Fighting Tooth & Nail: Kings Gym, #2

By Shaw Hart

They say nothing worth having is easy...

Finn has been fighting all of his life. His dad wasn't the easiest person to get along with and he learned to fight back fast. 

Now he's training at the famous Kings Gym and moving up the ranks. 

He's got his eye on the prize and nothing is going to distract him. 

Then his new neighbor moves in. 

Now he's chasing after her, making sure that the accident prone pixie doesn't hurt herself. 

Sylvie Wren couldn't be more different from him. 

She's pure sunshine and he prefers to spend his time in the shadows. 

Can he deny his attraction to her though? Or will these two realize that they just might be what the other is searching for?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shaw Hart
• Release date: May 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223910459

Book preview

ONE

Finn

Are you coming back for the wedding then? I ask my brother Hendrix as I pace outside of Monroe’s Diner.

I’m supposed to be meeting Palmer for lunch here. She wants to catch up since we haven’t seen much of each other since she moved in with her fiancé, Banks. Between classes and planning her wedding, she’s been busy.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to find— he starts but I cut him off.

Dad isn’t invited.

Yeah, I’ll be there.

I’d smile at how quickly he changed his mind; except I get it. I don’t want to be in a room with our father either. Hendrix took it further than that though. He moved clear across the country as soon as he graduated. He’s been at Sequoia University for the last three years and I know that after he graduates, he’ll probably stay out there. He wants as much distance between him and our dad as he can get, even if that means not seeing Palmer and me as much as he would like.

I would have liked to do that too; except I couldn’t leave my younger stepsister alone with him. I don’t think that he would have hurt her. Instead, he’d just put as much pressure on her as he could until she bent to his will. Palmer is tough, but it was her against her mom and our dad.

After everything that went down between them, I’m glad that I stuck around for her and could be there when she finally got out of our parents’ clutches.

Besides, King’s Gym is here and I love training there.

How’s Palmer doing anyway? he asks and I stop pacing, scanning the crowd.

Good, I guess. I haven’t seen much of her in the last few weeks. We both got busy.

How’s training going? I wish that I could be there to see you whoop Sebastian’s ass next month, he says and I can hear the smile in his voice.

There are a few years between Hendrix and me, but we’ve always been close. We were all each other had for most of our lives.

Me too. Maybe you can if Palmer goes with her original date. It’s the weekend before my fight, I remind him, and I can hear someone shouting in the background.

He was on his way to class and I’m guessing he’s in the building now.

Let me know the dates, and I’ll do my best.

I ask him how his classes are going and if he needs anything, but he assures me that he’s doing alright. I know that he races for some extra cash, but I’m pretty sure that it’s illegal, so I don’t ask him about it and he doesn’t bring it up.

I see Palmer wave as she crosses the road toward me, and I wave back. I’m surprised that Banks isn’t with her. Those two seem to be attached at the hip ever since they met.

Palmer is here. I gotta go.

Tell her I said hi and that I miss her.

Will do.

I hang up as Palmer reaches my side and I pull her in for a quick hug.

No fiancé today? I ask her as I open the diner door for her.

He has work, but he said hi and invited you to Sunday brunch again.

I like Banks. He’s a good guy with a good job and family and it’s obvious that he loves Palmer and would do anything for her.

Tell him thanks for the invite.

But you’re not going to come, she says with a sigh as we slide into a booth.

I have training.

I wish that you would take a break every now and then. You’re missing out on life by spending so much time in the gym.

I will… after the fight next month, I promise her, but she just rolls her eyes.

We grab our menus and I smile as my friend, Niall’s girlfriend, Everly, comes over to take our order.

Hey, Finn, she greets me with a smile and I nod.

I let Palmer order first before I put in my order and Everly leaves to get our drinks.

How’s wedding planning? I ask her, and she gets this dreamy smile on her face.

It’s going good. We’re just having a small one, so we’re going to go with that date that I told you last time. The seventh.

Sounds good. I told Hendrix and he said that he’ll be here too.

Perfect! I was going to call him today and invite him. I wasn’t sure if he would come though, she says, trailing off slightly.

He wouldn’t miss it, I assure her, and she smiles.

I wanted to ask if you would, well, I don’t have anyone else to, um… Palmer trails off, her fingers twisting in her napkin.

Palmer, you know that I’ll do it. Whatever it is, I add because I’m not sure where she’s going with this.

Would you walk me down the aisle? I was going to ask Banks’s dad to, but I don’t know him that well and when I thought of who to ask, it was you and Hendrix.

Of course, I say, my voice coming out a little hoarse with emotion. I’d be honored to.

She lets out a big breath of relief, straightening in her seat as she grins at me.

Thank you. I wasn’t sure how you would take it.

Everly comes back with our waters and food and we both dig in. I just got done with training and I’m starving. I’ve ordered twice as much food as her but I get through mine first. Probably because Palmer is talking while she eats.

So the rehearsal dinner will be at Wild Thyme, that new restaurant that just opened up.

I nod, letting her know that I know the one she’s talking about.

Banks’s Uncle Max owns the place and Harvey’s fiancée, Coraline, is actually the chef there. The food is amazing, so we’re going to have the reception there too.

Sounds good. Do you need help with the flowers or anything? I ask but she waves me off, taking a bite of her french fry.

"No, we’re picking that and the cake out later next week. I just need you to get a black suit. I’ll grab you