Free Fight by Kelly Wyre Page A

ruffled by Nathan’s anger than he had been by the guns, threats, blood, or violence. Which made sense, but damn it was irritating.
    It took two whole blocks driven at fifteen miles an hour for Fury to speak again. “You’re right. That was me checkin’ you out.”
    “Checking… Wait, what?” Nathan was gaining a whole new appreciation for the term flabbergasted. “What are you talking about?”
    “I’ve seen you at the gym. You watch me.”
    Nathan froze sideways in the seat. His anger evaporated, and terrified embarrassment took the reins. Warning bells went off, but Nathan told himself jumping out of a moving vehicle was irrational, even in this situation. “Everybody fucking watches you,” Nathan pointed out. “It’s hard to miss you, asshole. You’re the size of a tank.”
    For whatever reason, Nathan’s protests made Fury smile, and Jesus wept, but it was stunning. “You watch more than most.”
    “No, I don’t,” Nathan denied.
    “How do you know?”
    “Because I…” Nathan wanted to smack himself. Fuck it all. Damn Hellabeth, damn Jack Daniels, and damn himself.
    “Then you show up at the fight tonight,” Fury continued. “Then you’re out back with Duke.” Fury paused as if that was explanation enough.
    “And?” Nathan barked.
    “And I wanted to see what you were about.” Fury turned, heading toward the Bass building. He even used his signal. Nathan hated that the man was so together when Nathan was flying apart.
    “And that means what exactly?” Nathan asked.
    “Hellabeth says you ain’t a cop.”
    Nathan cackled. “Oh Christ, no.”
    Fury glanced sidelong at Nathan. “Yeah. Well, she’d know. And Dennis didn’t know you. Neither did Ed. So…” Fury swung his truck into the space right next to Nathan’s.
    “So?” Nathan echoed. He blamed slower brain function on the way Fury settled in the seat with the truck in Park and the engine running. Nathan could see the bulge of Fury’s balls and cock under his jeans and against his inner thigh.
    Fury seemed fascinated by something or somebody beyond the windshield. “So, I wanted to know more about you. You in that alley with Duke…” Fury rubbed the steering wheel, and Nathan gazed longingly at the finger play. Nathan so needed to get out of there.
    “I know Duke,” Fury said. “I know what he is and who he works for, and I had to see if you were workin’ that shit with him or if you were just a guy who needs a fix from time to time.”
    “Why?” Nathan asked, and he didn’t much like how it came out a croaked whisper.
    “’Cause if you were the first, then I didn’t want nothin’ to do with you. But if you were the second…” Fury shrugged. “Dunno. Don’t mind that so much. Don’t like the drug shit, but I know a thing or two about fixes and gettin’ them scratched.”
    The world was vibrating in time to Nathan’s heartbeat. “No.” His mouth was dry. “Why did you want to know more about me?”
    Fury’s eyebrows rose and fell. His cheek had a clotted cut on it in the center of the swelling. He looked in Nathan’s direction without meeting Nathan’s eyes. “Because I’ve seen you.”
    Nathan had been wrong. Running into Duke hadn’t been the universe fucking with him; it was this conversation. He hadn’t the faintest idea what to say. Nothing made sense, the whole night was categorically insane, and Fury could not possibly be insinuating that he was even remotely interested in Nathan. That might, in theory, mean Fury not only enjoyed cock, but that Fury had noticed that Nathan had leanings in that direction too. Nathan couldn’t be that obvious. He just couldn’t.
    “You’ve seen me,” Nathan repeated under his breath. “S-so you find me and drag me through that warehouse so you can make sure I’m…legitimately fucked up in ways you don’t mind?”
    “I guess,” Fury said. “Wasn’t thinkin’ too clear when I saw you, but it made sense at the time.”
    Nathan laughed. “That’s