The Fighting Series (Books 1-5)

by Nikki Ash

  She sniffles and nods. “Just promise me if you no longer want me you’ll tell me. Please don’t ever cheat on me, Bentley. I couldn’t handle the humiliation.”

  “Stop! Don’t say stupid shit like that. I’m not that Jackass from when you were a teenager. Nobody is cheating, leaving, or using anybody.” I grab Kayla’s chin and give her a quick kiss. “I love you. I love you just the way you are. I would never cheat on you. Just let me love you, baby. I’m sorry for not telling you about the mom’s group. It was wrong of me. I’ll never hide anything from you again.”

  I don’t wait for a response because I know I won’t get one. While she doesn’t freak out when I tell her constantly that I love her, she doesn’t say it back… yet. I set her down next to me on the couch, pick up Faith, and hand her to her. I reach down putting my arms on either side of Kayla’s head, and give first Kayla a kiss, and then Faith one, breathing them both in. It’s the best smell. I wish I could bottle it up and keep it forever. These two girls are my world. “Now, we have some packing to do!”

  Kayla’s eyes dart to me in confusion. “For what?”

  “Surprise. My parents are taking Faith for the weekend. We leave tomorrow night after dinner with my parents. You need to pack warm clothes with plenty of layers… Oh! And that sexy-as-hell red bikini is a must. That’s all I’m telling you.”

  * * *

  “Oh. My. God. Are you freaking serious?” Liz yells, causing people to stop eating and look at us.

  “Shh… chill the heck out,” I say while feeding Faith another bite of mashed potatoes.

  “This is so exciting!” Ashley chimes in.

  Once I knew we were heading out to Breckenridge on an impromptu mini-vacation with all of our friends for the weekend, I decided it would be the perfect time and place to pop the question to Kayla. I already purchased the ring awhile back, now I just need to figure out the best way to do it.

  I’m currently having an early lunch with Liz, Ashley, and our kids, hoping they can help me plan something romantic before we head out of town tonight.

  “Do you have a ring?” Liz asks with tears in her eyes. I’ve never been around women as much as I have since I’ve started staying home with Faith, and one thing I’ve learned from these women is that they are full of emotions. I’ve always known they have emotions, but after spending so much time with all these moms, I could write a book on how crazy their emotions really are. Happy, sad, mad, I can’t ever keep up. Men have one emotion. Chill.

  “Of course I do, and no you aren’t seeing it before Kayla does. Now help me out here. How should I propose? Alone? In front of everyone?”

  Liz frowns. “Hm, I think you should do it alone. We can all celebrate afterward, but what if she says no?”

  Ashley’s eyebrows shoot up. “Do you think she would say no?”

  “She’s going to say yes. We’ve come a long way. We’re together and we have Faith. Her biggest fear is being heartbroken. I just need to convince her that forever is the opposite of breaking her heart.”

  “I agree with Liz. Do it alone. That way she doesn’t feel overwhelmed or pressured.”

  “All right. Alone it is.” I attempt to give Faith another bite of potatoes, but she isn’t having it. She closes her mouth tight and shakes her head. Fucking cute kid. Just as stubborn as her mother.

  We continue to discuss the different ways I can propose while Bella and Tristan play with Faith and Nathan. They’re making crazy faces at them, which causes them to squeal and clap in response. Faith loves all the attention.

  “Has Kayla mentioned anything about not being able to have more kids?” Liz asks quietly.

  “No, but if she ever wanted to, I’ll make sure it happens. For now, Faith is all we need.”

  “You’re a good guy, Bentley. Thank you for taking care of our girl.”

  I give Liz a wink. Nothing more needs to be said. I’ll always take care of Kayla.

  I pay for lunch, then we grab our kids and all head home. Everybody will be meeting at the plane tonight to fly out together.

