She frowned. "What?"

"For sex."

Snapping her back straight, Cherry said, "Most definitely!"

"And I'm pretty sure Armie is, as well."

"I-" Venturing into dangerous territory, Cherry cleared her throat. "You're saying you want to have sex with Cannon, Armie and-" no, no, no "-Denver?"

"No, just proving a point." She flapped her hand. "I'm all about Stack."

Head swimming, Cherry stared at her. "You're hung up on Stack?"

One brow went up. "Is there a reason you sound so incredulous?"

"No. Of course not. Stack is terrific. You're terrific. I just... You've never mentioned him before." At a loss, she lifted her shoulders. "Or dated, or far as I know, even talked to him that much."

Vanity looked at her nails. "I think he's yummy."

"He is." Not as hot as Denver by any stretch, but Stack was certainly as fit as the other fighters, and with his dark blond hair and smoky blue eyes, he drew a lot of attention. "I'm glad things are working out."

"It's just sex," Vanity said, but her lips played with a smile. "Well, and a date to the wedding. Win-win."

Cherry had to laugh. "Stack's a lucky guy."

"And I won't let him forget it." When the first raindrops splashed on the windshield, Vanity said, "Go, before you get soaked."

Cherry hurriedly opened her door and as she stepped out, she said, "Thank you so much for the ride."

"It was all my pleasure! Let me know how it goes with the car."

With a final wave, she dashed inside. For the next few hours, she stayed too busy to worry about ex-foster brothers, hunky fighters or car troubles. Half the kids were afraid of the lightning, and the rowdier unafraid half couldn't get outside to run off their energy. Midway through the day, the electricity went out. Luckily, things finally cleared up some and the lights came back on, making storytime easier. By the time Armie was due to arrive, the rain had even stopped.

Now if only the rest of her luck would improve.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

DENVER AND ARMIE went through some conditioning exercises together. The high school boys always bitched about jumping rope, like they thought it wasn't macho enough or something.

Armie snorted. At the moment, with sweat soaking his spine and the waistband of his shorts, he'd love to see one of the cocky boys keep up.

"Double jumps," he told Denver, and they both adjusted, pushing themselves through two sets of twenty until Armie called a halt.

Denver tossed the rope aside and threw a few kicks at the heavy bag, then a series of punches.

Grinning, Armie watched him. "You're going to make Packer wish this fight never happened."

"That's the plan."

"Go take a break. No reason to overtrain."

"Look who's talking."

Doffing an imaginary hat, Armie said, "You know it takes a lot to get my heartbeat up."

"Because you're insane." With that parting shot, Denver went to the other side of the gym where he'd left his gear.

Armie headed to a bench to fetch his own water bottle and towel. He only had a few minutes before he had to take off, and he still needed to tell Denver that he was picking up Cherry. Didn't want to look sneaky or anything.

But then, Denver knew he usually dodged sponsors, even sponsors not solely focused on him.

He'd just finished dragging the towel over his drenched hair and hot face when the chime on the door sounded and Havoc walked in.

Seeing him did what other conditioning couldn't: Armie's heartbeat went haywire.

Cannon walked up to the man, shaking his hand and greeting him like a long-lost pal.

Neither of them looked his way.

What the fuck were they up to?

He had to shower before going after Cherry, but no way would he walk off now, not after that jibe of "running." It'd look bad and-screw it.

Tossing the towel aside, Armie took a step.

"Planning a frontal attack, huh?"

He spun around on Denver. "Did you know about this?"

"About one of Cannon's friends dropping in? No. He doesn't run his social calendar by me."

"Screw you, that's not what I meant."

"Armie."

Shit. Holding his breath for a count of two and clearing all expression from his face, Armie turned to Dean "Havoc" Connor. And said nothing. Hell, he didn't know what to say.

Havoc held out a hand, so Armie took it.

"Glad I could finally catch you."

His eye twitched.

Havoc-damn him-laughed. "Bad choice of words?"

"Did you want something?"

"Yeah. Let's start with a lack of hostility."

To give them privacy, Denver slapped Armie's shoulder and headed off to talk with Cannon. Traitorous bastard.

"I'm not hostile," Armie said, sounding well beyond that namby-pamby word.

"Good. Could I have fifteen minutes?"

