A Fighter's Desire

by L. P. Dover

  “Don’t hurry back on my account.”

  He guffawed and rushed over to Ryley’s corner where their coach was talking quickly to Ryley, most likely giving him advice on how to proceed. When Camden showed up and joined them, Ryley glanced my way; I nodded to reassure him that I was okay. They talked back and forth, his gaze intent and focused, until the bell rang; it was time to fight again.

  This time it was Ryley who was relentless. His blue eyes were fierce and on fire as he landed punch after punch, eventually knocking Nick down to the mat … out cold; his head bounced off of the floor with a loud thud. It was a swift win and the crowd went crazy; so did I. Luckily, there were no broken bones tonight. Nick ‘The Bone Crusher’ Bradshaw was knocked out and he wasn’t getting up.

  I jumped out of my seat and screamed as Ryley’s hand was lifted in victory by Forest Jacoby. “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winner of tonight’s fight … RYLEY ‘THE RAMPAGE’ JAAAMMEEESSOOONNNN! The prize for this exceptional fighter is a one on one training session with me each week for the rest of the year.”

  Ryley’s eyes went wide and he smiled as Forest shook his hand and whispered something in his ear. After that, Ryley took off around the ring and fist pumped the air in victory.

  “Woohooo, Ryley! Way to go!” I shouted.

  With a big smile on his face, Camden jumped into the ring and hugged him, along with their coach who looked on in pride. After they were done celebrating, Ryley jumped over the edge and rushed down to me.

  “It’s time to celebrate, baby. Let’s go!”

  And I knew exactly what that would entail.

  Celebrating meant skinny dipping in the pool. I let Ryley pick what he wanted to do and that was what he chose. Thankfully, Camden was at a party and wouldn’t be back for a while. Even then there was no telling how many girls he was going to bring back with him. I’d always been confident in myself and in my relationships, but never have I had to worry about something to that magnitude.

  I just don’t want to get hurt.

  “Are you getting in?” Ryley asked, watching me from the pool. “The water’s nice and warm.”

  With a smile on my face, I let the robe fall to the ground before diving into the steamy, crystal blue water. The water was almost as hot as a sauna and it felt great … even more so when Ryley swam over to me and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me in tight against him from behind.

  He nipped my earlobe with his teeth and reached up to grope my breasts. “You know, I was thinking tonight you could stay here with me, and then tomorrow morning we could go back to the cabin. What time do you have class on Monday?”

  All I could think about was his hands on my body … not class. “Mmm … ten o’clock, I think. I can’t concentrate with you touching me like that.”

  His hand slid down my stomach to between my legs, and he pushed a gentle finger inside of me. “What? You mean when I’m doing this?” he asked, thrusting inside of me. Chuckling, he kissed along my neck, making me shiver, and guided us to the edge of the pool so I could hold on.

  “Yes, when you’re doing that,” I responded breathlessly.

  Slowly, he slid his finger out and turned me around in his arms. Facing him, I wrapped my legs around his waist. All of my fears came crashing down as he stared at me with those powerful blue eyes of his.

  I was scared to care about him, scared to fall in love with him. Hell, I was just scared of him in general; he awakened things inside of me I didn’t know existed. I didn’t know what he saw in my eyes, but his gaze softened and he kissed me, slowly backing me into the wall.

  “You’re holding back, Ashleigh. I can see it in your eyes. What can I do to make that fear go away?”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered truthfully. “I’m scared.”

  Taking my face in his hands, he gazed down at me longingly. I knew he was falling for me and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I just wished I wasn’t petrified to let him in. Getting hurt left scars, and I had a ton of them; I didn’t want anymore.

  “Scared of what?” he asked.

  “I’m scared of falling in love with you. Falling in love only gets you hurt.”

  He leaned down, resting his forehead against mine. “I’m scared, too, angel. I don’t know the first thing about being with someone, much less love. Let’s just take things slow and go from there. If it works, it works … if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”

  “Will we still be friends if it doesn’t?”