  Twenty-Eight

  Bentley

  Dinner at my parents went well. We said our goodbyes to Faith and thanked my parents for watching her. I decided it would be best to take a cab to the airport and leave my car at my parents so we don’t have to deal with parking. Kayla’s Volvo SUV has been having some issues so I need to look into getting her a new vehicle. I love my BMW so maybe I’ll get her one as well.

  When we get there and pull up to the private hanger, Kayla looks shocked that we aren’t arriving in the regular terminal.

  “Umm… Bentley? Are we flying on a private plane?” She darts her eyes from me to the plane several times making me laugh.

  “Yeah, I figured it would be easier with all of us flying on such short notice.”

  “Who’s all of us?”

  We step onto the plane and her question is answered. Already on the plane are all of our friends chatting and waiting for us.

  “Oh my God! Everybody is going away?” she screeches as she runs over to Liz, Hayley, and Ashley and gives them a group hug.

  Cooper walks over and gives me a bro hug. “Finally using some of that dough on yourself, bro?”

  I shake my head and chuckle. The truth is I couldn’t spend the amount of money I have in my lifetime, especially not the way I live. Because of my father being financially savvy, I have money all over the place in various ventures, and the money I do spend is just from the interest and my earnings alone.

  I walk over and bump fists with Caleb and Kaden, and then the pilot requests we fasten our seatbelts so we can take off.

  Once we’re seated and buckled in, Kayla asks, “Who is paying for all this?”

  The guys all look at me quickly and then try to look around to not give anything away. It’s not that I’m keeping my money situation from her. It’s like I’ve said before, I don’t want to scare her off. She has this crazy notion that people need to be equal in a relationship. I’ve finally gotten her to give us a real chance, and if she knew money-wise, it’s like ninety-nine to one she might freak out on me. I’m just not ready to chance it yet.

  However, I’m not going to flat out lie to her. “I did. I have money saved up and I wanted to do this for us. Please don’t be upset. We’re fine for money and I just want to have a good weekend with you and our friends, okay?”

  She looks at me skeptically but luckily lets it go. If all goes well this weekend, we’ll be one step closer to being married and then I’ll tell her about my inheritance. I just need to take it one small step at a time with her.

  We arrive in Colorado and have a van take us straight to the cabin to get settled in. It’s cold as shit here, but I love it. We arrive at the cabin and Kaden is the first one to comment.

  “Holy shit, dude! Is this your place?”

  I try to look at it from their perspective. It’s a large two-story cabin made of brick and stone. There’s a wraparound porch on both the first and second story. There’s a large chimney that goes up the entire side of the cabin, where smoke is rising out of the top. I had the housekeeper stock up and start the fire before we got here. In the background are the mountains.

  To some, I guess the cabin would look over the top like something you would see in a photo, but to me it looks like home away from home. I spent my entire life coming here with my parents during many holidays including Christmas break.

  “It’s not my place, technically. It’s my parents’ place. We’ve been coming here every year since I was little. Actually Cooper has been here a few times with me when his parents would let him go.”

  Everybody walks inside and stops to take it all in. The inside is just as beautiful as the outside. All wood from floor to ceiling, comfy country chic furniture and décor my mom has decorated the place with over the years. Kayla walks up to the stone fireplace and picks up the family picture on the mantel and smiles at me.

  “You look so happy in this picture. I hope one day we have pic
tures like this of Faith.”

  I wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her forehead. “We will and she’ll be just as happy. She already is happy. Maybe if you like it here we can make coming here a family tradition.”

  “Really? I’ve never skied or snowboarded before. Can you teach me?” She beams with childlike excitement.

  “Absolutely. And when Faith gets older, she’ll learn to as well. You’ll teach her to surf and I’ll teach her to ski and fight,” I say with a wink.

  She laughs and it makes my heart pump a little faster. I love that fucking sound.

  “All right, so where is everybody sleeping?” Caleb cuts in.

  “Liz and I get our own room,” Cooper adds.

  “I can share a room with Ashley,” Kaden says.

  “Yeah? On the floor?” Ashley barks out with laughter.

  “Shut up, crazy.” Kaden laughs back.

