“We’ve sorted you a new PR firm, Kaiden,” Mike said. He was my manager, and he’d been with me for two years now.
“Yeah?” I replied, mostly disinterested. I wasn’t paid to care about shit like that; it was his job.
“Yeah. We need to get this situation with Serra under control, and the old firm wasn’t doing shit for you.”
“You don’t say.” My sarcastic tone was the complete opposite of his calm, collected manner, but that’s why I need someone like him on my side, being the irrational hothead that I was.
“It’s the Wenden and Brown firm from downtown. I think they said your new agent’s name was Riley…something. Can’t remember the last name. Anyway, she’s young—around your age, actually—but she’s one of the best social media-oriented PR agents around.”
“She, huh?” I said.
I flashed a knowing grin at him. Normally Mike only had men working with me because he knew I’d probably end up screwing all the female employees and making things awkward, and I’d already destroyed more than one contract in that way.
“Leave it,” he said in a warning tone. “We need her. So don’t fuck her.”
At the time, I’d laughed it off and hadn’t thought about it since, but now, I couldn’t help but think that the Riley he’d been talking about then was the same Riley that I once knew—the one from my childhood. My best friend.
I tried to think back to which seat he’d said my new agent would be sitting in. 7A? No…8A. I finally allowed my eyes to skim back briefly, just to confirm that it was in fact Riley Solis.
Holy shit.
It was her, and she was sitting in seat 8A. So she was my new PR rep after all.
I flicked my gaze away again, allowing no recognition to cross my face. I couldn’t let this chick know that I remembered her. Working with her was going to be awkward enough, especially when I thought about all that we’d gone through as kids. What the hell was she going to think of what I’d become? She certainly wasn’t going to be proud, that was for sure, and for the first time since the fame had started to go to my head, I viewed myself in another way; through the eyes of my childhood friend.
And it didn’t feel good.
Shit, I had to stop thinking this way. I had a fight to win and I couldn’t allow myself to get distracted. My opponent Mac Brydie had always been a fierce fighter, and I needed to be on top of my game if I wanted to pound him into the ground and remain a champion.
I swallowed all of my emotions, getting my mind back to the place that it needed to be before wandering into the center of the cage and flexing my muscles. I turned slowly so everyone could see, and then grinned widely before kissing my biceps, a move that I knew would send the ladies wild. I was proven right by the feminine screams that almost took the roof off.
I had to force my eyes to stay firmly where they were, because they were absolutely desperate to see if Riley Solis was one of the girls who was yelling for me. I doubted it, though.
Mac and I got into our positions, staring at one another across the cage. If the circumstances were different, it was likely that Mac and I would have been friends, but we were fighting opponents, so that would probably never happen. Early on in this line of work, I’d decided I wanted to know as little as possible about the real lives of the guys I had to take on in the cage, because I always wanted to be able to fight like an animal. Any humanizing of the person I was punching, and I wouldn’t find it quite so easy.
I allowed my mind to cloud, and my inner demons began to take over.
“Round one!” the announcer yelled, and the place blew up with whoops and cheers.
I stood back, knowing exactly what Mac intended to do. He may have been ripped as fuck and heavier than me, but I already knew that I was going to beat him, because every move he intended to make was written all over his face. He hadn’t yet developed the stoic, poker face that was necessary for surprise attacks.
As soon as he flew at me, all pumped with his fists raised, I went in for the kill. I kicked out, aiming for the nearest spot to his groin without actually connecting. I knew this move was cheeky as fuck, and almost against the rules, but that’s why I wanted to do it. I wanted to see where the referee’s head was at, and how much I was going to be able to get away with.
If I got a warning, I would be able to argue it, but if I got nothing, then I would know that he wasn’t decent at his job. I’d then be able to fight as close to the line as possible—just the way I liked it.
“Jesus...” Mac grunted and stumbled backwards, clearly surprised by my assault.
