her breasts bouncing freely up and down as she strutted down the sidewalk.

"He looked at Justin, too," I sighed, looking away, knowing how right she was. But I also didn't want to witness Melinda's breasts escaping from her top. And Dan punching the lights out of some poor guy who happened to see it happen, and they end up staring at what was outside her shirt.

"Only for a quick second," Melinda noted, leaning into my ear. "He was into you, and you know it."

Not wanting to talk about it anymore, I ignored her.

Gunner most likely got a heads up; the seats were freebies and tried making small talk. Besides, whatever Jake thinks, I think oppositely of him and feel the fighters stop and talk to their fans all the time before heading back to their lair. Especially the winner of that fight, wishing to keep their fan base going. After all, if it weren't for their fans, they wouldn't be where they are today. Right?

As we stood in line waiting to get into the nightclub, the bouncers walked the line, asking if any of us were on the guest list. The ones who weren't lucky enough to be on the list had their IDs checked, and the tops of our hands stamped, making it easier for us to get inside once we made it to the entrance.

Finally, my nerves calmed to normal. And I was feeling the most relaxed I'd been all night. But I still needed a drink. So, once we made it inside, I headed straight to the bar, ordered a round of shots for everyone, and then a drink for myself.

"Here's to Aria, finally letting her hair down," Justin toasted, snickering.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks for getting me out of the house. Had you not, I'd be in my pajamas, on the sofa, and eating ice cream from the tub, while watching one of those cheesy romance movies on Lifetime.

We clinked our glasses together, slammed our shots, then worked our way to the dance floor.

I was just stepping onto the dance floor when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around, and my brows drew together when I saw a bouncer with a scowled look on his face, shaking his head and wiggling his finger at me.

What did I do wrong?

"What?"

"No drinks on the dance floor. Either you hand it to me and lose it, or drink it and then dance. It's your choice," the bouncer barked.

There was no way I was handing him my drink.

I needed this drink.

Without saying a word, I smiled, wrapped my mouth around the straw, and batted my eyelashes at him while sucking every ounce of liquid out of my glass. "Here you go," I said, grinning while handing him my empty glass. "It's now yours to deal with."

For a couple of hours, we danced, drank, danced, and laughed, the entire time we were having the time of our lives. And I can't thank my brother enough for finally getting my ass out of the house. Ever since breaking up with my boyfriend a little over six months ago, I haven't gone out, or anywhere, for that matter. All I've done is go to work, clean, eat, shower, and repeat. But I also laid on the couch watching Lifetime movies all night, wondering what I did wrong for my ex to leave me for his secretary-something I should have seen coming after the sex stopped months before the break-up.

Whatever... I'm not going to dwell on something that obviously wasn't meant to be.

The music was blaring, and the dance floor strobe lights flashed above me as I danced provocatively with Melinda and Lakesha. With Lakesha in front of me, my back to Melinda's, we were in our own little world, not caring about our surroundings. Suddenly I was by myself, and then I was shoved into a group of people.

The bar was dark, but as the dance floor lights flashed, I realized what was going on-a fight.

Nice...

I should have known this would happen tonight. Alcohol always seems to be the culprit for making men hotheads when they drink. And now that I see Dan is the one involved, I'm not a bit surprised, not in the least. And I'm sure it had something to do with Melinda and her breasts.

Oh shit. Now the entire dance floor joined in the fight, including my brother. "Justin!" I yelled, shoving my way through the angry men, trying to get to him. Suddenly, I was in the air, my legs moving like I was still rushing to get to Justin. The next thing I knew, he flipped me up higher like a feather, and I was over the man's shoulder.

I wanted out of the stranger's arms and started hitting the man's back, yelling, "What the fuck? Put me down!"

"Sorry, lady. There's no way I'll allow you to get hurt," the man with an overly sexy said. So deep and sexy, with his voice also warm and inviting. It was so inviting that it awoke the butterflies in my belly and tickled my rib cage.

"Put me down!" I demanded, wanting to see who carried me off like I was a fireman's hose.

"Couple more feet, and then I'll put you down."

Thank God.

His voice... it sounded familiar.

Very familiar.

