The Hot Brother (Romance Love Story) (Hargrave Brothers - Book #5) by Alexa Davis (82)

Epilogue – Dax

 

In the low light of our bridal suite, I looked at my wife and shook my head. How had I gotten so lucky? This had been a day more perfect than I ever could have imagined. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have my parents alive to see it.

Brooke looked beautiful, in a dress that was unlike anything I’d ever seen. It started out deep blue at the base and got lighter and lighter until at the top it was the lightest shade of robin’s egg blue. I knew this because I’d been the one to help her pick it out. We’d decided to reject all the traditional wedding dictates and create a celebration that reflected everything we valued and loved.

We’d had a rough time after the shooting while I’d recovered. And we’d had to go to court to support Riza as she was put on trial for Lydia’s murder. When the judge asked her why she’d done it, Riza simply said she didn’t know. There was no good reason for it, and she couldn’t remember doing it. I still had my doubts about whether she’d actually done it or whether she’d been the fall guy for someone else’s crime, but she had seemed to make peace with it. Roger proved to be a solid lawyer and a good friend to her.

After the trial was over, I’d kept my promise to Brooke and done everything in my power to extract myself from the drug trade. I’d made a deal with one of the north side guys to let him be silent owner of Apex if he’d let Kesha run it the way she saw fit. I wanted to sell it to her, but she just didn’t have the cash to buy it. So I did the next best thing and retained ownership of the club until Kesha could raise the cash to buy it. I let the north siders do their thing in the back room and didn’t ask questions. I knew that Kesha had made her own deal with them, but I didn’t interfere. Once she’d made enough bank to buy the place, I’d be out of that world for good.

Then, I took the profits I’d been banking and bought a couple of properties on Skid Row and set out to develop them so that folks living there could have a grocery store and other small neighborhood stores. I trained the workers and only hired people from the neighborhood. I would never want for money, so I figured I could use my good fortune to help change the neighborhood for the better and maybe benefit kids who were in the same situation as Beck and I had been.

Beck got clean, and I bankrolled his college degree. He was now a sophomore at UCLA, working on a degree in nursing and hoping to enter the rehab sector once he graduated and earned his license. All in all, we were doing pretty well.

I looked at my wife and smiled as she wrestled with the zipper on her dress. She’d never looked lovelier than she had looked standing in front of me reciting her vows, and I’d never loved her more than I did today.

“C’mere, and let me help you with that, silly woman,” I chuckled as she walked over and turned around. I couldn’t help myself as I reached up and swept her hair off of her neck before I leaned down and kissed her softly. She sighed as she leaned into my kiss and I slowly unzipped her dress, letting it sink in a brilliant blue pool on the ground at her feet.

“Mrs. Malone, you were the most beautiful woman at the party today,” I whispered as I slipped my hands around her body and ran them up until I gently cupped her full beautiful breasts, one in each hand.

“And you were the most dashing man at the party, Mr. Malone,” she sighed. “I’m so lucky to have married such a handsome man.”

“And talented,” I said. “Don’t forget how talented I am.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll ever let me forget that, Mr. Malone,” she whispered as I bent down and ran my tongue up her neck.

“Not if I have my way, you won’t,” I said, smiling as I teased her nipples with my fingers and drew a soft moan from between her lips.

“You do that so well,” she sighed as I slid my hands under her lingerie and began teasing in earnest. I quickly undid the rest of her trappings and before I knew it, my wife stood before me naked and shining in the low light.

“My God, you are beautiful,” I murmured as I scooped her up and carried her to our wedding bed. “I’m never going to be able to get enough of you.”

“Mmmm,” she replied as she stretched up and wrapped her arms around my neck so she could pull me down into a deep kiss. “Get those clothes off and come test that theory out!”

I quickly shed my wedding suit and climbed into bed next to her. I loved running my hands over her bare skin, not only because she was so soft and warm, but because it elicited a response I loved no matter how many times I did it.

“Do you think we’ll ever get tired of this?” she asked as she ran her hand up my arm and watched me admiring the curve of her hip as she lay pressed against me.

“I doubt it, but I’ll let you know if it ever happens on my end,” I said with a wink. “We may need to bring in a pinch hitter if that happens.”

“You’re such a jerk!” she laughed as she reached down between my legs and firmly grasped me with her hand. “You’d better be careful because I now own half of this.”

“You wish!” I said as I slid my hand between her thighs and slipped my fingers between her silky lips. She cried out softly as I began stroking. “Then, this is half mine.”

“Mmmmm,” she moaned as she continued squeezing and stroking in time to my rhythm. I leaned over and kissed her deeply as we lost ourselves in the attempt to please each other. I could feel her becoming more aroused, and I knew I was growing harder in her hand. When I slipped a finger just inside her tight wet entrance and felt her grip me, I knew I had to have her.

I pulled her on top of me as I rolled onto my back and slid my shaft between her dripping wet lips. She moved back and forth, coating me in her wetness as we both moaned and ached for more. The intensity of the teasing drove us both to the edge of our raging desire. In one swift movement, she gripped the base of my shaft and slipped the tip just inside her tight opening. She rocked back and forth a little, teasing me by pushing in and pulling out as I felt her juices running down the length of my shaft and coating everything below it.

I moaned loudly, wanting to thrust up inside of her and feel myself buried in her warm wet womb, but I knew better. I knew that if I waited for her to make the first move, it would be that much more intense and amazing. And when she did, it was.

She teased until I begged her to stop, and then she looked down at me with those beautiful blue eyes as she took me inside of her in one quick motion.

I cried out as I felt her enveloping me and then rocking back and forth before she began the familiar rhythm I’d come to know and love. I gripped her hips as I thrust up to meet her downward motion and felt her riding me harder and faster as she rocked. I reached down and began stroking her sensitive little nub, knowing full well that she was on the edge of a huge orgasm and that all I had to do was stroke her enough to send her flying off the edge. And so I did.

I felt it building as she tightened around me and I thrust up into her harder and deeper as I felt her begin to climax. She cried out and fell forward as she braced herself against my shoulders and rode me harder. I held her thighs and thrust up again and again, feeling my own release just moments away.

“That’s it,” she moaned. “Oh God, yes! Dax, please! Yes!” The sound of her pleasure sent me flying off the edge of the cliff. I felt my whole body go numb for a moment as the heat moved from my feet to my head and then engulfed me in a wave of pleasure so intense that I cried out as my hips pumped upward of their own volition. I couldn’t stop as I rode the wave with her, both of us moving and sliding against each other.

When we were finally still again, I lifted her damp hair off of her face and said, “I don’t think I’ll need a pinch hitter.”

Brooke burst out laughing and lay in my arms until we both fell into a deep, deep sleep.

 

Get my never released free book Tempting for a limited time.

 

ROUGH

By Alexa Davis

 

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

 

Copyright © 2016 Alexa Davis

 

 

 

 CHAPTER ONE

NICK

 

I sat at the bar and wondered if twenty-four was the magic age when everyone realized they’re just wasting their lives, or if it was just me.

I turned twenty-four last week and now sitting at the bar in this loud, chaotic club, like I’ve done hundreds of times before, my head felt like it was going to explode, and at nine p.m., all I wanted to do was go home.

“Hey, Max, do you have any aspirin?”

The bartender, who knew me well, reached underneath the counter and then tossed two foil packs of Ibuprofen my way. I opened them, popped all four into my mouth, and washed them down with my beer.

In the club’s defense, my head had been pounding before I got here. My new trainer, Charlie, was all over my ass earlier today. He said I’ll get my ass kicked in the biggest match I’ve had to date because my head’s not completely into it. I tried to tell him that it might seem that way to someone who didn’t know me, but the night of the fight, I will be completely focused. I don’t lose – ever – and you’d think my record would speak for itself.

But Charlie was different than my old trainer. Martin Zandt was sixty-six when he started training me when I was twenty. He was a tough, old coot that had been on top of the game as a prize fighter in his youth. He taught me everything I know, but he also taught me how to hone the hunger and the anger living inside of me and use that as much as I did the techniques I was learning.

He never gave me shit about being a kid and enjoying life, either. He actually encouraged the type of behavior that landed me on the front of every tabloid in the country when I first came on the scene in Vegas and started winning. I was as much of a lover as I was a fighter by nature and Martin thought that was good for business.

Charlie had a different opinion. He said if I was thinking with my small head, then I’m going to get my big one knocked off. My response to that was, “Neither of them are small.” He didn’t even crack a smile.

It was bad enough I was stuck with a trainer who had no sense of humor, but I was stuck training in a crappy gym, too, instead of the state-of-the-art training center Martin was affiliated with. I guess in all honesty, Charlie’s gym wasn’t crappy. He had all of the equipment, and it was big, open, and clean.

But the atmosphere was different – too laid back, I think. All of the guys in my league train at the other facility and it was like a big party every day.

What I had been thinking, agreeing to this, I’ll never know. This was Martin’s fault. He had told me Charlie was the best. He said he was even better than him. So far, I just hadn’t seen it.

When Martin retired last month at seventy years old, he was still a badass. I could only hope I was that much of a badass when I was that age.

We threw him a surprise retirement party at the Mirage two weeks ago. He was wasted afterwards and on the verge of passing out, so I hadn’t felt right sticking him in a cab. I drove him home and it was the first time I’d ever been in his house. I practically had to carry him in and sit him on the couch. I’d been surprised to see the fireplace mantle and the walls were all decorated with photographs of him and a beautiful woman. The pictures all looked decades old, and when he noticed me looking at them, he said, “That’s Reyna.”

“She’s beautiful,” I said. I had no idea who Reyna was. Before the night was over, I would. Martin started talking and the sun was coming up before he stopped.

Apparently, Reyna was his wife. He married her when they were both twenty-one, before he got into fighting. He was discovered at his brother’s gym a year later and quickly rose to fame. Even back in those days, women loved bad boys, he told me. Martin said they started throwing themselves at him and instead of throwing them back, he fucked most of them. A year into his career, Reyna filed for divorce.

He said that at first, he was relieved since that meant he could do what he wanted without sneaking around. He fucked a different woman every night and rarely did one twice. It sounded a lot like my life since I’d turned eighteen. I was almost basking in that fact before it dawned on me that he was sitting home alone at seventy years old, surrounded by photographs of Reyna with tears in his eyes as he talked about her.

“So,” I asked him almost hesitantly, “You regret giving her up?”

He looked at me with his watery and faded, green eyes and said, “About a year after our divorce, I ran into her at a restaurant. She was remarried and pregnant with her first child. She was so happy and still the sweetest, most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. From that day until this one, I’ve had regrets every single day. I traded true love – the kind that would have netted me a family and a good woman – to spend my retirement with, for this.” He lifted his hands and looked around the room.

That was my first clue that maybe the way I was living my life would get old someday. I had never thought about committing to a woman, but I sure as hell didn’t want to spend the rest of my life alone, either.

The next clue that I needed to change my ways came about a week later when my best friend from high school called and asked me to be the best man in his wedding. He talked about his fiancée for almost an hour, and if I hadn’t interrupted him, he may have gone on all night. I started wondering what it might be like to love someone like that and maybe have them love you like that in return. It wasn’t my usual type of thought.

Since then, I’d had that thought a lot and even my interest in bars, parties, and easy women waned. It had been over a week since I’d had sex – and for me, that was huge.

With a sigh, I decided to give it up and go home to get some sleep. Maybe that was all I needed to get rid of this hellacious pain in my head. I stood up and dropped a twenty on the bar for Max. As I turned to leave, I heard a voice purr out,

“Hey, sexy.”

The voice belonged to a woman old enough to be my mother. She looked good for her age, if not a little plastic. She’d overdone the boob job and her forehead was a little too smooth, but my cock lurched in my jeans nonetheless.

“Hey.”

The club was crowded, but not enough so that the brush of her hard nipples pressing against my arm through her low-cut blouse could have been considered an accident. She had her duck face on as she looked up at me and batted unnaturally long eyelashes. I wasn’t sure if she was hitting on me or about to take a selfie. I thought I had decided to turn over my new leaf tonight, but apparently my cock hadn’t been on board with that plan. He was begging me to give this MILF a chance.

I let my eyes run the length of her body. She had nice legs for an older lady, and in the barely there skirt she was wearing, I could see almost all of them. When my eyes made it back up to her face, she smiled and showed off a mouthful of way-too-white veneers.

Her nipples weren’t all that was touching me now, either. She had one of her hands casually resting on the tattoo sleeve on my arm as she pushed up to her tiptoes so her mouth was close to my ear and said,

“You looking for some fun tonight?”

I looked her over again and then asked, “You hosting?” I never, ever take women to my house. It’s my haven, my escape from the rest of the world. My friends and family are lucky to get an invitation. There was no way in hell I’d risk some one-night stand beating down my door on a Sunday afternoon.

“You bet, baby. I got a room upstairs.”

Perfect; a tourist who would be moving on soon, I thought. Las Vegas was prime hunting grounds for a guy like me…or maybe a guy that used to be like me, after tonight anyways. “Let’s go.”

She held on to me tighter as we made our way out of the club. When we reached the exit, she stopped next to a hot blonde about my age and said, “Baby, don’t come up to the room for a while.”

I actually felt myself blush with shame. That was brand new, and I didn’t like it. The truth was I didn’t like myself much these days. I thought about Martin again, sitting there on his couch all alone surrounded by what could have been just as the girl said, “Mom, you’re kidding, right?”

She opened her mouth, but I interrupted her. “You know what, darlin’? I’m actually going to pass tonight. My head is pounding, and it looks like your room isn’t available, after all…”

“She can find a guy with a room herself.”

Even I wasn’t low enough to fuck a woman that would tell her daughter to find a stranger to spend the night with. It was ironic, I know. If I’d met the daughter first, I might just be that stranger. But the whole thing felt creepy to me now, and all I wanted to do was get the hell out of it.

“You ladies can do whatever you like, but I have to go. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Vegas.” I had to use my other hand to disconnect the woman’s hand from my arm. She had her lips turned down in a pout and the sight of a middle-aged woman pouting made me even happier that I still had some scruples. Once I was free, I walked away to the sound of the mother telling her daughter,

“Thanks for ruining my night.” I walked faster so that I didn’t have to hear any more. That was enough for me.

I hit the front door of the casino and instead of the breath of fresh air I was hoping for, I was almost knocked back by a blast of heat. I’m from Vegas, but since my father saw fit to send my brother and me off to boarding school for most of our lives, I still had trouble with the climate. It was October and still over ninety degrees. Fucking desert.

“Hey, Nick,” the valet said when he saw me.

“Hey, Mike.” I handed him my green ticket and he took it before scrutinizing my face.

“You okay to drive home?”

“Yeah, only had one drink.” I’m six foot four and over two hundred pounds; one beer was like drinking tea.

“Your eyes are really red.” If it had been anyone but Mike, I may have gotten pissed. He was an older guy that had worked at the resort since his early twenties. I didn’t doubt that he’s stopped countless tragedies from happening just because he genuinely gives a shit.

I nodded and said, “Long day at the gym, and I have a fucking headache that won’t quit.”

“Okay, then I’ll get the truck so you can go home and get some rest.”

“Thanks, Mike.” He took off at a run. I smiled as I watched him and wondered how tired he must be at night when he got home. He was back with my big Ford F-350 in less than five minutes. I took the keys and handed him a twenty. His already bright face lit up more as he thanked me. At least I could go home feeling like I’d done something worthwhile today.

On the drive, I thought about my new trainer again. He came highly recommended and he gave me one hell of a work-out today, but I got the feeling he and I weren’t going to be friends.

His uptight way of approaching things reminded me a lot of my own father, whom I hadn’t gotten along with since I was four. Maybe I didn’t even get along with him then, but at least I can’t remember it.

My dad was an asshole, plain and simple. My mother died when I was four and my brother was six. After a year of being raised by a nanny, Dad decided even that was too much presence and sent us off to separate boarding schools. I grew up only seeing my family on the holidays and school vacations, and it felt like attending a celebration of strangers.

My brother Ethan and I had become good friends just over the past few years. After graduating from boarding school, he headed to the East Coast for college. He’d been at NYU for two years when I graduated high school. I came home to Vegas after graduation and refused to go to college. I’d never been as into school as Ethan was and I’d had my fill.

Dad threatened to cut me off and kick me out, but he never followed through with either. I think he was worried about his high society friends in town finding out and it making him look bad. Whatever the reason, it afforded me the opportunity to do what I wanted – which was spend money, party, and chase tail. Dad and I ignored each other for the most part and for the first time in my life, I was actually having fun…that was, until Ethan came home.

As I drove my big truck into the garage and pressed the button to close it behind me, I laughed. Ethan was five foot eleven in his shoes and very lean muscle. If I wanted to, I could crush him. But for some reason, hearing him say the same things Dad had told me about wasting my life had penetrated my thick skull.

By that time, I was tatted up from my neck to my waist, and I looked like a billboard ad for one of those Pay-Per-View MMA fights. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew I’d never fit in working for my Dad at one of his biomedical labs or wearing a suit and going into a law office or a courtroom every day like Ethan.

My brother was actually the one who introduced me to Martin. He’d represented one of Martin’s fighters while doing his internship at the law firm. The fighter had gotten in a fistfight in a bar and nearly killed the guy with one, well-placed punch. The district attorney charged him with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. My brilliant brother presented evidence that the fighter was simply defending himself and got the charges thrown out.

When Ethan introduced Martin and me, the old man took one look at me and our relationship was born – and so was my career. In the past four years, I had gone from never being in an octagon to practically living in one. My name, face, and body graced posters, billboards, buses, and cabs all over Vegas.

It pissed my father off not only because he didn’t find it to be a “fitting” career for a Grant, but also because I refused to use the name Grant: I used my mother’s maiden name of Storelli. I liked that it represented my Italian heritage, and I also liked that it pissed off my dad.

Now, four years later, I was one win away from being the heavyweight champion of the world and this was the time that Martin chose to retire.

He insisted it was the perfect time because Charlie could give me more of an advantage. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he thought I was going to lose and he wanted to get out while I was still on top.

Either way, I was stuck with a trainer who had no sense of humor and seemed to take some kind of sadistic pleasure in putting me in the cage with the biggest and meanest sparring partners he could find. I’d gone three rounds today with some eighteen-year-old kid named Bryce that Charlie was training. He was six foot six and over three hundred pounds. One of his hands was bigger than my head. I got him to tap out in the end, but he didn’t go down easily.

No wonder my fucking head was killing me.

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

KARLI

I was sitting in my room with my laptop open to my latest assignment while talking on the phone with my good friend, Michaela. She was trying her damnedest to try and talk me into going to a costume party with her in one of the private rooms inside of Circus Circus.