  Ryley chuckled and held my face in his hands. “Who else am I going to get to ride in the mud with me?” Spreading my legs, he circled his cock in between my thighs and pushed the tip in just a bit, making me gasp. “Now let’s go inside so I can show you how slow I can go.”

  “Or,” I responded, biting my lip, “you could show me out here. Are you up for that?”

  He pushed his cock inside of me just a little bit more, his eyes guarded. “Are you sure you want it this way, angel?”

  It was my next step to letting go of the pain in my heart … to moving on.

  “Yes,” I murmured, holding him tighter with my legs. “Let’s go slow.”

  Taking it nice and slow was what he did when he gently pushed inside of me and thrust his hips against mine in deep, penetrating strokes. My body was on fire, burning from his touch, his kisses, and from inside of me. All I could do was hold on tight and let him take me away … to a place where heartache didn’t exist.

  The next morning, I woke up to the incessant vibrating buzz of my phone, which was locked away in my purse. I hadn’t looked at it all night; the fighter sleeping soundly in the bed beside me had kept me up most of the night. It was most likely Gabriella anyway.

  Rubbing my tired eyes, I put on his robe and slowly slipped out of bed, tiptoeing to my purse so I could get my phone. I was right in that it was Gabriella, but … she called fifteen times! There were also other numbers as well that I didn’t recognize. What the hell? Plus, there were five voicemail messages.

  Ryley had a balcony off of his room, so I opened the French-style doors and shut them quietly behind me. If something was really wrong she would’ve called Ryley, right? Biting my lip, I waited anxiously for Gabriella to answer the phone.

  “Hello,” she answered groggily. It was kind of early in the morning so it didn’t surprise me that she was still in bed.

  “Hey, are you okay? You called me like a gazillion times.”

  “Oh my God,” she gasped. “Did you not listen to your messages?”

  “No,” I hissed low, my heart pounding. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  She sighed and blew out a nervous breath. “Colin’s back, Ash. It was him calling you. I thought you would’ve listened to his messages and come home. When you didn’t, he left.”

  Immediately, my throat tightened and my eyes burned. “What did he want? He pretty much made it clear he didn’t want me after ignoring me all week.”

  “No,” Gabriella replied regretfully. “He dropped his phone at the airport and it shattered, so he was going to get a new phone as soon as he got back. He didn’t even think about calling to check his voicemail until he showed up at the apartment looking for you. I told him you left him a message and that he needed to listen to it.”

  “Did he?”

  “Yes … and then he asked where you were.”

  “And did you tell him?”

  “He already knew, Ash. He saw you on TV at the fight. That’s why he tried to get to you sooner. He even drove to the arena in hopes he could find you there. I had to stop him from going to Ryley’s house.”

  The more she spoke, the sicker I got to my stomach. “Why would he do that?”

  “Because,” she murmured sadly, “he broke up with his girlfriend this week. That was why he went to Seattle, Ash. He wanted to end things with her because … he’s in love with you. He didn’t want to tell you until he got back. When he listened to your message I had never seen him so torn up in my life. I didn’t know what to do.”
>
  “Oh my God,” I cried, placing my hand over my heart. “I don’t even know what to do. What do I tell him?”

  “The truth,” Gabriella said. “All you have to do is tell the truth. He loves you, Ash. I honestly think Ryley does as well in his own way. You just have to make a decision … which one do you care about more?”

  With tears streaming down my cheeks, I closed my eyes and hung my head. I had to face it … I loved them both.

  I didn’t realize Ryley had come outside until I felt his arms wrap around my waist, pulling me to him. “Hey, are you okay?”

  “No,” I cried, hanging up the phone and slowly turning around in his arms. His gaze was worried, concerned, but as soon as he looked into my eyes he knew. I had to tell him, and in doing that my heart was going to break … again.

  “IT’S OVER, ISN’T it?” I asked, watching her wipe away her tears. I knew Colin was coming back, but I thought it was over; I thought she was over him. “What did he say?”

