Path To Retaliation (Fighter's Den, #2)

Chapter 28 - Delilah

I grip the edge of the bathroom sink, forcing air in my lungs and trying to get my breathing under control.

Coming here tonight was a mistake.

Of course I wanted to be here for Avery's birthday and I don't regret that but part of me still wishes I hadn't come at all because of him.

It was easier to be around him when I convinced myself that he just another playboy that flirted with me for the thrill of a chase and not because he actually wanted me. But when did life ever go the way I wanted it to?

Of course he turned out to be some kind of knight in shining armour, not only beautiful on the outside but on the inside too.

A small, humourless laugh escapes me.

Knight.

Nate "The Knight" Hunter.

An extremely suitable name, even if it was his stripper name.

My stomach twists at the reminder. I still don't know how to feel about that.

It was one thing when he was just Nate, a friend of Jaxon and Emily's that seemed to get a kick out of pursuing me. But to think of him as Nate the nightclub owner? Nate the stripper? I'm sure he had his hands full of women fawning over him. I'd seen the stares of all those women as they gawked at him during his performer and I don't blame them. Nate is easily one of the most gorgeous men I've ever seen in my life. With chocolate hair and eyes, he makes that common combination look almost unique in ways I can't comprehend. He has eyes that naturally always sparkle with amusement and when he smiles ... I can swear his teeth actually twinkle. I mean, what the hell? And as if a face like that wasn't enough to appease him, he has a body that's cut to perfection. I didn't think bodies could look like that in real life but his does. Definitely. And the woman up on stage with him seemed to be enjoying his very real and very perfect body as she ran her hands all over it while they kissed.

Yeah, watching that sucked.

But I pushed it aside because I came here with Chris. My boyfriend. It was alarming how often I had to remind myself of it throughout the night. I was baffled with myself.

I've never been this girl. Hell, up until a couple of months ago I hadn't even kissed anyone before. And now here I was trying to figure out which of the two men I have feelings for? And then Chris had to leave for an "emergency" and hasn't answered his phone since. The insecure part of me stopped texting him after the first few times, not wanting to come across as the clingy girlfriend. Or at least, I think that's what I was doing.

I've never been in a relationship before and although my lack of experience never bothered me all that much, it's bothering me now. Maybe if I'd been in these kind of situations before I'd know how to handle all this. But I don't and it scares me how careless I've been all night. I was so afraid they'd be able to tell how incredibly...affected I was from Nate's performance. It felt like I'd been struck with a bolt of lightening as I watched his chiseled and graceful body dance on that stage and it took everything in me to hide the heat I knew was evident in my eyes. I still haven't been able to look at him. The whole Fighter's Den gang kept a respectful distance from me tonight because I couldn't hide my discomfort for the life of me. I've been upset about it all night. I didn't really have friends to begin with until Emily unexpectedly made her way into my life along with Jax and I found myself in a group of some of the most caring and kind people I've met. And I couldn't seem to stop screwing it up.

"It's okay." I assure my reflection, running my fingers through my mess of a hair and ignoring the way they're shaking. "Just go home and sleep it off. Tonight was full of surprises, that's all."