I didn’t have any desire to party and mingle with a bunch of knuckle-dragging jocks. It was bad enough some days that I had to live with and work for one.

“Not tonight, Michaela. I have homework, and Dad’s making dinner.”

“You’re twenty-two years old, Karli.”

I laughed. “Thanks for the reminder; I almost forgot.”

“Oh shut up; you know what I mean. You don’t do anything but study, work, and spend time with your dad. You work for him – I would think that would be enough togetherness.”

I smiled. “He’s lonely, Mich.”

“Then he should join Match or eHarmony and let you have a life.”

“He lets me have a life. Look what I’ve done with it. The last two boyfriends I had turned out to be the biggest losers on the planet. At least when I stay home with Dad, there’s no danger of meeting another one. I attract them like magnets. Besides, I do things.”

“What things?”

“I went to the football game with you last weekend.” I had hated every second of it.

Michaela’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Trent, played football for Las Vegas University. She begged me to go with them and to the after party. I bailed on the party about a half an hour into it when I’d already gotten hit on by two, dumb jocks and a third one rubbed up against me and tried to pretend it was an accident.

“The football game doesn’t count.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No, because after the game, I had to beg you to go to the party and then you left after fifteen minutes – alone.”

“It was half an hour.”

“Oh geez, excuse me. If you would have stayed, you might have hooked up with one of the hot guys on Trent’s team since you completely ignore the yummy fighters at the gym you get to work at.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I ‘get’ to work there. Have you ever tried to get the smell of dozens of sweaty, funky guys out of a roomful of equipment?”

“Well, I’ve had to air out my bed once or twice.”

“Michaela!” I laughed. My friend was crazy. It’s part of why I loved her. “Anyways, you know, after the last, disastrous relationship, I don’t date jocks. I’m holding out for a nice, non-sweaty law student with his muscles between his ears, instead of places that makes him think he’s God’s gift to every woman over eighteen. I’ve had more than my fair share of players in my life.”

“They’re not all players. Trent isn’t.” I had my doubts about that, but for now, I kept it to myself.

“I know, honey, but I have too much going on in my life to even risk it right now. I don’t have time for head games. Dad gave me this whole week off so that I could get caught up on my homework. I’m not about to tell him I’m going to a party instead of having dinner with him.”

“The party won’t be in full swing until nine, at least. You have plenty of time to do both. Please go with me!”

I sighed. “I don’t have a costume.”

“I have that red flapper dress you loved so much. We can do your hair all up in curls and you can wear your black stilettos. You’ll look so good! Please!”

“Grr, you’re so persistent!”

“Is it working?”

“I guess, but hear me say this, Michaela – I am not hooking up with any jocks tonight.”

“I hear you. I’ll be there at eight to help you get ready.”

I hung up, still shaking my head at my crazy friend. Before she got serious with Trent, she had a reputation for being loose and easy, but she wasn’t really like that.

My poor Michaela had been left home alone to raise herself most of her life. Her mother was a showgirl and her father owned one of the smaller resorts in Vegas. They had plenty of money, but not much time for a kid. She compensated for the lack of love at home by going from one man to the other. I hoped for her sake I was wrong about Trent. I just got the same feeling from him that I did every player I’d ever known…and I’d known plenty.

 “Karli!”

“Yeah, Dad?”

“Dinner’s ready, honey.”

I put the phone down and closed my laptop. Whatever Dad was making smelled great. I went out to the dining room to see he already had the table set and my plate heaped with chicken, rice with asparagus, and a bowl of what looked like some kind of cream soup. Dad spent his life taking care of his body, so everything he made was healthy, but he also knew how to make it all taste great. I’d learned to eat right and take care of my own body at a young age thanks to him, and even now that I’m in law school, I do my best to find time to work out every day.

“It looks great, Dad.”

“Thanks; the chicken is marinated in a garlic sauce. I got the recipe from Carole Lewis; you remember her?”

I sat down at the table and poured a glass of the iced tea Dad had put in a pitcher on the table. “Yeah, I remember her. Are you seeing her again?”

Carole was a sales rep for one of the protein powders Dad pushes at the gym he owns. They had dated for a while last year and all of a sudden, they just weren’t. He never told me what happened and I never asked. My father’s dating life had never been a comfortable topic for me. I did wish that he’d find someone, though. He’d been single for a long time and the longer it went on, the guiltier I felt about finding my own place and moving out.

“No, we’re just friends,” he said. “So, will you be at work tomorrow? If not, that’s okay, but I’ll have to ask Linda to come in and clean the equipment before things start growing on it.”

I laughed. “I’ll be there. Thank you for the time off; I really got a lot done.”

I usually spend at least three days during the week taking care of office work, ordering supplies, and cleaning at the gym. Dad has three other part-time employees, but I’m the only one he trusts to access the finances. He hates anything to do with money or paying bills. I’m not sure how he managed after Mom died and before I got old enough to do it.

Sundays are slow and he doesn’t do any training with the MMA fighters, so that’s usually the day I spend cleaning the mats in the octagons and washing all of their sparring equipment.

“You know how important your education is to me,” he said as he swallowed a huge bite of his chicken. “If you ever need time off to study, all you have to do is let me know.”

“Thanks, Dad. There’s a party at Circus Circus tonight that Michaela wants me to go to with her. You don’t mind, do you?” I was twenty-two years old and I didn’t need my father’s permission to go out, but as long as I lived with him and he was paying all of the bills, I felt kind of obligated to at least let him know what I was doing.

“Of course not. You’ve been working hard studying all week, you need to get out and have some fun. Just be safe.”

“Always. We’ll take an Uber from here and back,” I told him. “If it’s really late, I might stay with Michaela tonight, but I’ll be in to work early tomorrow, I promise.”

“Whenever you get there is fine. I’ve got this new kid I’m training, and he’s supposed to meet me there at seven.” He rolled his eyes.

“You’re training on a Sunday?”

“I’m training as often as I can get this kid in. He’s the one I inherited from Martin.”

“Oh.” I tried to be casual as I swallowed the lust that suddenly surged up inside of me.

I knew I just went on an on to Michaela about jocks and I wouldn’t touch this guy with a ten-foot pole…but damn was he hot. I’d yet to meet him in person, but Vegas was covered with photos of him in nothing but shorts; a more perfect specimen of a man I had yet to see. He was like sex on a stick dipped in ink, and I wouldn’t even be human if my body didn’t react. “He’s training for the heavyweight match in a few weeks, right?”

“Yeah, and he’s got a couple exhibition matches in between, too.”

“So why do you say, ‘supposedly’ he’ll be there at seven?”

“I’m just having a hard time getting this kid to focus. He wants to stay out all night partying and doing God knows what, and then he shows up half an hour late or more and I can tell that his head is just not in it. He’s crazy talented, and that is what has saved him up to this point. But I’m afraid the day is coming when his lack of focus is going to cause real problems for him.”

Typical, I thought. A guy that looked like him was way too busy spreading the love – and who knows what else – around Vegas. “Martin probably partied with him,” I said with a laugh.

Martin and my dad had been friends as long as I could remember, which was funny since they’d also been in direct competition with each other until Martin retired. He was a funny old man, and unlike my dad who was rigid about his diet and work-out routines, Martin somehow managed to stay in shape while partying like a teenager right up into his seventies.

Dad snorted. “Yeah, I’ll bet you’re right.”

We dropped the subject of his new fighter, which was good since I was suddenly feeling hot from the inside out just thinking about a poster I saw of him last week in front of the MGM. Dad asked me about school, and I told him how my classes were going and we talked about some of my instructors.

There was one attorney who had come in a couple of weeks ago to do a two-day class on criminal law. His name was Ethan, and he couldn’t have been more than a few years older than me. But he was so knowledgeable about the law, there wasn’t a single question asked that he didn’t have an intelligent answer for. He was also good looking, so that helped keep my attention. I didn’t tell Dad that part.

Ethan had been that intellectual type that I’d been telling Michaela about, though, and I’d actually been thinking about him a lot over the past week. He was in good shape, but he looked more like a runner than a fighter. His dark hair was perfectly styled and his suits well-tailored and always seemed to match his dark-blue eyes to a T. He was definitely not my usual type, but that was the main attraction.

I helped Dad with the dishes and by the time the kitchen was cleaned up, Michaela had arrived with the flapper dress and an overnight bag full of make-up in tow. Reluctantly, I got ready for the party, secretly wishing that I was dressing for a date with Ethan Grant, Esq.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

NICK

 

Charlie had given me Saturday off. I spent it at home hibernating and almost didn’t even answer Ethan’s call that afternoon. After I did, I wished that I hadn’t.

“Dad wants us at the house for dinner at seven.”

“It’s two in the afternoon on a Saturday. What makes him think I don’t already have plans?”

“You know Dad; he doesn’t care. He just said to tell you to be there.”

“Shit. Are you going?”

He laughed. “Do I ever say no to the old man?”

“You should every once in a while. We both should, and then he’d stop acting like he’s the king of the fucking world.”

“I doubt it. He’d just have us taken to the gallows,” he said with a macabre laugh.

“What’s the occasion?”

“Have no idea. He won’t tell us until he’s ready, so I didn’t bother to press for information.”

“Shit,” I said again. “Okay, fine, I’ll be there.”

“You have to cancel any big plans?”

“Nope. I was going to spend a quiet evening at home with a pizza and a six pack of beer.”

He laughed. “No, really.”

“Seriously. I’m sick of all this party stuff. Maybe I’m growing up.” He laughed again. “Gee, thanks for the support, bro.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just hard to picture you home alone on a Saturday night. When did you decide to become a hermit?”

“I’m not being a hermit. I’m just tired of all of it. Man, have you ever been to Martin’s house?”

Cracking up now, Ethan said, “He told you about Reyna and got to you, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, I guess…a little bit. I mean, look at him, man. He’s seventy years old, and what does he have to show for it? He should at least have grown kids to spend the holidays with, right?”

“So, you want kids now?”

“No, man… I don’t know, maybe, someday. I just don’t want to end up a washed-up, old fighter all alone with nothing but regrets.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. My little brother is growing up.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

He laughed. “I’ll see you at seven.”

“Ish,” I said.

“Do you have to piss him off from the get go?”

“Yeah, I kind of really do.”

I ended the call and that ended my pleasant afternoon. For the rest of the day, all I could think about was what the hell Dad was summoning us for. He acted like we were supposed to be at his beck and call now after he hadn’t been there for most of our lives, and it pissed me off.

At six, I showered and dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. Dad and Ethan would both wear a suit like they were going to a damned party and not a family dinner, but I didn’t give a shit. I wasn’t dressing up just to please him. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t doing anything just to please him any longer.

At six forty, I was getting ready to walk out of the house when the phone rang. If I cared about being on time, I would have let it go to voice mail. It was only Jonah, my best friend and another fighter in the MMA league I fought in. But since I could care less about being on time, I answered it.

“Hey, man, what’s up?”

“Party at Circus Circus tonight,” he said.

“Nah, man, I have to have dinner with the old man.”

“Come afterwards; we’ll be there all night.”

“Nah, I don’t think so. I’m training in the morning.”

“So? When has that ever stopped you?”

“You’ve met Charlie, right?” Jonah had recently come over to Charlie’s gym. He didn’t train with Charlie, but he was around enough to know how he was.

Jonah laughed. “Since when do you take orders?”

“Since I want to be heavyweight champion. I gotta get going. The King of Las Vegas is waiting, and I doubt patiently.”

“Fine, but after he pisses you off, it wouldn’t hurt to come by for one drink. It’s a costume party for the UNLV football team. Lots of hot babes, cheerleaders…”

“I’ll talk to you later, Jonah.”

“Later tonight?”

“Bye, Jonah.”

“Give the old man my love.” I laughed at that. My dad hated Jonah.

“I’ll be sure and do that.” I left the house finally at five after seven. By the time I got across town nearly to Henderson, where Dad’s ridiculously big ass house sat on the side of a hill, it was almost seven forty-five. I walked into the formal dining room and between my clothes and my tardiness, I had two strikes already against me.

Dad and Ethan were already seated at the table. “Hi. Sorry I’m late. Traffic.”

Dad raised an eyebrow and gestured at my seat. Ethan was smirking, the asshole. I sat down and there was nothing but silence as my father’s maid rushed to start serving the meal. She brought out a silver cart with our salads and then one of the kitchen helpers, a younger girl named Kris, came out with pitchers with of iced tea and water.

She completely avoided eye-contact with me. It was a perfect example of why wild sex with one of the staff in the library during one of Dad’s charity dinners was not a good idea.

After the help was gone, Dad looked at me and said, “The masquerade ball will be held here on October 30^th. It’s a fundraiser for the Arts Administration, and I expect you to both be here.” Before either of us said anything, he looked at me and continued, “And, I expect you to be dressed appropriately. If you can’t afford a decent suit, you can go see my tailor and put it on my bill.”

I let out a snort. “I have plenty of money, Dad, but thanks.”

He ran his eyes across my attire again and said, “That wasn’t apparent.” He’s such an ass.

“I’ll see if I can make it,” I said.

“No, Nicholas, you will make it. This is not a request.”

I dropped my fork, and it clattered to my plate. I could see Ethan trying to get my attention out of the corner of my eye. You would think confrontation wouldn’t bother an attorney so badly. “You’re giving us like a week’s notice? What if we had other plans?”

He opened his mouth and I held up my palm. I saw Ethan wince out of the corner of my eye as I went on, “Dad, in case you missed it – and I can see how you may have – your sons are both grown men. You cannot order a twenty-six and twenty-four-year-old man to do something. Therefore, everything is a request.”

He narrowed his blue eyes at me and put down his own fork before saying, “You live in a house that I paid for. That truck you drive so proudly around Las Vegas was also paid for by me.”

“I bought my own house and truck…”

“With what, Nicholas?” Fucker.

“With my trust fund. But I’ve made enough money since then on my fights that I could pay you back double for both.”

“You could, but you haven’t. So, that means Grant Realty is responsible for your cushy life. Which means you have a responsibility in return to occasionally show up when the company puts on a public event.”

I rubbed my temples with my fingers and finally looked at Ethan. “It doesn’t bother you to be ordered to do something, rather than asked, like a normal father would do?”

I could tell by the look he gave me that I’d catch hell later for dragging him into it. “I would prefer to be asked,” he said. “But, since the company and Dad as the CEO of that company happened to pay for my law school fees, the BMW I drive, and the apartment I live in, I agree with what he said about having some responsibility in return.”

I chuckled. It was a chicken-shit way to agree with us both. “Fine, Dad. I’ll be there. But I’d like you to do something in return for me.”

He gave me one of his arrogant looks and raised both eyebrows before saying, “And, pray tell, what is that, Nicholas?”

“December first is my big fight. I’d like to see my father there in the front row, rooting for me.” Dad had never been to a single one of my fights. I doubt that he even advertises that we’re related.

“You know that’s not my thing, Nicholas.”

“And black tie events are not my thing, Dad.”

He sighed. “Fine. I can’t for the life of me understand why you always have to be so difficult.”

I shrugged. “I learned from the best,” I told him as I picked up my fork again.

Ethan did what he does best and changed the subject to talk about a case he was working on. I held back the sarcasm and insults whenever the old man spoke for the rest of dinner. After dessert was served and eaten, he told us to join him in the study for a drink. I acted like it was a request and politely declined.

After saying goodnight to Ethan and a pissed off father, I left the mansion and headed for the strip. I sent a text message and got a reply just as I drove up in front of the luxury apartment building on Paradise Way. The valet took the truck and the doorman greeted me warmly as he let me inside. I took the elevator up to the penthouse and rang the buzzer. A few seconds passed before a smooth female voice said, “Yes?”

“It’s Nick.”

“One minute, Nicky.”

Pamela was the only person who ever called me Nicky. I hated it and the truth was I hated almost everything about her besides the fact that she’s been my favorite booty call for the past five years.

Her father was on the board of directors of my dad’s company, and they came from old money. Their kind of rich made ours look like poverty. Pamela shopped, partied, and fucked. She was picky about who she fucked, however, and I happened to be one of her favorites. We used each other and it was a relationship that worked out on both ends. No strings, no feelings, no babies…perfect for the guy I no longer wanted to be. But after dinner with Dad, I had to have some kind of release.

When she pulled open the door dressed in a short, satin robe open down the front and something small and lacy underneath it, I didn’t waste any time on words. I fisted her long, blonde hair in both hands and began conducting an all-out assault on her mouth.

Kicking the door shut, I began walking her backwards down the hall. As soon as we reached the bedroom, we both began stripping off our clothes. I pushed her down to her knees and held her by her hair again as I pressed my cock to her lips. It was only at half-mast, but I knew that would change quickly.

She opened her lips, and I sucked in a breath as she sucked me into that warm, moist tunnel. I was hard as a rock in no time with her ministrations of her lips, teeth, and tongue. She even gave my balls a few, soft sucks and licks. I held on tightly to her hair as she bobbed her head up and down on me. She was an expert at this.

I never let myself think about why she was so good. Usually when I was with Pam, I didn’t think at all. Pure, animal lust took over everything. I began to thrust my hips harder, fucking her mouth as she sucked me with a vacuum grip.

I increased my pace, and she increased hers, holding onto the cheeks of my ass now, pushing while I pulled, bobbing when I thrust. I wanted to just come in her mouth and be done with it, but I knew even with Pamela I couldn’t be that much of an ass. I pulled out and reached down for her dime-sized pink nipples and tweaked them before telling her, “Get up on the bed, on your knees.”

She didn’t argue or ask questions. She got on the bed on her belly, and I reached underneath her and pressed my palm into her flat stomach to pull her up so her ass was in the air. I reached down between her legs and felt that sopping-wet pussy with my fingers. I played along her slit for a few seconds before finally dipping my fingers up inside of her.

She was moaning as I fingered her and just about the time she sounded like she was about to come, I pulled my fingers out. I almost smiled at her whimpering protests. I left her there on the bed while I found my jeans and fished a condom out of my wallet. Once I had it on, I went back over and, still standing at the edge of the gigantic bed, I reached underneath her and grabbed two handfuls of her full breasts and held onto them as I drove my cock deep up into her.

I started moving in and out, listening to her whimper and moan out my name. Her pussy felt good wrapped tightly around my cock, and she looked good with her face down in the comforter and her round ass in the air. I wasn’t going to last long.

I let go of her tits and slid one hand down her body until I found her swollen clit. I began rubbing it and rolling it between my fingers. She was getting loud with her moans and after a few minutes of me driving into her hard and fast, she screamed. As she was coming, I grabbed her hips with both hands and pulled her tightly up against me while I reached my peak. I grunted loudly and rocked into her until I’d emptied over a week’s worth of come into the rubber inside of her.

