“Are you really gonna move like that? Really? You look like a fucking newbie. Get your shit together.”

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my glove, feeling like a fucking idiot instead. It was my first day back at the gym, throwing myself into training hard and fast but so far all I had accomplished was, well, looking like a fucking newbie. I was missing easy shots, taking hits I didn’t normally take. At this rate, my title match was going to be the fastest one known to date.

“Alright,” Joey said, holding up the sparring gloves he was wearing. “Show me what you got, so I can kick your ass again.”

I growled and lunged forward, finding myself on my ass, staring at the ceiling before I knew it. What the hell was wrong with me? “Shit!” Joey yelled, throwing up his hands as he loomed over me. “Dude, come on! We might as well throw in the towel now.”

“Just give me a moment, will you?” I asked, pushing myself off the mat. “I haven’t had the best of days lately.”

“Well you better get your shit together,” he repeated, pulling off his gloves. “Or you are going to be the biggest joke in the industry. I’m gonna go piss, and then we are gonna start all over again.”

I pulled off my sparring gloves and threw them to the mat, disgusted with myself. Sleep had been damn near impossible last night, another round of yelling and screaming until I finally got her to sleep an hour before my alarm went off. For such a little person, Amelia Lomns had a damn mouth on her. It was like she just wanted to hear herself scream for some reason.

“Tough day?”

I looked up to see Tony in the doorway, concern written all over his face. “A tough night is more like it.”

Tony chuckled, leaning against the cage’s doorway. “Well, apparently she is catching up. Been a perfect sleeping angel for the last two hours.”

I thought about the ‘angel’ currently being watched by Tony so I could get some training in. Great. More ammo for tonight. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Hell, I don’t either, but I don’t envy you,” Tony said. “You are going to give Joey a fucking heart attack fighting like that.”

I frowned. “I know. I just, hell I can’t think straight.” It was a combo of being worried that Amelia was alright and a lack of sleep. I didn’t know which was worse now.

Tony shook his head. “Well, you better get it together. You only get one shot sometimes.”

He didn’t have to tell me that. I knew it. I had worked so hard to get this shot, beating my opponents within minutes of starting the fights to be even considered for the title this year. While the other guys had dabbled in MMA fighting over the last year, I was full time, full steam ahead. Now all I needed was a good match and a title held over my head at the end of the match. I wouldn’t accept anything less. Fighting and this gym were my livelihood, my world. “I’ll be ready.”

Tony nodded and moved down the stairs as Joey came back up from his bathroom break. I grabbed my gloves from the matt and slipping them on, still not really sure what I was going to do about this sleep issue. Maybe I needed a night nanny, a slight difference from what Danielle had suggested.

The rest of the workout was grueling, throwing myself into attempting to get Joey off his damn feet and on that mat. Finally, after an hour of fighting, Joey threw up his hand. “Much better,” he said, stripping off his gloves. “You gotta focus man. Make him make the mistakes.”

“I’ve still got time,” I stated as I stripped off my gloves and shook his hand. “Thanks for not bailing on me.”

Joey chuckled. “Yeah right. We’ve been through too much shit to do that.” We walked toward the opening of the cage before he turned to me. “That girl of yours, she’s something else.”

I grinned. Normally he would be talking about some chick that I was fucking or wanting to fuck, but now, hell, he was talking about my daughter. “Thanks. It’s still hard to believe I have a kid.”

“Hell, we all are in shock. Not exactly how you expected your life to be.”

I couldn’t disagree there. I wasn’t the best role model for a kid nor did I have the stability in my life like Tony or Paul had. I was the absolute last guy who needed a kid in my life, but I didn’t want to give her up. “Yeah well, maybe it’s a good thing.”

Joey reached the floor first, throwing his gloves into his bag. “Maybe. Just don’t lose sight of the prize okay? This chance, it ain’t gonna come around again.”

“Thanks, Joey,” I said as the trainer packed up his shit and walked out, no doubt going to kick someone else’s ass in the cage. I grabbed my stuff and walked upstairs to the conference room, where Tony and Hannah were looking after Amelia. Her squeals of laughter caught my ear as I approached the room, pausing for a moment to get my own shit together before I saw my daughter. Was I doing the right thing? I wanted to say yes, to think I was providing my daughter with the good home where she would never have to worry about anything, including whether or not her daddy loved her. I had only known the kid a few days, but I already felt that paternal pull anytime I was around her, wanting to protect her from the harsh reality of life and the cruel world.

But it didn’t mean I was the right thing for her. A family is what she needed, a stable life with one of those damn picket fence houses. I swallowed hard as I rounded the corner, dread filling my body. Maybe Tony and Hannah would be willing to adopt Amelia so I could at least watch her grow up from afar. But when I walked into that room and Amelia’s little eyes found mine, the smile on her face erased all of those plans. My heart clenched tightly in my chest as she held up her chubby hands for me to pick her up, drool and god knows what all over her. “Hey sweetie,” I said softly, reaching down to pick her up and cuddle her against my chest. “Have you been giving them hell?”

“I swear that is going to be her first word,” Hannah said, her hands on her hips as she watched Amelia reach for my ears. She was fucking obsessed with my ears.

“Well, what do you expect?” Tony grumbled as he pushed himself off the leather back chair that he was sitting in. “She’s got three men who know nothing about clean words.”

“I hope her first word is dada,” I said, touching her nose with my finger. “Dada Amelia. You hear that?”

She laughed and ducked her head on my shoulder, a sign that she was tired. Hell, I was tired. “Guess we should be going home now. Thanks, guys. I can’t even start to pay you back.”

“Oh, she’s a lot of fun,” Hannah said as she gathered up her things. “A good break from the bakery for a day. Bring her by anytime.”

I gave them a grin, unbelieving that I was such a lucky fucker when it came to the friends that had been placed in my life. I wouldn’t even be able to function right now without their support. After gathering up all of Amelia’s things, I walked down the stairs to the main gym, my daughter tucked against my chest protectively. Already I could feel the change in her breathing, knowing that she would probably be asleep before I was able to pull the car out onto the street. I exited the gym and walked over to the BMW I had purchased just this morning. As much as I hated to get rid of my roadster, it definitely was not kid friendly. At least this one had a back seat that I could strap the car seat in now.

With a chuckle, I hit the button to open the car and strapped Amelia into her car seat, wondering when in the hell I’d ever thought I would be worried about car safety and obeying the damn traffic laws. Climbing into the leather interior, I snuck a peek in the rearview mirror at the little girl that had changed my life. She was already out. Knew it.