Reign (Riders of Apollo #1)

Chapter 19: Peyton Lennox

I pull Roman back into the main clubhouse where all the members have congregated, even the ones who were called back from runs, and a hush falls as they focus on me. "Can I spar some of your fighters?" I ask Bear, they all give me a weird look while Roman drags his hands down his face in exasperation.

A soft chuckle passes through the crowd but I don't take it to heart, knowing I'm about to prove them wrong by dropping them quickly. I've been training since I was three, certainly not the training these guys have been doing though, I can assure you.

"Sure, I wanna see what kind of punch you pack. Let's go to the gym."

Everybody follows and I'm grateful that I put shorts under my dress today so I won't be flashing anybody during this fight. I step into the ring with another bloke, he looks like an Abercrombie and Fitch model, slender with broad shoulders, more of a pretty boy than the rugged bikers I'm used to. "I'm Rubble."

"You the best round here?"

"One of the best." I nod and settle into a defensive pose. He lashes out quickly but I dive away from the punch and land a kick to the back of his knee. He spins around and grabs my arm, I duck under his and twirl out of his grasp and kick him in the back. He's a good fighter but he relies on speed and strikes aimed in the torso. He doesn't look at the big picture and doesn't try to anticipate my strikes, signs of a cocky fighter. Thing is, this would work with strong bikers that are bigger than him. He's at a disadvantage because I am neither of those things.

He tries again and I rebuff, landing a punch to his stomach before flipping him over my shoulder. He grabs my leg and yanks it out from under me. I flip over him and roll to my feet, he's up just as quick and this time he aims for the face. Rude. I grab his wrist, twist it and drive my knee into his arm pit, numbing the left side of his body. He drops like a stone and rolls onto his back. He's dragged from the ring and another guy - I'm yet to know - takes his place.

This guy is fucking massive. Like 200 pounds of pure muscle and is at least 6'5. I take the offensive on this one, he has advantage because he's watched me fight and I'm yet to see him. I spin under him and kick his back with both of my feet, landing on my hands and throwing myself back to my feet. He recovers and swings at me, I dive under his fist and drive three punches into his gut. He loses his breath so backs up onto the defensive. This guy relies on strength and brute force, he keeps trying to grab me which gives me the impression he likes to throw people on the ground and jump on top of them.

Two can play that game, Hulk.

I run towards him, he dodges expecting me to attack him but I sprint past him, up onto the ropes and wrap my legs around his neck. I lean forward with all of my weight and we drop to the floor. I grab his arm and yank it up as I keep my legs wrapped around his neck. He taps out and I immediately release him. I wipe my sweat of my face and jump to my feet. This time Bear steps into the ring. "Permission to beat your husband?" I ask Lexie quickly, knowing that she probably doesn't want this guy in the ring.

"Go gentle please, don't bruise him too badly."

"Such faith in me, baby." Bear says to his wife with a frown. She just smiles and I settle back into defence. Bear is different than the other two. He's big but he's also quick which makes him dangerous. I watch him closely as I dance around him, landing a few punches here and there but I'm just trying to learn about him before I move in for the real fight. He growls in frustration as I dodge another one of his advances.

Being big, strong and fast I can only assume that he's used to getting the fight over early. Impression is that this guy does not have much stamina, hence why he's getting agitated so quickly. I keep out of his region, only landing a few hits and refusing to let any of his land. It takes a good few minutes before he starts slowing down and I almost smirk in victory. But in a fight you don't show emotion because that can show what your next move is.

I just decide to put the poor bastard out of his misery and wrap him in a chokehold, he holds out for a minute or two before he taps my arm and I release him. "Okay, I didn't expect that." Bear states, still led on the floor of the ring, breathing heavily.

"Sorry, just trying to prove a point to Reign that I can take care of myself." I catch his eye and even I can see that he's impressed with me. It's not like he can stop me from going but I want him onside so that if something does go sideways it doesn't go down with us mad at each other over something stupid. "Do you need help up?"

"Nope." He jumps up and rubs his neck, "you've got a tight grip, how long have you been training."

"About twenty one years." I feel everyone freeze their movements and look at me with new eyes, fuck that was the one thing I didn't want them to do. "Ugh, that wasn't supposed to happen. Okay, how about we all head to the lounge and I tell you my entire sob story there, yeah?"

I jump down from the ring and Roman grabs me gently, pulling me to his side and walking us the lounge. We all grab drinks and I clench the beer bottle in my hand, trying to make sure I avoid having a mental breakdown in front of all these people.

Fuck me.