Free Doomsday Love: An MMA & Second Chance Romance by Shanora Williams Page A

straightened. “Um…”
    “Didn’t think so.” Otto turned his back to her.
    Her forehead crumpled and she gasped, mildly snapping out of her drunken stupor. “Wait…are you serious right now?”
    “Is the moon blue?”
    She frowned, her confusion just as clear as mine, and even Jenny’s. “Um… no?”
    Otto straightened his back, thought on the question he asked her, and then waved a hand, dismissing her and the stupid question. “You know what? Who cares? Just get the hell out of my face!”
    The girl laughed way too hard as she spun around. When she was gone, slipping back onto the dance floor as if her feelings were far from hurt, Otto looked at us again, crossed his arms, and then busted out laughing.
    “See,” he wheezed, clapping Jenny’s shoulder, “you gotta pretend you’re dumber than blondes when you don’t want them to lay you. No one wants someone that’s dumber than a dumbass.”
    Jenny giggled, covering her mouth like a child laughing during a church service. My head moved left to right in disapproval. “You’re terrible, man.”
    “Hey, it worked didn’t it? Anyway, we gotta get outta here dude. So get yourself a quick dance so we can bounce. Gotta be there thirty minutes early, remember?”
    I side-eyed Jenny. She was looking between Otto and me, but there was no trace of perplexity on her face. She knew what this was about. She probably knew all about me and what I did every Wednesday and Friday night.
    Why I was trying to hide my truths, I don’t know. Perhaps it was because I wanted her to only see my good side—never my bad. A girl like her, someone so inquisitive and harmless, deserved the good side of me.
    I hated showing it, but for her… well, I didn’t mind. It’d been that way since fifth grade, after all.
    “We should all dance!” Jenny exclaimed.
    Otto nodded.
    I frowned.
    “Not dancing,” I muttered.
    “Oh, come on!” Jenny’s thin frame bounced in front of me, and she gripped my hands. “Just one quick dance and then I will let you go. I swear.”
    “No,” I muttered, avoiding her eyes.
    “Look! Your cousins are dancing!” She pointed towards Otto who had just made his way towards the crowd, plucking a random girl off the wall, and then Wildcard, who was grooving with Kylie. “You don’t want to look like the lame one, do you?” She squinted her eyes. She was provoking me now and frankly, I didn’t like it.
    “I already know I’m not the lame one. I’d beat their asses any day.”
    “Sheesh.” She struggled between putting on a frown and a smile. “Why are you guys so competitive?”
    I chuckled. “It’s just our family. Born that way. To win.”
    “I see.” She studied me for a brief moment, the way I sort of lit up as I spoke about winning. Shit . I was revealing too much about myself. I quickly concealed my emotions, my eyes sliding down to the marble floor.
    She continued to hold my hands, those doe eyes pleading for me to join her in just one dance when I looked up again.
    Fuck.
    That look.
    She had me and she didn’t even know it.
    “You aren’t gonna let me go until we dance, huh?”
    “Nope.” Her lips popped with the p.
    Sighing, I pushed off the wall, knowing what I had to do in order to satisfy her. This girl was relentless. I knew I’d never hear the end of it from Otto and Oscar either, so I challenged myself in a way I’d never done before.
    I held her hand tight, walked out of the kitchen, and pushed through the thickening crowd until we were close to an empty spot on the wall.
    Spinning her around, I brought her in front of me, gripped her waist, and planted her perfect ass on my crotch. A gasp slipped out of her and she glanced over her shoulder. Gooseflesh crawled up the back of her neck.
    Pressing my chest to her back, I started to move, and she did the same. She was nervous at first; I could tell by how stiff she was.
    “Loosen up, Snoop,” I whispered in her ear. “You wanted this dance, right?”
    A smile