  “That wasn’t him I was talking to, it was Gabriella. He tried to call me last night when he got back in town.”

  “Okay, but you never answered my question,” I said, trying to keep my calm. I didn’t want to care if she left or not … but dammit to hell I did. I had women lined up left and right who wanted to fuck me, but the one woman I wanted, longed to be with someone else. How the hell did that happen?

  “I’m sorry, Ryley,” she cried. “I love him. I’ve always loved him.”

  “What about me? If he wasn’t around do you think you could ever love me, past and all?”

  She chuckled lightly and placed her hands on my face, lifting up on her tiptoes to give me one last kiss. I was going to miss her raspberry scent, the sweetness of her skin on my lips … the way she smiled. She was the only woman I had let get close to me, and now she was leaving. I didn’t want her to go, but I knew fighting for her wouldn’t be an option. She didn’t want me to fight for her.

  All I needed to do was pretend it didn’t bother me.

  “Oh, I know I would, Ryley … because I already do. You’re an amazing man, adventurous, fun, and a passionate lover in bed. Believe me, I had an amazing time with you and knowing it’s coming to an end hurts. I’m going to miss you.”

  “Are you going to tell him about me? About what we’ve done?”

  She sighed and nodded. “Yes, I’m going to tell him. Maybe not in detail, but I have nothing to hide. Besides, he was still taken when you and I started. He can’t fault me for being with you.”

  “You know that if you go to him, you won’t ever be able to come back, right? This is the last time we’ll be together.”

  “I know,” she whispered, and then turned those lips of hers into a smile, “but I’m sure you’ll be back to your same old ways in no time.”

  Smirking, I tapped her on the chin and stepped back. The more distance from her, the better. “You know it, angel. I don’t stay down for long, you know that.”

  “That’s true,” she murmured sadly. Smiling one last time, she gazed up at me with her emerald colored eyes and squeezed my hand before letting go all too quickly. “Good-bye, Ryley. I really will miss you.”

  “Good-bye, Ashleigh.”

  For a moment, I didn’t think she would leave, but then she walked right past me and out of my life. I’d walked away from so many women, but never had one walk away from me like that. I didn’t know how long I stood there on my balcony, at least not until the door opened and my brother stepped out.

  “Are you going to stay out here all day? I watched Ashleigh get into a cab and leave over two hours ago,” Camden explained. “Is she coming back?”

  “No,” I answered. “She’s not. It’s over.”

  Camden whistled and leaned his elbows on the balcony rail beside me. “I take it she’s the one who wanted to leave.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I snapped.

  “All right, we won’t talk about it. You know what’ll cheer you up, don’t you?”

  When I glanced over at him, he had the biggest grin on his face. I knew that look because it was the same look I gave him two years ago. He was using my own therapy against me.

  “What do you have in mind?” I asked with a smirk.

  Camden clapped his hands and rubbed them together with a mischievous leer on his face. “I’m thinking two this time, brother. Oh, and definitely not brunettes. You’ve been jaded by one too many of them the past couple of weeks.”

  That was for damn sure. First, it was Megan at the club and getting arrested, on to Ashleigh who left me for someone else. I needed a change of pace, and getting back to my usual self was what I needed.

  “Are you down for it?” Camden asked. “That is … if you’re not too heartbroken.”

  I scoffed and put my arm around his shoulders. “Fuck that, cocksucker. I’m the one who breaks hearts, not the other way around. I say we go out and have ourselves a little bit of fun.”

  Camden smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  I was back in the game with my brother by my side. I didn’t need Ashleigh, and I definitely didn’t need a female to change me into a better person. I was fine the way I was … I was Ryley Jameson.

  And nothing was going to stand in my way. The Twins of Terror were back.

  “HEY, GABBY!” ASHLEIGH shouted, banging on my bedroom door. “I need your help lacing up my dress.”

  “Why can’t your boyfriend do it?” I hollered back, quickly running my flat iron over a small section of my midnight-colored hair.

