Read Online The Only Way by Jamie Sullivan - Free Book Online
Authors: Jamie Sullivan
Tags: Fantasy, FF romance
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couldn't." Hart held up her hands, placating.
"Damn straight, you didn't." Ruby gave her a wolfish grin. "Since I'm not done handing your ass to you."
It seemed so unfair that even here—in the Alley, in a gym owned by her father, in the ring where she proved herself as a boxer—Ruby still couldn't escape the kind of comments that got thrown at the girls back home. Hart had assumed it was just the Gutter girls who had to deal with the lingering eyes, the rude words, the belief that they were always up for it just because of who they were and where they lived. But Ruby was getting that same shit in her own home.
"Do they …" she began, as they took their fighting stances. "Do they talk to you like that a lot?"
Ruby's eyes cut away, and she shrugged, a tense movement of her narrow shoulders. "Sometimes. Doesn't matter, though."
That's what all the girls back home said, too. It 'didn't matter,' it was 'just talk.' Like Hart didn't see the way it hurt them.
"They shouldn't be allowed to get away with that."
"I don't let them get away with it, do I?" Ruby said sharply.
"No," Hart conceded with a wry smile. "You're pretty tough."
"The type of guys who come in here … they don't know what to do with a girl in the ring," Ruby said. "Guys like that only have one use for girls. And it isn't fighting."
"Well, that's bullshit," Hart said with a frown.
For the first time that week, the smile Ruby gave her wasn't taunting. Hart smiled back.
She paid more attention to the people in the gym after that. Occasionally other fighters passed through, peering in to the practice room and stopping to talk to Leo. Hart understood why Leo never introduced any of them to her. She wondered which of them she'd be fighting first.
They were bigger than her and slightly older; men in their twenties who had filled out through their shoulders in a way Hart never would. They were all from the Gutter, rough around the edges.
As they passed, they leered at Ruby, making comments about her presence in the ring, calling her 'honey' or 'baby' or 'sweetcheeks.' Every time, Hart bristled even as Ruby shrugged them off, offering snide remarks in return.
"Eventually, I'll get to kick all their asses," Hart finally said as yet another muscled lughead strolled away, his remarks about Ruby's ass lingering uncomfortably in the room.
A small smile twitched over Ruby's lips. "You know, I think you just might."
*~*~*
"Gunnar is out."
Hart paused on her way to the changing room as Leo's voice drifted in from an adjoining hall.
"What do you mean ‘out'?" Ruby demanded. "He's got a fight tonight."
Hart remembered Gunnar from that first day in Leo's gym; she lingered in the doorway, waiting to hear what Leo might say.
"Injured."
"Bad?"
Hart couldn't see his face, but she could imagine the imperceptible shrug Leo would give. "Bad enough. Snapped collarbone."
Ruby let out a small noise, a choking in the back of her throat. "Will it heal?"
"If he saw a doctor, probably."
"But there are no doctors in the Gutter," Ruby finished, bitterness dripping from her voice.
Hart imagined Leo shrugging again; that was just the way things were. There were women who'd help you set your bones, splinting as best they could with whatever was lying around. But no one in the Gutter had ever been to a real doctor.
She leaned back against the wall as Ruby continued angrily, "He's got kids!"
"I know," Leo sighed.
"So what's going to happen to them?"
"Ruby, not this again. These things happen."
"Yeah, because you put him in the ring against someone ten years younger than him and fifty pounds heavier," Ruby snapped. Hart's eyes widened.
"He wanted that fight."
"He needed that fight. Those are two different things and you know it."
"Ruby," her father sighed. "What do you expect me to do?"
Hart heard Ruby let out an angry, frustrated noise and resisted the urge to peek around the corner to see what was happening. She was shocked to hear Ruby—Alley-raised and
"Damn straight, you didn't." Ruby gave her a wolfish grin. "Since I'm not done handing your ass to you."
It seemed so unfair that even here—in the Alley, in a gym owned by her father, in the ring where she proved herself as a boxer—Ruby still couldn't escape the kind of comments that got thrown at the girls back home. Hart had assumed it was just the Gutter girls who had to deal with the lingering eyes, the rude words, the belief that they were always up for it just because of who they were and where they lived. But Ruby was getting that same shit in her own home.
"Do they …" she began, as they took their fighting stances. "Do they talk to you like that a lot?"
Ruby's eyes cut away, and she shrugged, a tense movement of her narrow shoulders. "Sometimes. Doesn't matter, though."
That's what all the girls back home said, too. It 'didn't matter,' it was 'just talk.' Like Hart didn't see the way it hurt them.
"They shouldn't be allowed to get away with that."
"I don't let them get away with it, do I?" Ruby said sharply.
"No," Hart conceded with a wry smile. "You're pretty tough."
"The type of guys who come in here … they don't know what to do with a girl in the ring," Ruby said. "Guys like that only have one use for girls. And it isn't fighting."
"Well, that's bullshit," Hart said with a frown.
For the first time that week, the smile Ruby gave her wasn't taunting. Hart smiled back.
She paid more attention to the people in the gym after that. Occasionally other fighters passed through, peering in to the practice room and stopping to talk to Leo. Hart understood why Leo never introduced any of them to her. She wondered which of them she'd be fighting first.
They were bigger than her and slightly older; men in their twenties who had filled out through their shoulders in a way Hart never would. They were all from the Gutter, rough around the edges.
As they passed, they leered at Ruby, making comments about her presence in the ring, calling her 'honey' or 'baby' or 'sweetcheeks.' Every time, Hart bristled even as Ruby shrugged them off, offering snide remarks in return.
"Eventually, I'll get to kick all their asses," Hart finally said as yet another muscled lughead strolled away, his remarks about Ruby's ass lingering uncomfortably in the room.
A small smile twitched over Ruby's lips. "You know, I think you just might."
*~*~*
"Gunnar is out."
Hart paused on her way to the changing room as Leo's voice drifted in from an adjoining hall.
"What do you mean ‘out'?" Ruby demanded. "He's got a fight tonight."
Hart remembered Gunnar from that first day in Leo's gym; she lingered in the doorway, waiting to hear what Leo might say.
"Injured."
"Bad?"
Hart couldn't see his face, but she could imagine the imperceptible shrug Leo would give. "Bad enough. Snapped collarbone."
Ruby let out a small noise, a choking in the back of her throat. "Will it heal?"
"If he saw a doctor, probably."
"But there are no doctors in the Gutter," Ruby finished, bitterness dripping from her voice.
Hart imagined Leo shrugging again; that was just the way things were. There were women who'd help you set your bones, splinting as best they could with whatever was lying around. But no one in the Gutter had ever been to a real doctor.
She leaned back against the wall as Ruby continued angrily, "He's got kids!"
"I know," Leo sighed.
"So what's going to happen to them?"
"Ruby, not this again. These things happen."
"Yeah, because you put him in the ring against someone ten years younger than him and fifty pounds heavier," Ruby snapped. Hart's eyes widened.
"He wanted that fight."
"He needed that fight. Those are two different things and you know it."
"Ruby," her father sighed. "What do you expect me to do?"
Hart heard Ruby let out an angry, frustrated noise and resisted the urge to peek around the corner to see what was happening. She was shocked to hear Ruby—Alley-raised and
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