Meet Maverick “The Avenger” Cage in Legend, the newest
stand alone in the REAL series releasing February 9th!
Maverick “the Avenger”
Cage wants to rise to the top and become a legend in the ring. Though he keeps
his identity well guarded, he's known on the fighting circuit as the new kid
with a chip on his shoulder and a tattoo on his back that marks him as trouble.
He's got a personal score to settle with the Underground's one and only
Remington "Riptide" Tate.
As Mav trains, he meets
a young girl—the only other new person in the town--and sparks fly. When things
get heated between them, he finds out she's none other than Reese Dumas, the
cousin of Remington Tate’s wife. A girl who's supposed to root against him and
a girl he's supposed to stay away from.
But Maverick fights for
the woman in his heart, and the monsters in his blood. The world’s eyes are on
them and the victor will go down in history as the ultimate fighting champion;
the ultimate LEGEND.
* LEGEND is the 6th and
final installment of the REAL series, but it can also be read as standalone or
after the three Remington and Brooke books (Real/Mine/Remy.)
EXCERPT
#1
It’s
midweek already, and I’m halfway through my workout when I get a text from
Brooke:
Hey! Huge line at the Underground
registration, might pick up lunch on our way back home. Don’t wait for us -
lunch home w/Diane
Me: Got it ☺ Will take Racer to park and meet
you home ltr
I set my phone aside and scan the gym again. Some
otherworldly impulse has me walking past the weights section. I cross the
treadmills, bicycles, toward the mats at the end and the boxing bags. I scan
the area where Maverick always works out. There are several guys at the bags
now. None of them are as big, or mysterious. Or hot.
He’s
gone.
Disappointment
washes over me. I wait a bit, checking the time. Five minutes to leave for
Racer.
Reese, you’re acting stupid.
“You’re
looking for your friend? The one you come in with?”
“I . . .
ah . . . yeah.”
“He
hasn’t come in.”
“Right.
Thanks.”
I head
to pick up Racer from day care, meet Pete there with the stroller and our
snacks, then sit Racer inside and push him to the park. There’s this spot I
like under the shadow of a tree. I head there. “How was day care, Racer?”
“Okay.”
He’s
scanning the park for dogs, I know.
“This
is nice, isn’t it?”
I pull
out his fruit bears and open them. He dives in.
“Racer,
I ran extra hard today and I’m suddenly hungry. If I tell you an extra story
tonight, would you give me one of your fruit bears?”
“Two
stowies,” he negotiates.
“Okay,
two stories, for two bears?” I shoot back.
He
hesitates, then nods and lets me pull out two bears, examining my hand
thoroughly. I let him open my palm.
“See?
Two?”
He
grins a dimpled grin that I could eat up, and then continues eating.
I shove
them in my mouth and start to set up my blanket and stop in my tracks when I
spot the figure doing pull-ups on the tree.
His
T-shirt is riding upward due to the lifted position of his arms, and I can see
the concrete-like squares of his abs perfectly.
His
extraordinary eyes blaze and glow when he spots me a few feet away, not far
from the tree. He drops himself to the ground, lithe as a cat and surprisingly
quiet, and as he stretches to his feet from the crouched position he landed in,
his eyes are direct and interested and warm. No, not warm. More.
There’s
a flip in my stomach when his lips curl a little. He ambles over and I have the
oddest sensation that he was waiting for me. But . . . was he?
“Maverick.”
“Mavewick!”
Racer repeats, and puts out his fist.
He
bumps fists with Racer. “Dude. Cool cap.”
He taps
Racer’s Yankees baseball cap. Then his eyes lift to meet mine.
My
stomach feels unsettled, but it’s not from hunger, more like from nerves or
something like . . . anticipation.
“Didn’t
see you at the gym today,” I say.
He
shakes his head. “I talked to Oz.”
“You
did?”
He
gives me this quiet, perfect smile and simply nods.
“That’s
great.”
“Yeah.”
We
smile for the most delicious few seconds.
“So
you’re fighting during the inaugural?” I ask excitedly.
He
pulls out a page from his back jeans pocket. “That’s me.”
I take
and scan the page. It indicates his accepting the Underground terms and rules
of engagement, states his coach’s name, and then his name. A dangerous little
chill runs down my spine when I read:
Maverick “the Avenger” Cage
And
Maverick “the Avenger” Cage is watching me read this paper, studying my
reaction.
My
palms are sweaty all of a sudden. “Well . . . wow.”
My
stomach is quaking upon seeing his name, I don’t know why. Maverick Cage. His
name is a conundrum. Maverick means “rebel,” and cage . . . But
it looks like this maverick is coming out of his cage.
He tucks
the page back into his jeans. “I had to tell someone.”
“And
you came to tell me?” If I sound bewildered, it’s because I am.
He
stares into me, a liquid look coming to his eyes. “It wouldn’t be happening if
it weren’t for you.”
“That’s
totally not true.”
He
glances down at the stroller. “I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t tell my
buddy here.” He fist-bumps Racer again and Racer giggles at the attention.
“Mom
and Dad are busy, so I get to keep him for an extra while,” I tell Maverick.
He
stares at me. He has a very stubborn, arrogant face, but when he smiles,
pleasure softens his granitelike features. And he’s smiling right now. Dear me. “So he’s not yours,” he says.
“God,
no. I wish!”
I can’t
think straight when he looks at me. I feel naked. As if he knows that I’ve
missed him. As if he knows that just looking at him makes me feel odd. Odd and
oddly sensual inside. Responding to him.
