Fight Like A Girl: An Opposites Attract Romance (Fighting For Love)

by Harley Reid

  When did he have time to put his t-shirt back on?

  "Congratulations Ethan. You are now the light heavyweight champion of the world." He pauses, allowing the belt to be wrapped around his waist as the arena comes alive with the booing of those who clearly wanted to see his opponent victorious. "It's been a tough road to get here but you've done it man. How does it feel to be back?"

  "Thank you. It feels absolutely amazing. It’s so great to be back in the octagon and finally taking home what’s mine!” He takes the belt off, raising it above his head as a barrage of flashes go off, and then he passes it to one of his team-mates.

  “Have you got anything you’d like to say to your fans?” The bald guy continues.

  “I do, but it will have to wait until the press conference because right now I have an important question I need to ask someone in the audience." He points at me, summoning me to join him in the octagon. Lexi encouraging me to go to him as I feel my face flush with embarrassment.

  A few seconds later, I’m stepping into the octagon as Ethan drops to one knee, holding a small, crushed velvet box. As I approach, he opens it to reveal the most precious white gold ring with three square princess cut diamonds taking centre stage.

  Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh!

  "I have loved you ever since the moment I met you and this past week has shown me that my life is crap without you in it." I've never seen him so nervous. "I want to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you make me so will you marry me?"

  My mouth falls open, tears pricking at my eyes. What the hell is he thinking?

  Every single face in the arena is looking at me but it feels like we're the only two people here. I nod my head, speechless.

  My heart is full to bursting as I hold out my hand for him to slide the cold band onto my left ring finger.

  It fits perfectly.

  3 Years Later

  A howling cry pierces the silence, and I slowly rouse from slumber, rubbing my eyes as check the clock and sigh.

  Feeding time.

  Gently, I elbow Ethan in the side as he groans and rolls over trying to ignore my latest attempt for him to tend to the boy.

  A promise is a promise. After all, he was the one who invited every man and his dog to the Christmas dinner I will be slaving over tomorrow so there's no way in hell he's getting away with it this time.

  Since her little brother’s arrival, Maddie has been feeling a little left out, so being the big softie that he is, he caved and told her that she could have a big family Christmas this year.

  What he failed to realise is that she would want to spend the day with absolutely everyone she knows. In the end we had to draw the line at letting a couple of her school friends come over for a couple of hours today and tomorrow is going to be a family and thankfully, Sarah is coming over early to give me a hand with the dinner while the men take care of the little ones.

  It’s been so long since I’ve seen Lexi. Her television pilot was a huge success, so the filming has moved down to London, taking her with it. She’s managed to rekindle a relationship with her ex though so at least something good has come from her moving hundreds of miles away. I’m looking forward to meeting him tomorrow and catching up on everything that I’ve missed.

  "Babe, it's your turn." I mutter, rolling onto my side facing him, as he begrudgingly heaves himself out of bed to sort a bottle out for Levi. For the next fifteen minutes or so, I lightly doze while listening to the comforting voice of my husband (I'll never get used to saying that word) soothing our four-month-old baby boy on the baby monitor.

  When he finally comes back to bed, I curl up beside him with my head against his chest and an arm draped over his rock-hard abs hypnotised by the rise and fall of his rhythmic breathing as he holds me close.

  Staring at the wall as the soothing rat-a-tat of rain drums against the windowpanes, I think about everything that we’ve been through these past three years and how lucky I am that I found him. Even now, he still gives me butterflies every time he looks at me.

  If someone had told me four years ago that by the age of twenty-seven, I'd be married to a smoking hot, professional fighter with a ten-year-old daughter and a new-born son I would have laughed in their face. It was most definitely not in my future plan but I'm so thankful for everything that brought me here.

  To him.

  "Babe, it's your turn." She mumbles as I heave my tired body out of bed and pull on some sweatpants.

  Leaving the room, I stumble around looking for the light switch and then walk down the corridor, stopping at what was once Mia's room. Peering through the small crack in the door, I see Madison sleeping soundly in her gigantic bed. When we found out Levi was on the way, she insisted that she needed a grown-up room and wanted her baby brother to have her playroom and started moving her stuff down here before we even realised. She’s growing up so fast.

  I carry on down the hallway, passing the giant wedding canvas that I had made for Mia to celebrate our one-year anniversary last summer when she was complaining that we didn’t have enough family photos around the house, and walk into the kitchen. I grab a pre-prepared bottle of milk from the fridge and make my way up to the mezzanine floor, pick up my beautiful baby boy and sit with him in the rocking chair while he feds.

  It takes no time at all for him to demolish his bottle and after a brief winding session, he is fast asleep and ready to go back in his cot.

  Heading back downstairs, I clean up his dirty bottle and go back to my bedroom. Closing the door behind me, I undress and crawl back into bed. Mia rolls closer, resting her head on my chest and her arm drapes across my stomach as she snuggles into me. I intertwine my fingers with hers and stare at the ceiling, overwhelmed with happiness.

