Bad Boy Baby Daddy (15 page)

Chapter 15

Riley

I had no idea where I was going, figuratively and literally.

I was wandering aimlessly up and down the streets, breathing in the cool evening air, and Kaiden’s earlier words were still swimming around in my mind, making me more confused than ever.

‘You’ve seen that I’ll be a good dad. Let me do this for you. Let me get you pregnant. Let me help you the way you used to help me.’

I mean, that was crazy, right? Sure, I’d helped him when we were kids, but I’d never helped him by offering to have a baby with him….and besides, regular people didn’t awkwardly offer their sperm up on a plate like that, like some sort of baby-making machine.

Well, at least he hadn’t actually offered his sperm to me on a real plate, only a metaphorical one, because that’d probably be the one way of making this whole thing even more awkward.

Oh, and the way he’d kissed me, making it obvious he wanted to conceive a child the proper way—that was not the way two platonic friends would usually go about such an endeavor.
So what had it meant? Did he want to be with me on some level? He’d never said so, so I had no real way of knowing.

The worst part of it was that I actually had genuine feelings for him. I’d known that for a while, of course, but everything that had just happened had brought those feelings to the forefront and made them crystal clear.

I loved him, and part of me always had.

A normal woman would’ve probably said yes when the man she loved went and offered her everything she wanted and needed, but instead, I’d run a mile without even bothering to ask him how he truly felt about me underneath it all.

Why? Because I was an idiot, that’s why.

Frustrated tears blurred my vision, and I kept walking, listening to the sound of my footfall on the hard concrete in the hope that the answer to everything would somehow miraculously come to me if I just took one or two more steps.

I heard a gruff voice call out to me a moment later. “Hey, miss.”

I ignored the guy, as I really wasn’t in the mood to be talking to anyone right now.

“Hey, you in the blue!”

Okay, he was definitely talking to me, and I suddenly felt bad. Maybe the guy just wanted to know the time or get some directions from me. And speaking of directions, where the hell was I? I’d been wandering around looking at my feet the whole time, and I didn’t even know where I was. I stopped and jerked my head up, and I was stunned to find myself in a dirty alleyway that I didn’t recognize.

I turned to look at the man who’d been calling out from behind me, and I immediately regretted stopping. He looked quite rough, and he was smirking at me, so I turned and hurried towards the other end of the alley, which I regretted even more as a second man stepped out of the darkness. This one was even bigger and rougher-looking than the first.

I was effectively surrounded, and I wasn’t even sure who would hear me if I screamed. What the hell had I been thinking, wandering around alone at night?

I hadn’t been thinking at all, obviously.

“Uh…excuse me,” I said quietly, barely able to mask the tremor in my voice.

Both men moved closer to me, boxing me in. They must’ve been following me for a while, and the bigger one had gone up ahead to block me into the alley while the other kept me from turning and running away. Jesus, what kind of people actually planned stuff like that?

“That’s a pretty outfit you’ve got on there, baby. We were just heading to a party, and we thought you might wanna come with us and have a little fun,” one of them said, half-slurring his words.

“Um, no thanks, I was just on my way home,” I said, desperately praying they were just two drunk guys who didn’t understand social cues.

No such luck.

One of them reached out to grope me, and the other pushed me closer towards the left wall of the alley. I shrieked and quickly yanked my phone out of my pocket as they did so, but one of the men spotted the action and deftly knocked it from my hand. It fell to the ground with a loud clatter, and the sound shot my fear levels higher than they’d ever been before.

“You aren’t going to need that, sweetheart.”

The bigger guy grinned, moving even closer to me, and it wasn’t long before I was completely backed up against the wall with the two men towering over me. The stench of alcohol was overwhelming, and I stammered at them.

“Please…let me go. I just want to get home.”

They took no notice. One of them began to run his hand up underneath my top, and my trembling body quickly froze with shock. I told myself to scream, to kick, to yell, to do
anything
…but I was paralyzed.

No one knew where I was, and I was quickly being overpowered. If I didn’t do something soon, I was going to be sexually assaulted, maybe even beaten up…or worse.  That thought allowed me to break free of the icy chains seemingly holding me in place, and I struggled against the men to no avail. I had no chance against them. In fact, I quickly realized that the more I tried to fight them off, the more it seemed to encourage them.

I tried to punch, to kick, to push, but against these two men, everything I did was feeble. I was like a weak little child throwing a tantrum.

“Holy fuck, Riley!”

A familiar voice burst out, sounding just like an angel.
Kaiden.
I was certain that it was my imagination; that I’d dreamed him up to transport me away from the horrifying situation, but to my surprise, the men reacted to the voice too.

“Hey man, back the fuck off,” one of them growled, having no idea who he was talking to. “This chick is ours.”

“Oh, is she? I had no idea,” he replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. I could hear the rage on the tip of his tongue, but I couldn’t yet see him, so I had no idea how angry he looked. I imagined that he looked like a force to be reckoned with, though, if he looked anything like he had in the cage on the night I’d gone to one of his fights.

“Get the fuck away from her,” he said, stepping closer. His voice was dangerously icy, and t
he atmosphere in the alley was thick with tension, like a flickering match in a gasoline-soaked room
.

One of the men stepped further in front of me, blocking me from Kaiden’s view. “Dude, we don’t want any trouble, so just do us a favor and fuck off, okay?”

“Sure,” Kaiden said. “I’ll leave. Right after I’ve done this.”

I heard a loud crunching sound as a fist connected with a jaw, which was followed by the guy in front of me flying to the ground, only just missing me as he went. Kaiden’s face was finally revealed behind him, features twisted with rage.

