Deserve [H.S.]

Chapter 7

BREWING

"What do you mean he didn't fucking kiss you?!"

Okay, maybe Noah shouldn't have mentioned that to Colette so soon.

Right after Harry dropped Noah off, she saw Colette sitting on the couch watching some trashy reality show on the TV. Colette immediately asked how the date went, in which she got a cute, succinct run-down of the night which had her smiling the whole way through, until Noah mentioned the fact that Harry didn't kiss her.

Noah was now in the kitchen, preparing a vase for the flowers Harry had got her, since Colette didn't do it earlier.

"I mean he just kissed me on the cheek," she sighed and stepped back from the counter, surveying the arrangement of the flowers before deciding she was content with them, "I'm not upset. He obviously had every right to not kiss me and it's disrespectful of me to assume otherwise. I'm just... disappointed, I guess? I was expecting and hoping for a kiss so it's kind of disappointing to not get one. It's not that deep, though. More anticipation for next time, I guess. If there is a next time."

Noah felt like she was being dramatic for wanting that kiss so bad, but considering who the guy was that she wanted to kiss her, she figured it was understandable. Harry was not only one of if not the most beautiful man she had ever seen, but he was also one of the sweetest. She felt like they had a connection brewing between the two of them, so she could only imagine how it would feel to actually kiss him.

"If that man doesn't kiss you on the next date, he's a virgin."

Colette's completely nonchalant delivery of her words caused Noah to sputter out a few laughs and scoff. "He's just respectful. He's 26 years old and the most attractive man I've ever seen, there's no way he's a virgin."

"If he doesn't kiss you, he might as well be."

-

The day after the date, Harry had another fight. This time, his opponent was someone he had fought many times before and someone that people in the underground ring would say was his main rival. Jonah Baxter was a boxer from a couple towns over who was known for being tough to beat. He was a crowd favorite for many because he was a damn good fighter, probably as good as Harry, but he was a horrible human being.

Harry had never witnessed the full extent of Jonah's douchebag tendencies, but he had heard all about it and seen traces of it around the ring. Especially during their fights. Jonah was a ruthless fighter, known to use steroids on a very regular basis.

Though Harry knew he wasn't the biggest fighter, he prided himself on the fact that his skills and success were all natural. He never took any steroids or any other medications to make him a stronger, bigger fighter. He simply worked with what he had, which turned out to be more than enough.

It hadn't escaped Harry's mind that that night, the crowd wasn't only cheering for him. Whenever Jonah came to fight, he drew in larger crowds from his own territory. That meant that a lot of bets would be placed against Harry, and the tension in the room would be palpable. Of course Harry still had lots of supporters there, but the amount of people hoping that he was the one down on the mat at the end of the fight was significantly higher.

As Harry was in his locker room preparing for the fight by getting a few last minutes of sparring in with Ray, the owner of the entire ring made his presence known.

Anthony Wolfe was not someone to mess with. Harry learned that pretty quickly when he first joined the ring and saw a man get his legs broken for not paying up his bet money. Harry was also certain that Anthony had little to no conscience. He was a money and power hungry man who would go through with whatever means necessary to obtain what he was after.