I can feel my heart pumping fast enough to make me wonder if it’s going to jump out of my chest as I run. Everything in me is begging to stop, but I have to push myself to the limit and far beyond that. The tournament is in two weeks. There is no way I can hold back now. If I don’t win, let’s just say my life will have no meaning. Not to sound dramatic or anything, it’s just the only way I can legally fight, which is my passion, and get some really good money out of it. I can’t just keep looking for underground or back-door fights. I want my girl to see me beat people’s asses on national television.
My run comes to a stop twenty minutes later. I catch my breath and chug the rest of my bottled water as I enter the gym. A few guys greet me with a nod as I walk past them. Others don’t pay me any attention. I’ve been coming to this new gym ever since David decided to be a traitorous, lying bastard. The fucker still calls me to this day, wanting to apologize and explain. But what is there to explain? He held back an important thing…him moving multiple fucking states away. I mean, what kind of friend just happens to not mention something as fucking massive as that? Especially when said friend has been there to save your ass more times than you can count.
I rotate throughout every machine in the gym. I push past my limits, nearly breaking the fucking boundary until my body is sore and aching. But I push through that even because, like I said, there is no time to be a pussy. I have to be better, stronger, faster if I want to win this thing. My dream lays beyond my win at the tournament. I will face many skilled, talented guys who want the same thing. But none of them have trained as hard as I have. None of them have dreamed of being an MMA fighter for their entire lives. They haven’t had their ass beaten night after night when they first started out, only to push as hard as they could and could finally hold their own. No one, and I mean no one, wants this as badly as I do.
“Yo, Grey,” a familiar voice booms behind me.
I set down a two hundred-pound weight and turn around. “Jake—took you long enough.” I smile as he walks up to me and we exchange a little bro-hug. “Did you get lost or something?” I tease, and he rolls his eyes and sets down his duffel bag.
“Sorry that I didn’t know exactly where this unknown gym was.” He rolls his eyes, and I shrug. He looks at me for a moment and exhales, tilting his head. “Why don’t you two make up already? Everyone misses you down at the gym.”
I exhale too and walk over to the weights. “The minute he admits he acted like the scum of the Earth, maybe. But until then, I’m training for the biggest fights of my life.” I glance over at his contemplative expression and grunt as I lift the heavy weight. “Are you going to stand there acting like a pussy mediator, or are you going to spot me and train with me?”
He quirks that smile that makes the ladies swoon and walks over to me, all confident-like. “You already know the answer.”
“I know, now get the fuck over here, Martin,” I call him by his last name, teasing him.
“Just for that, add another hundred-pound weight.” He smiles sarcastically at me.
“Fuck you,” I spit, setting the weight down and adding another.
“Nah, not really into meat-heads.”
“Shut the fuck up.” I laugh, glad I had him come here. To be honest, I kind of missed his cocky-ass. I have been coming here for a while, and after a while I missed the usual faces at the old gym. I would still go there happily, if fucking David wasn’t there. But that fucker is there nearly every single fucking day. And there is no doubt in my mind that he would try and corner me to speak his peace or some shit like that. I’m just not ready to look at him right now, nor am I prepared to talk to him.
He spots me through the heavy lifting that lasts about half an hour, then spars with me in one of the rings that aren’t already occupied. I work on my quick dodges and uppercuts that I need some work on. I have to be in tiptop shape in every way if I want to win. This lasts for about another half an hour until I feel like I’m going to cough up a liver or intestines. Could be both, who knows?
“Oh, I almost forgot,” he says as I’m texting Liv, asking if she wants something before I get back to the house. There is a string of short and late replies from her from the past few days above, and I pull at my bottom lip. She has been a bit distant lately. I fucking hate it. She’s usually always…there.
I turn around and shrug. “What?”
A smile slowly breaks out on his face. “Happy early motherfucking birthday.”
“Ah, fuck. How’d you know?” I run an agitated hand through my sweaty hair, gripping it just to instill how much I am fucking pissed he found out.
He shrugs and puts his gloved hands on his hips. “I have my ways.”
“Well, I fucking hate your ways,” I spit, and he just laughs at me. I grumble curses under my breath as I turn around and begin walking.
“Have a great day, Grandpa!” he calls after me as I am exiting the gym and storming to my car.
“Fucking August 18th,” I mumble as I slip into my car.
***
“Honey, I’m home!” I announce as I enter the house. Liv didn’t respond earlier, so I just got her some kale salad and a milkshake. She eats like a freaking rabbit. Adorable, but so freaking nasty. I’m treating myself to a nice greasy burger. I can already see her disgusted reaction and hear her lecture about being healthy and blah, blah, blah. I only pay attention when she does that because she looks like an adorable angry chipmunk bitching about hibernation or whatever.
I drop my duffel bag and kick off my boots. As if sensing the mess, she steps out of the hallway and glares at them, then at me.
“How many times have I told you to put them to the side?” she chastises.
“About a million.” I kick them to the side, and she begins to whine before going into a lecture about keeping the place neat since it technically isn’t ours. Her cheeks puff out and her big eyes shimmer. Aw, upset chipmunk time.
“You can’t keep doing tha—” she begins.
