Free Burning Attraction by Ashley Beale Page A

Thanks."
                  "Well of course I am. Oh, and we need to do a little extra shopping. I want a new outfit for tonight." She winks at me before finishing her food. I knew she would be excited about Mason, I should have hooked them up sooner.
                                                                                        ********************
                  I see Mason as Aubrey and I enter the basement. Avery had text me earlier and asked me to show up twenty minutes early so that I wouldn't get lost in the crowd. Over 200 people are supposed to show tonight. It makes me nervous, but at least I have Avery and Mason looking out for the two us the best they can.
                  "Hey, where is that Mouse guy? I want to place a bet," I say to Mason.
                  He looks amused. "Well, well, never would have thought. Come here, we'll go find him."
                  Aubrey and I follow behind Mason until we see Mouse, who is with Pierce and another fighter I don't recognize. I see the look on Mason's face, and he starts to turn around but Mouse asks what is going on, so he decides to stay. I'm nervous as can be, I haven't seen Pierce in weeks, but I can tell by the look on his face he is thrilled I'm here. I'm not sure if it's because it's me and he finds me attractive, or if it's because he can now rub shit into Avery's face. I do hope that Avery kills him tonight. Okay, not like murder him, but knocks him out again.
                  Mouse explains the rules and how the bets work, especially now that there is four rounds. I can see the head shake Pierce gives when I say I'm putting down five hundred on Avery.
                  As we're walking out of the room Pierce yells out, "sorry Cassie, you're about to lose a fortune, but I'll make it up to you later." I close my eyes and bite down on my lip to the point I taste blood, but I do not look back towards him, and I do not say a word. I just take a deep breath and walk away with Aubrey and a now pissed off Mason.
                  Avery sees us moments later. He gives me a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. He whispers in my ear, "don't worry Cassie, I won't tell the boyfriend about this either." When I pull back, I smack his arm playfully.
                  "You can be such an ass Avery Manning!" He bursts into laughter.
                  "Good luck dipshit," Aubrey says with a smile.
                  "Thanks Ducky. You place a bet on me?"
                  She smiles with mischief. "Why would I ever do such a thing?"
                  Mason of course doesn't see that she is playing around, or simply ignores it, when he speaks up. "Try three Benjamins, and this one here put down five." I swallow hard when I see the look on Avery's face. His eyes grow as large as I've ever seen, the green in them growing darker.
                  "What the fuck Angel? What if I lose?"
                  I shake my head, smiling. "Not going to happen! And if you do, well, I'm stealing my money back from you."
                  He laughs at me, "alright, deal. I'll win just for you. Again." I roll my eyes and pretend I didn't get butterflies at his words. I shouldn't feel this way towards him at all, I need to stop! I have Carson, who is amazing and wonderful, and my boyfriend. I need to stop having feelings for a childhood crush, it needs to end right now.
                  We all chat together until Avery excuses himself to get ready. He already is in his fighting clothes and I've been drooling over it insanely, but I try desperately to pretend I'm not. Not only for myself but I also don't want him to catch on. I want to play it off like I'm not tripping over myself at his sight, or voice, or smell, or at...