Uncaged Love: Volume 6 (Uncaged Love #6) by JJ Knight Read Free Book Online

who came into the ring, or what Exterminator said as we left. I figure he may not remember. The first few minutes after a hard lick often get lost in the trauma of the injury.
    I push it from my mind. It was just a few cocky adrenaline-fueled fight junkies spouting off.
    But as I go into the kitchen to make a post-match breakfast for Hudson, my sense of unease is on alert. I’ve seen what fighters are capable of. When we pick this way of life, and particularly if we’re any good at it, it tends to go hand and hand with turf wars and aggression.

Chapter Eight

    The doctor Colt told me about looks Hudson over and proclaims that he will live. No serious concussion. Just an assortment of contusions that vary in intensity and will take some time to heal.
    We head to Mom’s house first. She’s off today, and we figure we might as well start facing the music.
    My mother lives in a tiny house a few blocks away from the ocean. The neighborhood is modest and nondescript, clapboard houses with weedy yards and a broken asphalt street.
    Hudson and I stand on her weathered porch, neither of us wanting to go in. I realize that this is what my life might have been like if she had found me when she went looking. Normal siblings. Getting in trouble like an ordinary family.
    It’s still hard for me to grasp. I can remember my stepmother’s rages, how I locked myself in my room, sliding the bolt that she had forbidden me to install but I did anyway.
    But now I’m here. In trouble but not the least bit worried that anything dramatic will go down. A lecture, maybe. I give Hudson one more sympathetic look, then he opens the door.
    The house is colorful and kitschy, full of pottery and local crafty art, painted wood carvings and woven baskets. Mom is in the kitchen rinsing carrots. She’s wearing a flowy dress that hides how tiny she is. Her hair is all tied up in a complicated twist with some fabric.
    When she sees Hudson she lets out a little yelp and runs over without shutting off the water. While she holds his face in her hands, I head over to the sink and turn off the faucet. Nobody says anything at first.
    Mom realizes she’s gotten Hudson’s face wet, so she wipes it with her dish towel. Finally she says, “This didn’t happen at the gym, did it?”
    Hudson shakes his head slowly.
    Mom sinks into a chair at her formica-topped dining table. “What happened?”
    Hudson looks over at me with a pleading expression.
    I stand behind him. “Hudson decided to do his first boxing match. His opponent won.”
    Mom wrings the towel in her hands. “Did you see a doctor?” She reaches out for his face again, then pulls back.
    “I took him to one of the doctors who helped Colt in his recovery,” I say. “He wasn’t worried about any of the injuries. He’ll just need to heal up before any more fights.”
    “More…fights…” Mom holds the towel to her chest. “You’re still going to do this?”
    “Of course I am,” Hudson says. “You can’t win them all.”
    Mom looks up at me. “Is this how it goes?”
    I sit in a chair opposite her. “You will definitely win some and lose some.”
    “What does Akoni say?” she asks.
    Hudson and I glance at each other. She must have some motherly sixth sense, because she immediately says, “He doesn’t know, does he?” She stands up. “That’s why you’re not with him right now.”
    She goes back to the sink and turns on the water. She scrubs the carrots vigorously. They are going to be substantially skinnier than they were originally.
    I’ve said as much as I’m going to. It’s up to Hudson now to placate her. He gets up stiffly. I’m sure he’s feeling worse as the day goes on and his muscles tighten up from last night’s hard work. It takes a good twenty-four hours before the pain completely kicks in.
    He stands next to her and pulls the tops off carrots, handing them to her to scrub.
    I puzzle at this. I’ve never really seen mothers and kids interact like this. If I had