Knockout (Gaslight spin-off)

33| A little wild

I watch with rapt attention as Nico lines up his final shot. His eyebrows knit together in focus, the same look he gets when he enters the ring, which is how I know I'm in trouble.

I lean into him, hoping to distract him enough to make him miss, and he falters. "You're a cheater," he says. "You know that?"

I look at him innocently, pressing my cleavage against him. "I'm not doing anything."

His eyes blacken, and it looks like he's seconds from putting down his cue and pinning me to the table, public indecency be damned. Just when I think he might do it, he clenches his jaw and turns to the table, pocketing the final ball.

I sigh and put down my cue in defeat. "Clearly, my womanly diversion tactics need work."

"Believe me, they don't."

The words jolt right through me and settle in my chest. His eyes find mine, and there's this moment where neither of us speaks, but I'd be able to feel the heat in his gaze from a mile off.

He glances at his watch before meeting my gaze again. From the look on his face, he's not particularly interested in gloating about his win; he wants to get out of here. "Come on," he says, grabbing my hand. "Our time's up anyway. Let's go."

My heart stutters, and I'm about to follow him out when I pause. Something tells me there might be some kissing involved when we get to the gym, so I head to the bathroom to freshen up.

The second I look in the mirror, my chest deflates. If I'd known tonight would turn into date night, I'd have made more of an effort, but as it stands, I look just like I do before a fight: gray hoodie, sweatpants, and my long hair tied into a haphazard pony – not exactly the kind of look that screams rip my clothes off.

I let it down, watching it tumble down my shoulders in waves before running my hands through it. I didn't care about this sort of thing before we kissed, but now I keep comparing myself to the type of girls he's used to and getting upset when I don't measure up.

What doesn't help is that every time things get hot and heavy, Nico's the one to stop it, as if the thought of going further with me is unfathomable. It's clear he's not a virgin or opposed to having sex, so the only reason I can think of is that maybe he's not attracted to me.

It's not completely insane. I have a stellar personality, obviously, so of course Nico got caught up in the moment, but a good personality will only take you so far. What if this is as far as we go?

I sigh and splash my face with some water before heading out. As I exit, a meth-head-looking woman on the other side of the door isn't looking where she's going and bumps into me. Despite not being at fault, I'm about to smile and apologize when she abruptly cuts me off.

"What are you, blind?" she snaps. "Watch where you're going."

"What are you, stupid? You ran into me."

Her eyes widen – clearly, she expected her rudeness to go unchallenged – before they harden. "Did you just call me stupid?"

"No, I asked if you were stupid," I say, "but I think I have my answer anyway." I'm about to walk past her when she makes the mistake of grabbing my arm and digging her dirty fingernails in. I shove her hard, watching as her head snaps back and hits the wall behind her – an unintentional bonus.

My fists shoot up until they're somewhere near my face, ready for confrontation, but I can see she's thinking twice. Her mouth twists, and she mutters something under her breath before returning to her table, whispering to the burly meathead she came with. He looks at me, his eyes narrowing.