A STELLAR AFFAIR (A Hollywood Bad Boy Romance) (30 page)

C
OMING
S
OON!

ULTIMATE
 

(An MMA Romance)
 

KAT MADRID

Had she stumbled into another dimension?
She thought. She was seeing things. There was no rational explanation.
 

She closed her eyes but when she opened them a second later, he didn’t vanish.

Max Braga was still there— all six feet three of sinful male perfection.

Inside her consultation room.
 

Her heart started to beat a thousand miles per minute.
 

Why is he here?!
She scurried her mind for an answer.
No way was he her patient!
 

Is he?!
 

You kidding me, Cosmic Universe?! Why him?! And why now…when my confidence is below-Dead-sea-level?! It’s not fair, not fair at all!
She was freaking out.
 

She just got friend-zoned less than an hour before her brother dropped the M bomb news which left her reeling. And now this? Face-to-face with a blast from her past, the guy who gave her her first taste of rejection.

This has the makings of a B-movie romcom.

Gee, thank you so much, Cosmos…your timing sucked lemons as always!
 

It was too much to take in a day… a living nightmare!

For the nth time she wished she had called in sick.
 

She was totally blindsided by his reappearance. Like a soldier marching to war armed only with a can of pepper spray. That feeling of emotional nakedness.
 

It has been what…eight years since she last saw him or heard from him?
 

He was virtually a stranger.

Sure, he and her
kuya
remained buddies. Their friendship didn’t stop even after her brother got deployed and he became the MMA superstar that he was now. Every so often, she would hear updates and tidbits on Max’s life from Leo.
 

He did inquire about her through her brother, but Max never personally reached out like he promised. He was too busy, apparently.
 

And that hurt a bit.

Okay, that wasn’t entirely true.

His silence and indifference had hurt her for a good number of years.

It rankled to be forgotten by the first guy you fancied. She expected, erroneously, that he would’ve at least kept in touch. Communicating nowadays was easier thanks to technology.
 

But he never bothered.

And eventually she got the memo, all right. So she shelved his memory to the back of her mind and got busy with getting her medical degree.
 

She never allowed herself to think about him again.
 

Until now.

This time, her long-repressed feelings resurfaced, its onslaught spewing out with the force of a mighty geyser.

She had wondered why he never called.
 

She knew the answer now. She finally had the clarity she lacked then. She didn’t know any better back in the day. She was just a stupid kid who wanted to be noticed by her brother’s hot best friend.
 

She imagined that because he showed her attention, he’d wait for her to grow up and… all that drivel. Like what the romance books described so vividly. So clichéd.

Apparently, being around those scantily-clad ring girls dashed any hopes of that from ever happening.
 

He was the hottest guy ever to fight in the MMA, its biggest draw and sport ambassador. In the same vein as Federer, Ronaldo or Messi.
 

Blessed with features and a physique a health mag model would envy, he got hordes of women drooling every time he stepped inside the cage in his fight shorts and cheese-grater abs.
 

Gossip sites and entertainment networks swore he only dated models and celebrities.
 

Just look at him. Thinking about it now, to even imagine he’d notice her at all was just laughable. If he’d been way out of her league then, more so now. Twenty thousand leagues, to be exact.

 
“Nattie-cakes,” he said, finally breaking the silence which lasted eight years. His deep baritone still made her insides quiver, sounding achingly different yet familiar to her ears as he referred to her in the nickname he coined.
 

“Max.”

He continued to stare at her. She saw concern in those beautiful eyes of his. She got embarrassed. She must’ve looked a fright. She was sure her entire face was all red and puffy from bawling like a kid earlier.

“You’ve been crying.”

“Nope. I didn’t,” she denied.

“You did.”

“It’s rhinitis.”

He snorted.

“You can do better than that. You never had rhinitis.”

“Well, I do now.”

He closed the distance between them in a few strides, causing her heart to leap out of her chest.
 

“Tell me about it.”

She sniffed. She almost told him it was none of his business. “I’m not telling you anything.”

Not when he would rat her off to her brother and the two of them would go on to plan Dickster’s demise. She knew how their evil minds work.

“What’s the guy’s name?”

She bristled after he unerringly hit her sore spot. Bam. She hated him at that moment. “There’s no guy involved. You’re imagining things.”

He gave her a searching look. She sighed. He didn’t believe her. Of course. She couldn’t lie to save her life. She was the worst poker player in the world, Leo told her often enough.
 

“Who is he? Who’s the asshole?” he grilled.

She was discomfited by his sudden concern.
   

