"what can i do to help?" i ask.

he drags his thumb along my bottom lip and i resist the urge to suck it into my mouth.

"i need you to be with me, not against me, and i need you to ignore whatever darryl says because i'm already aware of it. i know i'm not pushing myself. i know i need to train harder, but i also know that i... i can't."

i almost pout. "is it something i did? is there something wrong with me?"

seth grips my face, forcing our foreheads to press together. "baby, this has nothing to do with you. you pacify my erratic thoughts, you know that. all of this is about me and letting don and my father get into my head."

i nearly sag in relief. "how do we get them out?"

he shakes his head and releases my face. "i don't know... but i'm working on it."

his brows furrow and even deep in thought he's sexy. i can't help myself. the longer i look at him, the needier i become. i can feel fire swirl through my stomach and flow south. it moves slowly, but burns hot like lava, and when it hits my center, it explodes like a barrel of gun powder. in my head i imagine crushing my lips against his and taking exactly what i want from him. i imagine hair pulling and swearing, screaming and groaning. i imagine biting, sucking, and licking to the hardest degree, fucking until he doesn't remember who don is-until he doesn't remember his own name. i force myself back to reality with a dry, hard swallow.

"i have a temporary idea," i say, sounding more nervous than sexy.

the golden rivers of honey in his irises flare and he flicks his tongue across his bottom lip. i squeak as he manages to tug me forward and grip my ass. the zipper of my jean shorts digs into my clit and the friction causes surges of arousal to pulse through me.

"you better watch yourself," he murmurs in a sexy, gruff tone that has me breathing deeper. "there's only so many hits my resistance can take." he nods at my shirt. "and i'm already having a hard time keeping my hands off of you in this tight-ass shirt."

i look to his lips again, briefly, and then back to his eyes. god! my insides are liquid.

"you're right," i whisper, dropping my hands. "this shirt is awfully tight. you should take it off."

he smirks and leans in. his hands release my backside and find my hips. he squeezes them as he urges me harder against him. "i'd say you're going to regret that, but we both know that's not true."

"it's not?"

he shakes his head, catches his bottom lip between his teeth and releases it. "when i'm finished, you're going to beg for more, not regret that it happened."

i smile and find myself staring at his mouth again... such a sweet, vulgar mouth. "i'm not sure if anyone has ever told you, but you're confidence levels are annoyingly high."

"now that you mention it, there was one girl who repeatedly referred to me as over-confident and annoying. she also claimed she hated me once... or something very close to that."

i laugh once under my breath and he continues.

"it turns out she was a terrible liar with a serious case of denial. she ended up marrying me."

"what an idiot."

he nods ever so slightly, bringing his mouth dangerously close to mine. his full, warm bottom lip grazes mine and my breath hitches. "maybe, but she's my idiot now."

only seth can make an insult sound so sickeningly romantic... or maybe there's something wrong with me. in the eventual case that it is me, i don't ever want to be right. i push the thought from my mind. there's nothing wrong with me. i'm sure any girl would lose all train of thought with a mouth as tempting as seth's close to their lips... or his naked torso pressed so flush against them. he teases me for a few seconds, holding his mouth close and grazing. i want to launch closer and kiss him, but i'm paralyzed-useless. it's like his mouth has control of my nervous system and he's locked everything in place.

"you really want to kiss me, don't you?"

i breathe my response. yep, my mouth was too dry to speak so i breathed my response at him. there's definitely something wrong with me. he chuckles low and deep, striking all of the right chords.

"i can't hear you," he teases, flicking his tongue out and swiftly licking my bottom lip.

sweet mother of satan. "y-yes, badly."

"how badly?" he asks, squeezing his thigh harder between my legs and making me sigh.

"like you need an explanation," i manage to squeeze out, sounding like a normal human being who isn't on the verge of sexually assaulting another human being for a change.

"on the contrary, sweetheart, i need a very good explanation. i want to hear all of the naughty thoughts that are currently buzzing around your sexy little brain so i can make them a reality, right here, right now."

his words awaken something playful inside of me. it's been a little while since seth has been his usual cheeky, sexy self. lately, i've been treated to silent cuddles, rough sex, and an overall grumpy seth. occasionally, sweet seth shows his face, but it's usually not without extreme encouragement from me.

"unfortunately, we don't have enough time for you to make all of my naughty thoughts a reality. at least, not here anyway."

he counters, "we have plenty of time."

"please, don't let my presence stop you."

i don't even have to look. i'd know that voice anywhere. don 'the asshole' russell. seth and i snap our heads toward the door. the second i see him, any bodily fluids that seth enticed from me dry up.

he leans lazily against the wide door frame, smiling at us like we're old friends. his grey tank top allows for his snake tattoo to be on show and i scowl at it. someone should really cut it off. the number of poor stupid girls it must have traumatized should be enough to start a petition.

don's eyes flick between us as seth peels himself off me and steps forward. i grab his wrist and force him to stay put. the last thing i want is a fight to break out right now. thankfully, jackson appears at the door frame beside don and steps inside. he eyes don with the intent to kill, i can see it as clear as day. what makes me nervous is the fact that i truly believe jackson would kill for seth. it's admirable, to say the least. when we were fifteen, selena threw me in the path of a barking dog in fear of it mauling her to death. luckily (and not that she cared) the dog was on a chain... sometimes i wonder why she's my best friend. anyway, it's clear jackson's here to have seth's back in case anything gets out of hand. i'd be scared of jackson, all tall and muscular with his outrageous tattoos, but don ignores him like he doesn't exist.

