Free Hooked (A New Adult Romance) by Alison Heart

referee hollered ‘break’ at
one point. The other guy wasn’t doing too well, and when the ref asked the guy
question, and the guy nodded, the ref indicated the fight to proceed.  
    The opponent made a mistake,
though, because Jake landed him a spinning kick to his head so hard that Julie
and I sitting a couple rows back could hear the guy’s face crunch.
    He collapsed onto the floor in a
heap.   The referee called the fight
as finished.
    “Oh my God,” I gasped, standing
to my feet. “Is he okay? Is he dead?” The nurse in me wanted to run up there
and check his vitals.
    “Ah, I’m sure he’s fine,” Julie
assured me. “They’re used to that. Besides, there’s always a ringside physician
who can attend to the fighters in case of an emergency.”
    I held my breath for a moment
longer.
    But sure enough, the brute
wobbled to his feat with the aid of his trainer.
    “Ladies and gentleman,” the
announcer boomed over the loudspeakers, “Let’s give it up for our winner, Jake
‘The Surgeon’ Bishop!”
    The crowd went absolutely, out of
control crazy, it was an amazing thing to witness.
    All eyes were on him, and all
cheers were for him.
    But his eyes were on mine.
    And only mine. For a second it
seemed like we were the only two people in the entire arena.
    It was our moment.

 
    Chapter 17

 
    Jake

 
    After all this time, I finally
had Ruby Cain right where I wanted her.
    I felt ten feet tall walking into The 69er with her on my arm. I hate to brag, but every
clubber in the establishment looked at us as if we were a stunning red carpet
Hollywood couple.
    “Jake! Congratulations!” Vinny
was the first to greet us upon entering. “Another big win (not that I didn’t
expect it, of course),” he grinned.
    “Thanks. Vinny, I’d like you to meet
Ruby. Ruby, this is my cousin, Vinny. He owns The 69er.”
    “A pleasure to meet you, Ruby”
Vinny gushed. “It’s been a looong time since my cousin has had a woman at his
side.”
    “A pleasure to meet you, too,
Vinny,” Ruby smiled elegantly. “But I find that hard to believe. You aren’t
pulling my leg, are you?” she joked.
    Vinny stood up bolt straight and
raised his right hand, “No, ma’am. I swear. Jake has been an aloof, solitary
wolf for the last few months. I’d been starting to think he was turning gay on
me.”
    “Oh shut up,” I said, rolling my
eyes mirthfully. “What is it with everyone saying I’m gay lately?”
    “Ah, so I’m not the only one,
huh?” Vinny said jocularly, raising an eyebrow. “Well, you don’t have to
justify your behavior with me—everyone is welcome at The 69er, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation. Anyway, as usual, I’ve
saved you the best seat in the house. Follow me.”
    We accompanied him to a raised
corner booth where, perched up high, we could observe the entire nightclub.           
    “It’s really nice of your cousin
to save a seat for you,” Ruby said as we got settled in. It was late, and the
joint was packed.
    “Yeah, he always treats me like
royalty. And he never charges me for drinks. What are you having?”
    We ordered and made small talk.
We touched upon her breakup with Dan, where our lives went after high school,
how I stumbled into med school, and various other subjects, all the while
giving each other glances and touches that let the other know we had other more
pressing extra curricular activities on our minds.
    About an hour into it we started
getting really friendly.
    Then, during one story she began
peering really deeply into my eyes, giving me the hint she was ready to move
on; she lightly ran a fingertip along my forearm and subconsciously licked her
lips. She was ready.
    And so was I.
    “You want to go,” I asked, looking
for any more overt signs of interest.
    “Yeah. About an hour ago.”
    I smiled widely.
    My cock had been raging all night
for her, but I knew I couldn’t move too quickly. She seemed cool and composed,
but I couldn’t take any