  “There are four rooms. Kayla and I are taking the master so you all can figure the rest out.” I grab Kayla’s hand and pull her down the hall to the bedroom. Let them figure out the sleeping arrangements. I have forty-eight hours alone with my woman. I don’t have time to play camp counselor.

  We get to the master bedroom, and as soon as we walk in, I close the door and push her up against it, plunging my tongue into her mouth. Her hands come up to my hair and she tugs lightly, trying to push me away. I try to ignore her and continue to swirl my tongue around when she laughs into my mouth causing me to laugh as well.

  I back away and she laughs harder. “Bentley! I haven’t even seen the bedroom yet!”

  “It has four walls and a bed. You don’t need to see anything else. Trust me. Now where were we?”

  I push my erection up against her and go back to kissing her. This time she moans softly and instead of her fingers tugging my hair to push me away she pulls my face closer causing our kiss to deepen.

  I reach down and grab her ass, squeezing tightly, Just as I’m about to pick her up to bring her to the bed there’s a knock on the door.

  I pause our kissing just long enough to yell, “Go away!” and then bring my lips back to hers to continue tasting her.

  There’s a knock again.

  “What the fuck! Go away!” I yell again.

  “Maybe they need something.” Kayla laughs, while trying to give me her best glare.

  I move us from the door and swing it open, about to kill whoever is on the other side.

  “Umm… I’m sorry. I just wanted to see if there’s any way to get to the resort. I was thinking I could maybe stay up there,” Hayley says softly, clearly embarrassed to have interrupted us.

  “What? Why would you do that?” Kayla says, pushing me away and walking out the door with Hayley.

  “Well, there’s only one room left and Caleb doesn’t want to share.”

  I walk behind them down the hall, planning all the ways I can get even with Caleb for being the reason my dick is still hard as fuck and not balls deep inside my woman right now.

  “You aren’t staying anywhere else. Right, Bentley? We’ll figure it out.”

  I nod then head to find Caleb to get this shit figured out. He’s sitting on the living couch with his head hanging down.

  “What’s up man? Is it that big of a deal to share a room with Hayley?”

  He sighs and shakes his head. All these years and I’ve never seen him with a woman except that night when he kissed Hayley on a dare.

  “I’m sorry, man. I’m just not comfortable sharing a room with her. It’s nothing against her. I just don’t know her. I can stay somewhere else.”

  “No, man. It’s fine. We’ll figure it out. Can I ask you why though?

  He looks at me and cringes. “I just don’t trust women.”

  “All right, would you be okay with sleeping on the couch? I would feel like a dick if I ask her to and she’s trying to leave to stay somewhere else.”

  Caleb sighs loudly and shakes his head. “Fuck, I know she likes me. I try to ignore it, but I see the looks and shit. I shouldn’t have kissed her at the club. I don’t know what the hell came over me. I don’t want to be a dick. Let her sleep in the room and I’ll crash on the couch as long as you’re okay with that. She kept insisting I sleep in the room and she would sleep elsewhere. I didn’t know what to do.”

  “Okay, cool. And it’s only for two nights, so it’s not a big deal. If you ever want to talk, I’m here.”

  We bump fists and head into the kitchen to let Hayley know the room is all hers.

  “Are you sure, Caleb? I don’t mind sharing a room with you… or I can stay on the couch.” The poor girl looks so defeated. I never paid attention, but I think she really does like him.

  “It’s cool. Please take the room. I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.” He gives her a small smile and she smiles back accepting his answer.

  We all decide to call it a night. It’s late and we are going to get up early in the morning to go check out the skiing resort. We walk back to our room and the first thing I do is call my parents to check on Faith while Kayla gets ready for bed.

  I’m finishing up the call when Kayla walks out of the bathroom in a sheer black nightgown. It shows everything yet covers it all up at the same time. Underneath is a small piece of material some would call underwear that is supposed to be covering her pussy but isn’t really covering much at all. Her hair is down and it’s just long enough that it covers her nipples so I can’t see them, but I would bet my life they’re budding out ready for me to suck on them.