Finally, he lowered me down, and the second my eyes greeted his, my stomach dropped, my heart rate gained speed, and I lost my breath. "You..." I said in barely a whisper. Then, my eyes blinked a couple of times, ensuring the alcohol I'd consumed wasn't playing tricks on me.

"I wasn't about to let you get involved in that mess. You could have gotten seriously hurt," the fighter guy sincerely said as my feet hit the ground.

I couldn't believe it was him who whisked me off my feet and quickly carried me off the dance floor. My brother's idol and the guy I thought was easy on the eyes-Gunner. And as my eyes stared into his, the burning desires I felt earlier activated once again.

My cheeks suddenly heated, and not wanting to show how I was reacting to him, I looked down, rubbing my hands down the sides of my clothes, making sure my clothes were where they were supposed to be. "Thank you for your concern, but I could have handled myself just fine," I affirmed, turning my head towards the dance floor brawl. "But I need to get back to my brother," I sighed, then sighed even heavier when I saw all the bouncers in the building, trying to break up the fight.

Wishing to be saved from this man eyeing me like I was his desert, I scanned the bar, looking for Lakesha and Melinda. Then, thinking they were still on the dance floor after not seeing them, I started heading towards the crowd just as all the lights inside the nightclub turned on. Then, as the DJ announced everyone was to leave the premises immediately, an arm firmly wrapped around my waist, stopping me from going anywhere.

"Let me go," I demanded, trying to free myself from his firm hold.

"I can't allow you to go over there," he argued. He pulled out a chair, and with one arm, he lifted me off the floor and placed me on the chair. He leaned forward, pointing his finger at me. "Don't get off this chair. I'll go find your brother."

Feeling like I was a little kid, put on time out, I folded my arms against my chest, crossed one leg over the other, then looked away and huffed, "Fine."

Once I knew he was away from me, I turned my head, then watched him walk to the dance floor.

How would Gunner remember who my brother was? He only talked to us for a couple of minutes after the fight. And he only looked at Justin for a second.

Minutes later, Lakesha and Melinda found me, and as they rushed toward me, Lakesha shouted, "There you are! We've been looking all over for you!"

My arms tightened against my chest, and then I scowled. "You couldn't have looked all that hard. How could you two leave me on the dancefloor all alone like that? Especially once the fight broke out?"

"We were pulled away from you, and then when I turned around to grab you, you were gone," Melinda said.

"What the hell happened, anyway?"

"When we were dancing, a guy came over and started dancing in front of me. He reached around and grabbed my ass. Dan saw it, walked over, and told the guy to back off and leave his hands to himself. He moved away, but the guy came back and started dancing against me again as soon as Dan walked away. The next thing he did was he started groping me, cupping my breasts, and lowering his mouth to them, acting like he was going to lick them. I pushed him off; Dan saw it and rushed over, shoving the guy away."

I knew Melinda had to have been the cause of this mess.

"First, it started with shoving, and then the guy said something to Dan. He got pissed, and the next thing I saw was Dan punching the guy in the face. When we were being escorted off the floor, I assumed you were with us, and when I turned around, you were gone."

My head was spinning, and all the liquids in my stomach were boiling, alerting me it was ready to escape my body and shoot out of my mouth like an erupting volcano. I closed my eyes and took a couple of slow, deep breaths, trying to delay the vomit from coming out.

"That guy carried me off the floor and insisted I sit here," I said, finally responding to Melinda.

"What guy?" Lakesha asked.

I looked around them, then raised my arm and pointed towards the dance floor. "Him. That guy walking and guiding Justin and your two hothead boyfriends towards us." My mind instantly went blank, and I couldn't think of his name after seeing the gorgeous, tall, dark-haired, muscled beast heading for us. Then my eyes met with his, he smirked, and the next thing that happened?

My entire body lost it.

***

I sat in the backseat of a stretched-out Escalade, preparing myself to open the door at any time to spew out my insides by holding the door handle firmly. All while listening to the guys excitedly talk to the gorgeous beast. And as I sit here trying my damndest not to embarrass myself, I can't help but wonder how this man talked my brother into allowing him to give us a ride home.

I take that back. I can.