  “Are you serious? He’ll ruin it! Besides, he doesn’t even know how to. Please, will you do it for me?”

  Huffing, I set my flat iron down and marched to the door. She better not bitch at me if I make us late. When I opened the door, Ashleigh stood there, looking beautiful and perfect with her chocolate-colored hair pulled into a classy updo, while trying desperately to keep her black and white ball gown from falling down.

  Why she had to pick a dress that weighed so much was beyond me. Although, it was going to be interesting to watch her climb into Colin’s truck.

  Shaking my head, I chuckled and waved her in, “Come on. I don’t think I could trust a guy to lace me up, either … especially Colin. However, if the guys bitch about us being late I’m totally blaming you.”

  We needed to leave for the celebration banquet with Colin and Bradley, and we were almost out of time. Our college baseball team had made it to the championship, so everyone was getting together to celebrate, get the details on where the tournament would be, and so forth. It was a fancy type of thing the team liked to do every year, and they always planned it even before we advanced.

  Yes, our team was that good … we knew we would make it. We always did, especially with Colin as our star pitcher and Bradley as our best homerun hitter. It was their last tournament before graduation. Soon they’d be off in the major leagues and becoming famous.

  Once Ashleigh shut the door, I motioned for her to turn around. “All right, let me get you done so I can finish up my hair.”

  “Thank you,” she breathed. “Make sure to do it tight so it doesn’t fall down.”

  Rolling my eyes, I took her by the shoulders and turned her around. The laces were made out of thick, black satin that she had run through the top loops, but none through the bottoms. This is going to take forever.

  Starting from the top, I worked my way down, looping them through and tightening them as I went. Even though they took longer to put on, it was easier buying dresses with lace up backs because you could tighten it to your body.

  Pulling the laces tighter, I winked at Ashleigh’s reflection in the mirror. “Don’t worry, I’m doing them tight. If you and Colin want to get naked quick, it’s not going to happen. It’ll take time getting this thing off of you.”

  “Ha-ha, I think we’ll be okay. We like the tension and the buildup anyway. It makes for some great sex.”

  I wonder if it was like that with her and Ryley.

&nbs
p; “So,” I began, “how’s everything going with you and Colin? I know he wasn’t too happy when he found out about you and Ryley. Has he gotten over that yet?”

  Halfheartedly, she shrugged. “Yeah, I think so. We don’t talk about it much anymore. I guess if you don’t talk about it, it’s like it never happened.”

  A few more minutes ticked by and I was almost done with her laces when she cleared her throat and turned her head, gazing at me with a sheepish expression on her face. It killed her, knowing that she broke Ryley’s heart, even if he was too stubborn to admit it.

  “How is he by the way? I know you’ve talked to him.”

  Just a short month ago, I thought Ryley had decided to wise up and put his bad boy ways aside for her. It just so happened that he did for a while, but when she left him for Colin he reverted back to his usual self.

  Unfortunately, I actually think he got worse.

  I couldn’t blame Ashleigh for his sudden change back into a player, but I had hoped she would be the one to tame him. He was better than what he portrayed himself to be.

  Colin, however, was a good guy. He and Ashleigh were great together, and I knew they were happy. My heart ached for Ryley.

  Sighing, I said, “He’s fine, Ash. I know it hurt him when you left, but he’s dealing with it the only way he knows how. It also doesn’t help that Camden’s right along with him, pushing his buttons.”

  “Yeah,” Ashleigh murmured regretfully. “Camden’s a real piece of work. I miss talking to Ryley, but I wouldn’t give up Colin for anything. He’s coming home with me over Christmas, you know. Bradley told me the other day that he asked you to join his family, but you haven’t given him an answer yet.”

  It’s because I don’t have one.

  Instead of responding to the Bradley statement, I tied up the last of her laces and smacked her ass. “Okay, you’re done, babe. Now get out of here so I can finish getting ready.”

  Turning around, she lifted her brows and crossed her arms at her chest. “Why aren’t you answering me? Is there something going on with you and Bradley that you’re not telling me about?”