Finally, all of the tension I’d been feeling was gone, just like that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER FOUR

KARLI

I spent two hours at that miserable party Michaela dragged me to on Saturday night before I couldn’t take another minute of it. She was already almost drunk when I left, but Trent was there with her, so I knew she would be okay.

I took a cab home and was less than enthusiastic to find Dad had invited the son of one of his old fighter friends to stay with us…indefinitely. He was a nice enough guy, but I wasn’t looking forward to living with two messy men, and I also knew this guy had had a big crush on me when he was eleven and I was fourteen. Kevin Andrews was painfully shy at the time, but had somehow managed to tell me how he felt. I was worried it would be awkward living in the same house. That was eight years ago, but I still felt bad when I thought about how disappointed he was when I told him I didn’t feel the same. Maybe I was more worried about myself being uncomfortable than him.

But, Dad hadn’t bothered to ask my opinion, so I’d just have to deal with it. As it turned out, he had matured quite a bit, which wasn’t too surprising since he was nineteen now.

He and I actually had a pleasant conversation about his life in Philly and underground fighting. He was cute when he talked about it. His face lit up and I could almost see a fire burning in him when he talked about wanting to be good enough to fight for a title someday.

I finally couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. I said goodnight and was showered and tucked into bed by midnight. I regretted the time I lost on my studying, but I was happy that I got at least six hours sleep before I had to get up and go to the gym.

By six a.m., I was on my hands and knees using a brush and a bucket of diluted bleach to scrub the mats in the octagon in a cut off pair of sweatpants and a tank top, with sweat rolling down into my eyes. I wished, not for the first time, that Dad and I had stayed in Minnesota after he retired. I missed the seasons and even the snow sometimes, especially around the holidays…or when I was sweating my ass off in the heat in the middle of October.

I’d been in Vegas for almost ten years already and I still hadn’t acclimated. I sat up to wipe a stray piece of hair out of my eyes as I looked at the big clock hanging on the wall. It was almost seven, which meant Dad would be here soon and the sweaty boys would soon follow. I wanted to be done with this before they got here. I started to bend back over when I heard the door open. I looked back up and I actually felt my head spin – just a little.

The man from the billboards walked in. Nick Storelli, in the flesh…and what hot, sexy flesh it was.

He was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts. His arms and legs both flexed and rippled as he walked. His dark hair was longish, touching the collar of his shirt in the back and ending in little ringlets. His eyes were the color of the sky right before a storm hits, a dark blue, and as much as I didn’t want to feed some big, arrogant fighter’s ego, I felt like I couldn’t look away.

A slow smile spread across his face when he noticed me and two, deep slashes appeared along the sides of his face. He wasn’t just gorgeous; he was like a fucking God and that one little smile made my panties damp. Damn.

“Hello.” He stopped right outside the cage and the subtle, woodsy scent of him wafted through the mesh and jockeyed with the bleach for top spot in my senses. I had to concentrate as I opened my mouth and said,

“Hi.”

“I’m Nick.” I knew that, of course. It was hard to live in Vegas and not know that. I smiled and said,

“Hi; I’m Karli.”

“Pretty name for a pretty girl.” Such a line, but of course this guy could probably be a mute and still have women lining up.

“Thanks,” I said, hopefully dismissively, and I returned back to my work. I could still feel him hovering over me, and as big as this guy was, if we’d been outside, he probably would have blocked out the sun.

“You work here?”

I gave him a “Brilliant deduction, Sherlock” look before saying, “No, I just sneak in and scrub the mats on Sunday mornings. It’s what I live for.”

He laughed. Either he missed my sarcasm or he appreciated how stupid his question was; I was not sure which. I bent back down in hopes of discouraging more conversation and he said, “Is Charlie here yet?”

I blew a piece of hair out of my eyes as I looked up again. My neck was going to be sore tomorrow morning. “Not yet, but he should be in soon.”

“Hopefully he got some last night,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

He grinned and winked at me. “It always puts me in a better mood. No offense, but your boss can be kind of a dick.”

“Really? I’ve never noticed.”

“You’re kidding? Maybe he’s nicer to you,” he ran his eyes over my body and said, “For obvious reasons.”

I was becoming nauseated. Never again would my mouth water as I passed one of this guy’s billboards. I’d just have to remind myself what a prick he was. “He’s always nice to me,” I said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to what I was doing.”

“I don’t mind, and no offense about Charlie – he’s just way too uptight for my liking.”

“I’m sure he’d be crushed to know that you’re not a fan.”

He laughed again. “You’re adorable. We should hang out sometime.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Probably not,” I said.

He looked surprised. It was no surprise that he wouldn’t be used to women turning him down. Like I said, he was sex on a stick dipped in colorful ink…but I wasn’t interested. I looked at him for a few minutes, waiting for him to get the hint and walk away. When he didn’t, I went back to work and tried to forget that he was there.

“So, you live in Vegas, Karli?”

“Yes,” I said with a tortured sigh. I didn’t look back up at him that time.

“Hmm, I can’t believe I’ve never seen you around.”

“Maybe there was a mirror in the room and you just didn’t notice me.”

He laughed again. “Oh, I would have noticed you.” I scrubbed the mat harder and scooted away from him another foot to concentrate on a dirty spot there. I hoped he was finished with his stupid questions and remarks, but unfortunately, he wasn’t. “So, Karli, have you caught any of my fights?”

I looked up at him, smiled, and said, “I don’t think so. I’m sure I would have remembered.”

He grinned again. “I’m sure you would have.”

Wow, this guy’s arrogance might just surpass anyone I’ve ever met. “I’ll have to catch the next one, after my father teaches you how to fight.” The look on his face was classic. I wished I had a picture of it.

“Your father?”

I smiled sweetly and looked over toward where my father just walked in the door.

 “Hi, Daddy.”

“Hi, Sweetheart,” my dad said. Then he looked at Nick and said, “Why aren’t you geared up and ready to go?”

I smiled at Nick again and went back to work. It might be a good day after all.

 

********

 

By the time I finished cleaning the octagon, Nick was geared up and Dad was sparring with him in the practice ring. A few of Dad’s other fighters had wandered in and I thought right then might be a good time to escape to the office and get some work done there.

As I passed the ring, I tried not to look at Nick, but in spite of the fact that I’d only known him five minutes and he already annoyed me, I couldn’t not look. He had changed out of his gym shorts into a pair fighter shorts. The front of his thighs looked like steel and as my eyes made their way up across his shirtless, washboard abs and very well-developed chest, I actually shuddered.

Thank God Dad had him dodging punches so he didn’t see me looking. I wouldn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing I found him attractive.

Once in the office, I tried to shake off that image and concentrate on paying bills. I was in the middle of that when my phone rang. It was Michaela. “Hey, girl,” I said as I put the phone to my ear.

“Don’t ‘hey, girl’ me, I’m mad at you.”

“For what?”

“Sneaking out as soon as I got drunk last night.”

I sighed. “You were with Trent, and Lisa and Danielle were with you, too.”

“It’s still not nice to sneak out on a person.”

“I’m sorry,” I told her. “But in my defense, I wasn’t sneaking. I said goodbye. You may have been a little too drunk to remember. But you were safe.”

“That’s not the point. You keep sneaking out. When are you going to do something crazy and have some fun?”

“Tell you what, let’s do brunch at Bouchon in an hour. I’ll buy and even have a bloody Mary or two before I come back to work. I never drink while I’m working. Crazy, huh?

She snorted. “That’s not what I had in mind and you know it.”

I laughed. “Well, that’s all you’re going to get for now; take it or leave it.”

“Can I have the lobster?”

“Whatever your heart desires.”

“Fine, I’ll meet you at the Venetian in an hour.”

“Make it two. I have to finish a few things up and then shower. I smell like bleach.”

“Okay, eleven it is.”

I hung up with her and got back to paying bills. I was in the zone with the sounds of men grunting and weights dropping in the background almost completely blocked out when I glanced down at the time at the bottom of the screen. It was ten fifteen. Damn!

I shut down the laptop and took the back hallway to the locker rooms so that I didn’t have to go through the gym. I bypassed the men’s locker room and went to the private one in back that I finally talked Dad into designating women only. We hadn’t gotten around to posting a sign yet, but my father’s gym was mostly men, anyways.

I stopped at the door and knocked on it. I thought I could hear water running inside. I knocked again when I hadn’t gotten a response and waited several seconds before pushing open the door. The room was steamy and I didn’t want to surprise someone half-naked, so I said,

“Hello?”

My heart nearly stopped when who other than Nick Storelli stepped out of the shower stall. He was as naked as the day he was born and beads of water dripped from the curls in his wet hair and rolled down his hard chest and abdomen. As if by a will of their own, my eyes followed them and landed on something I never should have seen, but couldn’t not look at. He had an erection and it was as big as the rest of him.

“Well, hello there, beautiful.” I forced my eyes up to his face. He was grinning.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Taking a shower. I had a great strength work-out this morning so Charlie said I could go get some lunch.” He put his arm up on the tile of the shower and said, “What about you, gorgeous; what did you have in mind?”

It was the first time in a long time that I was absolutely speechless. There was no way in hell that I was telling him what was on my mind…but I’ll be damned if I could think of anything else to say.

 

 

CHAPTER FIVE

NICK

 

I couldn’t help but laugh at the way Karli scrambled out of the locker room without saying a word. I know it was mean to stand there like that while shock and embarrassment colored her pretty face, but I figured it was no meaner than her letting me run my mouth about Charlie and not telling me she was his kid.

I would have never guessed Charlie’s DNA got anywhere near her blood. Karli’s mother must have been fine because even though Charlie was in great physical shape, he was not a pretty man.

He’s bald and his nose…well, I’m not sure what his nose was supposed to look like. I’d guess from looking at it now, it’s been broken at least a few times. I still doubted it ever looked as good on his face as Karli’s does on hers. His lips are small, and they make a tight line when his mouth is closed. Karli’s lips, on the other hand, look like they were made for kissing, and her skin looks as smooth as silk. Charlie’s…not so much. Karli had honey-blonde hair that just touches her shoulders and bounces when she walks and pretty hazel eyes surrounded by dark lashes.

The only thing she and Charlie appeared to have in common was that they were both fit. Even in a baggy t-shirt and cut-off sweats, I could tell she had a killer body. What I could see of her legs only made me want to see more, and her arms were toned and shapely like maybe she saw as much time in the gym as I did, if not more.

After she ran out, I had to take another shower – a cold one. Lusting after the boss’s daughter could be dangerous, especially when the boss was a grumpy, old coot like Charlie. By the time I dressed and went out to get some lunch, it was almost time to get back.

I bought a turkey sandwich from the deli down the street. As I ate it, I thought about Charlie’s lectures on eating right. I doubted that he’d approve of the mayonnaise, oil, and vinegar on my sandwich or the chips I shoveled down with it.

Martin never worried much about what I ate. As long as I wasn’t packing on too much weight, he was happy. The differences between him and Charlie were going to take a lot of getting used to.

I finished my lunch and got back to the gym with five minutes to spare. Because it was Sunday, there were only a handful of people there. I looked around for Karli and even though I figured she’d still be mad at me, I was disappointed when I didn’t see her. I wondered if she’d left for the day – and then wondered why it seemed to matter so much.

My eyes landed on Charlie. He was staring at me like he wanted to rip my head off. When I left for lunch, we were okay, as much as we ever are. I knew immediately that he must have talked to Karli.

“There are men’s showers. The one in back is reserved for women only,” he said as I walked up.

“Okay, sorry. There wasn’t a sign on it.”

“Karli ordered one. I guess we should write one out and hang it up on the door.”

“Yeah, it would save your daughter an eyeful next time.” As soon as I said that, I realized what a stupid mistake that was. I’m not used to meeting fathers and I could tell by the look on his face that Karli hadn’t told him the whole story, but I just did. Damn, I was batting a thousand with these people.

“An eyeful? You walked out naked?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then how did my daughter get an eyeful?”

Shit. “It was a poor choice of words,” I said. “I doubt she saw anything.”

He raised an eyebrow, but I got the feeling he didn’t believe me. Damn, Karli! She must have just told him she saw me go in or something. Great, Nick, open mouth, insert foot. “Gear up. We have a visitor here from back east today. I think I’ll have him spar with you.”

“Sure,” I smiled at him. It was worth a shot. He didn’t smile back. I sighed and headed back to get my gear, and while I was strapping on my headgear, I looked up into the eyes of Attila the Hun. If this was the “visitor,” then I could rest assured that Charlie didn’t believe me about Karli not seeing anything and he wanted me to die. Attila smiled.

“Hey,” I smiled at him in an effort to befriend the giant, just in case I ended up in the ring with him.

“Hey, I’m Kevin.” Can I call you Attila? I laughed at my own joke. The giant was looking at me now like I was crazy.

“Sorry, I was just thinking of something else. I’m Nick; welcome to Vegas.”

“Excited to be here.” I couldn’t place his accent.

“Where are you from?”

“Philly. Charlie is an old friend of my dad’s. I’m looking for a new trainer, so Charlie invited me out.”

Damn. I knew Charlie had a great reputation in this business, but so far, I wasn’t impressed enough to move thousands of miles to train with him. Today, I regretted driving across town for it. “You holding any titles?”

“Nah, I haven’t been in any real fights yet. Not legal ones, anyways. I was doing some underground fighting and making a ton of cash, but my dad found out and just about kicked my ass. Said I’d ruin my reputation and my skills. He called Charlie that night and two days later, here I am. Charlie’s such a nice guy.”

I looked over at Charlie. He was glaring at me. Karli seemed to love him and this kid seemed to think highly of him. I was starting to wonder if he just didn’t like me for some reason. That was hard for me to imagine because I, too, was a nice guy. I laughed at myself again. Charlie’s glare deepened as he said,

“Let’s go, boys; get in the cage.”

Kevin and I got up and went over to where Charlie stood. Kevin smiled at him and Charlie smiled back, so I tried it. The smile fell from his face as he pulled open the door of the octagon. He seemed to hate me. We all stepped in and Charlie shut the door behind us. There were two other trainers and a few people working out solo in the gym, and they all stopped what they were doing and came over to watch.

Charlie had us meet in the middle and more for Kevin’s sake than mine, he went over the ground rules. When he finished, he stepped back and said, “Okay, boys, go for it.”

Kevin and I started circling around each other. I didn’t really want to hit this kid. He was built like Shrek, but up close, he looked like Shelon Cooper from the Big Bang right in the face. I was about to throw out a punch and aim for the head gear when Charlie sarcastically said,

“You boys gonna dance pretty like that all day?”

With a roll of my eyes, I threw out a right cross. The kid was fast for being so big. He pulled back before I made contact and surprised me. He came back with a quick right jab that connected with the pad on the right side of my face and made my ears ring.

I brought up my left hand in an undercut to his chin. Even with the head gear on, it snapped his head back. He looked like he was seeing stars, and while he was trying to clear his head, I decided to take him down.

I swept out my right foot, but before it caught his legs, he moved and simultaneously threw out a hard left hook. It connected and knocked me sideways. As I stumbled and tried to stay on my feet, I caught Charlie’s eyes. He looked disgusted with me.

Kevin and I circled around each other again and I let him throw out another punch. I dodged it and used his own momentum to shove him forward. He went headfirst into the side of the octagon and down on one knee. I was on him before he could stand up, but he felt like a damned brick wall. We wrestled around a bit, but he was back on his feet faster than I would have given him credit for.

I rolled away from him and got back up on mine. He was ready, and as soon as I stood up, he landed a well-placed punch to my head gear right over my mouth. If this was a real fight with no gear, it would have split my lips wide open. As it was, it brought me down to my knees. Kevin took advantage of that and went down with me. We grappled on the floor for a while, neither of us ever getting into a power position before Charlie broke us up.

We both got some water. I was sweating buckets, but instead of wiping it off, I left it covering my body. It would make it that much harder for the kid to get a hold on me and this time, I meant to take him down to the floor and get him to tap out.

When Charlie said the word, we once again circled around each other. I waited for him to make the first move and was happy when I saw it was a roundhouse kick. I grabbed his leg as it connected with my side. It felt like holding onto a tree trunk and took all my strength to use it to take him to the floor. I got on top of him as soon as he was down and straddled his torso. His legs were so damned long that it was hard to keep a handle on them.

Before I knew it, he’d brought them up and used them to flip me over onto my back. I rolled away from him, but he caught me by my right leg. I heard Charlie scoff, and that encouraged me to move fast and get back to my feet. As soon as I was, Kevin was back on his, too.

I was blown away at how fast this kid moved. He blew toward me like a hurricane this time, and as soon as I was within his reach, he started firing off shots. He seemed to be in some kind of zone and was coming at me over and over with his right hand, hooks, jabs, cross. I dodged most of them, but I was so busy bobbing and weaving that my own shots were coming up short.

I finally crouched down as low as I could get so his punches were missing me and went for his torso. I got in a few good shots before he spun away. I moved back toward him and walked right into a left cross I hadn’t anticipated. It caught me in the side of the head gear and I went down face first into the mat. All I could hear for a second was the blood swishing around in my ears before Charlie’s voice began to penetrate.

“Nick… Hey! Can you hear me?”

I lifted my face up off the mat. I was dizzy, but I managed to nod. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard.” I was starting to think Kevin was more like Lenny from Of Mice and Men than he was Attila the Hun. He didn’t really want to hurt anyone; he just didn’t know his own strength.

“It’s okay,” I managed. “I’m all right.” I pushed up to my knees as Charlie looked at Kevin and said,

“Go ahead and de-gear. I need to talk to Nick for a minute.” Once Kevin was gone and I’d made it to my feet, he said, “You just got the shit kicked out of you by a nineteen-year-old kid.” He didn’t mention that the kid was a fucking giant, but I also knew that shouldn’t matter. I was shooting for the most coveted title in this business in a matter of weeks. There is no way this kid should have been able to take me down.

I was suddenly too ashamed of myself to speak. I nodded as Charlie said, “If you don’t want to go down in the first round against Chavez and spend your holidays licking your wounds, you are going to have to buckle down and get serious, Nick. That means you need to listen to everything I’m telling you and take it to heart, or you need to find a trainer that you trust. I can’t work with someone that doesn’t trust me.

“You look at me and see a broken-down, old man. I look at you and see a stupid kid with a lot to learn. If we’re going to work together, we are going to have to meet somewhere in the middle. Bottom line is if you want to win, you have to get back in touch with the type of hunger that kid just used to kick your ass.”