I smiled smugly to myself at this. That’s how you do it, you fool, I wanted to say. Don’t wear your emotions on your sleeve, for everyone to see. Especially not your opponent. Idiot.
The ref blew a sharp whistle but didn’t pull me up for my move, and I nodded to myself, knowing where I was. I could go a little bit over the top, but not the whole way. Perfect.
This time, I made the attack first. I raced towards Mac while he was still planning his next move, and I planted my first punch. As my fist connected with his skin, adrenaline coursed through my veins, pumping me up even more. It always felt fucking amazing to hit someone with all my might. There was nothing else in the world quite like it.
As Mac’s head snapped backwards, I pulled out my other fist to use that one too. He pushed me back with his elbow, preventing me from hitting again, and a red mist descended in front of my eyes.
Fuck. I should’ve seen that coming.
The anger did me no favors, because it gave Mac a second to lay a few hits on me too. I couldn’t see because he was moving so quickly, but I heard a loud crack as a hot burst of pain spread across my face, which told me that my nose was bleeding, possibly even broken. I didn’t let it bother me, though; that was just one of the side effects of this business.
Seeing Riley Solis in the crowd of spectators had thrown me off my game, and I knew I needed to do something unless I wanted to end up completely humiliated, so I flailed my fists out too, just trying to defend myself. This may have looked like shit to the audience, but this moment wasn’t about them. This was about self-defense, about getting back the control. I couldn’t stand losing that, not even for a minute, or I’d lose.
It took a few hits, but finally I found him, and as soon as I did, Mac grabbed me, dragging me down towards the ground. Before I hit the floor, I swung my arm backwards, which knocked him off me. This all happened quickly, but it felt like slow motion to me.
I stood upwards slowly, knowing that the crowd would be going wild at this point. Now that I was all right again and back on top, I wanted this to be great for them. I couldn’t hear them, though. I couldn’t hear anyone. As soon as I centered in on the fight, everything else vanished. It had to in order for me to survive. The entire world had to become just me and whoever I was up against.
Okay, Kaiden. Let’s fucking end this, I told myself.
I spun quickly, propelling myself forward, and Mac and I started to fight in more of a technical style. The beauty of MMA was that it was mixed martial arts—you could do almost anything that you wanted. I’d been trained in boxing, jujitsu, karate, wrestling, taekwondo, judo…you name it, and I’d done it. Now, I was using that training to my advantage as I fought Mac. We grappled, we threw out strikes, we brawled, and we attacked each other from every possible angle, practically at the speed of light.
I started to work out where Mac was going. He wanted to pin me and force me into submission—that was obviously his whole game plan. He was planning on forcing me into a corner so that submitting would be my only choice, but he could get fucked if he thought that was actually going to happen. He was going to be the one pinned to the ground, not me, and he would be the one giving in and submitting to me.
I used the anger that he inspired within me to throw an even harder punch. I needed to knock him to the ground, and I needed to do it as soon as possible. As he started to tumble, I wrapped my arms around him and forced him onto his
stomach. He may have been bigger than me, but that only made him hit the ground harder.
His head smacked against the floor with a thump, and blood started to spurt from his nose in all directions, which was a good sign. It gave me the time I needed to pin him down while he was dazed and confused.
He struggled beneath me, trying desperately to pull free, but I was kneeling on both of his arms, giving him very little to fight with. I pressed my knees in hard, putting him through agonizing pain, forcing him to do exactly what I wanted.
“Fuck, I’m out…I’m out!” he finally yelled, sounding defeated as hell.
A sharp whistle blasted and I jumped up victoriously. Noise burst back into my ears as the crowd cheered, and I paraded around, showboating and riding the high of a victorious round one. If the rest of the fight went as well as this one had, then I’d be one happy man.
“Yeah!” I roared at the crowd. “Come on!”
“Kaiden.” The firm tone of the referee brought me right back down to Earth with a thump. “Take it down a notch, man.”
