Bad Boy Baby Daddy (3 page)

“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 she 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.

I almost shut my eyes and bowed my head in shame, because I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that Riley had seen me in this way. As much as I was sure that she hadn’t expected to find me as the same person I’d been years and years ago, I highly doubted she’d ever imagined that I’d be so damned different nowadays.

I kept my expression stoic, knowing that I needed to keep myself under control. I had to keep up the act, play the character that I’d already decided upon.

“Okay, girls,” I said, sighing in a faux-disappointed manner. “You have to go.”

“Just get rid of her,” the brunette whispered in my ear, throwing her arm possessively around my waist before shooting a bitchy stare in Riley’s direction.

“I’m afraid that isn’t possible,” I replied. I peeled her arms from my side, shooting her my most winning smile—the one that usually got me anything I wanted. “This is my new PR girl.”

“So she’s staff? Tell her to fuck off.” The brunette refused to back down, and I could see her blonde friend nodding emphatically behind her.

I chuckled at this, watching Riley purse her lips in an annoyed expression. Fury was slowly bubbling up inside of her; I’d recognize it anywhere. I was actually happy to be seeing some of her old feistiness shining through her current exterior of professionalism. Maybe she hadn’t changed quite as much as me. I found myself oddly excited to find out just how much of her was the same, and I was keen to see all the new bits too.

Of course, I was well aware that she might not be as glad to find out the truth about the new me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a lot of fun along the way.

“Nope,” I said to the girls, emphasizing the ‘
p
’. “You gotta go.”

I watched them both stalk out of the room, complaining and muttering bitchy comments about Riley as they went. It was funny how neither of them blamed me for making them leave, even though it was mostly my fault. I guess that was just one of the complexities about shallow, immature women—they were always so quick to get the claws out on each other. I’d never understood the way they worked, and I didn’t really want to. Give me a mature woman any day—much less crap to deal with, and much more fun to be with.

I leaned to the side, looking past Riley and watching the girls walk away. I wasn’t even concentrating on their asses; I was more focused on what was going on in my peripheral vision. I wanted to see if I could make Riley jealous, and honestly, I wasn’t sure why.

“Okay, Kaiden,” she finally said in a bossy tone, unable to take it anymore. I smirked, glad to have gotten what I wanted.

“Hmm…what?” I replied. I acted like I really had to try hard to draw my attention back to her, just to wind her up even further. I wanted to rile her up as much as humanly possible just for fun, purely for my own amusement…just like I’d done back in the day when we’d jokingly teased each other as we played and climbed trees together. God, we’d given each other so much crap, and we’d had so much fun.

“Like you just told your little
friends
,
I’m your new PR rep from Wenden and Brown,” she said.

“Right, right. How are you, sweetheart? What’s your name again?” I asked.

“Riley. Riley Solis,” she replied.

“Riley, huh? Nice name.”

I was still acting like I had no idea who she was, and she wasn’t saying anything about remembering me either, although I knew she did. I guess I hadn’t quite worked up the courage to admit that I used to be her friend; used to be the innocent, geeky kid from next door who’d kissed her grazed knees whenever she’d fallen off her bike. The longer I could continue this ruse, the longer I could keep the past far behind me where it belonged.

To be honest, Riley’s friendship had been the only bright spot in my entire childhood, but I didn’t want to remember the rest, so it was better that I changed and became the guy I was today, leaving everything in my past behind…even if that meant I’d never have her friendship or respect again. I couldn’t go back to being that scared little kid again, always on edge, waiting for the next time I’d be beaten.

I just couldn’t.

I allowed my gaze to linger up and down her body, drinking all of her in. She may have been the girl that I once knew as a kid, but she’d sure as hell grown up. She’d gone from being the lanky, dorky girl who hadn’t quite grown into her body yet to a gorgeous, voluptuous woman. Her breasts had grown into a little more than a perky handful, which was the right amount as far as I was concerned, and even though she wasn’t flashing her cleavage or wearing a particularly tight outfit, I could tell that she was sexy and curvy as hell underneath her boring clothes. She wasn’t wearing heels, but her perfect legs didn’t need them anyway.

She was the total opposite of the skinny, twig-like blondes who usually threw themselves at me, and that made her a hundred times more beautiful.

My eyes made their way to her face, and I had to control myself as I did so; had to regain my poker face once more so that not even a flicker of recognition flared up. I discreetly held my breath so I didn’t give myself away as I finally saw her in her full glory. Her caramel-colored skin was just as flawless as I remembered it being, and her deep brown eyes still contained the warmth that I’d spent my younger years being sucked into. She had this look that made anyone who saw her truly believe that everything was going to be okay, no matter what. I’d have given anything to fall into those eyes at that moment, but I couldn’t, so I glimpsed down to her nose instead. I always remembered her being self-conscious about her nose, but I’d never been able to see anything wrong with it, and I still couldn’t. It was cute and slightly upturned at the end. Perfect, just like the rest of her. I intended to fix my gaze there, but instead I found myself drawn in by her full lips, just imagining what it would be like to kiss them…