He was right, and I knew it. I’d spent the past week and a half whining about how mean Charlie was when instead, I should have been going out of my way to access that world of knowledge he held between his ears. I held out my hand, and Charlie looked at it.

“Can we start over?”

I finally got a genuine smile out of him. He took my hand and said, “I’m not going to coddle you the way that Martin did. I’m not your daddy.”

I laughed. I was glad he wasn’t my daddy, mostly because if that was the case, the thoughts I was having about his daughter would be really, really wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER SIX

KARLI

 

I was still fuming when I got out of the car in front of the Venetian. I’d changed my clothes in the office at the gym before I left, but I still smelled like bleach.

I had stopped dating jocks and gym rats because of their arrogance and narcissism, and I thought I’d seen it all, until I met Nick Storelli. I couldn’t believe he had just stood there in front of me, naked as the day he was born. He didn’t even have the decency to look a little bit embarrassed, or try and use his hands to cover himself.

Against my better judgment, I pictured him again, leaning into that wall, all wet and shiny and hard…everything was hard, and I caught myself thinking that his hands would have to be abnormally large if they could cover that.

I mentally shook my head at myself. It didn’t matter what he looked like. In just a few hours, he convinced me that I’d be much better off just buying a poster of him and putting it up on my wall – anything more than that would be way more trouble than I was sure he was worth.

I left my car with the valet and made my way up to the restaurant where Michaela was already waiting for me. The hostess took us to our table and got our drink orders. Once she was gone, Michaela wrinkled her nose and said, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I said, suspiciously.

“You stink.”

I laughed. “Thanks, it’s bleach.”

“Why?”

“It’s a long story,” I told her.

“I have time.”

I didn’t answer her; instead, I looked at my menu and then set it aside so the waitress would come and take our order. Michaela looked at hers, too, and after the waitress came and got our orders, I said,

“Nick Storelli.”

“What is panty-melting hot?” she said. “Give me another one.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’re not playing Jeopardy.”

“Oh, okay. Then why the reference to Nick Storelli out of the blue?”

“It wasn’t out of the blue. It was the answer to your question. He’s the reason I smell like bleach.”

She had her glass halfway to her mouth. She slammed it down and sloshed orange juice over the sides of the glass. “You met him?”

“Unfortunately.”

“What are you talking about? The guy is freaking hot. I might jump him where he stands if I ever get to meet him.”

I didn’t ask the obvious: what about Trent? Instead, I said, “He might be hot, but he’s a narcissistic turd.”

She laughed. “If I looked that good, I’d be a narcissist, too. Hell, the guy’s naked body is all over Vegas and women fill the seats at his fights in droves just to get a look at the real thing. How could he not be full of himself?”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. Some women might go for a hard body and a big cock, but I need more.”

She had just taken a drink of her orange juice. She started choking just about the time I realized what I’d just said. “A big cock? Oh my God! You saw him naked?” I felt my face heating up. Michaela was loud and everyone at the surrounding tables was looking at us.

“Shh!”

She leaned in, and in a whisper she said, “You’ve seen him naked?”

“The big ox used the women’s shower at the gym this morning. That’s why I smell like bleach. I walked in to get in the shower and there he was, in all his glory. He didn’t even have the decency to apologize or try and cover himself up.”

Michaela put her hand over her heart. “You’re so fucking lucky.”

“Stop it!” I laughed in spite of myself. “He’s a jerk. Who cares what he looks like? He probably has a head full of rocks, like every other fighter I’ve ever met.”

“What about your dad?”

“He’s the exception.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “Right. Honey, just because a man chooses to make a living with his body doesn’t mean he’s an idiot. Look at Trent; he went to UNLV on an academic scholarship, not a football one.”

“I’m not talking about intelligence. I’m talking about social graces, decency, common sense, respect for women.”

“Okay, my little liberal. I’m just saying that people aren’t always what they present as on the surface, and if they are…you get to live the rest of your life knowing you fucked the hottest guy on the planet.”

I shook my head at her and changed the subject. Michaela and I would never agree about sex. No matter how hot the guy was, I didn’t have sex for the sake of sex. Not that I haven’t ever wanted to. I have to at least admit to myself that I had thought about it as soon as I saw Nick that morning.

But I know me too well and it would come with all kinds of regrets the next day. Nope; I needed to find me a nice, safe, intelligent man to fall in love with me for my brilliant mind.

After brunch, Michaela talked me into going into the Halloween store in the hotel with her. She had another costume party to go to this weekend that she was trying to bully me into going to, but I was standing firm. “Look at this! It’s perfect!” I looked over to see Michaela was holding up a black dress with a corset and long cape.

“A witch?”

“No, Maleficent! She’s an evil fairy. I can pull off evil fairy no problem.”

“I have to agree.” I laughed as she flipped me off.

“I’m going to try it on.” She took off toward the dressing room as I continued to browse the shelves of masques and other Halloween accessories. I love to dress up, but I was not looking to get thrown up on by a bunch of drunken football players.

“Well, hello there.”

I turned at the sound of the voice and my heartrate sped up. It was Ethan Grant, the attorney who gave the lecture to my class a couple of weeks ago. He was dressed the same as he had been that day: in an expensive-looking, Italian suit. This one matched his blue eyes and made them pop. His eyes reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t put my finger on who.

“Hi! Mr. Grant, how nice to see you.”

He smiled and his face dimpled. I suddenly had a vision of Nick and his deep dimples. I forced that out of my head and smiled back.

“Call me Ethan, please. You’re Karli, right?”

Oh my God, he remembers my name. We only had spoken for a few seconds after the lecture. “Yes, thank you for remembering. So, shopping for yourself, or do you have kids?” Way to be obvious, Karli.

“No kids. I’m looking for a masquerade mask. They’re all so…feminine.”

“I was at Circus Circus the other day and I saw some in the gift shop by the midway. They had some nice ones for men.”

“Good, I’ll go look there, thanks. Are you getting your costume?”

“Oh no, I’m here with a friend. She’s trying her costume on.”

“You already have a costume?”

“No. I don’t have any plans to go out for Halloween.”

“Why not? You’re not into the whole All Hallows’ Eve?”

“I actually love Halloween. It’s just…” I hesitated to phrase it the way I had with Michaela. This man was so classy and refined. I felt juvenile just admitting I was invited to a party with a bunch of drunken football players and frat boys.

“It’s just…”

I was a terrible liar, so I just said, “It’s just that the party I did get invited to is being thrown by the football team at UNLV and their way of partying is not my thing.”

“Ahh, I see. You’re too mature and too beautiful to spend your evening with a bunch of drunk jocks pawing all over you.”

All I really heard was Ethan calling me beautiful. I was sure my face was red as I said, “Does that make me sound like a snob?”

“Not at all. Everyone outgrows that at some point.” He looked like he was thinking about something. “Almost everyone, anyways. Karli, this is kind of late notice so feel free to be honest if you’d rather not, or you have other plans…but I have to go to a masquerade ball on the 30^th. It’s a benefit and it’s black tie – and masquerade masks, of course. I can promise you that anyone drunk and pawing at beautiful women will be promptly ejected from this event. Would you like to go with me as my date?”

I was shaking inside and out. Ethan was exactly the kind of man I wanted. Again, the vision of Nick popped into my head. Damned lust. I tamped it back down and said, “Yes, I’d actually love that.”

“Great,” he said with a bright smile. Then he handed me his phone. “Can I have your number so I can call and get your address before then? I’d like to pick you up.” Jesus, a real date with a real man…it was almost surreal. I put my number in his phone, and he thanked me and looked at the Rolex on his arm. “I better get back to the office. I’ll call you in a few days. Thank you, Karli.”

I was almost too tongue-tied to respond, but I managed to squeak out a, “No, thank you, Ethan. Have a good day.”

He winked at me and again, I was reminded of Nick. That was ridiculous, though; they’re really nothing alike. “You, too,” he said before I was treated to the sight of him walking away.

He wasn’t that tall. I was used to dating much taller guys, even though I’m only five foot five. Something about the way he carried himself made him look much bigger than he actually was. He was one of those men who exuded power and class. I couldn’t wait to get to know him better.

“Hey! I was calling you to come look at me.” Michaela walked up behind me. When I turned and looked at her, she had a pouty expression on her face. I was still smiling.

“I’m sorry. I was busy…setting up a date.”

“A date? With a man?”

I wasn’t offended. Even I had to admit that it had been a while. “Yes, darling, with a man. A hot, intelligent man, no less. Do you remember that attorney I told you about?”

“Oh yeah, the one that gave the lecture to your class.”

“I just ran into him, and I’m going to a black-tie masquerade ball with him on the 30^th.”

“Oh fine, you’re going to miss the party of the century this weekend, but you jump at the chance to go to the ball. Don’t forget to clean out the fireplace first, Cinderella.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

She laughed. “You know I’m happy for you. What are you going to wear?”

“Jeez, I have no idea.”

She hooked her arm through mine and walked me toward the counter so she could pay for her costume. “Antoinette’s next?” she said. Antoinette was a dress shop that Michaela loved. Michaela also had a lot more money than me and Dad’s credit card. It reminded me that I needed to get back to work or Dad might not pay me enough this week to buy a formal gown.

“This weekend,” I promised her before heading back to the gym much happier than I had left it a couple of hours before.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

NICK

 

After Charlie’s heart to heart with me, I hit the weights with Shrek for another hour or so and took him through some basic jujitsu moves. He had the beating-a-man-to-a-pulp thing down pat, but his moves were a little primitive. I was completely beat and done for the day after that.

I went into the men’s locker room and took a shower before heading home. It was getting late in the afternoon and most everyone had left. Charlie was working with Shrek on the bag in the back room. I hadn’t seen Karli since the incident earlier, and I was actually starting to feel badly about being such a dick. I was making up my mind to apologize the next time I saw her and maybe get a do-over when I passed the office.

The door was cracked open slightly and I could see a pair of black and white Chucks sticking out from underneath the desk. I stopped and debated on giving her more time to cool down. I decided that it was better to just take the plunge where apologies were concerned. I wasn’t very good at them.

I knocked softly on the door, and Karli’s sweet voice said, “Yes?”

I pushed the door open more and saw the smile she had on her face drop off. It was slightly wounding. “Can I come in, Karli?” She looked like she was about to say no and I said, “Just for a minute?”

“Okay, just for a minute. What’s up? Is there a part of you I didn’t see? Did you want to do a three-sixty and make sure I got the full view?”

I smiled tightly. “I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“For being a dick. I’m sorry for bad-mouthing your dad, first of all. He and I had a talk this afternoon and I am going to try and put more effort into learning from him and applying myself. Second, I’m sorry for standing there in the buff like that. I honestly didn’t realize it was the women’s shower, but when I did, I should have covered up; that was disrespectful.”

She looked surprised, or maybe confused. It was obvious that she wasn’t expecting any kind of apology from me. She obviously thought I was some kind of buffoon. She’d likely never believe I spent 13 years in some of the best boarding schools in the country. For some reason, although I just met this girl, I didn’t like knowing she already had such a low opinion of me.

“Okay,” she said at last. “Thank you for that.”

“Apology accepted?”

“Yes. Fine,” she said. I kept standing there and she said, “Was there something else?”

“Well… I’m having a little barbecue this afternoon; would you like to come?” I wasn’t having a barbecue. Not unless she agreed to come, anyways. But I couldn’t seem to just walk away.

“No, thank you.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Why not?”

“I just don’t want to encourage you, Nick. I’m not looking to date a fighter.”

“Wow, now who’s being arrogant?”

“Me? Arrogant?”

“I wasn’t asking you out on a date. I was having a little barbecue for Kevin, to welcome him to Vegas. I was going to invite your dad, too. I’m just being friendly is all, Karli.”

She looked embarrassed, and I felt kind of bad again. But not so bad as to take back the offer. “Oh, okay… I guess.”

“Great.” I bent over the desk and picked up a marker and a notepad. I wrote my address and number on it and said, “How does seven sound?”

She looked at the time. It was already three-thirty. I was just praying I had what I needed at home and wouldn’t have to go to the store. I was going to be cutting it close. Plus, I still had to invite the guest of honor. “Um…okay; I’ll try to make it.”

I smiled at her, making sure my dimples came through loud and clear just in case she wasn’t immune to them. “Try hard.”

I left the office without a commitment, but pretty sure she’d come along if her father and houseguest decided to come. I’d rather have her in my house without Daddy as a chaperone, but at this point I’d take what I could get. For the first time in a long time, I was intrigued by the woman and not just the pretty face.

I backtracked to where Shrek and Charlie were still working on the bag. “Hey, guys, I was thinking about throwing some steaks on the grill when I get home. A few of the guys from the league will be there. I thought we’d make it a welcome party for Kevin, if you’re available?”

I looked at the big kid. He looked interested. Then I said, “My friend’s dad owns the Red Herron Inn out at the state line. He’s bringing a few of the girls that work in the club over there, too.” I said that casually and watched as the look on Shrek’s face went from interest to blatant enthusiasm. You can always count on nineteen-year-old hormones.

“Sure, that sounds like fun,” he said. “What do you think, Charlie?”

“I’m a little tired,” Charlie said, “But you go ahead, Kevin. It’ll be nice for you to meet some of the guys if you decide to stay in town.”

Yes! Perfect! “I gave Karli the address if you want to get it from her,” I told Kevin. I didn’t want Charlie to think I’d gone behind his back to invite Karli. He scowled slightly, but didn’t say anything.

“Good! Maybe she and I can ride together.”

“Yeah, maybe. I’ll see you later. Charlie, if you change your mind…”

“Thanks,” he grumbled as I walked away. Now I had to get home and get this shit set up.

 

********

 

I went home and then I had to leave again and go to the store. I filled a grocery cart with everything I could think of, half of which I probably didn’t need. On my way home, I called Jonah. “Hey, stranger, what’s up?”

“I need people at my house at seven for a party.”

“Okay, I can make it.”

“No, I mean, yeah, you can come. But, I need a lot of people and some of the girls from your dad’s place, too if you can get them to come on short notice.”

“Okay. What’s this party for?”

“To introduce a new fighter in town.”

“So what’s the rush?”

“I don’t have time for twenty questions; I have to clean the house.”

He laughed. “All right, man, I’ll bring a party for you, but you’ll have to tell me what it’s really about later.”

“Yeah, later.” I hung up. I wasn’t about to tell Jonah what it was really about. He would tell the other guys and I’d never hear the end of it. Or worse yet, one of them would shoot off their big mouths and Karli would find out this was all about getting her to my house. I was not absolutely certain, but I didn’t think she’d be impressed.

I washed the dishes and straightened up the house before I swept off the patio and cleaned the grill. Then I showered, changed, and had just finished shaving when the doorbell rang. I had actual butterflies in my stomach on my way to answer it. Fuck, what has this girl done to me in one day?

I pulled open the door to Jonah with a girl on each arm. “Hey, ugly and ladies, come on in.” I looked out behind them and Jonah said,

“Don’t worry, there’s more coming. Why don’t you girls go get a beer or something to drink out of the refrigerator on the patio and I’ll be out in a few,” he told them.

I noticed that he didn’t even bother to introduce them, which was rude – and sadly, something I would do. I have no idea why suddenly all of these things mattered so much to me. It had to be more than Martin and his Reyna. Maybe Ethan was right and I was finally maturing. I didn’t want to think this was all about Karli, because how pathetic would that make me?

Once the girls were gone, Jonah looked at me and said, “So, what’s going on?”

“I told you, we’re welcoming a new fighter. He’s this kid from Philadelphia.”

“Save that crap for someone that doesn’t know you.”

The doorbell rang and, at least for the moment, I escaped his inquisition. He went out to get a beer with the girls and my house started filling up. By seven fifteen, I was ready to throw the steaks on the grill. Glenda, one of the fighter’s wives, was making a salad in the kitchen and I had Micah and Les, two more of my friends from the MMA league, wrapping potatoes in foil to bake on the grill. As I carried the meat out to the patio, I saw Briana, Micah’s girlfriend.

“Hey, Bri, would you mind getting the plates and utensils out of the pantry for me and bringing them out to the patio?”

“Nope, I’m on it, Nick.”

Jonah bugged me some more while I tossed the meat and potatoes on the grill. I stuck to my guns that the party was for Kevin. As I was rinsing off the meat pan in the kitchen sink at seven-forty, the doorbell rang again. Jonah answered it and when I looked up and saw Kevin and Karli, I automatically smiled. That was when my stupid friend looked right at Karli and said, “Oh! I get it now!”

Fucker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER EIGHT

KARLI

 

Kevin rode with me or I would have left almost as soon as we got to Nick’s house. The place was crawling with fighters and girls in Band-Aid bikinis, neither of which I was interested in. The booze was flowing freely, so I didn’t doubt that pretty soon those bikinis would be coming off and some of these fighters would be looking to go a few rounds with each other.

There was also the fact that Nick’s friend had looked right at me when I came in and said “Oh! I get it now!” It gave me the feeling that I’d been tricked and I wasn’t happy about it.

I didn’t say anything to Nick about it, though, for two reasons – number one, he’d just deny it and call me arrogant again, and number two, Kevin was so excited that Nick was doing this for him. He didn’t strike me as the kind of guy who made friends easily and I hated the idea of him learning that he was being used from me.

Nick glared at his friend and shooed him away before making a big production of introducing Kevin and then me to everyone before showing us through a huge living room to a set of glass doors that took up half of the wall and out onto a tiled patio with built in barbecue pit, bar, and seventy-inch television. The green grass stretched out into a park-like setting, and in the center of it was a pool with a waterfall along the side of it.

It was incredible and so obviously meant to impress. He must sink every penny of money he made into this place; either that or he had a rich mommy and daddy. I was not sure why I cared enough to even put so much thought into it.

He was at the barbecue pit now with his back to me, and I glanced over and took him in while he wasn’t watching. He was so tall that he towered over just about everyone, except Kevin. His friends were all in good shape, but Nick’s body actually looked sculpted. His biceps were thick in all the right places and where the sleeves of his t-shirt ended, all of that delicious ink began.

I hated that I found him so incredibly attractive, but God I’d have to be blind not to. I’d be willing to bet in an anonymous poll, even the other men here would have to agree that where looks were concerned, he was absolutely perfect. He turned to the side and I watched as he smiled at someone and those dimples came out. They ought to be illegal.

The dimples made me think of Ethan and I told myself that was good. Think about Ethan. I have a date with Ethan. I do not need a man like Nick in my life, not even a little bit.

Just as I had that thought, Nick’s friend Jonah passed by with a girl on his arm.

“Excuse me?”

He stopped and the busty blonde made a pouty face when he said, “Go on to the pool, baby. I’ll catch up with you.”