“Yes, mommy.” I grinned sarcastically before grabbing a towel and wiping the sweat and blood from my face.
I grabbed the nearest bottle of water and sucked down the cool liquid, realizing just how dry my burning throat was. Mike was raving on to me about something, but I wasn’t taking in a single word he was saying. Instead I had my eyes concentrated on Mac. I was checking him over, trying to gauge how he was faring. If I could figure out where his head was at, then I could work out how many of the five rounds we were going to be going through. He was hurt after the first round, but it was mostly surface wounds. That was nothing to guys like us—he’d easily be able to fight through that.
I was more than happy to do all five rounds if necessary, of course. The more I got to fight, the better, as far as I was concerned. Fighting had always been my release; it was what I needed from life, and I loved this shit. Only problem was that more rounds meant more chances to be beaten, and I really didn’t want to lose. On the very rare occasion that I’d been beaten in the past, it left me in a slump for days.
It was obvious that Mac had been affected by the loss he’d just experienced, but it was slowly converting into something else, something that he intended to use to take me down. Determination? Rage? Humiliation? Probably a combination of all three.
I was gonna have to step it up if I wanted to get this shit done.
I took a deep breath, twisting my head from side to side, gearing myself up. I didn’t want this to go on for any longer than it needed to, and if I gave it my all now, then I could finish him and secure my win.
I rose up to my feet, feeling like a fucking god. I was already kicking ass, so all I needed to do now was take it up one level, and that was no trouble.
“Round two!”
This time, I didn’t wait. I raced forward like a madman, my fists flying. The first one reached Mac’s jaw, which seemed to send agony bursting through him. He flailed in retaliation but had no chance of getting me, because my eyes were all over him and my brain was constantly anticipating his every move. I was fucking owning this shit.
I pounded down over and over again, and even as he fell to the ground, I didn’t stop. Blood began to cover my fists and arms, and spots of it reached my torso, but even then I didn’t give up. It was almost as if I couldn’t. The frustration that had overshadowed my life was finally making its ugly appearance, and every time it did, I found it hard to control myself. I normally tried to keep it from the cage, but that didn’t always seem to work. Sometimes it crept up on me slowly and consumed me before I even noticed that it was there.
Wreck him, my brain whispered as my body became a fighting machine that would stop at nothing. Just fuck him up.
“Knockout!” A voice finally broke through my focused barrier. “Kaiden, I said knockout!”
The referee grabbed my arm and tugged me backwards. I staggered off Mac’s destroyed body beneath me and tumbled to the ground.
Holy shit, that was bad. As I lay there, I realized just how close I’d come to getting myself disqualified. I’d really taken it too far. I needed to learn to keep control of myself; I shouldn’t have lost myself in this way.
My breaths started coming out as heavy pants as I stared at the damage I’d caused. Mac was a fucking mess. I knew this UFC shit was all about fighting and beating the shit out of people, but there was a line, and it needed to be drawn long before someone got fucking killed.
What the hell had just happened to me?
Mac finally coughed, blood splattering over his lips, and he turned over to his side. He groaned loudly as he moved, clearly in a lot of pain, but relief flooded through me all the same. At least he wasn’t out cold; at least he was okay. I’d never gone quite that far before, and I was a little stunned at myself.
“Winner!” the announcer yelled, dragging me to a standing position and raising my arm up high. “Kaiden Cross!”
I smiled weakly, trying to let the crowd’s yells boost me up once more. This was supposed to be the best part of the night, the bit where I embraced the win and used the adrenaline from the fight to go out and get some pussy, but I was weirdly empty and strangely numb. For the first time since I’d become a professional fighter, I didn’t want to go out on the prowl to find the first available girl to fuck.
That didn’t matter, though. The opportunity would still be there, whether I wanted it or not. Chicks always seemed to find themselves in my dressing room, looking for some no-strings fun. They were the type of girls that I adored; the ones who didn’t care about commitment and just wanted a wild time with a celebrity. Sure, it was a little cold and impersonal, but it wasn’t as if I cared about any of these women enough to feel offended by that.