  "Did you get him off to sleep okay?" she asks quietly.

  "Yeah, he's sleeping like a baby." I stroke her hair before resting my hand on her thigh. "I love you."

  "I love you too.” She lightly kisses my chest, making my body come alive. “Now go back to sleep. Everyone will be here before we know it."

  A slither of light pours in through a crack in the curtains and I look down at her in awe as her long, thick lashes flutter against my chest. She traces her fingertips over my abs and drapes her leg over mine, making my dick start to twitch. After almost fours year, I still can't get enough of her.

  "Are you awake?" I whisper and before I have chance to finish my sentence, she is straddling me.

  She's wearing the shirt that I was wearing during the post-fight interview when I proposed, and it is so oversized on her that I can't help but smile as I raise it over her head and toss it to the floor before bringing my hands back to her hips.

  She bites her bottom lip and looks into my eyes and all I see is the terrified little blonde that walked into my study looking for a job all those years ago. I wasn't aware of it at the time, but even back then she had me hooked.

  I squeeze her hips as she lowers herself down onto me, throwing her head back as she grinds on me with a slow, torturous speed.

  She kisses me, moaning against my lips as our hips roll into each other with perfect synchronicity until we collapse in ecstasy and drift back into a deep sleep.

  ~THE END~

  First, I want to say a massive thank you to YOU, the readers. Thank you for taking a chance on an unknown writer trying to follow her dreams. There are so many times that I doubted my ability and almost gave up (impostor syndrome is real!) and so many of you were there, sharing your excitement and supporting me each and every day, giving me the courage to continue. I am so, so grateful to each one of you.

  Ever since I was a young girl, I always dreamed of writing a book. In fact, I was one of those girls that was constantly writing short stories and scripts, but never got around to writing an actual novel. My main problem, I have so many different ideas and characters living in my head that it is difficult to put it all together.

  Mia and Ethan had been living inside my brain for well over a year, but
I just couldn't focus enough to give them the story they deserved. That was until I found Eva Deverell and Abbie Emmons. I can honestly say, if it wasn't for the two of you and your knowledge/methods, Mia and Ethan would still be wandering around in my dreams trying to find each other. Thank you!

  To my amazingly supportive husband. Thank you for putting up with my crazy ramblings and endless hours either in front of my laptop or frantically typing notes into my phone every time something randomly pops into my head during movie night. You have put up with a lot this past year and I am so grateful for your unconditional love and support.

  Thank you to Emma Louise (@emma_reads_romance) and Aimee (@caffe.and.books) for being my biggest cheerleaders and to Erica (@mydogatemybookreviews) for the amazing edits that you create. You three always bring a smile to my face.

  To my amazing Street Team. Shannon, Gemma, Birgit, Kimberly, Michalina, Nancy, Kira, Erica, Emma, Aimee, Katja, Alisha, Aubrey, Alexandra, Jenna, Rebecca, Nicole, Anakha, Steph, Safphire, Sara, Guadalupe, Kat, Camilla, Ana, Emma G, Natasha, Audri, Anna, Louise, Selena and Katie, I will be eternally grateful for all the love and support you have given me during my author debut and I couldn’t wish for a better team. You are truly amazing.

  To all my fabulous ARC readers, bloggers, and bookstagrammers. I see the reviews, tags, and the posts that you work so hard to create and I am so thankful for your effort supporting me through all this and helping spread the word.

  And lastly, I would like to thank every other author and aspiring author that I connected with along my journey. You have inspired me, helped me get out of my head and lost in someone else’s and most of all, you have pushed me to be a better writer by raising the bar so high.

  I have so many other ideas that I need to get around to plotting so there will be lots more to come in the future, but you’ll (hopefully) be happy to hear that I am currently working on Lexi’s second chance romance ‘Girlfriend Experience’ and let me tell you, this one is guaranteed to give you all the feels (and a cute little cameo from Mia and Ethan).

  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

  xoxo, Harley

  Growing up, Harley always had an active imagination and spent a lot of her time writing short stories or scripts. Her favourite genres growing up were horror, mystery, and science fiction but after reading P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern, she was hooked on romance.

  Her love of writing led to her becoming a songwriter, but this never really felt like enough. After reading more books from independent romance authors during the 2020 lockdown, she was inspired to try and give the characters in her head a chance to let their stories be told, and that’s when Ethan and Mia were born.

  It has been a difficult journey, where impostor syndrome has set in more than one but thanks to the amazing support she receives on social media, she was encouraged to believe in herself and continue.

  Harley is an enthusiastic fan of mixed martial arts, music and is addicted to Tom Hardy. She loves strong coffee, comfy clothes, badass alpha heroes covered with tattoos and the heroines that can melt their hearts.

  She lives in the United Kingdom with her husband and Romanian Rescue fur baby.

  Enjoyed ‘Fight Like A Girl’? Make sure you stay update!

  www.harleyreid.co.uk

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