Epilogue
Shane
My sexy girlfriend walked past the cage, and my reward for noticing was a jab to the nose. The woman was always getting me hit in the head—I refused to take the blame, since it was literally impossible to not look when she walked by.
“You got soft up north,” Liam said.
“Oh, it’s on now.” I worked my combos. Jab, jab, fake my usual left hook before throwing an undercut with my right. I grinned when it landed, popping Liam’s head back. He might have thirty pounds on me, but a solid hit was a solid hit—he assumed I hadn’t learned a new combo. I knew he’d assume that. Maybe even played it up.
He came at me, and I dodged a swing.
“Boys,” Brooklyn called, and it took all my self-control not to look her way. “We’ve been back here all of two days and you’re already exchanging blows?”
“Training, baby,” I said. “You know, the kind I did in San Francisco the past three months while you were completing your internship and Liam was here getting soft?”
Liam took me to the ground, and I laughed instead of focusing on getting a better position.
“Liam, could you please not bruise his face? I’ve got my first showing tomorrow night at the new gallery where I’ll be working, and I’d like it if he wasn’t black and blue for at least one of my showings.”
The buzzer rang, meaning our five minutes was up anyway. Liam pushed to his feet and then extended a hand to help me up. I’d met some good guys while living with Brooklyn up north for the past few months, but it’d been a while since sparring had been this fun.
We shed our gear, and I walked over to where Brooklyn stood, the cage between us. I curled my fingers in the links, and she leaned forward and kissed me through one of the tiny gaps. With her brothers looking on, it was probably for the best I couldn’t get my hands on her the way I wanted to. During her internship, she’d been looking for jobs up north and in San Diego, and when a gallery offered her one down here, she jumped on it. We were both glad to be back, although she was my home, and I belonged wherever she was.
She sighed as she reached out and brushed her fingers across a stinging spot on my cheek that couldn’t be more than a minor scuff. “So much for both of your claims to take it easy.”
“Neither of us is bleeding. That is easy for us.”
She shook her head. “I happen to like your face. Is it so bad that I don’t want it all beat up?”
I poked a finger through one of the links, hooked it on her nearest belt loop, and pulled her to me. “All that really matters is how it fits between your thighs, right?”
An adorable blush crept across her skin, and satisfaction that I could still get that kind of reaction out of her coursed through my veins. She recovered quickly, going from blushing to vixen in two seconds flat. “You better get out of that cage so you can take me home and give me a demonstration. Our new apartment needs christening, after all.”
I practically tripped over my feet in my rush to get out of there.
Brooklyn stopped by her dad’s office to say good-bye, and I hung back and watched the easy conversation between them. Old scars had healed, and they understood each other better these days. It helped that he’d been so gracious about letting me work with other trainers for the past few months—though I’d always be Team Domination, and in another six weeks I’d take on my next opponent, and all four Roths would be in my corner. Between gaining a handful of new fighters and implementing Brooklyn’s ideas about opening up the gym and holding classes, the gym was back in the black.
Blake gave me a nod I returned and then Brooklyn was at my side again. Out of habit, I’d nearly exited out the back, down a hallway I’d always remember fondly thanks to our many heated interactions there. Right before we stepped outside, Brooklyn stopped and surveyed the gym. The activity, the buzz in the air.
“For years I denied this was where I belonged,” she said, “but man, it’s good to be home.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “Amen.”
We walked to curb where the sun glinted off the silver parts of my bike, and I handed her one of the motorcycle helmets—she’d insisted on buying another one so we had two, because she said she preferred my brains inside my skull. “Did I mention that Hector and the boys are coming over tonight?”
“Yeah, most of our kitchen stuff is buried, so we’ll order pizza.”
“Perfect. Then dinner with both of our moms tomorrow.” My stomach dipped. That was a big one. Her mom wasn’t the biggest fan of fighters or the lifestyle, but she was flying in for Brooklyn’s art show and wanted to meet me. I’d charm her and win her over, but I hoped the in between part wasn’t too rough.
Brooklyn paused with her helmet hovering over her head. “So basically what I’m hearing is we better hurry home and get busy, because it’s going to be nonstop madness for days.”
I leaned in and kissed her. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
“Yeah, moving to San Francisco for me pretty much gave it away.”
I grinned. “You sexy, cocky—”
She yanked me to her, dragged her tongue across my lower lip, and then kissed me so passionately I almost took her over my motorcycle. But her brothers and dad could walk out any minute, and while they’d gotten used to us as a couple, that would definitely push the limits.
I climbed in front of her, fired up my bike, and raced us to our new home, where we were starting the next phase of our life together.
Home. Family. Belonging to someone, and having someone belong to me. At one point in my life they seemed like things I’d never have. Brooklyn and I walked into our apartment, and I took a moment to soak her in, this beautiful girl standing in a sea of boxes that held what used to be two separate lives.
Thanks to her, I’d gotten over my fear of wanting things.
I knew she’d be there if I won or if I lost. Her love wasn’t conditional, and that made it safe to want her and to want us, and to want a future together. We didn’t need hope anymore. We belonged together, and I knew that as long as we kept helping each other achieve our dreams, nothing could ever tear us apart.
Want more? Turn the page for a sneak peek of Liam and Chelsea’s story, Until We’re More, coming soon!
Did you love this Embrace? Check out more of our new adult titles !
Don’t miss more books by Cindi Madsen! Sign up for our newsletter !