In a flash, the other guy was on him with full force; the alcohol obviously making him feel invincible. He was slightly bigger than Kaiden, but Kaiden was smart, sober, and trained to perfection. With every punch the big guy delivered as his friend struggled to get up, Kaiden got in three. Every kick was dodged, and every elbow the guy threw earned him a punch to the solar plexus.

“Get out of here, Riley,” Kaiden shouted at me as he blocked another vicious assault from the other guy, who’d just gotten up again.

He sent a kick flying into the guy’s kneecap, and I instantly took off, knowing it was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to leave, but I’d only be in the way if I didn’t, and Kaiden could sure as hell take care of himself against that pathetic pair. He could defend himself against anyone.

Despite this knowledge, I couldn’t make myself go too far. I needed to be able to see that he was okay, just in case. I found the first set of trash cans around the corner from the alleyway, and I crouched down behind them, panting heavily. Adrenaline was flooding through my system, and I tried to comprehend what just happened. It was like some sort of horror movie, and I had no idea what would’ve happened to me if Kaiden hadn’t shown up.

I peeked around the corner every so often to check on Kaiden, but I didn’t even need to. He was beating the shit out of both the guys, successfully deflecting every single punch and kick thrown his way. They were clearly shocked by his fighting ability and must’ve originally assumed they could take him on because it was two against one, and on top of that, they probably hadn’t anticipated running into a champion fighter in a backstreet alley.

Even as I watched Kaiden punching, kicking and hitting these two thugs in the most violent way—a scene that should have frightened and disgusted me—I couldn’t help but be blown away by him. There was just something so wonderful and fascinating about him, even when he was attacking someone, and I knew a guy like him could keep me transfixed forever.

Forever…

The answer to my earlier question about what I was supposed to do was obvious now. It was right in front of me and had been this whole time; I just hadn’t been ready to let the truth in just yet.

Kaiden finally strode towards me, and I stood up, legs trembling. He was covered in blood, but not his own, except for a bleeding nose from where one of the guys had managed to get one hit in. He looked like a damaged hero, and all I wanted to do was fix him up all over again, just like I’d done when I was a little girl. Only this time, he wouldn’t be the scared little boy that he’d been all those years ago. He’d be the one in charge, the one in control. After all, he was the one who’d just saved me.

I rushed towards him, trying to hug him, but he grabbed my hand instead, quickly pulling me away. “Come on,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Let’s get out of here. And don’t worry—they’re not dead, just roughed up. But believe me, I wanted to fucking kill them.”

“Kaiden…thank you,” I said, stopping him for just a moment. There were no words that could describe just how truly grateful I was, but thanking him was a good start.

He shook his head. “Don’t thank me. I’m just glad that you’re okay. I thought…I thought I’d lost you.”

The look in his eyes alone was enough to tell me just how much he cared, as if he’d die if he really lost me tonight, and my stomach flopped around nervously in my belly as I looked back up at him. He didn’t give me a chance to respond before speaking again.

“Let’s get you home,” he said.

My legs were still wobbling like mad, meaning that Kaiden had to tuck his arm under my shoulder just to hold me upright as we walked. He held me gently but confidently, as if he knew exactly what I needed. Somehow, he always seemed to know what I needed, even before I did.

I’d never been so glad to see my apartment when we arrived back at it ten minutes later. I needed to be inside, away from the awful outside world and all the vile human beings that it contained, and as we stepped into the warmth, I started to feel steadier on my feet. With Kaiden looking out for me, no one could get to me.

“I’ll get the first aid kit,” I said, casting my eyes over his nose, which was still dripping small amounts of blood down his face. “Let me clean you up.”

“No, I should really—”

“I want to,” I cut in firmly.  “Let me make it up to you.”

This was loaded with meaning, and he seemed to understand because he let me grab the kit with no further arguments.

“You better not be sticking a tampon up my nose to stop the bleeding,” he joked as I headed for him with a wad of tissues and antiseptic wipes a few minutes later.

“Don’t tempt me,” I replied with a grin. His wisecrack had defused some of the tension, but I still felt bad knowing that it was my fault he was bleeding in the first place.

As I wiped up the blood from around his nose, he fixed his eyes on my face, but I wasn’t ready to meet them yet. I felt like I’d fall apart as soon as I did, so I kept my gaze trained on exactly what I was doing. I used to hate what Kaiden’s father did to him when we were kids, but I was always glad that I’d at least been around to help him. This feeling was similar. I wanted to be able to do something nice for the man who meant so much to me, because he’d come after me and defended me, even when I’d accused him of trying to impregnate me for all the wrong reasons. He’d kicked the shit out of those awful guys, and he always seemed to be there when I needed him most. That all had to stand for something, right?

Oh, and there was also the fact that I was head over heels in love with him…

“Okay, all done,” I finally announced, flicking my eyes down towards his, just for a second. “Oh, wait. Looks like there’s a cut on your chest. There’s a little bit of blood leaking through your shirt. These wipes aren’t very big, so let me just grab the bottle of Betadine in case we need it.”

I hadn’t noticed the cut earlier, and apparently, neither had he. He glanced down at the small bloodstain and nodded. “Ah. One of the guys was wearing some sort of chunky ring. The metal must’ve cut me.”

Before I could say anything, he yanked his shirt off, and I almost dropped the bottle of antiseptic I’d just picked up as I tried and failed to avert my eyes. Jeez, was I ever going to get used to seeing this man shirtless?

Apparently not. He was just too damned hot.

“Here, I’ll do this one,” he said, grabbing the bottle of antiseptic and seemingly not noticing the fact that I was practically melting into a puddle at his feet.

He dabbed a bit of the brown liquid onto the cut on his chest and then looked up at me with a smile as he rubbed away the excess with a tissue. “There we go. And you didn’t even have to touch my hideous chest.”