Free Fix You: Bash and Olivia, Book 3 by Christine Bell Page B

about her. Lesson one: a good woman like Liv who loves her man doesn’t walk away without a fight. If she screwed up, she’d already be here apologizing. Nope, I’m guessing it’s our blockhead brother who was in the wrong here, and he just hasn’t found his way around to it yet.”
    Fuck the distance.
    I wheeled around and charged toward the desk, intent on wiping that stupid grin off Matty’s face. With less than a yard to cover, Reid jumped in front of me and grabbed my shoulder.
    “This isn’t going to help, guys. Matty,” he called over his shoulder. “Stop being a prick. And you.” He locked his gaze with mine and frowned. “Get your head out of your ass. How bad can it be? After all we’ve weathered, how bad could it really be? You’ll find a way to fix this, man.”
    Weird, having Reid be the voice of reason. As much as I loved him, he was always a pain in the ass. Needling me just to get a reaction. Now all of a sudden, at nineteen, he was the most mature guy in the room.
    The thought made me feel like a heel and I backed up, holding my hands aloft in a sign of peace.
    “Okay. You’re right. I messed things up with Liv.” Only I couldn’t tell them how, because Matty still didn’t know I was fighting tomorrow night and when he found out, he was going to flip his shit.
    He’d forgive me. He had to. But Liv didn’t and I had no clue how to get her to. Backing out of the fight might have bought me another chance, but I couldn’t even do that. Making a deal with Mickey was like making a deal with the devil. We’d learned the hard way already; there was no turning back.
    She was right, though. I should’ve told her. I guess I didn’t because I knew she’d talk me out of it. She’d been ready and willing to throw her whole future away for me, and that, I couldn’t take. So I went the old “ask for forgiveness instead of ask for permission” route and it had bitten me in the ass and now I was stuck.
    “So call her,” Reid said. “It’s Friday night. I still have a little of the money from my last fight. Take a hundred bucks, tell her to put on a pretty dress, and bust your ass getting her to take you back.”
    I swallowed a bitter laugh. He was trying to help, but he had no clue how much I’d hurt her. Even now, remembering the look on her face made my guts churn. “If only it was that easy.”
    Maybe after the fight, when she saw that I was okay and that everything was going to be all right, she’d be willing to talk to me. And this time, if I made a promise, I would keep it.
    An hour later, Reid and Matty headed up to the apartment for pizza and I stayed behind to lock up for the night. My muscles were limp with fatigue after the intense workout, and I hoped that would translate into a decent night’s sleep. It would be the first in days, and with the warehouse fight tomorrow, I needed it bad.
    Just as I turned the dead bolt on the front door, my cell buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and my pulse clamored when I saw the screen.
    Liv.
    I swallowed hard and held the phone to my ear.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey asshole,” a low male voice muttered. “Your girlfriend wants to say hi.”
    I strained to hear more clearly as sounds of a struggle came over the line.
    “Don’t come outside, Bash. Please.” Liv’s breathy, panicked voice filled my head and I doubled over, heart hammering. “He’s drunk and acting crazy but I don’t think he’ll—” I heard the sound of fist on flesh and Liv gasped.
    “What the fuck is going on?” I bit out, squeezing my eyes closed, trying to connect the dots. Was this Mickey and his boys making sure I showed tomorrow night? If they hurt her—
    Heavy breathing was followed by the male voice again. “Come on out, motherfucker— unless you’re too chickenshit to fight me when my hands are free, that is.”
    Andy.
    He’d always claimed it had been a sucker punch that knocked him out. Probably because his hands were too busy choking Liv to defend