Fighting to Forget by Jenika Snow Read Free Book Online Page A

deed for the day by getting her out of the shitty part of town, but this feeling inside of him wanted to do more. He didn’t want to end the night like this, and that was an uncomfortable, foreign feeling inside of him.
    The women he’d been with since losing Melanie had been one-night stands, women that were just into the empty pleasure he could give them as much as the sex he wanted from them. But looking at this girl that had to be at least a decade younger than his thirty-six years, made him want to actually spend time with her. He wanted to know about her, wanted to know why she watched him at the gym, why she’d come to the fight tonight.
    He shouldn’t want anything from this woman, shouldn’t want anything more than to help her out and be on his way. Larson certainly didn’t deserve any kind of happiness in his life. Starting his life over didn’t mean finding an impressionable young woman. He was damaged, a piece of him twisted and bent inside. Larson honestly didn’t know if he’d ever get that piece straight and be good to another woman.
    She was looking at him, maybe wondering why he was offering such a thing, or maybe she was nervous about accepting. Hell, just because they saw each other at Harlond’s gym several times a week didn’t mean shit. They didn’t know each other, didn’t know anything about the other. Tasha was right to be wary of him. He was a bad man, had done horrible things since Melanie had died. He’d gotten into illegal fights for the sole reason that the pain he received and inflicted gave him pleasure and a reprieve from his emotions.
    “Listen, it’s just a suggestion. I don’t care if you accept my offer or not.” And that was a lie, because a part of him did care if she accepted or denied him. He wanted to help her out, and he felt weird for needing to want that so damn badly.
    “Why do you want to help me?” she asked, and the earnest sincerity in her voice had the tenseness in his body leaving marginally. He breathed out and leaned back against the seat.
    “Honestly?” he asked and looked her way again.
    She nodded. “Yes, of course.”
    “I don’t know.” He saw her throat work again as she swallowed, watched as she looked away, and he felt the unease come from her. Larson was good at picking up on what others thought, was good at seeing how they felt even if they didn’t say anything. He’d used that intuition to work through life, understand people, and fight with them.
    “Okay, well thank you for the ride—”
    “I don’t know why I want to help you, because frankly we don’t know each other. But I do want to help you, Tasha.”
    She looked at him then.
    “I see you looking at me, watching me at the gym, and I’m curious as to why.”
    She licked her lips, but didn’t respond. “I don’t mean to stare. I’m sorry.”
    She seemed weaker right now, vulnerable and innocent.
    “Tell me why you were at the fight tonight. Why you went there by yourself knowing that it had to be dangerous.” He waited for her to respond, wanted her to tell him the truth. But how would he feel when she told him? How would he react when she told him that she’d come there to see him, which in his gut he knew was the case? And how would he feel when he let himself feel something besides self-hatred, when he allowed himself to actually … care about someone again?

Chapter Seven
     
    Tasha sat in the darkened cab of Larson’s truck, smelling the aroma of the clean sweat and masculinity that poured from him. He wore a pair of loose fitting workout pants and a white t-shirt. He watched her, the shadows wrapping around him and making him seem slightly menacing. Licking her lips, feeling the delicate skin parched and dry, she didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to actually answer honestly. What would he say if she admitted that she watched him because she was fascinated, because she wanted to know what his story was? What would he say if she admitted she’d come