Crash: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (9 page)

“Honey? What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t tell her that I was several weeks pregnant with my soon-to-be stepbrother’s baby and that I had no idea what to tell anyone. Or that I was terrified she was making the biggest mistake of her life and that her love affair with Don would blow up in her face. Instead, I decided to tell her a half truth.

“It’s always been just you and me. Now you’re going to marry Don. Part of me feels like I’m losing you.”

My mother made a sympathetic noise and pulled me into her arms, patting my back and hair affectionately.

“Baby, you’re never going to lose me,” she said.

“I know, Mom. I just want you to be happy.”

I looked at myself in the mirror, wearing the slick tuxedo Don had bought for me for the wedding. I looked fucking awesome. I’d never worn a monkey-suit before, but now that I had one on, I had to admit it looked pretty damn good on me. I knew that Harper was going to be the maid-of-honor for her mother, and I had agreed to be Don’s best man.

I wondered what she would be wearing for the wedding. I hoped it was something low-cut that showed off her ass. Then again, it probably wouldn’t be appropriate for me to have a hard-on the entire wedding. With my training schedule taking up most of my time, I hadn’t had the chance to pick up any other women. The truth was, I hadn’t wanted to.

My training schedule was a convenient excuse to let me off the hook for still being under Harper’s spell. I’d never wanted to be addicted to a single woman like I seemed to be to her. Until I fucked her again, I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to be able to get her out of my head. I hadn’t been able to yet.

Don came into the room and inspected my tie. He asked me about his hair, and I told him it looked fucking great. For an older guy, he still had the goods. It was like looking at a mirror that showed me the future.

“So, are you ready to be tied down to one woman for the rest your life?” I asked him, slapping him on the shoulder.

“Undoubtedly,” he said. “Christie is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Making her smile gives me more pleasure than all the businesses I’ve built and all the money I’ve made. Someday, you’ll feel the same way about a special woman. Mark my words.”

“It could happen, I guess,” I said, thinking of Harper.

That woman already had twisted me up inside. Maybe she was the one for me. Too bad she was about to become my stepsister. She seemed to think that meant something. Maybe she was right.

I’d hate to see disappointment in Don’s eyes when he looked at me. Right now, all I saw was pride. Even at twenty-eight years old, for a guy who never had a dad, suddenly having one who was proud of me filled a hole in me that I never really knew was there before. For the moment, I didn’t want to lose that.

“It’s time,” Don said, looking at his Rolex.

We went down to the beach where guests were waiting in lines of chairs that faced an arch of yellow and pink roses and white lilies. Even in the open air, I could smell the fragrant scent wafting around. I left Don under the arch near the justice of the peace and went to where Harper and Christie were waiting. A harp player on a stand began to play. When I walked into the tent to find Harper, I was nearly floored.

She was wearing a formfitting yellow lace dress that flared at the knees. It had a scoop neckline and a scoop back. It showed off her amazing curves and I had to punch myself in the thigh to keep myself from going as hard as a rock. She picked up the bouquet of roses and lilies and glanced up at me. She had some kind of white netting in her hair that came down partially over her eye. I didn’t know what the hell that was, but it still looked fucking sexy.

“It’s time,” I said, my voice almost croaking like a prepubescent boy.

She looked at me sideways, then hooked her arm into mine. “All right,” she said. “I’m ready.”

We walked out of the tent and stood behind the rows of chairs. Everyone turned to look at us, and I felt my face flush. I had faced enemy fire, opponents who were stronger than me, and the death of my own mother, but the faces of these rich people watching me with Harper on my arm made my heart beat with anxiety.

The harp player started the wedding march, and Harper and I walked down the aisle. Harper smiled at Don, and we took our places on either side of the arch. A moment later, Christie emerged from the tent. 

I could see Don’s face light up like a Christmas tree. Christie did look pretty damn beautiful. The dress accentuated her figure that was still pretty rockin’ for an older lady. She had a veil down her back, but not over her face, and carried a cascading bouquet of flowers.

