LITMIR.BIZ

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cleared out; they didn’t really hang at the rec center all day the way many of the athletes did.

      His friends, Gage and Justice, Brand and Miles, Leese, Denver and Stack, all called out different submissions. Armie went through each one. Of course, Cannon was resisting but, for the sake of giving Jamison a demonstration, he didn’t really fight back. If he had, it wouldn’t have been so easy.

      By the time they finished it was pushing four o’clock and sweat covered Armie’s entire body. He’d had a few quick breaks and wolfed down the lunch Harper put together for him, but otherwise, he’d been busy.

      Stack did him a solid by helping him get his gloves and headgear off. “You have really sick speed.”

      “I agree,” Jamison said as he joined them. “And you honestly don’t look tired.”

      “Getting there,” Armie said. Sometimes his overabundance of energy was a problem. Like the times he tried to screw himself into exhaustion so he could sleep. Usually the woman wore out first, and then he had a hell of a time getting her up and out of his apartment.

      “He and my wife are both endless sources of energy,” Stack said. “Although it pisses her off when I compare her to Armie, given his rep and all.”

      “It’d piss me off, too,” Justice told him. “That is, if I was a sweet lady like Vanity.”

      “You’re jealous,” Denver accused. And then to Jude, “Armie racks up conquests left and right.”

      “Usually,” Miles added, “it’s the ladies chasing him.”

      “So I’ve heard.” Jamison clapped Armie on the shoulder. “Get your shower and change, and then we can talk business.”

      “Sure. Be back in ten.” After drying off his face, Armie slung the towel around his neck and grabbed up his gym bag. Chatting together, Leese and Justice followed him toward the showers. Cannon had paused to talk to some of the newer fighters hanging out.

      The tepid water of the shower felt good and helped Armie to clear his thoughts a little. He scrubbed off the sweat, and then just soaked his head for a few minutes under the spray.

      Merissa would be over again tonight and he honestly didn’t know if he’d be able to keep his hands off her. He wouldn’t drink. He’d be crystal clear. But that might not help when put up against the force of her appeal.

      For so damned long he’d been hankering for her. When she hankered back... Yeah. He had knockout blows, but he wasn’t strong enough to resist that.

      Knowing he shouldn’t keep Jamison waiting, he turned off the water and quickly dried, then stepped out of the shower.

      “Holy shit.”

      He turned, saw Leese looking stunned and asked, “What’s your problem?”

      “Whoa!”

      He turned again and saw Justice standing there slack-jawed.

      Quickly getting irked, Armie scowled. “What?”

      Cannon strode in, his cell phone to his ear, and suddenly Leese was at his back, way too damn close for two naked dudes. Armie was ready to shove him away when Justice stepped in front of him. Crowded between a lot of naked muscle, Armie said, “What the hell?”

      In a low whisper, Justice told him, “Hold up a second.”

      “Dude, we’re a hair from crossing swords.”

      Justice practically shoved him back into the shower, and Leese, looking a little panicked, helped.

      Stumbling, Armie grabbed the shower wall to brace himself. “If this is some new hazing deal, I’m going to kick both your asses!”

      Oblivious to the altercation, Cannon turned near the lockers and headed to the back of the room.

      Leese let out a breath. “It’s your ass, Armie.”

      Yeah, that cleared up nothing. “I know the ladies like it, but you, Leese?”

      Justice shoved him. “Look at it, idiot.”

      “Look at my own butt?”

      Grumbling, Leese grabbed up a hand mirror used for shaving and held it down by Armie’s backside. “Look.”

      Baffled, Armie peered over his shoulder at the mirror, and his eyeballs almost fell out.

      Written across the top of one glute in what must’ve been permanent marker were the words Rissy was here.

      Damn it, she just might get that spanking after all.

CHAPTER FIVE

      WITH HIS HEART thumping into overdrive, Armie snatched up a towel and wrapped it tight around his hips before glaring at both men. “Not a word. Not a single. Fucking. Word. To anyone.”

      Mute, Justice used one finger to draw a cross over his hairy chest, right where his heart would be.

      Wearing a look of disdain, Leese said, “I wouldn’t have helped you hide it if I planned to blab it.”

      Leaning in, his voice faint, Justice asked, “Want me to see if Harper has anything that’ll remove marker?”

      “No.” Good God. The last thing he wanted was Harper asking questions. He’d take care of removing it at home, alone. And seriously, he should give some thought to putting Rissy over his knee.

      In a rush, their conversation about spanking came flooding back and he scrubbed a hand over his face. She wasn’t into it and he wasn’t into hurting her. If he got her pants off her again, he could think of a lot more interesting things to do with that bared tush.

      But seriously, one good swat might be in order.

      Annoyed at the path of his thoughts, Armie said, “Keep watch while I get dressed.”

      Both fighters, arms crossed, did as asked. But damn it, Armie could feel their censure while he quickly pulled on boxers and then jeans and then, for good measure, a T-shirt. He tugged the hem of the shirt down to ensure nothing, not a speck of flesh showed.

      When he finished, he turned to the guys. They stood there, lips curled, eyes narrowed, biceps bunched.

      He glared at them both again. “It’s a joke, okay?”

      Leese glared back. “If you say so.”

      “Hell of a joke,” Justice added.

      God, he hated explaining himself to anyone. And if Rissy wasn’t involved, he wouldn’t bother. But she was, and Armie couldn’t bear the thought of anyone thinking whatever they were thinking.

      “You know she was robbed, right? At the bank, I mean.”

      They both nodded.

      “Well, I was there.”

      “Heard all about it,” Justice said. His gaze went to Armie’s head. “That’s how you got your noggin knocked and that big bruise on your back.”

      “Yeah. Well, after going through that, Rissy didn’t want to be home alone last night. Since Yvette just announced they’re expecting, I guess she felt like she’d be intruding to go to her brother’s. So she came to my place. I was already in my underwear when she got there, and drunk as shit, and I passed out on her. Must be when she wrote that.”

      The tension eased out of their stances, and Justice even grinned. “Man, she got you good.”

      “So until just now,” Leese asked, still sounding skeptical, “you didn’t know it was there?”

      “Had no clue. You think I’d go advertising that?” Especially with Cannon nearby. Hell, Cannon and Rissy were the two most important people in his world. He’d never do anything to embarrass or malign either of them.

      But

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