All it took was this fighter guy offering to give us a safe ride home without having to spend money with Uber, Lyft, or even a cab. But I feel it was so that he could continue eating me with his eyes. And I feel that way because as the beast sat across from me, I noticed him staring me up and down from the corner of my eye. It gave me goosebumps, but it also made me feel sicker. Between the alcohol, the motion of the moving vehicle, and Gunner's beautiful face looking at me, all I wanted now was to get home and far away from this guy.

"Here, drink this," the beast calmly said. "It'll make you feel better."

With my nose pressed against the window, looking at the moving vehicles beside us, I rolled my eyes over to see what he was trying to give me. Seeing it was a water bottle, I reached for it, cracked open the cap, and then embarrassed myself by spilling the water all over my lap.

Justin laughed. "You drunken fool." He laughed again while looking at mister hottie. "My sister is a fucking lightweight. She's never been able to control her liquor intake."

"And you have never been able to control your temper," I retorted, bringing the water bottle to my lips and drinking what was left inside. "Didn't I warn you earlier that I would never hang out with you again if you got into a fight tonight?"

"That wasn't my fault."

"It wasn't his fault, Aria. Had that guy left Melinda alone after I kindly asked him to keep his hands off her the first time, the fight would never have happened. But the fucker couldn't keep his hands off my woman, anyway. So he fucking had it coming," Dan interjected, defending Justin.

"The guy is fucking lucky. Had Gunner not removed us off the guy when he did, the idiot would have been carried off on a stretcher," Jake pointed out.

Oh yeah. That's right, this overly sexy man's name is Gunner...

I looked away from Jake and over to Gunner, muttering, "Thanks." Just because Justin's friends are sticking up for him, trying to justify why they were fighting in the first place, it still doesn't make it any better. But I am, however, grateful Gunner stepped in when he did and pulled my brother away from the fight.

He nodded. "You're welcome. But I had to step in, as I can't have any fights inside my club." He said, then looked at me. "I also refuse to allow innocent women to get hurt. Especially for something that is out of their control. If they want to fight, that's what the ring is for."

My brows pulled together. "Your club?"

"My club," he said, not enlightening any further.

Justin chuckled. "You'll never see Aria inside a ring, that's for sure. She's never liked fighting, and it took a lot for me to get her out of her comfort zone to come to the fight tonight."

Gunner looked away from Justin and at me with amusement written over his face. "What's wrong with fighting?"

"I've never understood it," I admitted, looking out the window. "I've never understood why the one's fighting can't work their problems or differences out by talking? Why use fists?" I looked back at Gunner. "All that does is create more problems. Especially when someone ends up in the hospital, or even jail."

Gunner grinned. "There's always a warning first. And if you can't get the other person to back down, it gives us the fuel to show them our fists, showing you're not messing around. We guys like the feeling of the rush and the adrenaline that comes along with it. It's stimulating."

So is sex.

"I'd rather have sex than be in a fight. Now that's stimulating," I murmured.

"What was that?" Gunner asked.

My eyes widened. "Nothing. I was talking to myself."

Justin and I were the last to be dropped off, and as much as my eyes insisted they close, I fought to keep them open, wanting to be sure I would be dropped off before Justin. Then, I looked out the window, noticed the neighborhood the driver was pulling into, and snapped my head towards Justin. Then I squealed, "Seriously, Justin?"

"What's the matter? You're another ten minutes away, and since my place was on the way, I figured to have him drop me off first." My eyes turned to slits. I think he got the memo. Because the next thing he did was purse his lips, and then he looked at Gunner, raising an eyebrow. "You're not planning on doing anything to my sister, are you?"

"It's a little too late to worry about that now, don't you think?" I hissed. I grabbed my purse, slid the strap up over my shoulder, and as the driver pulled up to Justin's driveway, I slid my butt along the seat and towards Justin's side of the door, saying, "I'm staying at your place; tonight."

I felt a warm and very large hand rest on top of mine and turned towards Gunner. With a sincere look in his eye, he asserted, "You don't have to worry about me. I mean no harm. I'll make sure you get home safe."

My stomach dropped, and as his hand left mine, I slowly moved my hand closer to me and looked at Justin. He patted my leg, and with a grin, he assured, "I'm pretty sure you don't have to worry about Gunner. He's got a reputation to uphold."

"Let us drive you home, Aria. You'll be fine. Trust me."

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!🤞🤞