I open
my blanket and bend over to smooth it on the ground. Then I realize my butt is
sticking out, the Himalayas of butts out there for him to see. In tight
exercise gear. Fuck.
He
kneels on his haunches at the edges of the blanket and opens his hand. “Share
the blanket with me?”
His
knuckles are still scarred. I can’t decide why I keep looking at them. I get a
gut squeeze of empathy every time I see the bruises. His hands are huge. He plants them on the blanket,
then shifts to lean back on his arms, stretching out his legs before him. Other
couples are nearby on blankets. It feels intimate when I set my stuff down, and
I feel myself go hot when I sense him watching me settle down next to it.
He
spreads out just a little more and squints up at the tree, then looks at me in
silence.
I
search the picnic bag. “Want some . . . kid food? Or I’ve
got . . .” I pull out my emergency Snickers bar, which I’m proud
not to have touched yet, and I hand it over. “Plus one water and a drinking cup
with a lid.”
I pass
the drinking cup to Racer and hand Maverick the water. He takes it. “I’m good.”
He opens the water bottle and hands it to me.
I shake
my head. I’m not hungry, really. Or thirsty. My stomach feels full of
butterflies again and it makes no sense, since I don’t even know him.
He
shifts up higher on his arms, the flex of his torsal muscles visible through
the cotton of his shirt.
“I
almost thought you’d arrived to the gym and got yourself kicked out,” I try.
“Not
yet. There’s still tomorrow.” He smirks.
And
there’s a tinge of merriment in his eyes.
“Wee,
and the ducks?”
I jerk
my attention back to Racer and my pending business with him. “Right. I promised
we’d feed the ducks today.” I quickly pack our stuff and then push the stroller
toward the lake. He walks beside me.
I feel
him watching me as I stop at the dispenser to fill up a cup of duck food.
“Mavewick,
get me out,” Racer commands.
Maverick
sweeps him up and sets him on his feet.
“Don’t
go in the water, Racer, just stay on the edge, and don’t let them bite your
finger. Do it like this. . . .” I show him how to cup his hand.
“Or throw it in the water and watch them pick at it.”
He nods
and starts throwing all over, sending the ducks after the nibbles.
I sit
on the ground, the scent of damp grass surrounding us as Maverick sits beside
me.
“Hey, I
want to do something for you.”
“What?”
I can’t
remember how to breathe.
I give
him a moment to explain, but he’s not helping me out, only smiling. His face is
open, friendly, his smile captivating. But his eyes are guarded, careful. I try
to keep my voice indifferent.
“You mean
for the gym?” I ask, a puzzled frown on my face.
He
nods. “For that. And Oz.”
“Oh.” I
shake my head, laughing softly. “It’s nothing, really.”
When he
looks at me, he looks curious, and unsatisfied somehow. But a genuinely
appreciative smile touches his eyes. “Trust me. It’s not nothing. It’s
something, and I appreciate it.”
His
open gratitude makes me so warm. He
makes me feel impulsive.
“I’m in
a healthy-living boot camp this summer. You’re meeting the new Reese,” I hear
myself blurt out.
Wow. Did I just spew it out like
that?
I’m so
desperate for him to share bits of himself that I’m just totally baring myself
to him without his even asking. Thank god he takes it in stride with an
attractive little dance in his eyes.
“What
was the old one like?” he asks easily.
I shrug
and shake my head, not really wanting to get into that.
When he
does nothing to fill the silence that settles between us, it leaves me with
nothing to do but look up at him. I lift my lashes, and he’s staring at me with
a look of total intrigue in his eyes. Wisps of hair tease my face, and I push
them away, feeling really restless under that stare.
“Help
me kick my own ass, and we’ll call it even,” I suddenly suggest.
He
shakes his head with playful stubbornness. “We’re not even. I still owe you.”
His eyes grow thoughtful, and he reaches into his pocket and extracts
something. “Open your palm.”
He
looks so intense that I open my palm and watch him drop something in it.
“What’s this?”
“My
IOU.”
I stare
at the penny in my palm, then look up at him in confusion.
His
voice sounds a little more harsh and textured all of a sudden. “I don’t have a
lot right now, but I got this.”
“For a
rainy day?” I ask.
“For
any day.”
LEGEND (The Real Series #6) by Katy Evans
Hope, despair, anxiety, and anticipation are just some of the feelings and emotions that flowed through me as I read this book. I could scarcely fathom the idea of someone upping Remy. I just had a hard time going there. That's how much I LOVE Remy, still.
"Riptide is undefeated, Maverick. He's ........unstoppable."
Maverick is determined and hungry. Reese is shy and unassuming.Together they are perfect. I loved how their relationship developed.So freaking sweet and hawt! Maverick has an intriguingly complex personality but he and Reese have a relatively uncomplicated relationship. Great story! Nice Flow. Nothing is missing in this installment.
Outstanding end to the series. After finishing it I was very satisfied and able to move on with my life. Sorry it had to end but I will be revisiting this series again and again.
AVAILABLE NOW
Also Available
Real
(Book One) The Real Series
Mine (Book Two) The Real Series
Remy (Book Three) The Real Series
Rogue (Book Four) The Real Series
Ripped (Book Five) The Real Series
About Katy Evans
Hey! I’m Katy Evans and I love family, books, life, and
love. I’m married with two children and three dogs and spend my time baking,
walking, writing, reading, and taking care of my family. Thank you for spending
your time with me and picking up my story. I hope you had an amazing time with
it, like I did. If you’d like to know more about books in progress, look me up
on the Internet, I’d love to hear from you!
Website: www.katyevans.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKatyEvans
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorkatyevans
Email: authorkatyevans@gmail.com
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