When she made it to Don, Harper took her bouquet. Don and Christie held hands and looked into each other’s eyes as the justice of the peace began the ceremony.

The entire silly ritual buzzed by me. All I could see was Harper standing across the arch from me. Even with Don and Christie between us, I could see her profile and the outline of her backside. I bit my lip and looked away. Her ass looked so juicy in that dress. I swear her tits looked bigger than the last time we slept together.

When Christie and Don said their “I dos,” everyone cheered and threw birdseed as they walked back down the aisle toward the house. Their reception was going to be in the mansion, which had plenty of space for all their guests. I knew there was catering and plenty of booze, which I told myself not to indulge in.

I escorted Harper back down the aisle as was expected and walked with her up to the house. One of the larger living rooms that opened out onto a patio had been converted into seating for the guests. Harper and I were both supposed to sit at the main table with Christie and Don. I sat beside my dad and watched Harper sit beside her mother.

The caterers brought food and served the entire party. My steak was perfectly delicious, but the sight of Harper’s breasts squeezed up in that sexy lace dress looked even more delicious. When the caterers took the last plates away, people started giving toasts to the bride and groom. It was all kind of corny. Just when I was about to stand up and give my toast to the happy couple, Don put his hand on my shoulder and stood up instead.

“To all our family and friends, Christie and I are so pleased that you could join us on such short notice. We have been truly blessed to find each other. What some of you may not know is that I’ve been doubly blessed this month. This mystery man, who served as my best man, isn’t a business associate or my new personal trainer.” Everyone laughed at that. “This handsome young man is actually my son.

“Now, we know for sure, so don’t make any speculations. His mother was someone I loved deeply. I regret not having been part of my son’s life. But from now on, I intend to make it up to him.

“My lovely bride, you are the light of my life. You’ve made the darkness disappear with your love. You’ve made my life complete with your sweetness and your good heart. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have found you and that you agreed to be my wife.”

Don sat down and everyone clapped. Christie leaned over with tears in her eyes and planted a big kiss on his face. After the mushy vows they’d said down on the beach, this just topped it off. Unlike me, I knew Don was going to be getting some pussy tonight.

I told myself I was only drinking two glasses of champagne. I looked over at Harper and noticed that she wasn’t drinking at all. Maybe she didn’t want to have a hangover at work in the morning. I knew she had a grueling schedule as a first-year resident at the hospital.

Her work was as brutal as mine in a way. I had so much damn respect for that woman. It really creeped me out because I’d banged her already. Usually, the moment I fucked a woman, I didn’t want to see her face again. The complete opposite was true with Harper. After having slept with her in Brazil, I wanted to see her more and more. I was beginning to think that it was more than just the fact that she wouldn’t give it up to me again.

Maybe some of the stuff that Don had been talking about was true. I never would’ve thought it, but Harper was definitely getting under my skin. The only way I would know for sure was if we spent some more time together. Maybe it was time to start…dating. If she’d agree.

Dating was something that I didn’t do. I never bothered taking women out for dinner or dancing or any of that shit. I never had to try that hard. Harper was making me try harder than I’d ever had to. Regardless of the reason, she had me wrapped around her finger. I was either going to have to fuck her and forget her or marry that woman. At that point in time, I really didn’t know which one I wanted more.

Her concerns over whether or not our parents would approve didn’t faze me as much as they did Harper. We’d met before either of us knew about them. It was her decision not to come clean in the first place. Now we were stuck in his ridiculous lie. I didn’t care about Don’s money. I didn’t want him to think badly of me, but if he did, that was his problem. How could he hold it against me that I’d fallen for Harper before I even knew him?

Now I had to go along with the charade for Harper’s sake. I’d walked into this family out of nowhere and the least I could do was respect her wishes, no matter how hard. Speaking of hard, just looking at her in that dress was making my dick twitch. The parents went out onto the dance floor, and I stood to take a seat next to Harper. She was staring into the distance, her eyes not focused on anything.

