Free Battered Not Broken by Ranae Rose Page B

leave her mother alone at the house after what had happened, but Maria had refused to attend the match so that Ally would be free to leave with Ryan afterward, as she’d planned.
    Ally had improvised by calling her Aunt Elsa and suggesting she spend the evening with Maria. She’d agreed, which meant that Maria was currently in the company of her sister and two nieces – at least she wasn’t alone.
    Since what was done was done, Ally decided to congratulate Ryan on his victory. Rising from her seat, she picked up her handbag from beneath it and made her way through the crowd, to the area near the men’s locker room.
    He was there, lingering by the locker room door as Cameron slapped him on the back and yammered on about how well Ryan had done. From what Ally could make of Cameron’s chatter, he was looking into finding a larger venue to hold events at and talking about some training plans he’d laid out for Ryan’s upcoming week.
    Ally wasn’t sure if Ryan had agreed to train with Cameron or not, but either way, it didn’t look like there would be any stopping Cameron’s wild enthusiasm.
    “Hey.” Ally ducked under Cameron’s arm, planting herself between him and Ryan, whose facial expression indicated that he’d appreciate being rescued from Cameron’s zealous monologue.
    “Hey.” Ryan favored her with a smile like the one he’d flashed her from the ring.
    “You were amazing,” she said. “Congratulations.”
    “Thanks.” His face glistened with sweat and he held a mouthpiece in one wrapped hand. “Let me clean up and we can get out of here.” He leaned down, his jaw nearly brushing the top of her head. “I’ll fight my way past Cameron if I have to.”
    Ally’s lips quirked in an automatic smile. “You go ahead and get showered and dressed. I’ll wait here and distract him when you come out, if I have to.”
    “Just make sure he hangs around long enough to pay me.” Ryan turned on his heel and dodged Cameron’s latest attempt to clap a hand down on his shoulder.
    His change of position put her within a couple feet of his bare back instead of his sweat-slicked chest. For the first time, she was close enough to read the wording that had been worked into the uppermost part of the knotted design of his tattoo. Her eyes scanned the script automatically before he disappeared into the dressing room.
    Semper Fidelis.
    Her heart skipped a beat as realization clicked in her mind. Semper Fidelis. Always faithful. The United States Marine Corps motto. Her thoughts were suddenly peppered with images of Ryan in uniform, his blue eyes the brightest feature in a field of desert-colored camo. Or maybe complimenting a set of dress blues…
    She hadn’t known – hadn’t even suspected. Her ignorance left a vaguely sour taste in her mouth. How had she gotten through an entire date with him without finding out, without asking? Somewhere in his mid to late twenties by her estimation – she wasn’t sure of his exact age, either – he was old enough to have completed one or even two four year military enlistment periods.
    An entirely new set of butterflies took up residence in her stomach as she waited for him to emerge from the locker room. She still couldn’t think of him as a stranger. There was what he’d done for Melissa, and the fact that Ally felt more comfortable in his presence than she ever had with another date. Still, the revelation his tattoo had imparted reminded her of how much she had to learn about him.
    And truth be told, she felt bad for not asking the right questions on their first date. Obviously, his time in the USMC was important to him – he wouldn’t have devoted his entire back to a work of art showcasing the fact that he’d served if it wasn’t.
    Her mood was buoyed by the fact that the night was still young. Relatively, anyway, and she and Ryan still had an entire second date to enjoy. This time, she’d try not to get so lost in the delicious sight, sound and feel of him that