Uncaged Love #2: MMA New Adult Contemporary Romance by JJ Knight Read Free Book Online Page B

supplements or personalized meals, but I get the general idea. Greasy cafe food isn’t on the menu.
    When we walk outside, it’s fully dark. “So, still no alone time with fighter boy?” Zero asks.
    “Nope.”
    Zero puts on a pout. “Maybe this weekend?”
    “Hopefully, if he wins the match.”
    “So, are we going?” Zero’s face lights up with mischief. “I can whip up something devious to make us totally incognito.”
    “Colt would have asked me if he wanted me.”
    “Pshaw,” Zero says. “He doesn’t even have to know.”
    “It’s a pretty secret gig,” I say.
    “Jo Jo knows a way!” he says. “I can tell!”
    We cross the street. We’re heading to his place, since his heat works better and he has cable. “Would it be too terrible to sneak in?” I ask.
    Zero makes a little hop in the air. “Of course not! It’s proof of your undying devotion to get into his pants.”
    I give him a light punch. “You’re terrible.”
    Instead of watching movies, we make a plan. We use street view to examine all sides of the Herd. It’s two stories and used to be a factory.
    “Tons of ways in,” Zero says. “You’ve got loading docks, a bazillion side doors.” He points at the brick wall. “There’s even outside fire escapes to the upper level.” He rubs his hands together. “It’s about time you got ME in a scrape instead of the other way around.”
    So, the next night, we meet halfway between our apartments. I’ve gotten a slew of texts from Colt.
    “Is he a total bundle of nerves?” Zero asks as he heads toward the Herd.
    “Maybe. He wrote me more than usual.”
    “Did you confess that you’re going?”
    I shake my head. “Nope.” My nerves are strung tight, though. If Brittany sees me, she’ll throw me out. I could lose my job, again. And then there’s Colt. He could be disappointed. I could break the magic between us.
    Now I’m nervous.
    I stop walking. “I’ve changed my mind,” I say to Zero. “I can’t do it.”
    He grabs my arm to keep me moving forward. “Yes, you can.”
    “What if he hates me?”
    “No man is going to hate a woman who dares defy the blonde bombshell to see him fight.” Zero turns me to him. “You can do this. I’ve never known you to run scared from anything.”
    He’s got me there.
    We can see the Herd from a couple blocks away. It’s taller than the buildings around it. A few homeless men huddle in the doorways. It’s cold for LA tonight.
    “This part of town ain’t much better than ours,” Zero says.
    A small crowd of guys jostle one another, spilling out over the curb. Zero and I look at each other, trying to decide whether to walk in the street or cut through them.
    One of them looks at Zero and narrows his eyes. We’re both familiar with it, that stare that says, are you queer? We do what we always do, when danger trumps everything else. He clasps my hand in his and kisses my knuckles. I beam up at him like he’s my one great love. I’m probably a whole lot more convincing now than I used to be.
    The guys part a little to let us through. We’re coming up on the Herd, so I slow down. Buster is in front of one door, bundled in a ski coat. I suddenly know exactly what to do.
    I grab Zero’s arm and drag him around the corner before Buster spots us. I pull my scarf up over my nose and mouth so only my eyes show under my hat. “Okay, I have an idea.”
    We walk a block away and approach the building from the second side. It’s the front facade, where most people are expected to arrive. There, two burly guys are standing by a girl with a clipboard.
    She’s wearing a sweat suit that reads BRITTANY THE BOMBSHELL on the back. Must be someone on her team helping out. I’ve never seen her before.
    Zero elbows me. “Now what?”
    “Let’s try the loading dock.” It makes sense to me that the least likely way in would be the one they would stick the lowest-level employee on.
    Sure enough, Brent is sitting on the edge of the dock staring at