"Shit." He ran a hand over his face. "Here's the thing. I need to shower and head out."

Havoc stood there, judging him, measuring him.

"It's the truth." Going for a casual vibe, he shrugged. "I'm helping a lady in distress."

"Then pick another time."

How about never? "I can be back here in a few hours." He may as well get it over with.

Havoc checked the time, then nodded. "I'll take you to dinner."

A muscle in his jaw ticked. Hands on his hips, he frowned. "Thought you said it'd only take fifteen minutes?"

"If we did this now." Havoc never blinked. "But you're talking dinnertime, so we'll eat." Cocking a brow, he said, "Unless you have a problem with that?"

A flat-out challenge. That deserved another heartfelt-but silent-fuck. Pasting on his most disingenuous smile, Armie nodded. "Dinner it is." And now he only had about two minutes to get out the door or he'd be late getting to Cherry. He still hadn't told Denver about her car, but Havoc headed over to Denver, so he'd just have to clue him in later.

Hustling, Armie headed for the locker room and the fastest shower of his life.

"I'M TAKING YOUR class for you," Stack said.

Having just finished a shower after sparring with Cannon, Denver sat on a wooden bench, taking a moment to rest. He'd thought he was alone, but there stood Stack fresh from his own shower, wearing only a towel around his hips. "Why's that?"

"Because you look like shit." Speculative, Stack said, "Don't suppose Cherry kept you up all night?"

"Actually, yeah." Rubbing the tired muscles in the back of his neck, Denver flexed and popped his head to the side.

In the middle of finger-combing his wet hair, Stack paused, intrigued. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." He stretched, so tired he didn't even care that Stack was probably imagining all sorts of things he shouldn't, like Cherry in excess-sex mode. "But I can handle the class."

"You sure? I don't mind."

Rather than admit he'd feel like a wuss if he let a woman throw him off stride, Denver asked, "No big date tonight?"

"Later," Stack said as he pulled a clean T-shirt out of a locker. "I have time." He stepped into jeans.

It was Denver's turn to speculate. "I thought you and Vanity were getting together."

"Not until the wedding." Taking his own seat on the bench, Stack pulled on socks and athletic shoes and pretended not to see Denver scrutinizing him. "You can quit that shit any time now."

Grinning, Denver said, "You weren't going to expound?"

"On the date tonight? No. Just a friendly hookup."

"Will Vanity be pissed?"

"She said not." Stack rolled a shoulder, looking a little pissed himself. "She more or less told me to go about my business until the wedding."

To make sure he understood, Denver asked, "Go about your business with other women?"

Suddenly, Stack turned to blast him with his frustration. "That's fucked up, right? I mean, she comes on to me, only to set a date-for sex-that's weeks away, but doesn't care what I do until then. Have you ever heard of a woman making that arrangement?"

"Ah...no." But it made him wonder if Vanity had suggested it specifically to make Stack nuts. If so, she was succeeding.

"Know what I think?" Stack stood to slam his locker. "I think she's off doing God-knows-what with other guys and that's why she made the deal in the first place."

"That matters to you?"

He stalled. Dropped his head. Muttered, "Fuck," in a really mean way. Then he shook it off to glare at Denver. "I don't know."

Doing his best not to laugh, Denver stood, too. "Some unsolicited advice-if it does matter to you, then don't wait for the wedding." As a man who'd waited, he knew the regrets that could bring.

What if Cherry hadn't pressed the issue when they were out of town for Armie's fight? What if he hadn't finally broken?

She'd have been in that hotel room by herself, sick without anyone to help her.

And she'd be dealing with Carver and his dick brothers all on her own.

The idea tormented him. Especially when he thought about how different she might be now if he'd gotten together with her a lot sooner. Maybe she'd be more open already.

Maybe she'd have already given up her secrets.

"I don't know," Stack muttered in disgust. "She was pretty clear."

"About wanting to wait? Maybe she just used the wedding as an icebreaker. You know it's impossible to figure out women. Your best bet is to ask her outright."

With a rude snort, Stack dropped back against the locker. "Like you did with Cherry?"

"Freely admit it, I fucked up."

"Yeah, says the man who spent the night getting laid."

The laugh came before he could stop it, then he immediately pointed at Stack and said, "Shut up."