"what the hell are you doing here?" seth demands. his entire body is tense and ready to attack at a moment's notice-all of it i feel by the touch i have on his wrist.

don reaches up and scratches his bald head, still smiling away like he's won the lottery. "oh, matt didn't tell you?"

my jaw clenches.

"we're training under the same roof." he snickers before letting his slimy gaze focus solely on me. his eyes rake me up and down, lingering on all of my private sections. it's creepy and i step slightly behind seth to block it. "which means no more after training fuck sessions... unless you're inviting me, of course."

he winks one of his beady eyes at me and seth starts forward. i use the momentum created by his body to quickly throw myself in front of him. desperately, i press myself against his torso and finally he stops, but not without an annoyed growl that tingles my hands.

"i'm a big girl," i tell him. "i can handle myself." i turn to don, pressing my back against seth. i feel his stomach muscles contract and relax, tighten and release.

"you're disgusting," i spit at don, and his smile turns into a sneer.

"charming," he counters.

"arrogant."

"passionate."

i clench my fists tighter with every counter. "you are obnoxious, evil, childish, stupid, and vile."

don's smile widens, exposing his annoyingly perfect teeth as he looks at seth. "careful, seth, hate and lust are separated by the thinnest line."

i gasp. how dare he even insinuate that i'd ever 'lust' over him? i'd go with jackson or darryl before don-hell, i'd even climb back into blade's bed before don's. the fact he has the balls to stand there and disrespect me and my relationship in front of my husband is appalling-an act only someone still in high school would do. i start forward, seeing only red.

"you son of a bit-"

wind is knocked out of me as seth's strong arm seizes me. his thick arm wraps around my waist before he lifts me and throws me over his shoulder like i'm a child who doesn't want to leave the playground.

"seth! put me down!" i clench my hands into fists and smack his back with the base of my hands. blood rushes to my head, making pressure build up behind my eyes.

"call matt," seth orders jackson, his voice surprisingly calm. "i will not train in the same center as this fucking asshole."

don chuckles, and as we pass by him i feel his fingers rake through my hair. i glance up and see my chocolate strands slip through his fingertips.

"get lost!" i snap, slapping him away and earning another laugh. "don't touch me."

i see the floor of the training room pass under seth's feet as he carries me away.

"seth!" darryl calls from somewhere. i try to find him, to ask him to tell seth to put me down, but my head spins and i grit my teeth together. "i'll get this sorted out."

seth ignores him and before long, i find myself in the hallway just outside the gym doors.

"you can put me down anytime now..." i say, but seth chooses to ignore me, too.

i sigh. stupid don. i could be in the shower having epic sex with my epic love right about now. instead, i'm being carried off like a sack of meat.

thanks a lot, don. i owe you one, asshole.

after seth brought us back to the hotel and showered in the safety of our own room (alone, might i add) he left to attend a press conference and sort things out with matt somers. he wasn't too keen on attending the conference. ignoring the fact that don will also be there, it turns out my confident fighter is a little interview shy and actually hates talking about himself. ha! who would've thought?

when he left, i lay down on the couch and fell asleep, only to be awoken an hour later by excited banging on the door.

"olive?"

i open my eyes and squint around the hotel room. maybe i'm hearing things? i close my eyes and pull my knees into my chest, snuggling further into the couch.

"olive?"

whoever it is, they're singing the word in a high pitched opera voice before bursting into fits of giggles.

olive? really? i think i have plenty of nicknames and i definitely prefer 'olly' over 'olive.' i lift my head and my brain spins in my skull. my eyes feel heavy and the strength it takes just to keep them open is enough to exhaust me into another nap.

"ooooooliiiive! open up!"

i groan. i have to nip this one in the bud before it spreads to someone who enjoys tormenting me like seth or selena. i drag myself off the couch, feeling worse than i did before my nap. i pull the door open and immediately frown when i see seth's sister's face beaming at me.

"whatcha' doin?" she smiles lazily, running her slender fingers through her dark hair.

even drunk off her tit she's annoyingly beautiful... just like her brother. man, does their family have good genes or what?

"olivia?" she chuckles, gripping the door frame and looking at me like i'm certifiably insane.

"i was napping, thanks for that."

"napping? geez, you're even starting to act like my brother." she pushes past me, and as i go to close the door behind her, selena jams her hand in.

"christ, o," she swears as i pull the door open. "i'm here, too."

i open the door wider and let her in. "sorry." i say. i pinch a small curl between my fingers and tug on it. "i didn't see you."

selena swats me away as maddi struts eagerly over to the kitchen bench and slips right onto the stool. when selena joins her, i take in their appearance. maddi is wearing skinny jeans that cling to the curves of her backside and legs. her white backless shirt that dips low in the front complements her tan nicely and the whites seems brighter with her black hair draped over her shoulders. i try not to stare, but a good portion of maddi's breasts are on show for all to see. when she's not looking, i peek at them a few times, trying to decide if they're real or not. i think they are, but unless i touch them, i'll never know. instead of skinny jeans, selena opts for a sleek royal blue blouse that clings to her body before being tucked under the waistline of her pencil skirt. she looks smart and sexy, everything a business woman should be. the only thing she's missing is a business. i glance down at my jean shorts and tank top.

"am i missing something here?" i ask, scratching my head and stifling a yawn at the same time.

"you won't be if you get dressed." selena smiles at me, but the smile doesn't make her eyes wrinkle like it usually does.

"dressed for what?"

"a night out-just us girls."

oh hell no. i shake my head. i haven't been out in vegas since the spearmint rhino and i'm not about to change that tonight. if the past year has taught me anything it's that i don't do well in clubs. whenever i'm in one, karma manages to pinpoint my exact location and hone all of her energy in on me. "no, thank you."