Ben and AJ weren't really on good terms after he ruined his date with Tallulah a week ago. He had tried to act as if it was Joe who wanted to tag along and spend some time with her but he knew that Ben could tell that it was more than that.

Was it more? AJ had no clue but he liked having Tallulah around, playing with her and making her squirm was interesting.

Knocking softly on the door, AJ waited for Tallulah to usher him in.

"Entre."

She had that accent where sentences sounded monotonous and more often than not the pronunciation of some words ended up being warped. It was a pleasure to listen to, thanks to her speech patterns and the rhythm of her delivery.

She was laying on the bed, on top of a fur covering, naked. Her hair was in two pigtails, her dark skin glistening under the ray of sunshine that made its way into the room and a flimsy material covered her ass. Her art books were spread across the bed.

"Wagwan?"

"Hey?"

He was mesmerized by the deep swirls of brown that colored her pupils. The golden black mascara on her half-opened eyelids added a smoky and dramatic look. With her translucent honey-colored eyes and long eyelashes, her eyes looked like a cat's.

He was all logic and feigned cool detachment until her eyes fell on his. Then something not only stirred in him, but it took over his thinking. The rest of his world became an unimportant blur that was banished into the far recesses of his mind. The only thing that mattered was touching, kissing her mouth, her stomach, her breasts.

There was nothing extraordinary about her looks, she was a plain woman with a pear-shaped body and a small round face but Anthony couldn't help feel pulled to her.

"You really don't like clothes do you?" he asked.

A smile formed on her face but she did nothing to hide her body from him. "I'm used to staying naked but if you're uncomfortable with me not wearing anything I will put clothes on anytime you're around."

"Nah," he rubbed his beard. "It's all good."

Tallulah bit her lip, eyes everywhere but on AJ. Then he moved closer with those eyes that looked so deeply into her own. Her breathing became softer, the pensive look melting into a smile as soft as the morning light. Her body squirmed just a little as her muscles relaxed.

"Are you coming to my fight with Joe and Lucy?"

She looked away. "I don't know."

"Why?" AJ took a seat on the bed next to her. "I want you to come."

Tallulah sat up, with her hands covering her breasts. As hard as he tried, AJ found his eyes just scanning her body. "I don't understand the need to watch men beat each other as a sport."

He smiled at her. "It's fun. The adrenaline that courses through your veins when you're part of it is maddening. You can only rate it after you've experienced it."

She bit her lower lip.

"I want you there."

"Why?" she asked.

"I just do...can you come? For me?"

The silence that followed was for a second. "Okay."

AJ handed her the T-shirt on his hand. It was black with the words 'stay hungry' printed at the back. "I had to make sure you wore clothes when you come, it's brass monkeys outside today."

She giggled. "Your slang is funny."

"Right?" AJ laughed with her, enjoying the sound of her laughter. "I have to go spar with my team. I'll see you after the fight?"

"Okay."

***

Tallulah looked over the crowd. There must have been at least four hundred people waiting in anticipation, bathing in the dim purple light of the arena. Nerves were trying to take over her body as if she was the one ready to enter the ring. Her heart kept time with the sounds, pumping the music through my veins as I waited.

AJ was fighting against a man with the name Erick Molina.

Confused, Tallulah watched in concentration as team Molina walked through the hall down to the arena entrance and finally into the ring with the song "Call Your Bluff" playing in the background. The crowd chanted in an ominous chorus. No matter how surreal that moment was, the crowd's chants were anything but supportive, not when it was a home fight. Everyone was chanting AJ's name.

According to Joe, his father always said that boxing was all about the mind game and each and every AJ fan knew that. That was why the reception of both candidates was different. For Molina, he was booed, as expected, Manchester wasn't his hometown. It was about the mental capacity of the person headed to the ring. The goal was to break the opponent's will before a fight even began and the odds were already stacked against Molina.

