Mr. July: An MMA Sports Romance (Calendar Boys Book 7)

by Nicole S. Goodin

  No one is taking that belt home but me.

  The ref drops his hand and I feel myself flying across the distance. I’ve let him come to me – make the first moves all fight, but the time for that is over.

  My shin connects with his jaw and his head snaps back.

  That one was for Ramsey.

  I give him no time to recover before I’m on him again, my fists flying in a flurry of combos.

  I hear Justin screaming something, but I can’t make sense of it.

  Sonny shoves back, his guard falling, and I swing, catching him clean across the nose.

  That one was for my baby.

  He pushes forward, his arms wrapping around my neck in a grapple, but it’s weak – he’s losing – I shove him off and his hands come high to guard his face.

  I drop my right elbow and swing with every last bit of strength I can find, forcing my fist into the underside of his chin with an uppercut.

  He falls to the canvas, out like a light.

  I breathe heavily as I stand over him, my shoulders rising and falling.

  That one was for my family.

  The crowd goes wild, screaming and chanting my name as the ref dives between us waving his hands back and forth, signalling that the fight is over.

  I won.

  I stagger backwards, the weight of my achievement overwhelming me.

  I won.

  I actually fucking did it.

  I close my eyes and absorb the moment.

  I did it. For me, for her, for us.

  Justin, Owen and Randy are in the ring when I open my eyes again and heaving my belts onto my shoulders, one on each side.

  I spin around the cage, my disorientated eyes searching the crowd, even though I know she never would have been able to stomach watching that.

  I want to see her.

  The fight is over now and all I care about is finding my girl and making things right between us.

  I get passed from person to person around the cage, getting hugged, clapped on the back and congratulated.

  I have what feels like endless mics and cameras stuck in my face; everyone wants a piece of the action.

  The crowd is cheering and yelling and all of a sudden, I’ve just had enough.

  “Let’s roll.” Justin throws his hand up in the air and circles it, gesturing to my team to round up and get out.

  He knows me well. That fact is only going to make it even harder to break it to him about me and Ramsey.

  We shuffle out of the cage, security guards clearing a path for me to escape.

  I see Justin collect Juliet on the way past and I grin.

  Maybe he’ll understand after all, he’s like a moth to a flame with that girl.

  Randy jogs ahead – my ice bath will be waiting, but unlike usual, I don’t want to spend hours resting.

  I just want to see her.

  She’s the only treatment I need.

  “I just have to do something,” I tell the guys as I lag behind.

  Justin frowns at me. “What the fuck could you possibly need to do right now?”

  “I’ll be there in a minute, just give me a sec to myself.” I tip my head in the direction of my change room, gesturing for them to go on ahead of me.

  His frown deepens but he does as I’ve asked, leading Juliet into the change room with him, Owen following.

  I wait for them to disappear and then cross the hall, heading for the room I know Ramsey will be waiting for me in.

  I can’t count on Rusty for much these days, but I knew he’d take care of her for me.

  I knock lightly on the door and I hear her sweet voice call out, “Come in.”

  I push the door open and it’s not until her eyes land on me that everything hits me.

  Her, me, our baby, my fight.

  “Oh my god.” She makes a gagging sound, and I rush forward, reaching her just in time for her to throw up into the rubbish bin next to the couch.

  “Ramsey, are you okay?”

  “It’s the—” she gags again. “It’s the b—”

  “The baby?” I interrupt her, “Ramsay, is something wrong with the baby?” I demand.

  A deathly cold voice comes from behind me.

  “It’s the blood.”

  Fuck. The blood.

  Fuck. The voice.

  I jump away from her and in the same action, turn to meet the man I know is behind me.

  Justin is seething, his chest heaving up and down as he glares at me. “Tell me you didn’t knock up my baby sister.”

  I take a slow, calculated step in his direction. “I can’t tell you that.”

  He winces like I’ve smacked him clean across the face.

  “You’re dead.”

  “Justin,” Ramsey whispers from behind me. “Don’t.”

  “Outside,” I demand, pointing at the door. “We’re not doing this in front of her.”

  “Agreed,” Justin grunts, his face twitching with the physical restraint he’s exerting to stop himself from mauling me here and now.

  He turns and stalks out the door, and I move to follow.

  “Hudson, please don’t,” she begs me.

  I don’t turn. I can’t. One look at my face and she’ll faint or throw up again.

  “No matter what happens, stay here until I come back for you, you understand?”

  “Hudson,” she whimpers.

  “It’s going to be okay, pinky, I promise. I should have done this a long time ago.”

  I stride from the room and I hear her start to cry.

  It breaks my fucking heart to leave her like that, but I have to do this.

  We have to get this out in the open if there’s ever going to be a chance for us to stay in each other’s lives.

  He’s my best mate. He’s going to be my kid’s uncle.

  He pushes forward when he sees me close the door behind me, and swings wide, missing me by a mile.

  “Justin, just fucking listen,” I say as I dodge another swing.

  “Listen? To what?” he demands. “How you went behind my back and fucked my sister and got her pregnant? Is that what you want me to listen to?”