I think she may have even stomped her foot a little. Once she was gone, he smiled at me. Like Nick, he was hot, but also like Nick, it was obvious that he knew it. “What can I do for you…Karli?”

“Yeah, I have a silly question for you.”

“What’s that?”

“Was this party really for Kevin?”

Jonah’s eyes cut first to the big guy standing a few feet away from us. Kevin had found a girl to talk to and he looked like he was in seventh heaven. Then he cut them over to where Nick was taking food off the barbecue. He still had his back to us.

“Well, that’s what Nick says, and it’s his house,” was his answer.

“So, what did you mean by “Oh! I get it now!” when I came in the door?”

“No telling really,” he said. “I mean, you just never know what I’m going to say. Half the time, I don’t even know what I’m talking about.” It was obvious he wasn’t going to give up his friend, but between the way he was acting and the look in Nick’s blue eyes as he turned and saw us talking, it was obvious there was something he wasn’t supposed to tell me.

“Okay, thanks. Where is the ladies’ room?”

“Down the hall, second door on the left.”

“Thank you.” Nick was still looking at us so just to make him worry, I glared at him and then smiled at Jonah. I turned and made my way through a sea of bodies and back inside. I was almost to the bathroom when I heard Nick’s voice.

“You okay, Karli?”

I turned and looked at him and almost forgot that I was mad at him again. Jesus, he’s too freaking hot. “I’m fine. I just don’t like being tricked into doing something you clearly knew I didn’t want to do.”

“What are you talking about? What did Jonah say to you?”

“He didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t; but I heard what he said when Kevin and I walked in. You didn’t throw this party for Kevin out of the goodness of your heart. You threw it to get me in your house, and in your egotistical mind, that probably translates to getting me into bed. That is not going to happen – ever – just so we’re clear on that.”

“Wow, you’re really something, you know that?”

“Me? You’re the one going completely out of your way to get a woman to come to your house. Are you that hard up?”

He laughed. “No, baby, I’m not hard up at all. And you can think whatever you want to think in that pretty, little, narcissistic head of yours, but this,” he held his arms out, “was all about welcoming a new brother into our fold, and nothing about you.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said like a fifth grader. I had no idea what it was about this guy that seems to bring out the worst in me. I cursed my melted insides as he said,

“That’s because you’re as full of yourself as I am. You think I threw a party for fifty people just for you. Wow.” He grinned, and I felt my face color. He was right. Who did I think I was that a man who looked like Nick Storelli would go through all of this trouble for me?

“Maybe you’re right,” I said. He looked surprised, but to his credit, he kept a straight face as I said, “I don’t know what it is about you, Nick, but you seem to bring out the worst in me.”

“I have to say that’s the first time a woman has ever told me that.” He stepped closer. The bathroom door was open behind me. I could have stepped back into it…but I didn’t. I wanted to think of it more like standing my ground than aching to be close to him.

He reached down and put his fingers underneath my chin and tipped my face up to his. God, his blue eyes are so incredibly beautiful, and expressive. I could actually see desire in them…for me. As much as I didn’t want to like anything about this guy, I just couldn’t deny, at least to myself, how much he turned me on. “I want to kiss you so bad, Karli.”

That was my cue to step back. It was my cue to say no. It was my cue to run out of here and not look back. I’d only met him twelve hours ago, but I already knew him. I knew he was just like every other hot gym rat I’ve ever known – too in love with himself to have room for me. I’d buy that he wanted me for sex, but then he would be finished with me and once again, I’d be left with a wounded ego and aching heart.

Nick waited patiently while I stood there with all of that going through my head. Finally as if my body was tired of the indecision and so made it on her own, I felt myself press my body in closer to his. He didn’t need any more encouragement than that. He brought those full, sexy lips down to mine and kissed me.

Our lips and tongues seemed to move together like a dance that was perfectly choreographed. His lips were soft, and I could feel the tickle of his breaths on mine. He kept one hand in my hair and the other on my waist as he explored my mouth with his tongue. It was sweet and sexy at the same time. He kissed me until neither of us could go without a breath any longer and then he pulled his face up slowly and looked down at mine and smiled.

“Thank you,” he said. That simple expression of thanks caused anything in my body that wasn’t already singing with desire to go into overdrive. It was contradictory to everything I wanted to believe about him, just like the apology earlier.

I stared at him for a few seconds, willing the dizziness in my head and the shakiness in my limbs to go away. As soon as they did, the regrets began to sneak in. Nick Storelli was everything I didn’t need and everything I’d sworn off after my last disastrous relationship. I had a date in coming up soon with Ethan Grant – everything I did need. What the hell am I doing?

“Um,” I finally took that step back. “I’m going to use the ladies’ room.” I didn’t know if he said anything or not. I took another fast step back, closed the door, and leaned my back into it.

What did I just do? It wasn’t like kissing a guy at a club and being sure you’ll never see him again. I was going to have to look at Nick at least three days a week at the gym and he’d be looking back at me with those sexy, blue eyes that had seen how much I wanted him. Damn it, Karli!

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER NINE

NICK

 

 “Hey, Nick! Is the food almost ready?” Jonah yelled at me on my way back out the door to the patio.

I’d taken the meat off the grill already and forgot about it when I went to follow Karli inside. I wished I knew what she was thinking now. She’d run into the bathroom and closed the door so quickly that I was sure she regretted kissing me.

But what she couldn’t deny, at least to herself, was that was one hell of a kiss. I’d kissed a lot of women in my life so I know a great kiss when I feel one, and every nerve ending in my body felt that one. For just a few seconds before she ran, I could see on Karli’s face and in her pretty eyes that she’d felt it, too.

“Nick?” Jonah walked up behind me.

“What?”

“The food?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s ready.”

He laughed. “Man, I never thought I’d see the day.”

“What day is that?”

“The one where Nicholas Storelli fell in love.”

“Shut the fuck up and go put the meat on the table.” I handed him the tray and he walked away laughing. Idiot.

I went inside and with a couple of the girls’ help, I brought out the rest of the food. The whole time, I watched the hallway for a sign of Karli. When all the food was put out and I still hadn’t seen her, I went looking for her. The bathroom door was open and the bathroom was empty. I went back outside and searched the yard for Kevin. He wasn’t hard to spot.

“Hey, Kevin!” I waved at him and he jogged over. “Where’s Karli? Have you seen her?”

“Oh yeah, she just texted me. She asked me to tell you thanks for the invite, but she had to get home and work on her homework.”

Shit. The kiss scared her. “Thanks,” I told him. I started to walk away and then turned back to him and said, “Hey, Kevin, can you give me her number? I misplaced it. I just want to tell her goodnight.”

“Sure.” He took out his phone and rattled it off as I put it into mine. Once everyone was stuffing their faces, I went back into the quiet house and sent her a text,

“Thank you for coming tonight. I am sorry we got off to such a bad start this morning. I’d like to get to know you, Karli. Please don’t stress yourself out about the kiss either. I don’t want things to be awkward for you at the gym. But if you ever want to do it again, I’m game ;) Goodnight, beautiful.”

It was almost an hour later when I got a text back that simply said, “Thanks, Nick. Goodnight.” It was a start, I guess.

 

********

 

 I had been doing my absolute best every day that I worked with Charlie in the days after our talk. I also hadn’t been out – no drinking and no partying and no women. The last drink I had was at the party I threw last Sunday night, and I had actually bought some of the things on Charlie’s nutrition list and cooked my own dinner three nights this past week instead of eating out. I was sleeping better and my body actually felt better.

The only thing I was struggling with was Karli. I saw her come and go most days. She’d go into the office and work or spend time cleaning the equipment.

I came in early one day and actually caught her doing her own workout. Charlie was spotting for her, so I just stood back and watched for a few minutes. She was wearing a pair of yoga pants and one of those sports bra/work-out top things. They were both hot pink with gray trim and I was almost jealous of the way they got to hug her curves.

I hadn’t been wrong about her having one hell of a body underneath her loose, conservative clothes. She was gorgeous, even all sweaty with no make-up on and her hair in a short, little ponytail at the nape of her neck. I felt myself getting excited and had to walk away. It wouldn’t do for her father to see me with a boner directed at his pretty daughter.

I went into the locker room to change and when I got back out into the training room, Karli was gone. I had to stuff my disappointment because as soon as Charlie saw me, he said, “Get on your headgear and get in the ring.” I hadn’t sparred since the day Kevin kicked my ass. Charlie had been running me through strength and endurance training and had me do a lot of bag work this week. As I was putting on the headgear, I asked him,

“Who am I sparring? Kevin?”

“Nope,” Charlie said. I turned and looked at him. “Me.”

“Um…are you sure, Charlie?” He was not a small guy and definitely not out of shape, but he had to be pushing sixty and I just wasn’t sure going up against me in the ring was a good idea.

He chuckled. “You afraid you’re gonna hurt me, Storelli?”

“Kind of,” I told him, honestly.

That time he laughed outright. “Well, don’t worry your pretty head about me. If I were you, I’d be worried about myself. Charlie the Hurricane Henderson used to eat little boys like you for breakfast and clean his teeth with their bones.”

“Nice analogy,” I said with a grin. Getting in the ring with Charlie might be kind of fun. I was interested to see if he still had anything left in his old age.

Half an hour later, I was drenched in sweat and ducking underneath Charlie’s extraordinarily long reach. He seemed to be anticipating my every move.

“You can’t just work the defense, Nick. Show me some offense.”

I was embarrassed to admit that I had been showing it to him. I threw out a right hook. Charlie was dodging it before it got there. I tried sweeping his legs, but he jumped back before I even extended mine. I was getting frustrated. I stepped forward with my right foot and faked a left cross. As soon as my shoulder twitched, he moved to block it. That was when I came back at him with a hard right to the left side of his head gear.

Charlie had to shake it off, but he was smiling. I think this was the most fun he’d had since I met him. He came back at me, and I planted my feet wide and held up my fists. He came at me with a left hook. I put up my right arm to block it and before he could react, I unleashed a series of punches on him. I backed him all the way up into the mesh.

I was a heavy hitter; it’s what I do. I’ve also gotten good at dodging most punches and kicks and usually, I won by a knockout. I’ve had two wins by submission, but the guys were both already half comatose by then.

Charlie actually looked proud of me as we made our way back to the center of the octagon. “That was good; much better,” he told me.

We danced around each other a little more with him throwing out punches and me dodging them, and then I’d throw one out and he’d dodge it. My punches were fast and hard and the guy that could dodge all or most of them was a rarity. Every so often with Charlie, I would get lucky and connect, but he acted like the fist I used to take down twenty-year-old men in perfect condition was only a minor inconvenience.

I finally got exhausted and went in for the clinch. We locked arms and struggled for the dominant position. I hated wrestling, but I just wanted this to be over. I used all the power I had left to take Charlie down. He fought hard with me for position, while at the same time snapping out orders and directions.

“If I wanted to, I could be sitting on you right now, pounding your face with my fists.”

I was lethal with my fists and I kicked ass in martial arts. I readily admitted that I sucked on my ground game…mostly because I hate it. The writhing around on the mat with a sweaty guy has never appealed to me.

It’s not a homophobic thing; I think it was more about personal space. My arm reach was over three and a half feet, so even when I was beating them senseless, I could keep them at bay. I obviously couldn’t match Charlie in skill on the floor, but I had him in size and I tried to use that. If I could get my arms underneath him, I could roll him onto his stomach. I struggled with it for a good two or three minutes before I managed it and he twisted out of it right away.

Seconds later, he’d flipped us and he was back on top. I kept fighting, but I couldn’t get Charlie off. If this was a real fight, I’d have to tap out.

I had gotten my ass whooped by an inexperienced kid last week and a sixty-year-old man this week. It was hell on my ego, that’s for sure

“Okay,” Charlie said when he finally climbed off of me. “Towel off and work on the speed bag for a while.” I gave him an “are you serious” look as I struggled to my feet, winded. He grinned at me and I knew he was waiting for me to complain, so I didn’t.

I grabbed a towel and soaked it with sweat before tossing it aside and going over to the speed bag. I was good at that, at least. I moved my fists in fast, fluid motions. It helped clear my head and by the time Charlie called out for me to switch to the weight room, I felt strong again and determined that the next time Charlie sparred with me, I was going to end up on top.

After running two sets, he looked at the clock and said, “I think that’s good for today. Good job, kid.” I thanked him and while I was in the shower, I marveled at how I’d gone from not giving a shit about his opinion to filling with a sense of pride in myself every time he said I was doing a good job.

With Martin, things had been more on a buddy level. With Charlie, it was like a son trying to impress his dad. I had given up on my own father a couple of decades ago. Maybe that was the appeal for me, but whatever it was, I was beginning to see that by recommending Charlie, Martin was at least looking out for me in the end.

I showered and dressed and although I was parked in the back, I headed for the front door. I was having Karli withdrawals and was hoping to at least catch a glimpse of her. I was disappointed when I passed the office and she wasn’t there, but as soon as I stepped outside, I found her out on the sidewalk on her phone. She had her back to me and I heard her say,

“No, Michaela, not tonight.” A few beats later she said, “I have to study and besides, you know how I feel about loud, wild, frat-boy parties.” She listened again and said, “I love you, too. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She ended the call, and I let go of the door I’d been holding. When it shut, she turned and looked at me. “Oh…hey, Nick.”

“Hi. What are you studying?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry. I heard you say you had to study. Are you in school?”

“Yeah, I’m a second-year law student.”

“Cool, smart girl.” I smiled. She smiled back. We were having a conversation just like normal people; go figure. “My brother’s an attorney.”

She looked surprised. I guess she didn’t think a guy like me could have any intelligent genes running through my blood. She would be surprised to know that I graduated high school with honors. “Oh, wow,” she said, “That’s cool. It’s always nice to have an attorney in the family, just in case.”

So, she thought I was stupid and a criminal. Nice. “Yeah, I don’t even give shoplifting a second thought anymore.”

She laughed softly. “I didn’t mean to imply you needed a lawyer.”

“I guess it was a fair assumption if you ever read any of the tabloids I used to star in.”

“Used to?”

“I’m reformed,” I told her with a grin and a wink. “No wild, frat parties for me, either.”

She smiled. “Good to know, I guess.”

“So, you’re not into wild parties. What are you into, Karli?” I took a step toward her and it thrilled me that just like that night at my house, she didn’t move away. She was looking up at me, and I was dying to taste her lips again. I bent down and put my lips right next to her ear and said, “Maybe you and me could find something to get into together?”

She did step back then. “I don’t think so, Nick.”

“Why not?”

“I’m just not into fighters.”

“You seemed kind of into me that night at my house.” I took a step toward her again and ran my tongue across my lips. I reached down and brushed a soft piece of hair away from her face. She actually shuddered. That encouraged me. “Was I wrong, Karli? Did you not enjoy that kiss as much as I did?”

“Nick…” Her face was flushed and her breaths were getting shorter. She wanted me, I knew she did. She was afraid for some reason to explore those feelings, but I was determined to change her mind.

“What, Karli?” I brushed her hair behind her ear and let my fingers linger on her cheek. Another shiver ran through her gorgeous body. I brought my hand down and cupped the back of her neck.

She tipped her head back further, and I started to lower my lips down to hers. That was when she pulled out of my grip. “What are you doing? You can’t just kiss me whenever the mood strikes!”

I tried to look sorry but life is like fighting, it’s all about timing. I was hoping the timing was right because I really wanted to taste those lips again. “Sorry, you’re just so…”

“Don’t say it. Look, I told you, I don’t date fighters.”

I folded my arms and looked down at her. “How unfair is that? You’re stereotyping.”

She laughed. “I’ve been around fighters and gym rats my entire life. I have yet to meet one that’s not just like the other.”

“How insulted would you be if I said all pretty blonde women are Barbies?”

“I wouldn’t be insulted because it’s not true.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. All of us fighters and “gym rats” are not the same either. But, you’ll never know that if you don’t give people a chance.”

She smiled and said, “People? Or you?”

“Well, I’m people and you hurt my feelings.”

She looked amused. “Your feelings are hurt?”

“Yes, you don’t believe I have feelings? Fighters don’t have feelings?” I’d completely lost the smile on my face.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I’ve just had some bad experiences.”

I stepped closer to her and said, “You can’t give up just because you’ve run across a few assholes.” I lowered my mouth down again and with my lips so close to hers I could feel her breath on my face I said, “You’ll never know what you’re missing if you’re too afraid to take a shot.” I let my lips barely touch hers. She didn’t move this time and she didn’t protest, so I pressed them together a little harder. I felt her part hers, and I let my tongue delve in between them and tangle up with hers. She stepped closer to me and I wrapped her up in my arms and pulled her up onto her toes.

God, I loved kissing her. It was the best thing that happened to me since the first kiss…until I heard Charlie clear his throat behind us. I let go of Karli and reluctantly turned to look at him.

“What the hell is this?”

“Charlie…”

Karli put her hand on my arm and said, “It’s okay, Nick; I’ll talk to Dad.”

I looked back at the man who just kicked my ass an hour ago. He was glaring at me again the way he had that first week we had trained together. I felt like a wimp leaving her here to deal with it. I tried again, “Charlie, don’t be angry with Karli; the kiss was all me.”

“You forced yourself on her?”

“No, Dad,” Karli said with a sigh. “Nick, please go.” Charlie gave me a dismissive snort.

“Okay, I’ll see you both tomorrow.” Neither of them said anything and as I was walking away, I heard Karli say,

“I’m twenty-two years old, Dad. You don’t get to say who I kiss and who I don’t.” I missed Charlie’s reply, but I had a feeling I’d feel it tomorrow.

 

 

 

CHAPTER TEN

KARLI

 

Dad had come out at exactly the wrong time to tell me he was finished and I could catch a ride home with him instead of a cab. I should have taken the cab…or even walked the twelve miles.

“I thought you swore off dating gym rats.”

“I’m not dating Nick, Dad.”

“Oh? That kiss looked awfully friendly for people not dating.”

I wasn’t about to talk to my father about the difference between “dating” and “hooking up,” which was what I’m sure Nick was interested in doing. Instead, I said, “He’s cute.” Cute was a huge understatement, but this was my dad, after all. “I’m attracted to him. But I told him in no uncertain terms that I wouldn’t go out with him.”

“And then you put your tongue in his mouth to drive the point home?”

“Dad!”

“What? Did you or did you not just have your tongue in that boy’s mouth?”

“Daddy, first of all, he’s not a boy, and I’m no little girl. Second, I really don’t want to discuss this with you. I’m a grown woman and what I decide to do and whom I decide to do it with is my business, okay?”