  She’s leaning against the doorframe with a devilish grin on her face knowing exactly what she’s doing to me. She looks fucking perfect. She is fucking perfect. And she’s all mine. I don’t know what the hell comes over me but all my planning flies out the window when I blurt out, “Marry me.”

  Her head tilts to the side unsure she heard me right. I know this isn’t how it was supposed to happen, but fuck it. It’s happening now.

  I stand up as she walks slowly toward me waiting for me to say something. I meet her in front of the bed and turn her to sit her on the edge.

  “This isn’t at all how I planned this. I was going to do it tomorrow night. I reserved a private room at the restaurant at the resort, and I was going to get down on one knee after dessert. But then you come out here looking like you do, beautiful and sexy, and I couldn’t wait another second to ask you to be my wife. I love you so damn much. I love our daughter and our life. I want to marry you and make you happy for the rest of our life.”

  I pull the ring out of the pocket of my luggage to show it to her. “Kayla Peterson, will you make me even happier than I already am and marry me?”

  Twenty-Nine

  Kayla

  I don’t even need to look at the ring to know my answer. It could have been a freaking ring pop and I would still say yes to this man. He has become everything to me. He’s an amazing father and partner, and has become my best friend. He’s been saying I love you to me for so long and while I haven’t once said it back, he has never commented or gotten upset. He has loved me unconditionally every step of the way. He accepts me just the way I am.

  I realize that while I’m listing off every reason in my head as to why I’m going to marry Bentley, I haven’t yet verbally said a word. And of course he continues to have patience, just waiting for me to sift through and process my thoughts and feelings.

  When I finally speak, what comes out first is, “I love you.”

  His face brightens instantly and I want to freeze-frame the way he looks when he hears those words.

  “I love you too, baby.”

  We stare at each other for a moment and then it hits me… I still didn’t give him a damn answer! Jesus, I seriously suck at this. That thought makes me laugh and his smile morphs to confusion.

  “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you.” I jump straight into his arms and of course he catches me. My legs wrap around his back as my mouth crashes against his. We go from zero to sixty. We’re all teeth and tongues. His hands
are kneading my ass and my hands are gripping his hair pulling him closer to me as my pussy grinds up against his hard stomach seeking relief.

  He walks us around to the side of the bed and lays me down, crawling on top of me and parting my legs with his knees. He takes my left hand and slides the ring onto my ring finger. I don’t even have a chance to check it out and admire it before he growls out, “mine” and his mouth is back on mine once again.

  We kiss for a long time—to the point that my lips feel numb and bruised—before Bentley moves to my neck. He licks and then bites and sucks and then licks once again. He works his way down to my breasts and after kissing each nipple over the sheer teddy, he loses his patience and rips it down the center. He kisses my nipples a second time, but this time without the material he’s able to grab each one and suck on them, sending a bolt of pleasure straight to my pussy.

  I buck my hips against his hardness through his pants, but it does absolutely nothing to alleviate the pent up tension my body is building from his touch. He continues to suck on each nipple and I swear I’m close to having an orgasm from this act alone.

  “Bentley, please. I want you inside me.”

  He releases my nipple from his mouth and sits up to remove his shirt and then removes his boxers and jeans. Every time I get a chance to see him like this, I can’t believe this man is all mine. The man hasn’t trained for a fight in months yet is still hard everywhere. Toned stomach and chiseled chest, and I don’t even need to count anymore to know he has an eight-pack of abs. It’s no wonder every mom in that stupid mom’s group wants my fiancé. Holy shit! He’s my fiancé! I’m engaged to Bentley Cruz. The thought suddenly has me kind of freaking out. Will I be a good wife? Will we last forever or will we become a statistic my parents always talk about?

  Bentley must sense my freak out because he leans forward and whispers into my ear, “Don’t overthink this, woman. You are mine and I’m yours and that ring is never coming off your finger.”