  “It’s not like that.”

  He charges at me, and I slip to the side.

  We’re circling each other like we’re in the cage, only difference is there’s no referee here – there’s no one to stop us from killing one another.

  “What’s it like then, Horror?” he yells at me, his voice rising.

  “I love her. I want to be with her for the rest of my fucking life!” I yell back.

  His step falters and his hands fall to his sides.

  The dance stops.

  We’re standing opposite one another, neither of us moving.

  “You love her?”

  I nod. “Haven’t you ever just met someone and felt something you knew you shouldn’t for them right away?” I ask, already knowing full well that his answer will be yes. He has – hell, he still is.

  “Fuck yes, I have,” he thunders, his arms visibly shaking.

  “So, what did you do about it?”

  “Buried that shit down deep.” He sneers. “Tucked it away under jokes and teasing and tried to forget it ever existed.”

  “And how’s that fucking working for you?” I demand, my own breathing becoming laboured.

  “It’s not,” he admits with a growl. “But that’s the way it has to be.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know it.”

  This time when he charges at me, I let him make contact, and he takes us both to the ground with a loud thud.

  He lays into my already battered and bruised face, and I have to admit, the bastard has still got a mean right cross.

  I don’t even hit him back – I’ve got no right. He deserves to be angry.

  “What the fuck?” I hear Rusty’s voice and feel Justin being lifted off me.

  I swipe at the blood pouring from my nose and see Beast holding Justin back as he struggles to get free.

  “
He knocked up my sister,” Justin growls.

  Beast glances at me. “Shit, Horror, for real?”

  I nod and Justin struggles harder.

  “Calm the fuck down,” he demands.

  Justin stills.

  Rusty holds his hand out to help me, and I drag my ass up.

  Justin points his finger at me. “You knew what this would do to us, and you went and did it anyway.”

  My heart is racing but there’s no fight left in me. I don’t want to fight him – I just want him to understand.

  I want him to accept us.

  “I know I did,” I agree.

  “So you made your choice. You chose her.”

  “I did.”

  He goes to speak again, but I cut him off.

  “I’m not going to stand here and apologise for it. I chose her. I’d choose her again, over everyone and anyone. Even you.”

  I see him balk, but I can’t stop now.

  “I know that makes me a shitty mate, but it is what it is. Ramsey deserves someone who will put her before everything else, and I intend to do exactly that for the rest of my life, if she’ll let me.”

  I can see the war he has going on in his head.

  “Do you really think she deserves anything less?” I demand.

  “No, but—”

  “No buts. You know I’ll look after her better than anyone else ever could. I’ll never let anything happen to her, or to our child, you have my word. I’ll put her above everything. Even if it costs me our friendship, I still choose her.”

  He looks at me with hollow eyes.

  “Let me go,” he hisses at Beast.

  He reluctantly lets him go, and Justin shrugs him off.

  “I’m out of here,” he says, and he turns and leaves.

  Rusty blows out a deep breath as he watches him go. “Well fuck.”

  Can’t argue with that.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up, man.”

  “I need to see Ramsey,” I argue.

  “Not looking like that you don’t,” he points out.

  I touch the blood dripping down my face.

  Fuck. He’s right.

  He shoves me in the direction of my changing room.

  “I’ll get Juliet to go and see her,” he reassures me.

  I nod in acceptance.

  It’s the only choice I’ve got.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Ramsey

  He bursts through the door, his hair still wet from his shower – but his cuts stitched and covered, thankfully.

  I wipe at the tears under my eyes.

  “Pinky,” he breathes, hurt in his tone as he drops to his knees in front of me.

  “I’ll give you two a minute,” Juliet says as she rises from the spot next to me and disappears out the door, closing it softly behind her.

  “He didn’t take it well.”

  “I know,” I say as I reach out to run my fingers carefully through his hair.

  He’s got bruises along his cheekbone and jaw, and swelling to his brow where it’s been cut open yet again. His lip is split, but it’s only small.

  “You heard?” he questions.

  I nod.

  I heard every word, every scuffle, every punch.

  “You really love me that much?” I whisper.

  His dark eyes, intense with worry, soften as he reaches for me. “I love you that much and more, I promise I’ll never be so stupid again, I’ll never hurt you.”

  He wraps his strong arms around my waist and tucks his face into my shirt.

  This is the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen him.

  He’s begging me – for forgiveness – for another chance.

  It blows my mind that I have the power to bring Hudson Scott to his knees.

  “It’s not all your fault… I jumped to conclusions; I should have just talked to you.”

  He pulls back a fraction and looks up at me, his expression serious. “I need you to know that nothing was going on with me and Vanessa. She shouldn’t have even been there, but I’m sorry that she was. I threw her out when you left – she won’t be back.”

  “You don’t need to explain.”

  “I want to.”

  I stroke my fingers over his scalp again.

  “I know you heard me on the phone that morning.”

  I nod, biting my lip nervously.

  “I didn’t mean what I said.”

  “I know,” I whisper. “I’m sorry I thought the worst.”

