Free On The Ropes by Cari Quinn Page A

me back.”
    I set the mug on the nightstand. Rising, I let the handmade coverlet fall away. Gio was too busy studying his checkbook to notice me padding soundlessly toward him. He glanced up again as I grabbed the checkbook and tossed it behind me in the direction of the mattress.
    “I have an idea,” I said, nudging him back against the desk.

6
    Giovanni
    “ T hree times ,” I said under my breath as I headed into the locker room at The Cage the next morning.
    Once would’ve been bad enough. Once beyond the club, which was different for so many reasons.
    Even a second time wouldn’t have been hard to believe, considering she was still unsettled and I knew part of her desire to be with me physically was to erase what had come before.
    The third time, though, this morning before I drove her to the city—that had been ridiculous.
    She wasn’t my girlfriend, and wouldn’t be. That wasn’t possible.
    After the last round, we’d gone to the club to get her purse. I’d waited while she got what she needed out of her locker, then drove her home and parked around the block so she could tell her sister and Fox she’d spent the night at Jenna’s, as per the text she’d sent them at some point.
    Good thing, because I didn’t think I could face them. Not for a good long while.
    What had happened last night with Carly after the club hadn’t diminished what had occurred before. Knowing she didn’t hate me alleviated some of my guilt, but only some. There were debts that went beyond individual circumstance, and the one I’d incurred transcended us.
    Her vision toward me wasn’t clear. Had never been clear. And vice versa. Having sex with her had only driven home how very wrong we were for each other.
    I’d said she would be the death of me, but the truth was I’d be the death of her—unless I pushed her far away.
    I tugged open my locker, determined to put all of it away. I had a fight in two weeks that I needed to train for, and Carly Ann Anderson was a distraction I didn’t need.
    I also didn’t need Vanity slamming a fist on the locker beside me and sticking her face into mine.
    “You fucking that Anderson tramp?”
    Rather than getting mad as I normally would have, my default reaction was surprise. How the hell could word have gotten out that fast?
    Then the rest of what she’d said hit its target. “She’s not a tramp. Watch your mouth.”
    “Oh no? Then how come I heard she used to give BJs in the back of Vinnie’s for a discount rate?”
    My fist came up before I remembered Vanity was a woman, and therefore I couldn’t clean her clock. I rammed my fist into the nearest locker instead and absorbed the burn up my arm. “You’re on thin ice. You better turn and walk away before you fall through.”
    “Defending her too. I know what that means.” She propped a shoulder on the locker and glared at me under the dark fringe of her bangs. Her eyes were heavily rimmed in black, matching her usual mood. “I just wanna know what’s got you and Fox so wrapped. I don’t believe her pussy’s that great. Sorry, just don’t.”
    “Me and Fox?” I clenched the strap of my gym bag before I realized she was talking about Mia. Holy shit. Shaking my head, I chuckled as I pulled out my tape and dumped the bag in my locker. “Rich fantasy life you have going there, Vanity.”
    “Tell me you weren’t sparring with her day before yesterday. And the day before that.”
    “She’s a good fighter. But I don’t poach.”
    Mia also wasn’t the Anderson sister who had caught my attention from day one, but I wasn’t about to give Vanity any more ammunition.
    “No, you don’t poach, you just stroll away once you’ve gotten your rocks off.” She poked a finger into my chest. “You think you can just use me and toss me aside? It doesn’t work that way, hotshot.”
    It took effort for me not to grimace. I never should’ve slept with Vanity. I’d known it at the time, but I’d been horny and she was there. Not