“Remember your meeting!” I heard Mike call out behind me as I stalked away from the cage, but I didn’t pay any attention to his words. My mind was somewhere else entirely.
The backstage area of the building was fucking chaos. Now that the fight was done, everyone was running wild, trying to get their jobs completed. There was always a lot of health and safety bullshit to deal with these days to ensure that the audience was secure. Fucking pointless, if you asked me. The people that came to this sort of thing weren’t looking for boring, safe fun.
I kept my head down as I walked, not wanting to deal with anyone. All I wanted was a fucking beer. I didn’t often drink alcohol, because I needed to keep my body in the best shape possible, but I always had just one set aside for after a fight. I needed it to chill me the fuck out, and I needed it to transition me from a raging animal to a calm human again.
I needed it right now, more than ever.
“Kaiden!” I heard shrieking from the fans, but I didn’t look up.
It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate the fans—they were fucking amazing. I just needed to separate what happened out there and what was about to happen next.
As I swung open the door to my small dressing room, which I usually loved because it was the only place I got any privacy, I saw two women, half-naked and giggling as they went through my things. One was a petite blonde, and the other a tall brunette.
Normally I wouldn’t give a shit about them touching my stuff. I’d just be pleased that they were already partially undressed, making things happen much quicker, but tonight it pissed me off a little.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Oh my god, Kaiden!” the blonde one said in a shrill, overly-excited voice. As she turned to face me, I noticed that she’d stripped off her top and her breasts were swinging free. She was clearly here for one thing, and one thing only. “You were phenomenal out there!”
Her words brought back the memory of the fight, but it was hazy because her perky breasts were bringing about feelings elsewhere. My cock stiffened in my pants, and with that, my mood began to shift.
“Hey, Kaiden…”
Her brunette friend began to slink towards me too. She had a curvier body than the blonde, but s
he sure as hell knew how to work it. This girl’s boobs might have been covered—although I could see her erect nipples straining against her top—but every inch of her thighs were exposed by her tiny shorts, and she swayed her hips as she walked, proving that she had the sexiest quality that any woman could have— confidence. With each of her sensual movements, I could feel my cock growing even harder.
Hot damn…
A lusty cloud overtook me, forcing everything else out of my mind. “Well…hello, ladies.”
One of the women handed me my beer, already opened, and as the liquid slid down my throat, I instantly started to relax. I’d fucking won that fight out there, and I really should’ve been riding on that high. Nothing else should’ve mattered.
I slid into the nearest seat and flashed an exaggerated wink towards the girls. “So, what do you think you’re doing in my dressing room?”
“We just wanted to see you,” the blonde said in a sing-song voice, straddling my lap as she did. “We thought you deserved some fun.”
“Well,” I replied in a mock-serious tone. “I’m currently supposed to be in a meeting with all kinds of people. My manager, my coach, the press, my new publicist…”
“Wouldn’t you rather be with us?” The brunette joined in, standing behind me and wrapping her arms around my neck. She was breathing lightly onto my skin and it sent jolts of hot desire racing right down through my body.
“Of course.” I leaned in closer to the blonde, to the point where our lips were almost touching. I might as well have some fun if it was on offer, right?
But before I even managed to land one kiss, another feminine voice burst into the room.
“Oh, in here?” the voice said, as if it were talking to someone outside.
Riley Solis.
The door opened, and I didn’t even need to look up to know that it was her. I’d recognize that voice anywhere. Suddenly, any interest I’d had in the two overly-flirty women faded, and I pushed the blonde away from me, trying to stand upright and look innocent, as if the situation going on was something else entirely. Unfortunately, this action proved pointless. The daggers that Riley was currently shooting at me told me that she’d already seen too much.
Bad Boy Brit (A British Bad Boy Romance) Page 23