  I should have asked him about it. I shouldn’t have just assumed.

  “Justin was hounding me about spending time with you and I needed him off my case; he was ruining the best night I’d ever had.”

  My mouth curves up into a grin. “The best night you ever had?”

  “Fuck yes,” he growls, his hands tentatively coming around to my stomach and rubbing it gently. “I can’t believe we’re having a baby.”

  “Neither can I,” I admit.

  “I’m going to love that kid as much as I love you, pinky.”

  Tears well in my eyes again, only this time for totally different reasons.

  “Hudson, there’s something I need to tell you,” I whisper.

  He freezes, his eyes coming up to meet mine.

  “I love you, champ.”

  He grins, wider than I’ve ever seen him smile.

  “That’s good, baby, that’s real good.”

  ***

  “I’ll get it,” I call out to Hudson as I rush towards the front door.

  I squeeze past the stack of boxes in the hallway and nearly trip on a bag of clothes as I stumble towards the front door.

  I catch myself and tug the door open.

  “Justin,” I breathe as my eyes land on the man on the other side.

  He’s about the last person I expected to see here.

  Neither Hudson nor I have heard from him in a month.

  “Hey, Ram-Ram,” he mutters, his tone guilty.

  “You’re here.”

  He nods, his head dipping to avoid my gaze.

  “You’re here,” I repeat, my tone moving from shocked to relieved. “Holy shit I missed you,” I cry as I throw myself into his arms.

  He stumbles back but manages to catch me, his deep chuckle at my ear.

  “I missed you, too,” he replies as he hugs me tightly.

  I hold him for far longer than is in any way necessary, but I’m scared to let go. I’m not sure I can go another month without seeing my brother again.

  He loosens his hold and glances behind me.

  “Juliet told me you were moving in here.”

  I raise a brow at him. “Oh, I see how it is, Juliet first, your own sister second.”

  He has the good sense to look embarrassed at least.

  “You tell that girl how you feel this time?” I ask.

  He nods. “Took a leaf out of someone else’s book and put my feelings first.”

  I smile at him, butterflies fluttering in my stomach. “About time.”

  He grins, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look so happy.

  “So, what happened?”

  “Turns out she loves me back.”

  “No shit.” Hudson’s voice comes from behind me.

  He stops in the doorway and leans against the frame, his arm snaking out to wrap around my middle, his hand splayed protectively across my belly.

  The two men stare hard at one another for what feels like an eternity, neither one backing down from their hard stare.

  Justin is the first to cave, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. It doesn’t take long before they’re both grinning at each other like idiots.

  “Does this mean you two are making up?” I ask hopefully.

  “If he’ll forgive me for being a hot head?” Justin asks with a grimace.

  “If he’ll forgive me for knocking up his sister?” Hudson counters.

  I smack his chest playfully. “Oh, that’s real nice.”

  “It’s all water under the
bridge as far as I’m concerned.” Justin nods, his eyes searching Hudson’s face for a clue that they’re okay.

  Hudson steps forward, one arm still around me, and extends his other hand to Justin. “It’s forgotten.”

  Justin takes his hand, but instead of shaking it, pulls him in for a hug.

  Tears well in my eyes as I get half dragged into their reunion moment.

  “Are you crying?” Justin asks as he steps back.

  I scowl at him and wipe at the stray drops of moisture. “I’m pregnant, you asshole – I have a lot of hormones. And my boyfriend and my brother just made up, and you and Juliet are finally together, and I’m just so happy,” I sob.

  “Jesus,” Justin drawls. “Good luck with that, man.”

  Hudson tucks me in closer to him and kisses the top of my head. “Ignore him, pinky, he’s just not man enough to deal with feelings.”

  Both men chuckle.

  “Why are you covered in paint?” Justin asks suddenly, as though he’s only just noticed that Hudson has splatters of paint on him from head to toe.

  “I’m painting the nursery.” He grins, and my ovaries just about explode.

  He’s the most caring, sweet and considerate father already.

  “You better have picked a good colour for my niece or nephew,” Justin says as he pushes past Hudson and into the house.

  “Hey! Don’t touch anything in there, you’ll fuck it up,” Hudson calls after him as Justin heads upstairs.

  Hudson kisses my head again and takes off after his best mate. “I mean it, Justin, keep your mitts off my kid’s room.”

  I sigh and smile to myself.

  Just like old times.

  EPILOGUE

  Hudson

  “You want me to take her, baby?” I ask, my voice a whisper as I find my beautiful girls hiding away in a quiet corner.

  Ramsey shakes her head at me, a soft smile on her lips. “She’s out to it. I’ll come back out in a minute.”

  I lean in, my intention to brush my lips against hers, but she deepens the kiss, gripping my shirt in her fist as she tugs me closer.

  She bites down on my bottom lip and sucks it into her mouth.

  My dick jumps.

  I’m dying to be inside my girlfriend again. It’s been a long time.

  “Jesus, Ramsey,” I growl.

  “Guess what today is?” she asks, her forehead resting against mine, our daughter cradled between us.