He had no right to ask her anything after eight years of nothing…not even a phone call!
 

I cried more tears over you!
She wanted to throw at him. But she couldn’t tell him that.

“We’re not having this conversation!” she hissed.
 

“We are now.”

“What are you doing here, anyway?” she asked, switching the subject.

“Meeting my doctor.”

She glanced at the patient sheet on her desk. “I’m supposed to meet Mark Bowen.”

“I am Mark Bowen.”

She smirked. “Ha-ha. Good one.”

“I’m serious.”

“I really appreciate you dropping by but—”

She wanted him out.
 

“Allan thought I should go under an assumed name because of my upcoming fight.”

Her eyes rounded. “Shoot, you
really
are my
patient?!”

He gave her a lopsided smile. “None other.”

“Oh-kay.”

This is bad!
 

For a moment she was really tempted to pass his case off to another colleague. Who? Dr. Kim Ridge? She’d be all over him by the time she opened her consultation room.
 

That thought bothered her too much.
 

Can’t handle him, girl?

“Disappointed?” he prompted.
 

 
I can handle him just fine! I’m professional!

She pursed her lips.
 
“More like surprised.”

“And you still avoided my question. Who is the douchebag?”
 

God, why can’t he just let it go?!
His mere presence was making her twitchy and hormonal!
 

“I haven’t seen you or heard from you for almost a decade and now you want a rundown on my lovelife?”

Hah! What love life?
 

Oh shut up! He doesn’t know that!

“I’m sorry, Nattie-cakes,” he softly replied.
 

His sincere apology melted some of the ice she felt…making butterflies flutter in her stomach.

She took a deep, calming breath.
Settle down! You got this.

“I’m sorry…you didn’t deserve that. You caught me at a bad time.”

“For all it’s worth, he doesn’t deserve your tears. He wasn’t good enough for you, Nattie-cakes.”

The unexpected compliment almost had her tearing up again.
 

Because Max was like Dickster. The kind of guy who only wanted her friendship. Nothing else.
 

Why do these guys always see me as the gal friend, not the girlfriend? I’m so tired of being just a friend!
She mentally rebelled.

The loud ding of her phone prevented her from replying.
 

Raising her left hand to excuse herself, she fished her
 
phone from her pocket.
 

It was a text from Chantal. She texted her at the café earlier.

Don’t cry BFF. Dickety-dickety-doc, is a doc with a tiny cock. Ur a lucky one, it would’ve been a letdown. Dickety-dickety-doc. PS-I’ll see you soon, luv! XOXO.
 

Despite her terrible day, her best friend’s outrageousness never failed to lift her spirits up.
 

She giggled and instantly felt a ton lighter.

The humor didn’t last, though...she could feel Max’s heavy gaze and soon
 
enough, her face began to heat up.
 

She wanted to ignore him, give him a small taste of what he did to her for the past eight years.
 

If only it was that easy.

If only she could banish him like an afterthought.

But Max Braga can’t be ignored or dismissed.

If only he wasn’t her first love.

Max studied her face while she fiddled with her phone.
Shortly thereafter, her bee-stung lips curved into a small smile before she eventually broke out in a fit of giggles.
 

Max frowned at the cause of it. It was tempting to snatch away her phone to see who kept on sending her messages.
 

Who was it? Boyfriend? Did she have one?! His mind speculated. If so, Leo failed to mention it or she’d been really secretive.
 
His friend would never pass up an opportunity to terrorize anyone who would dare date his sister. He knew this first hand. Unknown to her, Leo and he had cock-blocked a number of assholes during her jailbait years.
 

His eyes scanned her fingers for any signs of a ring.
 

Nada.
 

Thank fuck for that.
 

Don’t be too sure about that, numb nuts,
his mind snarked.
She is hot as fuck, even with the lab coat on. No way is she single.
 

Speaking of lab coat. His mind played out a scene that he only saw in his dreams. She played doctor and he was the patient...she was prodding him...

His groin quickly reacted.

What are you…thirteen?!

But it was too late. His boner of shame couldn’t be stopped.
 

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck!

Thankfully she was too preoccupied texting to notice the totem pole inside his pants.
 

Must sink the Titanic!

Damn it!

He needed a distraction, fast.

Must think of something…

His high school math teacher? Grandmothers gossiping? Nuns?
 

Holy boner, it’s not working!

Magnus’
 
smug face.
 

That did the trick.
 

What a close call, he thought as his boy went half-mast before she raised her head to look at him.

“Sorry about that,” she said apologetically.