Best Friend's Brother #5 (Best Friend's Brother Romance Series - Book #5) (4 page)

She hesitated. It was only for a second…but it was
there. “Yeah, of course I’ll be there.”

“Hey babe…you would tell me if something was wrong,
wouldn’t you?”

She sounded like she was trying too hard then as she
said, “Yes, I would tell you. Everything’s fine.
Like
I said, I just didn’t sleep well. I wouldn’t miss your fight though. I will be
there with bells on.”

“Okay,” I said, not convinced that all was “fine.”
“Call me later if you want to talk.”

“Ian, I’m fine, really. You concentrate on your
fight and we’ll talk afterwards while we’re celebrating.”

“Okay. Have a good
day,
I
can’t wait to see you tonight.”

“Me too,” she said before hanging up. I sat there
for a while just looking at the phone. I thought about calling her back and
demanding that she tell me what was wrong. Wasn’t that what she would do? I had
been hoping to see her today before the fight. Now I was just going to obsess
all day about what was wrong. Damn! I really wish we could figure this shit
out.

I did my best to let it go and I went to the gym.
Dean walked me through a really light work-out and then we went back to his
place and he forced me to eat pasta for lunch. It was good though, and his son,
my friend Ronnie was home from school so we spent the rest of the afternoon
just catching up and shooting the shit.

“So how is school going?” I asked him. He had
finished his bachelor’s program over the summer term and was just starting his
Master’s. He was a smart guy. He would probably be
back
here running Dean’s business and taking it national before long.

“It’s good, a lot of work. No time to get laid. My
balls are blue and they ache.”

I laughed. “I thought college was supposed to be all
about the party and getting laid.”

“So did
I
. What about you?
You still doing the off and on with Kristy?”

“Nah.
I finally put a stop to that. That girl has issues.”

He laughed then and said, “She always has. You
couldn’t look past her store bought boobs to see them before. What changed?”

Dean was walking through the living room when Ronnie
asked me that. “He’s in love,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. “That’s taking it a little far,
Dean.”

“In love, huh?”
Ronnie said.

“Did you just hear me tell your father he was taking
it too far? I’m seeing someone. She’s pretty special and I like her a lot. It’s
not love…yet.”

“Whoa, that sounds serious. Where’d you meet this
girl?”

For some reason I didn’t want to tell him. I think
that I was afraid his first thought would be that she was only with me or I was
only with her because of Emma, I guess. I couldn’t think of a good lie though,
and I’d promised Alexa I was going to stop doing that anyways.

“She was Emma’s best friend.”

“Alexa?
Hot red-head with the….”

“Don’t say it!”

He laughed, “Man, Dad wasn’t exaggerating. You are
in love, aren’t you?”

I stood up. “Well it was nice catching up with you
man but I have to get going.”

“Avoidance.
He doesn’t want his friend to talk about his girl’s shapely ta-
ta’s
. He says he’s not in love…
“Yet.”
All the classic signs.

“Fuck you, Ronnie.”

“Man, it’s been so long I’d almost take you up on
that.” I couldn’t keep a straight face on that one. I smiled and said, “You
should be so lucky, man. I have to go. This conversation has gotten way out of
hand.”

“Alright man. I’ll see you tonight. Good luck.”

“Thanks.” I left there with Dean and Ronnie’s words
ringing in my head.
“Love?”
It was way too soon for
that, wasn’t it?

CHAPTER
SIX

ALEXA

After I talked to Ian, I lay there in bed for a long
time, just thinking about everything. Dad was right in a way, anything could
happen. What happened to Emma was proof of how short life was. There were two
ways I could take that, I guess. I could not live it because I’m constantly
worried about losing it, or someone that I care
about
.
Or I could realize that since it is so unpredictable, and you never knew how
long you would have…maybe I should live it to its fullest.

I evaluated what living it to its fullest meant to
me. I wasn’t the type that wanted to scale a mountain or jump out of an
airplane. What I was the type to do…was fall in love and risk ending up with a
broken heart. I wanted Ian. I wanted a relationship with him and if that works
out the way I hoped, maybe a life. I snuggled back down into the blankets and
fell asleep…with a smile on my face.

When I woke up several hours later, I had an
entirely different outlook on things than I’d had when I fell asleep the night
before. I love Dad, but he was wrong. I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for
life to happen to me. I wasn’t going to wait for tomorrow any longer to go
after what I wanted. Poor Emma had so many plans…and now she doesn’t have any
more tomorrows. I got up out of bed and put on my robe and slippers. I went out
into the dining room and found Daddy there, reading the morning paper. I kissed
him on the cheek and said, “Good morning.”

He looked surprised, but he smiled and said, “Good
morning, pumpkin. How did you sleep?”

I poured a cup of coffee and sat down.
“At first, not so well.
But I did a lot of thinking and this
morning, I had an epiphany.”

“What’s that?”

“You will still love me, even if you don’t approve
of the risks I choose to take with my heart…and I will still love you even if
you don’t approve of my choices in men. I really like, Ian Daddy. I’m not going
to give him up out of fear that it won’t work out. I’m going to pour my whole
heart into it and do whatever it takes to make it work. If it doesn’t, I’ll
survive. But I’ll survive with the experience and the wisdom that only comes
with living through a heart ache and moving on. I hope and pray that nothing
bad ever happens to him, but I really think that’s true in any relationship.
Look at what happened with Emma, Dad. No one expected that. It can happen to
anyone. I have to do
this,
I want to be with Ian. I
hope that I can pursue a relationship with him with your blessing. ”

He surprised me then, he nodded. “I thought about
things all night too. I’m sorry, baby. I know that my experience with your mom
really screwed me up. I should have probably done some counseling or something
over it. But the point is that none of that has anything to do with you. I want
you to be happy and if Ian makes you happy, then you have my blessing. I’ll
even apologize to him when I see him again. I’m truly sorry.”