He rolled his eyes but kept them on the road – and he didn’t answer me. We rode in silence the rest of the way to the house and only when we were parking in the garage did he finally say, “Listen, baby girl. I realize that you’re a grown woman and too old for me to tell what to do. So let me just offer you some fatherly advice: friendly, fatherly advice.

“When Martin came to me about taking on Nick’s training, I did a lot of research on him. This kid…man, excuse me. This man has been a party boy since he was eighteen years old. Since he started fighting, he’s been photographed with probably fifty different women. He will break your heart, baby girl. If he does that, I will break him. I won’t have any choice.”

“Oh, Dad, Nick is not going to break my heart, okay? The reason he is not going to break my heart is because my heart is not involved with him. I’m not going out with him. I’m not falling for him. I made an error in judgment by kissing him and it won’t happen again. In a couple of days, I have a date with an attorney, and I’m really looking forward to it. I am done with fighters and gym rats, but everyone makes mistakes, right?”

He grumbled and got out of the car. I followed him into the house, and he began making his way down the hallway toward his bedroom. “Hey, Dad?” He turned back toward me. “Please promise me you won’t take this out on Nick while he’s training. This was as much me as it was him and that wouldn’t be fair.”

He made a face, but said, “I’ll try.”

“Dad!”

He rolled his eyes at me again. Sometimes, I felt like the parent. “I won’t take it out on him; happy?”

I smiled and blew him a kiss. “Thank you, Daddy.” He grumbled again and walked away. I was shaking my head at him when my phone rang. It was Nick. Shit.

“Hey, Nick,” I said when I picked it up.

“Hey, I just wanted to make sure that we were okay.”

“I’m okay. I’m a big girl. My father doesn’t dictate my life. I asked him not to be hard on you while you’re training because of this.”

He laughed nervously. “And what did he say to that?”

“He agreed.”

He laughed again. “We’ll see. So, what are you doing for dinner?”

“Nick, I thought we were clear that I wouldn’t go out with you.”

“No, we’re a little muddy on the issue. You sure don’t kiss me like a woman who doesn’t want to go out with me.”

“I’m sorry about that. It was poor judgment and not my intention to lead you on. I wasn’t thinking. It won’t happen again, Nick.”

He was silent for a few moments. I did feel bad, and I felt confused. It was easy to decide that Nick and I were a bad idea when he wasn’t right in front of me. But whenever he and I were close to each other, it was like my head completely quit working. I’ve had crushes before, but nothing like this. I felt like I was being driven by pure passion where he was concerned, and I knew if I didn’t put a stop to it, that it would turn out all bad.

“Don’t be sorry,” he said at last. “I’m not sorry we kissed. I’ve kissed a lot of women, Karli, and those two kisses were the best I’ve ever had. But I’m willing to start over…just as friends. Unless, of course, you’re one of those people who think men and women can’t just be friends.”

“I have male friends.”

“Okay, good. Then we can just put the attraction aside for now.”

“Um, excuse me? The attraction?”

“Oh, well, I was just assuming it was mutual.”

“Don’t assume.”

He laughed. “Okay, my mistake. Well then, if you’re not attracted to me, then it should be easy…as long as you can resist the urge to kiss me again. That is where the attraction issue gets slightly muddied.”

 “So arrogant. You kissed me, both times.”

He laughed again. “Okay then, it will never happen again. Now, dinner? I’m starving over here.”

I rolled my eyes more at myself than at him. “Fine, dinner – as friends. That means you keep your lips to yourself.”

“No lips, got it.” He chuckled. I got the feeling he was convinced that there was no way I could resist him. I was just going to have to prove him wrong.

 

********

 

Nick and I arranged to meet at Treasure Island. I let him pick the place for dinner and he picked Gilley’s. It figured – hot girls in black, leather bikinis and cowboy boots serving him food. I was sure that was on the top of one of his fantasy lists. But, this wasn’t a date; it was dinner with a friend, so he could flirt with as many scantily-clad cowgirls as he wanted.

To prove to myself I wasn’t worried about trying to compete, I pulled my hair up into a simple ponytail and put on a casual, cotton, peach-colored dress that I’d had forever and a pair of brown sandals. The only make-up I wore was a tiny bit of mascara and lip gloss. On my way out the door, I grabbed my purse and let Dad know I was having dinner with a friend. He shouted out for me to say hello to Michaela. I didn’t correct him.

It took me about twenty minutes to get to Treasure Island. I used the time to go through the “rules” in my head. I couldn’t let him stand too close to me. I wasn’t going back to his place. I would meet him wherever we went and drive myself home. I wouldn’t drink too much alcohol so as not to lower my inhibitions and under no circumstances would I kiss him ever again.

Sadly, that last rule gave me a sharp pang in the center of my chest. He was an amazing kisser – the kind that all men would be compared to from this point forward. But, it was wrong to lead him on, whether that had been my intention or not.

I hadn’t lied to Nick when I told him I had a lot of male friends. Most of my friends have been male. I spent so much time with men and boys in the gym growing up that I learned to identify with them more than women at an early age. Add that to the fact that I was raised by a single father and men ruled my world.

I’d had crushes on some of the guys that came and went through the gym over the years and the last one I dated, I actually thought I was in love with. We had been talking about getting married, just before New Year’s last year. We went to a party on New Year’s Eve and I lost track of him before midnight. I went looking for him and found him in the kitchen in the walk-in pantry, getting busy with one of the fighter groupies. That was when I swore off fighters and gym rats.

That was also almost a year ago and I had to wonder if the fact that I was desperately horny had anything to do with this overwhelming attraction I felt toward Nick.

As I drove into the valet area, I saw a cluster of women near the entrance and realized that right in the center of them was Nick. I rolled my eyes as I handed the keys off to one of the valets. No wonder he was so full of himself. As I walked up toward him, I could hear feminine giggling. One of the girls closest to Nick had her arm out and he was signing it. Give me a fucking break. When he finished dotting the “I” in Storelli, he looked up at her face and gave her a thousand-watt smile.

The next girl tried to move forward and I’m sure she was lifting up her shirt. God only knows what that one wanted him to sign. Thankfully, he caught sight of me out of the corner of his eye. The next thing I knew, I was the one basking in the heat of that sexy smile.

“Sorry, ladies; that’s it for now. My dinner date is here.” There was a collective groan from the crowd and suddenly five pairs of eyes were on me. Most of them were pretty eyes and it hit me that Nick could go home with any one of them.

That was my biggest issue with dating a fighter. It was not that there was anything wrong with my self-esteem now, but I worried about how much it could take before it began to go south. I was not planning on testing it. Nick could take whomever he wanted home with him…right after we had dinner.

I smiled in the direction of the glaring women and that only made their stares grow harder as they took me in from head to toe. Suddenly, Nick’s big hand was reaching toward me. I took it, for safety’s sake, and he pulled me through the crowd while using the other hand to part them like Moses at the Red Sea. He guided me to the door of the casino and I could almost feel the heat of the stares at my back until the door closed behind us.

“Sorry about that,” he said.

“I’m sure it happens all the time,” I said, sarcastically.

“It does,” he agreed casually as he led me through the banks of noisy machines and toward Gilley’s in the back. “A hazard of the job, I guess.” More like a hazard of walking around looking like a tattooed God, I thought.

“I guess,” I said as I suddenly remembered I was still holding his hand and let go of it. His lips twitched, but he held back whatever sarcastic comment he had on the tip of his tongue. He stopped walking when we stepped inside the restaurant and smiled at the hostess. She practically gushed and hurried us back to a table in the corner that faced out to where they did the pirate shows. Once she took our drink orders and left, I asked him a question I’d had on my mind since I met him.

“So, why don’t you have a girlfriend, Nick?”

“I’ve been too busy training and fighting to worry about trying to sustain a relationship, I guess.” His answer almost sounded practiced, like he had anticipated it and prepared a reply ahead of time just in case. He didn’t mention the part where he got to fuck a different woman every night, either. I guess I should at least respect the fact that although he’s definitely a player, he’s not cheating on anyone. “What about you, Karli? Why no boyfriend?”

“I haven’t had the best of luck in that arena,” I said. “I thought it best to take a break for a while and maybe when I get back in the game, I’ll stop picking losers.”

“Fighters and gym rats?”

“Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I basically grew up inside of a gym, so those are the guys I met first.”

He grinned. “You would meet more preppies and honor students if you’d go to one of those wild, frat parties.”

I smiled back tightly. His dimples were showing and I felt lust flooding my veins once again. I had to actually take a deep breath and let it out slowly before I said, “I doubt that, but I do have a date coming up with an attorney, so maybe my luck is about to change.”

 

 

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

NICK

 

I forced myself to keep the smile on my face. She had a date with an attorney. That wasn’t going to fit in with my plans at all. I got her to agree to go out with me as friends, and as long as neither of us were seeing anyone else, I was sure I’d be able to convince her to take it to the next level, even if it was a friends-with-benefits kind of thing. But if it worked out with this attorney and she started seeing him…I was screwed.

The waitress interrupted my thoughts. She was a cute, little redhead that filled out her black, leather bra and chaps nicely. Strangely, though, the sight of all that firm, female flesh barely fazed me. The only one I wanted lately was sitting across from me.

Over the past couple of weeks since meeting her, she’d dominated most of my thoughts. She was like the girl next door every guy fantasizes about: pure and simple beauty and grace…and she didn’t seem to have any idea. I could hardly look at her without smiling.

When the waitress was gone, I said, “So, where did you meet this lawyer guy?”

“He gave a lecture to our class a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, and then he asked you out?”

She laughed. “No, don’t make it sound all creepy. I ran into him at The Venetian a few days ago and that was when he asked me out. Well, to a masquerade party.”

I suddenly remembered Dad’s fundraiser. “Hey, that reminds me! I have to go to a fundraiser next weekend. It’s a masquerade thing, too. Maybe you could go with me?”

“Oh, I’m sorry; that’s when my date is.”

I felt like I’d been kicked in the guts. I was losing ground here fast. I wasn’t used to losing and I hated it. I didn’t want to come off sounding jealous or whiny, so I changed the subject…for now. “Okay, next time. You have any tats, Karli?”

She blushed. “No, but I have this picture in my purse that I’ve been carrying around for months…just in case I work up my nerve.”

“Aw, are you afraid of needles?”

“Not afraid…really…”

I laughed. “You’re afraid of needles.”

“Fine, I don’t like needles. But I’m going to do it, one of these days.”

“Can I see it?”

“What?”

“The picture.”

“Oh, yeah.” She took out her wallet and took a piece of paper out of it and unfolded it. She handed it to me just as the waitress sat our meals down in front of us. I thanked the waitress and when she left again, I looked at the picture. It was a big, blue flower with the words, “Find Beauty in Your Strength,” stenciled around it. It was nice and that color would look good on Karli. A tattoo was just going to add to her sex appeal, if that was even possible.

“I like it. Where’s it going?”

 “I haven’t decided yet,” she said. “What do you think?”

“Well, mine were easy because they only add to my image as far as my job is concerned. But I’m guessing as an attorney to be, you’ll want to put it someplace it will be easy to cover up.” I was thinking about Ethan. He had two on his chest, but he wouldn’t put any on his arms because of work.

She took a bite of her steak and I waited for her to chew and swallow it and then I said, “Stand up.”

“Stand up?” She looked around, confused. “Why?”

“Just trust me, I want to see something.”

She cocked an eyebrow at me, but did as I asked. I reached out and put my hands on her waist. I felt her stiffen up. “Don’t worry, I’m just going to see where it might fit. Come closer.” I let go of her and let her step toward me. When she was close enough, I took the paper and pressed it to her dress where it just covered her upper thigh. I desperately wanted to lift the hem of that dress and slide it up underneath, but I resisted. “Hmm, turn around backwards.”

“I don’t think I want it…there,” she said, coloring slightly.

I laughed. “Don’t worry, as much as I’d love to put my hands on your sexy ass, I’ve promised to behave. Trust me, Karli.”

She sucked in a shaky breath and turned her back to me. Her body curved and dipped in all the right places and God, it was hard not to touch that nice, round butt. I held the paper against the small of her back and again said, “Hmm…I don’t see you as the tramp stamp type. I’d go with the thigh.”

She turned away from me so quickly that the skirt of that little dress caught on my fingers. I got just a glimpse of her satin, peach-colored panties and all the blood in my body went straight to my cock. Damn.

“Do you have any on your legs?” she asked. I tried not to smile, but I lost the battle. “Oh, stop it! I didn’t even look at you that day.” I didn’t have any tats below the waist, but it was fun to tease her.

“Sure, you didn’t,” I said.

“God, you’re so arrogant,” she said.

I laughed. “Just confident,” I countered. “But back to the tattoo; what are you doing after dinner?”

“Studying?”

“How about you just take the plunge tonight? I’ll go with you, for moral support.”

“Tonight? Oh, I don’t know about that. I think I’d need an appointment and I’m not sure I can afford it this week. I can’t very well ask my father for money for a tat, you know?”

“Yes, I do know.” The trust fund money I used before I made my own was technically mine, but as Dad enjoyed reminding me, it all came from him. He nearly had a heart attack the first time he walked out and saw me getting into the pool without my shirt on. He wanted to know what each tat cost and he tallied them up as I told him. His response to me spending a total of six thousand dollars on ink was purely livid. “But, I know a guy and I have an account there.”

“I’m not letting you pay for my tattoo.”

“Why not? I’m your friend.” I took a bite of my own steak. Talking to Karli made me forget just how hungry I was. The steak reminded me.

“I’d rather wait until I can pay for it myself,” she said.

I stopped shoveling food in my mouth and said, “Fine, but if I asked him, he’d put yours on a tab, too, and you could pay him when you get the money, or even on payments.”

She looked like she was thinking about that and while she was, I attacked my baked potato. At last she said, “You really think I should do it tonight?”

I smiled at her. “It’s up to you. Whenever you decide to do it, though, I’d like to go with you.”

“Why? To see if I cry?”

To see a little more of that sexy body. To spend another few hours with her. I had a list. “Nah, I’ll bet you handle it like a champ. I just like watching my buddy work.” On smooth, sexy thighs.

She didn’t say anything else about the tattoo as we finished our dinner. We both passed on dessert and after I paid and we started toward the front door, Karli stopped to watch the action on the mechanical bull up front near the bar. The guy on the bull’s back was thrown headfirst into the mats surrounding the bull. He had only stayed on for three seconds.

“Damn, three seconds; that’s shameless.”

She smiled. “Have you ever done it?”

“No, but it doesn’t look that hard.”

“Oh, really? I have an idea. You ride the bull for the full eight seconds, and I’ll get the tattoo tonight.”

 I laughed, but she didn’t even smile. “You’re serious?”

“It’s okay…if you’re scared, you don’t have to.”

I laughed again. I was terrified, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. “I’m not scared of anything.”

She folded her arms. Damn, she’s cute. I wanted to kiss her so fucking bad. “Nothing? How about Dad?”

“I’m not scared of your dad.”

“Okay, ride the bull for eight seconds or come home with me and have a beer with Dad.”

“I’m going to ride the bull…but only because you’re getting your tattoo as soon as I finish.”

She smiled sweetly and said, “Okay, but only if you go eight seconds. And if you don’t, I get to tell Dad you’re scared of him.”

That did it. If it took me all night, I was staying on that mother fucker for eight seconds. No way was I facing Charlie after she told him I was scared of him…which I was not, much, really.

I pulled my phone and wallet out of my pocket and said, “Watch this.” I winked at her, and she laughed. I didn’t think she had any faith in me. Before I went through the little gate, I turned back and said, “How many chances do I get?” She laughed again but said,

“Three.”

“I’ll only need two.”

“There’s that arrogance.”

“Confidence,” I told her.

I was already sweating as I got ready to climb up on the big bull’s back. I unbuttoned my silk shirt and pulled it off. There were two girls behind Karli that suddenly stopped in their tracks and said,

“Oh my God, it’s Nick Storelli!” I wasn’t looking at them; I was watching Karli. The look on her face was classic. She was giving them the stink eye. It gave me even more confidence to know she was jealous as I climbed up on the mechanical bull’s back.

I put my hand through the hole in the rope like the dude operating the bull told me to. When I was as ready as I was ever going to be, I nodded at him. As soon as the bull started moving, I put my other arm up to balance myself. I looked over at Karli and grinned. This was a piece of cake.

I watched as Karli approached the control guy and said something to him. He smiled and told me, “The little lady says her great-grandma could ride him at that pace. You want me to speed him up?”

I narrowed my eyes at Karli and nodded. Suddenly, the bull was rocking and rolling and I was rolling, too – off the side. I was still holding onto the ropes when the buzzer rang, but the rest of my body was on the mat. My arm felt like it was about to be pulled out of its socket. I finally let go and then I had to roll around on the mat trying to get back to my feet. When I did, Karli was cracking up.

“You think that was funny, do you?”

“It was hilarious,” she said. “I wish I would have thought to get some video.”

“That was it, right? I was still holding on at eight seconds.”

“Your ass was on the mat, not the bull.”

“You did great, Nick! We love you!” the groupies that had bellied up to the gate said. I looked at them, smiled, and winked. Karli was glaring at me when I looked back at her pretty face. I leaned in close to her ear. Damn, she smelled good.

“Flirting when you’re out with a friend is okay, right?”

“I don’t care when or who you flirt with.”

I grinned again. “Good. Now, watch this.”

I got back on the bull and put everything I had in my legs and right arm into holding on. I was inches from slipping off when the buzzer rang that time, but my ass was still in the saddle. I dismounted, trying to look cool, and then I fell into the mats on my ass. Karli laughed and kept her phone pointed at me the whole time. The groupies covered their mouths with their hands and then called out to ask if I was okay.

Karli kept laughing as I crawled off the mat and finally stood up. “That was spectacular,” she said.

“Did you get that one on video?”

“I think I missed the ride, but I got the dismount.” I grabbed for her phone and she moved back and giggled. The two girls still standing next to the fence gave her a dirty look and then looked back at me with adoration and said,

“Nick, can we get your autograph?”

I looked at Karli. She rolled her eyes. Laughing to myself, I turned on the charm and spent the next fifteen minutes flirting with my fans. Karli’s pretty, little face was practically green. I loved it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWELVE

KARLI

 

 When Nick finally tore himself away from his fans, we walked from Treasure Island down the street about half a mile to Nick’s friend’s tattoo shop.

“Hey, Daniel!” Daniel was a tall, muscular Hispanic man covered with tattoos on every visible part of his body except his face. I wondered if he did his own. They were good.

“Nick!” The two men shook hands and spent a few minutes catching up before Nick said,

“Daniel Cervantes, this is my friend Karli. She’s a tattoo virgin.”