Silence fell upon the crowd at the anticipation of AJ's entrance. The song "Shutdown" filled the quiet air. The lyrics swam through her cerebral cortex like a wakeful dream, the notes hyping her. Anthony appeared from the corner of my eyes, donned in his red, black and white trunks.

The frenzy that he caused by just walking into the hall was mind boggling for Tallulah.

"AJ! AJ! AJ!" The crowd went wild with their chants.

His head turned around, with a smile that just made the crowd chant louder.

Searching the crowd, his face was etched with uneasiness until his eyes landed where his team sat, Tallulah smiled.

He stared right at her while she stared right back at him.

"AJ! AJ! AJ!" Chants, boards decorated with crass words and words of endearment were filled in the air.

Tallulah tried to focus on everything with keen interest until the other opponent threw the first punch that landed square on AJ's face. She squirmed and shut her eye but not for too long. He came back with a full swing that connected and knocked the guy's face to the side.

The crowd cheered, fascinated as the fight continued. The awful cracking sounds filled Tallulah with goosebumps. Joe to his side was on his tablet, on a site that had numbers popping up and down. He was biting his fingernails, watching his father in anticipation.

Punches were thrown. Grunts were heard. Breaks were taken but the fight was never ending.

Tallulah shifted in her seat over and over again. She was never one to condone violence but she couldn't take her eyes off the ring. Every time a blow landed on AJ's body, she felt it on hers. Beads of perspiration popped on her brow, on her back.

Aj delivered a blow that sent the man to the floor and the crowd to screamed in joy. Numbers were chanted and the man was given a chance to stand up but to no avail. He looked worn out. There was no fight left in him.

The other guy in the ring with a uniform lifted Anthony's arm in victory. His gaze swept the crowd and crashed into Tallulah's. His sweaty chest rose and fell in deep pants and blood oozed down the corner of his mouth.

Heat spread under her skin. The way AJ stood over there, his hand in the air, his muscles dripped in sweat, with an air of authority tightened something in Tallulah's stomach. Something she never wanted to admitted to anyone.

**

"Why did you leave?" AJ walked into Tallulah's room asking. She was in bed, underneath the covers, staring into the dark night through her window.

"You had interviews to take care of and Ben and I needed to pass by the studio after your match."

Plus the women who kept throwing themselves at him were making her angry, which she couldn't tell him.

His lips curled as he met her gaze as he took a seat next to her. "Did you enjoy it?"

Tallulah sat on her legs and moved closer to him. She traced her finger on the wound right at the corner of his mouth. "You got hit a lot. I tried to count but..."

"You were worried about me?" he whispered.

She nodded and pulled her hand back. "I've never seen anything like that before."

Her eyes stayed fixed on his bruised knuckles.

"Hey," he trailed a finger over her jawline. "It's nothing'. I've been doing this for so long that I don't feel anything'."

Her stomach churned when she met his gaze. There was something very male in his eyes. It was a dark, possessive look and it made Tallulah's heart feel like it was about to erupt. His hand went to the back of her neck as he pulled her closer.

"My T-shirt suits you," he said.

"Thank you," Tallulah whispered back, unable to break eye contact. "You did well today."

He leaned in a little closer, their foreheads touching. Dear God, he couldn't fight against the thoughts that were going through him. Her very smell was flooding his senses now.

His breathing quickened as did hers. He began nuzzling her neck with delicate kisses. So faint, they were whispers. She urged herself to push away, but couldn't. Her limp body began to tremble uncontrollably. His head was angled slightly to the side as his lips came closer and closer to hers.

Tallulah couldn't breathe when their lips touched. She couldn't think. Only feel. Feel the warmth of his lips, the excitement that invaded every cell in her body at his touch.

She had never done this before but she opened her mouth, almost moaning in the sheer delight of his kiss. Her body clamored for more. She reached up and encircled his neck with her arms, pressing against him, savoring the sensations that exploded.

***