I cut her speech off with my lips. Her hands slide up my sweaty chest and cup my neck. I lift her up and firmly place her against one of the walls. I will never get tired of her mouth. Or these curvy hips. Or her soft, soft skin. My hands are roaming all around her. She moans, and I smirk. I bite down on her bottom lip, and her mouth falls open. I sneak my tongue in and listen to her moans as I knead my fingers in her ass under her thin dress.
She pulls back so I begin to kiss her velvety skin. “You’re so sweaty,” she whines, and I laugh.
“What did you expect? I just came from the gym, babe,” I explain and nip at her skin—it will surely leave a mark. Good.
She moans my name and begins to say something when a ring punches through the air.
“Shit. That’s me. I have to go.” She pushes against my chest and lands on her feet. “Don’t worry, we’ll continue this later,” she promises with a smile and seals it with a kiss. Falling back onto the balls of her feet, she leaves me wondering what the fuck that was.
I will interrogate her on her weird behavior later; I’m fucking starving. I set her food on the counter island and tear through my food. I’m throwing the trash away when I hear hushed whispers. I narrow my eyes skeptically and tip-toe over to the bedroom. The door is cracked. I softly push it open a crack and find her looking out the window, talking on the phone. Who is she talking to? She ends the call and tosses her phone on the bed. Sighing as she rubs her eyes, she turns around. Why the hell does she look so stressed?
I fully open the door, and she snaps to attention. “Who was that?” I ask slowly.
“No one,” she lies. I know because she’s playing with the charms on her wrist. A typical identifier for when she’s dishonest.
“Mm-hmmm, sure.” I nod my head, and she smiles. “Actually, I have another question…where have you been lately?”
“What do you mean?” she asks.
I sit on the edge of the bed, and she stands in front of me, arms crossed.
“It’s just that, well, you’re barely around. And if you are, you’re off on the phone doing God knows what…so what have you been up to?” I speak easily, carefully watching for any signs of dishonesty.
“I’ve just been a little busy with the formalities with the program,” she says with a small smile. I hum and look her up and down for any sign, but I find none. I guess it does make sense. She’s the type of person to gather all the information on something she’s soon to dedicate her time to. “I’m sorry if I’ve been a little distant. I promise, it wasn’t my intention at all.”
I shrug. “All good.” I may seem cool about it on the outside, but I’m a freaking mess on the inside. I’ve missed her a lot. I didn’t know how much I loved her company until she started pulling away.
She chews on her lip. “No, it obviously isn’t…” She suddenly drops to her knees and looks up at me through her curtains of eyelashes. “Let me make it up to you.”
Fuck.
“Don’t let me stop you.” I grin from ear to ear.
I am breathless by the way she giggles like she’s the purest feather yet yanks my basketball shorts and boxers down like a fucking vixen. This girl is a fucking gem. I suck in my bottom lip when she stares at my lengthy cock before leaning forward and rolling her tongue around the head, swiping up the pre-cum. I hiss a curse, and she smiles and winks at me. I almost bust just by that.
“Don’t tease me, princesa,” I say through clenched teeth. She murmurs before finally, fucking finally, wrapping her beautiful lips around me. “Oh, fuck,” I grunt and wrap my hands in her thick hair. Her mouth glides up before taking me again. Then again and again until she’s found a rhythm that is just way too fucking good. Her lips, her fucking tongue—they both feel incredibly amazing as she takes me until I feel the back of her throat and I nearly lose my fucking mind.
She should be distant more often. I swear she was made just for me, with the way she’s going. But it’s not just that. It’s the natural passion between us. The drive to be as close to one another and even closer. The lust that simmers in those big blue eyes of hers. It’s the sheer fact that with her, I feel like I am complete. But without, I am miserable and cold, and I fucking hate the feeling.
But back to this fantastic blowjob.
“Fucking—if you keep looking at me like that, I will not last another second,” I tell her as she locks eyes with me through her lashes, batting them even. “Fuck—you really hate me, don’t you?”
She smiles around me.
I grip her hair, and she moans. I do it again, and she grips my thighs. I smirk and guide her head up and down. She closes her eyes and moans. I feel myself tighten and bob her head faster.
“Oh, fuck, that feels so good, bebé,” I say in a jittery tone. “I’m so fucking close… just like that.”
She continues to move against me, taking me past her limit, licking and swirling and fucking driving me insane. I grunt and curse and grip onto her head, reveling in her moans and mewls. I fucking love the sound. Makes me want to fuck her right now, but first she has to finish this.
“Fuck, I’m coming,” I grunt out and lift my hips.
She stays on me and hollows out her cheeks. I bite my lip and feel my heart increase as I release into her warm mouth. I curse loudly like a bark and watch with greedy eyes as she licks it all up. Her throat bobs and I pant out. She just…
“I fucking love you, princess.” I pull her up after she pulls my shorts and boxers up.
She giggles. “Happy?”
“Fucking ecstatic.”
“Good.” She smiles even wider and kisses the corner of my mouth. “Now I have to go and chat with Matthew about a few details with the program.”
“Fuck that.” I grab her hand and pull her onto the bed. She laughs, cheeks puffed, eyes bright and all. I take off my shirt and tug at her dress. “And let me fuck you.”
She pushes her hands underneath her head and shrugs with a wicked smirk. “Don’t let me stop you.”