I shook my head at him and his friend laughed. “Nothing I love more than popping that cherry,” Daniel said. “You know what you want?” I took out the picture and handed it to him. He looked at it and nodded. “Cool, you guys got lucky; it’s slow tonight. Give me a minute to work this up.”

“Thank you.” Nick and I sat down and waited. I was a nervous wreck. He looked amused. I was on the verge of chickening out when my phone rang. It was Michaela.

“Hey, girl, I thought you—”

“Karli!” her voice was pressured, and she sounded like she had been crying.

“Michaela, what’s wrong?”

“Trent and I got in a big fight. He said I was flirting with this guy, Jay, but I wasn’t. Jay keeps putting is hands on me and I keep telling him to stop. He pushed me against the counter in the kitchen and kissed me, and Trent walked in. Even though I was pushing the asshole away when Trent came in, he didn’t believe me. Karli, he left me here. I’m alone in a frat house with eighteen drunk, horny college guys, and at least one of them thinks he has a right to touch me.”

“Oh my God! Text me the address. I’m on my way. Wait outside.”

“Hurry please. Maybe I should start walking.”

“No, Michaela, just wait outside. Remember the assaults on campus just last month? Do not go anywhere alone, okay?”

“Okay, but please hurry.”

“I will. I promise.” I ended the call, and Nick was already on his feet. “You heard?”

“Yeah. Come on, I’ll drive.” I didn’t argue with him. I took the hand he held out to me and as we went out the door, he yelled, “Daniel, we have an emergency; we’ll get back to you!”

He was walking fast and practically dragging me along behind him. I struggled to keep up. As soon as we got to Treasure Island, he yelled out, “Mickey! I need the truck fast.”

It was only minutes later when Mickey was there with Nick’s huge truck. Nick pulled open the passenger door to help me in, and he was behind the wheel and we were pulling out on Las Vegas Boulevard in a matter of seconds. My phone dinged and I looked at it and said, “The house is right on Maryland Parkway across from the main buildings.”

“Okay.” Nick broke every speed law in the state getting us there, but somehow I didn’t feel nervous at all. I was anxious about Michaela and pissed at Trent. I wanted to kick his ass, and I might the next time I see him.

“It’s that big, yellow one,” I told him as we approached the house. There were cars everywhere. Nick drove up into the driveway behind two cars and then up onto the lawn where a bunch of guys were standing. They scattered. As soon as he stopped, I jumped out of the truck. I didn’t see Michaela anywhere.

I looked at the closest guy and said, “I’m looking for my friend Michaela Taylor. She’s blonde, about my height…”

The guy was checking me out. He didn’t look like he was even paying attention. Before I could react, Nick grabbed the guy by his shirt. His friends took a step back instead of trying to help him. Nick pulled the guy, who wasn’t small, off his feet.

“Where is Jay?”

“In the house,” the scared frat boy stammered. I wouldn’t doubt that as Nick tossed him onto the lawn, he peed his pants. I hurried into the house and Nick was right behind me. As soon as we walked in, I heard Michaela’s voice. She sounded scared and was saying,

“Stop it!”

Nick ran toward the sound, and I followed him. He pushed a door open and there was Michaela in only her bra with two guys playing keep-away with her blouse. The next few minutes, everything happened so quickly that I missed a lot of it.

Michaela cried out my name, and I pulled her into me. Meanwhile, Nick snatched the shirt out of midair and tossed it to me. Then he hit one of the guys square in the face with his big fist. The guy flew back and hit the wall. He might have been unconscious, but I didn’t care. The other guy tried to run. Nick caught him and used one hand to throw him against the wall.

He looked over his shoulder at me and said, “Take her out to the truck.”

I didn’t argue. I helped Michaela put on her shirt and as we were leaving the room, I heard Nick say, “We’re going to have a talk, boys.”

I smiled to myself. He’d never know how much I appreciated his help tonight. I only hoped he didn’t do anything to get himself into trouble.

Michaela was shaking all over, and I had to help her into the truck. The guys that had been out front had disappeared. I guessed they all decided they didn’t still want to be there when Nick came back out. By the time I helped Michaela buckle into the passenger side and climbed up into the driver’s side, Nick was coming out of the house. I scooted over to the middle and let him climb in.

His presence alone was comforting. I had my arm around Michaela as she sobbed quietly into me, but I couldn’t help but feel the thrilling sensations that touching Nick’s thigh to mine on the other side was sending through my body. “Will you just take us to my car? She can stay with me tonight.”

He nodded, but then he said, “How about I just take you to your house. I’ll go back and get Mickey to deliver the car to your house. She’s pretty upset.”

I didn’t even think about it. I touched his leg with my hand and I could almost feel the heat from his thigh on my palm. He actually groaned when I touched him. I moved my hand quickly but I said, “Thank you, Nick.”

He gave me a small smile and told me, “It’s what friends do.” I only wished that the feelings coursing through my veins at the moment felt more “friend-like.”

 

********

 

I walked into the gym the day after our “date” and Nick was the first person I saw. Maybe it was because I was looking for him. He was working on the speed ball and for a few minutes, I just stood near the office door and watched him. I didn’t realize Dad was in the office until I heard him say,

“Karli!”
“Oh, hey, Dad. I didn’t know you were in there.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I think your attention was elsewhere.”

“Don’t start, please, Daddy. I told you what he did for Michaela.”

“I’m glad he was there, but confused about why you were out with him when you’d just assured me the two of you weren’t dating.”

“We’re not dating. We’re just friends, and Michaela and I were both damned lucky he was there. I wish you’d give him a break.”

“I haven’t said a word to him.”

“That’s my point. Maybe you should at least thank him for protecting me.”

Dad got up from behind the desk and said, “I pulled up the billing sheets that need to go out. If you can just print them off and send them out for me, I would appreciate it.”

“Dad…”

“I’m going to thank him, okay? Then, I’m going to kick his ass into shape. He has a Halloween exhibition match at MGM on Sunday he needs to get ready for. Don’t distract him.”

I shook my head at him as he left the office. Men were so funny. I’ve seen my dad when he didn’t know I was looking ogle the card girls and the scantily-clad, adoring fans. But let one man show interest in his daughter and he declares war.

With a heavy sigh, I dropped my purse and sat down behind the desk. I worked until lunchtime, and by the time I left the office again, Nick was lying on his back on the weight bench, lifting three-hundred-plus pounds over his head while Dad spotted him. He was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and no shirt, and his body was covered in sweat.

My hormones went absolutely crazy. This man was killing me. There were at least six other guys working out in the big room, but as far as my eyes were concerned, there was only Nick. With a shaky breath, I walked over to where they were. I saw Nick look at me out of the corner of his eye and try to smile just as he let out a grunt and Dad took the weights out of his hand and sat them down in the bar. “I was going to run out and get some lunch; you guys want anything?”

Nick sat up and Dad tossed him a towel. I tried not to be obvious as I watched him rub the towel over his chiseled chest and abs. My mouth was practically watering. I was not sure when I turned into a gigantic pervert. “Yeah, will you get me one of the turkey sandwiches from the deli?” Dad asked. “You know how I like it.”

“Sure. Nick?”

Now I could see Dad looking at me out of the corner of my eye. I ignored him and kept my eyes on Nick’s face. He smiled again, this time all the way down to his dimples. “Yes, please. I’ll have the same as Charlie. Could you grab me a Red Bull, too?” He got up and reached for his bag.

“It’s okay; I got it. I’ll be back.” The fresh air cleared my head and by the time I got back, I was sure that I had Nick’s hot, sweaty body out of my system…but I was only half right. He’d showered by that time and now his body was only hot. He was wearing a crisp, white t-shirt and a clean pair of red basketball shorts. I handed him his lunch bag.

“Thank you. Are you sure you don’t want money?”

“I’m sure. You paid the other night. Besides, Michaela and I still owe you big time.”

He waved his palm at me. “You don’t owe me anything. Your dad said to tell you that Lenny called and he had to run out for a while. He’ll be back in about an hour.”

“Oh…okay. Lenny’s my uncle. Did he say what he needed?”

“No, sorry.”

“It’s okay. His health isn’t good, but I’m sure if it was anything important, Dad would have called me. I’m going to eat my lunch in the break room. Do you want to join me?”

“Sure.”

As we walked toward the break room, we passed Kevin and two of the other young guys Dad was training. They stopped what they were doing and watched us. I knew from experience that these guys gossiped more than any women alive. By the end of the day, rumors about Nick and me would be flying. I’d never tell Nick, or Dad, but I almost wished there would be at least a little bit of truth to whatever they were saying. He was killing me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

NICK

 

Charlie was kicking my ass today. He hadn’t said anything, but I got the feeling it was about Karli and I going out to dinner the other night. I wasn’t too worried about it, though. In the long run, it would get me into better shape and help me win and Karli was treating me great, which was what really mattered.

I followed her into the break room as everyone’s heads turned and watched us. I didn’t doubt Charlie would hear whatever rumors these guys would start, but at the moment, I didn’t care about that, either. I was going to have lunch with Karli – alone.

She opened the door and I followed her in, letting it close behind me. She took a seat at the table. She was wearing a pair of jeans that fit her like they were made for her sexy body and an off-white tank top. Her arms were fit and muscular, but in a feminine way. I’d been with women that took good care of their bodies and women that surgically enhanced theirs, but never with one that had the kind of muscle tone Karli had. My fingers itched to touch her. I sat down with her at the table and while we were eating, I asked how Michaela was doing.

“She’s doing okay. She’s so grateful to you. She wants to come down and thank you herself when she has a day off. She went into work yesterday, even though I tried to get her to stay home.”

“What does she do?”

“She works for her dad. He owns the Pink Dragon Resort.”

“Oh wow, nice.”

“Her dad’s not nice. That’s one reason why she insisted on going to work. She didn’t want him to know anything about what happened that night. He’d just give her a hard time and make her feel like it was her fault those creeps tormented her. He ignored her most of her life and now, he wants her to be a perfect lady.”

It was obvious Karli had strong feelings about that. I didn’t blame her. It reminded me of my relationship with my father…who had texted me earlier to remind me about Saturday. I really didn’t want to go now that I knew Karli would be out with her attorney date.

I was going to be grouchy just because I had to be there. Add the jealousy about Karli being out with someone else on top of that, and I knew I was going to be a son of a bitch. I’d have to warn Ethan to run interference for me with my dad. No one could piss me off like he did.

“Where’s her mom?”

“She worked as a showgirl at Bally’s for years. When she stopped dancing, she took a job as a choreographer at the Tropicana. She still works there and she’s still married to Michaela’s dad, but poor Michaela sees her even less than she does her father. She has had her own place for two years now and her mother has yet to visit once.”

“Wow, that sucks. Where’s your mother, Karli? If you don’t mind me asking.”

She shook her head. “I don’t mind. I don’t have any feelings about her the way I did when I was young. She was a dancer and Dad knocked her up when she was at the height of her career. He had to pay her not to have an abortion and then he was saddled with me for life.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t think of it that way,” I told her. “He seems crazy about you.”

She smiled. Charlie must have a much softer side than any I’d ever seen, judging from the look of love in her pretty eyes.

“He’s been an awesome dad. Even when he was fighting, we traveled together and he hired a tutor for me. Once we moved out here, he only fought for about a year before he retired and started training. But no matter what he was doing, he was always there for me. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t get too upset with him about poking his nose into my business and still treating me like I’m sixteen. He means well.”

I finished the last bite of my sandwich and washed it down with my Red Bull. “I can see why he’d worry about you,” I told her. I let my eyes roam across the top half of her body. I was not sure, but I thought she shivered.

“Thanks,” she said. “But I’m a big girl and I have good sense. I just have to keep reminding him of that. Hopefully, one day, he’ll get it.” She had only eaten a couple bites of her sandwich and she was picking at her chips.

“Are you not hungry?”

She looked up at me with a serious look on her face then and said, “Butterflies.” I waited for her to go on and explain what that meant. When she didn’t I said,

“Butterflies?”

“Damn it, Nick, you give me butterflies. I’m trying to do this friends thing with you because I really do like you. But it’s hard.”

She stood up and I watched her throw away her trash. I was trying to decide what the best way to respond to that was. When she turned back around to face me she said, “I didn’t mean to tell you that, but it’s even hard to hide.”

I stood up too. Her back was against the sink, so she couldn’t back away from me when I stepped in close. “Then why fight it, Karli? You know how badly I want you. You have to know.”

“Because I can’t get involved with you, Nick. I just can’t. I made a promise to myself.”

“To unload the sins of your past lovers onto every other man that tries to come into your life?”

“No. I’m not punishing you for his sins. I’m just protecting my heart.”

I reached out and brushed her hair back. It was so soft. I loved touching it. I wanted to wrap it up in my fists and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe. But, I made a promise to her and I wasn’t going to break it…unless she asked me to. “I don’t want to hurt you, Karli.”

She nodded. “I know. But, I don’t want a boyfriend who has to fight off groupies. I’ve been there and done that on a much smaller scale than you. I don’t want to do it again.”

I didn’t have any idea what to do to fix that situation. Since I won my first title bout and picked up sponsors, I’ve had groupies. Las Vegas was not a big place. I couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized and accosted. “What if we tried things on a smaller scale?”

She smiled. “I thought that was what we were doing, with the friends thing.”

“Smaller than dating and bigger than friends.” I leaned down so that my lips were so close I could feel her breath on them, but I still wasn’t touching them. “How about friends with occasional benefits?”

“How occasional?” she whispered.

“As occasional as you want it,” I told her.

I felt her lips touch mine. For a second, I didn’t move. I wasn’t sure if it was on purpose or if she was trying to move around me. When I felt her arms go up around my neck, I had my answer.

We kissed hard and passionately, like we were both starving for it. I picked her up and without breaking the kiss, I carried her over to the vinyl couch up against the wall. I sat down with her in my lap. Her round butt was pressing down into my rock-hard cock, and it was beginning to ache as I slid my lips from her mouth down to her neck. I licked my way across it and kissed it and sucked on it until suddenly, she pulled away from me and stood up.

I thought that I might die right there if she walked out the door and left me here like this. But she didn’t leave. Instead, she went over and locked the door before she came back over and straddled my lap.

I pulled her chest against mine and we began to kiss again. While I held onto her with one hand, I slid the other one up underneath the back of her tank top. Her skin was warm and soft. When I felt the clasp of her bra, I unhooked it. I felt the release of her breasts against my chest and slid my hand around and let it play across her belly for a minute.

I felt her shudder into me as I finished lifting her shirt and bra up until they were nestled underneath her armpits and her amazing breasts were free. They were as beautiful as I had imagined them almost every day since I met her. I had to have a taste. I dipped my head down and took one of the hard nipples between my lips.

She moaned, and it was the sexiest sound I’ve ever heard. I ran my tongue around the outside of her nipple and then licked across it, pressing down on it as I did. Her moan changed to a whimper as my free hand now dipped down between her legs and lightly rubbed her through her jeans. She had her head thrown back as I sucked and licked and nibbled and rubbed.

I’d never been able to get off on just getting a woman off before…but I had the feeling it would be easy with Karli. The way she was moving around on top of my cock, the sounds she was making, the way she smelled, and the sheer, beautiful sight of the ecstasy on her face all went straight to my head.

I pulled my mouth back reluctantly and pushed the tank top up over her head and tossed it aside. Then, I pulled off her bra and my shirt. I pulled her in tight so I could feel those sexy tits up against my chest as I kissed her again. She moaned into my mouth and I felt my cock jump in my shorts. I felt like it was going to explode as I continued to touch and taste her. Her jeans were wet through and I was dying to feel her soft, wet flesh.

“Karli?” I said, not completely taking my mouth off of hers.

“Yeah?” She was out of breath, and her voice was deep, husky, and sexy.

I pulled at her jeans. “Will you take these off, please?”

She looked unsure, but then stood up, and I felt my heart speed up to what felt like a dangerous pace. It was a new feeling for me with a woman. The only other time I ever feel my heart race was right before and after a fight.

My eyes took in her luscious body as she stripped off her jeans and panties. I put my hands on her hips as she stood naked in front of me and pulled her in so that my tongue could reach her slit. I ran it up and down, and she whimpered, whined, and moved her hips. It was so fucking sexy.

She arched her back to give me better access, and I let my tongue drive up into her. She was so wet, hot, and fucking sweet. I moved my tongue around inside of her before I pulled it out and pressed it into her clit, hard. She tried to pull back, but I held her tightly and sucked that swollen nub into my mouth.

She wrapped her hands up in my hair and when I slipped a finger up inside of her, she pulled on it. I slid in another one and moved them in and out, up and down, until I found her G-spot. I rubbed against it while she gasped and writhed in my hands. This was better than any fucking fantasy I’d ever had.

She breathed out my name every so often, and I fucking loved that, too. The way she was riding my face with her hips was hot and the faster I licked, the harder she pressed into me. Her breaths were becoming ragged and short, and I could tell that she was about to come. I moved my fingers faster in and out of her and clamped down hard on her clit with my lips until her entire body went rigid and she threw her whole body forward into me and clutched onto my shoulders.

She was making muffled sounds like she was biting her lip, trying not to cry out. I felt her cum, just as there was a fucking knock on the door. Shit.

“Karli? Are you in there?”

“Oh shit!” she whispered. It was Charlie. She looked terrified. I felt it all the way to my core. I pointed at the bathroom as I scooped up her clothes. As soon as I pressed them into her arms I started pulling on my shirt. I was breathing hard as I pulled on my shorts and ran my fingers through my hair. I wiped the moisture from my face, breathing her in one last time.

“Karli!” Charlie knocked louder. I tried to control my breathing as I grabbed the Red Bull off the table and pulled open the door.

“Where’s Karli?”

“She’s in the bathroom.” He looked around the room like he thought I was hiding her or lying. Then he looked me over suspiciously and said,

“Why was the door locked?”

I tried to look surprised. “I don’t know, was it?”

Karli came out of the bathroom then, fully dressed and looking pulled together. Charlie turned his attention to her and I slipped out behind him. Chicken-shit, I knew. But I figured she could handle him better without me in the way. At least, that’s what I told myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

KARLI

 

“I can’t believe you had sex in the break room with Nick Storelli!” Michaela was sitting on the edge of my bed, watching me do my make-up. It was the first time we’d had a chance to talk all week. I hadn’t even been sure I was going to tell her about me and Nick until the moment I saw her and then it just came out.

“It wasn’t technically sex…”

“Oral sex! Dude, he made you come with his mouth!”

“Shh! Dad is going to hear you!”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re both legal.”

“Can you imagine how Dad would react if he found out I’d let Nick go down on me in the break room at the gym? He’d have a heart attack, or kill me. Or kill me and then have a heart attack.”