“You don’t know how happy that makes me,” I told
him. “Thank you, Daddy. I love you.”

“I love you too, baby girl.” I got up and kissed him
and said, “Do we have any poster paper?”

He smiled. “Going to the big fight armed with a
sign, are you?”

“You bet. I’m going to watch my boyfriend win a
title tonight.”

“Poster paper is in the cabinet in my office. Tell
Ian I said good luck.” I kissed his cheek again. I was happy. For the first
time since Emma died, I felt like things were finally coming together.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

IAN

I stood at the back of the auditorium, looking out
at the massive crowd and getting more psyched up for this. This wasn’t the
little downtown auditorium I was used to. This was big time. This was the
auditorium they used for professional basketball games and concerts
and…professional fights. I was finally here and
my blood was
surging through my veins and filled with the heat of my passion
. The
crowd was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe this many people came to watch me. I
guess that was slightly arrogant. I’m sure a few of them were
her
to watch Bo “Crusher” as well. Dean said it was standing
room only and he wasn’t kidding. My first thought after all of that was that I
hoped Alexa knew to ask for her ticket at the will call window. I forgot to
tell her it was a different window here. I’m sure she can figure it out. They
give me four tickets. I sometimes wonder what they think about a guy who has
three left over every week. I couldn’t think about that right now though. My head
had to be in this fight. But I hope Alexa figured it out. The place was a
sell-out. Damn it! I hoped that she was here at all. I hoped that if she came,
I saw her and that way I wouldn’t be worried about where she was and what was
going on while my head was supposed to be in the fight. Jeez, I was a mess.

The lights went out suddenly and the big space
exploded into the roar of the fans. I couldn’t see shit. How was I going to
find Alexa? A spotlight cut the darkness all of a sudden and the big guy in the
crew shirt told me to take a step back. I don’t know
who
he thinks he’s talking to. I’m the soon to be champion man!

“Back!” he said again. I stepped back. Next year the
son of a bitch won’t talk to me like that, I guarantee it. The announcer’s
voice rips through the roar of the crowd. He welcomed everyone and then it was
suddenly on. My neck and shoulders felt like concrete as I heard him say,
“Two-time middle weight champion Bo “Crusher” Bryce is here tonight defending
his title against the undefeated Ian “The Axe” Axle.” The crowd cheered and
booed and hissed and screamed. It was deafening. There was music playing
too…some rap song or
other,
I could barely make it
out. The air was electrified with excitement as they “welcomed” the
challenger….Me.

As I jogged out, flanked by gigantic security on
either side in front and behind me, my eyes squinted, trying to see past the
burning light now shining right in my face and the mass of bodies around me. I
needed to know she was here. I could hear people calling my name, but none of
them sounded familiar. Her pretty red hair was usually easy to spot, but the
auditorium was too dark and I was too blinded by the light.

Shit! I let myself be led out to the cage. I had no
other choice. Once I took my corner of the Octagon I heard the announcer once
again call out Bo’s name and title. I’ve never fought him, but I’d made
watching his fights and his You Tube videos part of my routine. I knew his
moves, his tricks, his strengths and his weaknesses and I intended to use mine
to beat him. I was confident that I was ready for this and as far as this fight
was concerned I had no doubt I would walk out tonight wearing that championship
belt. My only doubts tonight were about who was in the audience.

As I waited for Bo to make it down the aisle, I
searched again for a familiar face…and after several minutes of squinting, I
found one…No, two. Well, I’ll be damned. My parents were here. Mom and Dad were
sitting about four rows back at the end of the aisle and my Mom was holding…no
wait! That big, yellow sign was being held up by a pair of hands next to my
mom. It said, “Ian is the Champion,” in glitter. I could see the top of her red
head from behind it before she lowered the sign and I saw her beautiful face.
Alexa was here…and so were my parents. I guess I have three more reasons to lay
this guy out.

CHAPTER
EIGHT

ALEXA

I realized that Ian saw us. I started to wave, but
thought better of it. I’m sure he was already distracted enough, just knowing
that his parents came. I glanced at his mom. Poor thing looked like a nervous
wreck. I had called her earlier just to see how they were doing. We started
talking and I told her I was going to Ian’s championship fight.

“Ian’s fighting for a title tonight?”

“Yes, he didn’t tell you?” She started crying and I
suddenly felt like crap.

“I’ve been such a horrible mother to him.”

“No! Oh no, don’t say that. Ian thinks you’re great.
He loves you so much. He understands that you can’t watch him fight….”
Kind of.

“No, I have been, Alexa. I’ve been so wrapped up in
my grief that I’ve almost forgotten I have another child that needs me. What
time is his fight?” I told her where and what time. And then I said, “I think
it will be sold out…” I heard her suck in a breath, trying to control a sob before
she let me finish. “His tickets are at the window. This is a different stadium
though. So, look for pick-up or will-call and tell them who you are.”

I heard her let out the breath. “Thank you, Alexa.
You’ve been such a good friend to both of my babies. I hope you know we love
you.” I got choked up then. She was the closest thing to a mother that I ever
had. I thanked her quickly and hung up.

I was further surprised when I got here and saw that
his father came too. He looked proud and excited. It was the first time since
Emma died that I saw any signs of life in his eyes. I hoped Ian was as happy to
see them as they seemed to be just being here.

“Crusher” was standing in his corner glaring at Ian.
He was completely bald and his oiled head glowed under the lights. The lack of
hair emphasized the scars on his face and the way his nose sat to one side. He
looked mean…and very dangerous. This was about defending his title. I doubted
he was going to give it up easily.