“I think he’d kill Nick first. So, have you talked to Nick since then?” I closed my left eye to line it and then opened it and looked at her reflection in the mirror behind me.

“I haven’t seen him, but he called last night.”

“Why haven’t you seen him? Who is avoiding who?”

“No one is avoiding. He has an exhibition match on Sunday that he’s been working hard getting ready for, and I’ve had classes. I went in super early this morning to clean, and I guess I just missed him.”

“You’re avoiding him. What did he say when he called?”

I rolled my eyes. “The same thing you did.”

“He’s right. I know you. You’re feeling guilty. Honey, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Then why do I feel like one of those cage whores who fuck the fighters at the after parties in the bathrooms?”

“You shouldn’t feel like that. You’re not his groupie – you’re his friend, and he really likes you.”

“I don’t know how he would possibly have any respect for me after that.”

“Oh, give me a break! This is not 1959, babe!”

“I’m embarrassed, Michaela, and on top of that, here I am going out with a different guy tonight.”

“You said that you and Nick talked about being friends with benefits, right?”

“Yeah, but—”

“That means you are both free to see whoever you want. He knows about your date tonight, too, right?”

I nodded. It was part of what I was feeling so badly about. I didn’t think I could admit it to Michaela. I’m sure out loud it would sound even more pathetic than it did in my head. When he called last night, he had asked me if I was still going. When I said yes, he hadn’t even seemed upset. That told me it had really been about sex for him, although the poor guy didn’t get any release.

I just couldn’t believe I was bothered by that. What did I expect? For him to be jealous? “He knows. You know me, Mich. I’m just not used to fucking one guy and dating another.”

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt you to loosen up a little – not as much as me…”

“Stop that.” Her father was so verbally abusive to her it made me furious. Trent had talked to him and told him she was kissing another guy at the frat party. When she told him what really happened, he did just what she was afraid he would: he blamed her.

It reminded me how lucky I am. I know Dad suspected that Nick and I had been messing around and he still hasn’t said anything about it. “What happened the other night was not your fault. It was Trent’s fault for not trusting you and leaving you there alone. Please tell me you’re still not taking his calls.” I had tried to get her to block him altogether, but she wasn’t there yet. I just prayed she wouldn’t take him back.

“I’m not taking his calls,” she said. “But you should hear his messages. They’re so nasty and mean.”

“Then block him, honey.” I stood up and turned around.

“Your hair looks great.” I smiled at her.

“Thank you.” I’d spent over an hour carefully curling it strand by strand before running my fingers through it and giving it a slightly wild look. I’d also spent an hour on my make-up, which I never do. It was silly, since most of the night I’d be wearing a mask.

But I was nervous about being surrounded by the elite society of Vegas. I didn’t want to embarrass Ethan in case I ever wanted to go out with him again. I hated that I was thinking that way. I was so excited about this date and now, all I could think of was how I wished it were with Nick.

I went over to the closet and pulled out the gown I’d bought. I was still excited about wearing it, at least. It was navy blue and the skirt was made of chiffon. The top was strapless and beaded with delicate sequins. The back laced up and left a great deal of my back showing. I pulled it on and instantly felt like a princess.

“Tie me up,” I requested of Michaela as I turned around. She took hold of the delicate laces and began to pull on them lightly. Once she got it all laced up, I looked into the full-length mirror on my closet door and she rested her chin on my shoulder.

“You look gorgeous.”

“Thank you.” I turned around and gave her a hug. “Please stop getting down on yourself because of what your dad and Trent say. They have no idea what they’re talking about. You are amazing, and you deserve so much better.” I felt her nod into me. She held onto me for a few more moments before she pulled up her head and said,

“You stop beating yourself up for doing things that all other normal, healthy, twenty-two-year-old women do, okay? Keep telling yourself that you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I will.” I took a deep breath and picked up my clutch just as I heard the doorbell ring. Michaela handed me my mask and said,

“Go knock ‘em dead, gorgeous.”

 

********

 

Ethan looked amazing, and as we rode to the event inside the back of a limousine, I mentally kicked myself for not feeling a thing. He was handsome, and he was smart and polite. He worked for a successful law firm and he taught. He was the whole package in a black tuxedo with perfectly styled, dark hair and sexy, deep-blue eyes, and dimples.

All of that reminded me of Nick, although I hardly needed a reminder. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I never thought of myself as one of those women that would pass up the good guy for the bad boy…but maybe I was wrong.

“Are you okay, Karli?” Ethan was holding a champagne flute out in my direction. I smiled and took it.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry. I guess I’m just a little nervous.” I looked down at the lovely orchid on the seat next to me lying next to the Mardi Gras mask I’d bought. Ethan had brought me an entire bouquet. I’d put them in water before I left, but I had to take one with me. He’d also knocked on the door and shook my dad’s hand, making polite conversation with him until I said goodbye to Michaela and announced that I was ready. I didn’t believe that had happened since I went to the junior prom in high school. Dad looked impressed.

“Don’t be nervous. God, Karli, you look so incredibly beautiful tonight. You’re going to knock their socks off.”

“Thank you. You look so handsome in your tux. You look so comfortable in it.” I tried to picture Nick in a tuxedo. I couldn’t do it.

“I’ve spent some time in them,” he said. “So, Karli, are you from Las Vegas?”

“Originally from Minnesota,” I said. “We came out here when I was ten. My dad was a fighter back then.”

“A fighter? Really? My little brother is an MMA fighter.”

“Really? Are you guys from Las Vegas?”

“Yeah, born and bred,” he said. I was about to ask him who his brother was when he went on to say, “Well born, I guess. My brother and I spent most of our lives in boarding schools. My dad was way too busy working to raise two boys.” I could see by the look on his face that it was a subject that caused him at least some anxiety, if not pain, so I changed the subject as much as I could.

“Where did you go to school?”

“Columbia.”

“Wow, nice.”

“From what I saw of your work in Mr. Bartlett’s criminal law class, you probably could have gotten a scholarship to go anywhere you liked. So, why did you stay in Vegas?”

I smiled. He was right. I’d been offered more than one scholarship, but I’d turned them all down. I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Dad all alone. I just wasn’t sure he could make it without me. We’d been a team for so many years that it would have been weird for me, as well.

“My Dad, I guess. He’s always been there for me. I didn’t like the idea of abandoning him. My mother abandoned us when I was born. He didn’t deserve to go through that again.”

“That’s a lot of pressure for you.”

“I put it on myself. He actually encouraged me to go back then, but I refused.”

He nodded. “It must be nice to have that kind of relationship,” Ethan said with a faraway look in his eyes. Almost as quickly, he was back with a smile. “We’re almost there. I’m going to warn you that my father is not the warm and fuzzy type. I apologize in advance.”

I smiled. “No need to apologize for other people. I’m looking forward to meeting him.” Ethan looked like he was going to say something else, but he stopped just as the car came to a stop. I drained my champagne flute and took a deep breath just as the driver pulled open the door.

Ethan got out first and held his hand out to me. I had to suck in another breath when I stepped out and looked up at the home we were standing in front of. I’d seen homes like this, of course, but I’d never been inside of one. This was one of those mansions that looked like it had grown right up out of the hills. It was made of tan bricks and a lot of glass.

A stairway led up to a set of huge double doors that stood open now, receiving guests. Everyone looked so elegant and soft music piped out of invisible speakers as their heels tapped across the marble entryway. I let Ethan lead me up those stairs and through the big, open doors. An older man, very distinguished looking with the same, sky-blue eyes as his son, stood in the front of the line at the door greeting guests. He gave me the once over and then looked questioningly at his son.

“Dad, this is Karli Henderson. Karli, my father Gregory Grant.”

“Mr. Grant, it’s a pleasure.”

“Karli, welcome. You look very lovely. I hope you enjoy your evening.”

“I’m sure I will,” I told him. “Your home is beautiful.”

“Thank you, dear.”

Ethan introduced me to the other four people in the receiving line. They were all older patrons of the arts in town, one a city councilman. I got the same compliments from them all that I had Ethan’s dad. It was nice, but I was still a nervous wreck. We passed through the foyer and Ethan led me up a flight of stairs to a huge room…a ball room. Who has a ballroom in their house?

I put my mask up to my eyes and happily took the champagne flute Ethan took off of one of the server’s trays and handed to me. I drank about half of it down and then took in the room.

The large windows were twinkling with hundreds of soft, white fairy lights. Beautiful artwork sat on easels around the outside of the room and each one had a table next to it with paperwork for the silent auction. There was a bandstand on the other side of the room and tables were set up and elegantly decorated with flowers and candles. A small dance floor was right in the center of it all and I hoped that if Ethan liked to dance, I could remember how. It had been a long time since anyone had taken me out dancing.

“This is beautiful,” I told him. “Did you grow up in this house?” As soon as I asked him that, it dawned on me what a stupid question it was considering what he’d told me earlier. “I’m sorry, I meant…”

He smiled and squeezed the hand he was still holding. “It’s okay, Karli. You don’t have to tiptoe around my feelings about my family. And…speaking of family, there is the prodigal son now.”

I smiled at him and turned in the direction he was looking. I gasped out loud and dropped my mask on the floor. I looked down at it just as the big man coming toward us bent over and scooped it up off the floor.

“Hello, Karli,” Nick said as he handed it to me. “Ethan.” My mouth was open, but no sounds were coming out of it. I looked at Ethan, if only to keep myself from salivating over the sight of Nick in his tux. Fuck was the only word that came to mind. I thought he was hot in a t-shirt and shorts, but he wore that tuxedo like he was born in it. My mouth was completely dry, and I was actually sweating.

“Hi, Nick. You two know each other?” Ethan looked from his brother to me curiously. I finally managed to squeak out,

“Hi, Nick. Yeah, my father is Nick’s new trainer.”

“Yeah, that’s how we know each other,” he said. His eyes held a look of hurt. Ethan’s eyes. Jesus, how did I not put it together? If Nick was smaller or Ethan bigger, they might be mistaken for twins.

“I didn’t realize Ethan was your brother. You have different last names.”

“Nick uses our mother’s maiden name,” Ethan said.

“Oh.” That was profound. I was shaking so hard it was a wonder my teeth weren’t chattering. I finished what was in my champagne glass as the two men both looked at me with their beautiful, identical eyes. How in God’s name do I get myself into these things?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

NICK

 

I knew Karli was beautiful. I’d noticed it the second I saw her, and I hadn’t stopped noticing it, but tonight she looked like a fucking movie star.

Not one of the tall, willowy ones, but like an action star in one of those martial arts movies. Her dress was gorgeous and the shoulders and arms that came out of it had perfect muscle definition. I’d never found a woman’s bone structure sexy before, but hers made me crazy, and that was before I even mentioned her flawless skin, like glass over silk.

I was pissed that she was here with my brother, but even more pissed that my cock was already aching in my shorts. Thank God the tailor had left ample room in the front of my slacks. Maybe he recognized me as the pervert that I am.

I grabbed a glass of champagne off of a passing tray and to my brother and Karli, I said, “You two kids be good. I’m going to check out some art.”

I felt Karli’s eyes on me as I walked away. I was having a hard time dissecting my emotions. I’d never been jealous over a woman – ever. I’d usually been the one women were leaving their dates to be with, for one thing, and I’d always looked at women as a dime a dozen. If one did walk away for whatever reason, there would be five more waiting in line to take her place.

Karli would tell me that attitude was arrogant or narcissistic, but in my mind, it was simply a fact, or it had been until tonight. Karli was here with my brother and from what she’s told me so far about what she’s looking for in a man, Ethan was the embodiment of her fantasies – and I was exactly the opposite. I bypassed the art and went to the bar.

“Hey, give me a Scotch and water,” I told the girl behind the bar. She was young and attractive, but when she sat her boobs up on the bar next to my drink, I didn’t even feel the slightest bit of interest. I turned my back to her and sipped the Scotch while looking across the room at Karli and my brother. He was holding her hand and introducing her to people.

I couldn’t help but think that should be me. But then of course, instead of looking at her like the elegant, beautiful woman she is, these people would be wondering how I dressed up a cage slut so nicely. She deserved to be with a man like Ethan, but I was just selfish enough that I wanted her to be with a man like me.

“Hi there.” I looked down toward the voice. It was Camille, a girl that grew up in the house next to us. I wasn’t home all that much, but when I was, Camille had been my go-to girl from the time I popped her cherry until she married an A.D.A. at twenty-one and started popping out babies. She was twenty-four now and last I heard, she’d just had number three.

“Hi, Camille. How are you?”

“I’m good,” she said. She surprised me by stepping close and actually rubbing herself against my arm. I glanced around the room, looking for her husband. “Vince is not here,” she said, reading my mind. “We’re getting divorced.”

“Oh no. I’m sorry to hear that.” I didn’t know Vince, but I was sure after three years and three kids, it had to be hard for her. Of course, that was not evidenced by the fact that her tits were now pressed into my suit jacket.

“Don’t be. He couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. Knocked up the nanny.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah, oh shit about sums it up. He tried to pay her off to go away and have it in secret. She took the money and then came straight to me. I kicked them both out. I hope they’ll be deliriously happy together. I’m glad he’s gone.” She stood up slightly on her toes and whispered, “But I’m so horny. What do you say, Nick? How about we get together, for old time’s sake?”

Camille was hot, even after three kids. Tonight, she was wearing a short, burgundy cocktail dress with a black-lace skirt that flowed from the back down to her ankles. Her black stillettos highlighted a pair of sexy feet with toes painted the same color as her dress. Her highlighted, blonde hair was swept up off of her long neck into some kind of twist in the back and a diamond choker hung elegantly around it. Even with all of that, I wasn’t aroused, not in the least.

“Maybe, Camille, but not tonight. I have to be present and on my best behavior. Old man’s orders.”

She rolled her pretty, green eyes. “Since when do you take orders from your old man?”

I chuckled. She was right. Back when Camille and I partied together, I stole liquor from the old man and I fucked her in his bed when he was at work. I left the covers rumpled so he would know and while he was yelling at me about it, I smiled from ear to ear.

Now, I could see how immature it all was, but then it was the only way I knew how to get back at him for all of the wrongs I’d perceived him doing to me.

“Since he reminded me that his money paid for my lifestyle before I started making my own. I have to be good tonight, Camille, but like I said, maybe later.” I scanned the crowd again. This time when my eyes landed on Ethan, Karli was no longer beside him. I looked around again and didn’t see her. I forgot Camille was still there until she asked me,

“Who are you looking for?”

“Nobody. I was just seeing who was here. Excuse me for a minute, Camille, please.”

“Sure. Call me, Nick…” I was already three, big steps away. I headed out of the ballroom and down the short hall to the bathrooms designated for company. A woman stepped out as I approached and I said,

“Hey, is there anyone else in there?”

She looked at me like I was crazy. It wasn’t a multiple stall bathroom. It was huge, but it had a single toilet and sink. “No, just me,” she said.

I smiled at her and the look went from “this guy is crazy” to “this guy is hot.” I winked at her, thanked her, and once she was gone, I stuck my head into the bathroom. No one was there. I went back out into the ballroom.

Ethan was still alone, talking to the retired D.A. of Clark County. He was networking. It was one of the things my brother did well. His career was hugely important to him, and I didn’t doubt that one day he would hold the D.A. position.

I went around the outside of the dance floor and behind the bandstand to the French doors that led out to the gardens. As soon as I stepped outside, I inhaled deeply. No matter what was going on in my life, the smell of the roses made me feel better. It was like nature’s perfume. In one of his rare moments, Dad had told me about Mom planting the rose bushes when they first moved in. I couldn’t remember her, so when I wanted to feel close to her, this was where I came.

I walked along the cobblestone path that led through the dozens of multi-colored roses. When I reached the center where the hand-crafted bench, I found exactly who I was looking for. Karli was sitting on the bench, staring at the blood-red roses in front of her.

She looked up at me with a surprised look on her face. “Nick, what are you doing out here?”

I went over and sat down next to her on the bench. “Looking for you.”

“Why?”

I reached for her hand. She pulled it back. “Karli, how do you think it makes me feel to see you with my brother?”

“I didn’t know he was your brother.”

“I know, but it still hurts.”

“I thought we were just friends.”

I looked at her profile. She was still staring at the roses. I cupped her chin in my hand and turned her face up toward me. The strings of lights across the canopy covering the rose bushes from the weather lit up her pretty, hazel eyes. I wanted to kiss her, but I fought through that and said, “I agreed to be your friend because you said that was as much as I could get. I knew it was going to bother me to see you with other men, but I can’t even describe how it feels to see you with Ethan.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Nick.”

I knew what I wanted her to tell me. I wanted her to tell me that she’d never see Ethan again. I wanted her to tell me that she wanted me as badly as I did her. I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want her. If Ethan ended up with her instead of me, I was afraid of what it would do to the relationship I had with the only family member I care anything about.

I decided that truth was better than regrets. “I want you, Karli. I don’t just want to fuck you. I want to take you to places like this and show you off. I want to work-out with you and cuddle on the couch with you. I want to wake up on Christmas morning and have breakfast with you before we exchange gifts…” She reached up and put her fingers on my lips.

“Nick, I think I want all of those things, too.”

My heart sped up. I felt everything open up inside of me like I’d just taken a hit of an inhaler. “Really?”

She nodded. “But I just can’t believe that would be possible with you. I told you before that I like you and I think it’s obvious that I’m sexually attracted to you, but that’s not enough, Nick. I don’t want to date a fighter. I don’t want to date a man that lives his life on the run from fans and the tabloids. I don’t want my boyfriend’s face and body hanging naked all over the city I live in.”

I wanted her, badly. But I didn’t think I was at a place where I was willing to give up my career – the only thing I was really good at – to have her. Living with the consequences while training with her father would be hell. At least if I didn’t have to see her all the time, I might be able to find other ways to occupy my mind.

“Even if I promised that I only want to be with you, Karli? I mean, would it matter who else wanted me as long as I was faithful?”

“I think you telling me now that you would be faithful would be like lining a table with candy bars and telling a child they have to look at them every single day, but never touch them.”

“You don’t trust me.” It wasn’t a question. I could see it in her eyes. The guys that she’d been with in the past must have done a number on her.

“It’s not specifically you I don’t trust, Nick. It’s guy’s like you. It’s the lifestyle itself. Let me ask you this: have you ever been faithful to one woman?”

“No, but I’ve never been in a committed relationship, either.”

“I don’t want to be your trial run,” she said. She pulled out of my touch and stood up. “I should get back inside.”

I nodded, and she waited like she expected me to say something else. What else was there to say? I couldn’t prove I’d be faithful unless she gave me a chance, and she didn’t seem willing to do that. Fuck my life.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

KARLI