“You look fucking amazing in that dress,” I said, leaning over to whisper in her ear. Under the table I ran my hand up her leg and squeezed her thigh. She didn’t push my hand away.

“You can’t do this,” she whispered back, her breasts heaving. I could see her nipples prick against the bodice.

“But this is exactly what you want me to do.” I started gathering her dress up in my hand and slid my fingers under the fabric to touch her bare leg underneath.

“I don’t,” she lied. I knew she was lying because she made no attempt to stop me.

“You’re wet for me. Admit it,” I said, grinning and pretending to tell her a joke over the sound of the impossibly famous rock band.

She stayed silent, her breath hitching as my fingers grazed up the inside of her thigh. I flicked my fingertips over her pussy. Sure enough, her panties were damp.

“You want this as much as I do,” I said, looking out at the guests, pretending like we were just a good natured stepbrother and stepsister, watching our parents dance. I slid my finger inside her panties. She groaned at my touch and I felt for her clit. She was slick with need and her bud was tightly swollen.

“Stop lying to yourself, Harper,” I whispered. I pushed my finger inside her pussy and she slammed her fist on the table, shaking the place setting.

With a cocky smile, I pulled my finger out and made a show of sucking it in front of her. Her eyes grew wide with shock and something else. Desire. She bit her lip. The juices on my finger tasted so fucking good. My cock hardened.

“You want me to lick that pussy til you ache for my cock and scream my name,” I said, picking up a wine glass and downing the contents.

“Crash. Stop. It’s our parents’ wedding day.”

“So, they’re going to be gone for a good long time, aren’t they? A tour of Europe followed by a week in the South Pacific. What? Isn’t it a month?”

“Yes. They’ll be gone a month,” she said, looking over at me. There was strain in her eyes. The stress I saw there was something I’d never noticed before. I’d made it a lifelong practice to be able to read women. And I could read Harper like a book. She was really worried about something. It wasn’t just the job or me. It was something bigger than all that. If she didn’t tell me, I couldn’t help her. For the first time in my life, I wanted to take care of someone. That thought was terrifying and liberating at the same time.

“Then that means we’ve got plenty of time.”

I watched the limo drive my mother and Don down the driveway and out of sight. A shiver went up my spine, knowing that I would be alone in the house with Crash for the next month. What the hell was I going to do? Resisting his advances was getting more and more difficult with each passing day. Crash stood beside me on the porch, looking smug and self-assured. I tried not to meet his gaze as he stared at me, his hands on his hips, taking up what seemed like all the space in the world.

“So, now it’s official,” he said. “You’re my long-lost sister.”

“I’m not your sister,” I said.

“If you’re not my sister then why won’t you give us a shot?” he said.

“Because it’s not just about Mom and Don. It’s about us, too.”

“Us? Us is pretty damn hot. Don’t think I don’t remember the taste of your sweet pussy on my finger yesterday at the wedding.”

“That’s disgusting,” I said, backing away from him. His words made me tingle all over. The memory of his brazen flirtation in front of everyone at the wedding yesterday. I’d never been with a man who would take risks like that. Nobody could tell or see what he was doing under the table, but that didn’t make it any less daring.

My nipples pricked, and I knew resisting him was a losing battle. He was, in fact, the father of my child. A child I had not told him about, or anyone for that matter. Maybe it was in my best interest to give him a shot after all.

“Baby, to taste your pussy is anything but disgusting,” he said, moving closer.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and drew me to him. The smell of his skin filled my lungs and made me giddy and lightheaded. I smiled politely and looked up into his bright blue eyes. I could feel him growing hard against my stomach and the sensation only made me want him more.

“Why don’t you come watch me fight tonight?” he said, pulling me against his hardness.

I bit my lip and ran my hand over his chest, feeling the tight muscles under his shirt. My brain and body were working overtime, battling each other for dominance. All of my instincts wanted me to give myself up to him, tell him about the baby, and demand he take care of me forever.

The logical part of me wanted to push him away and never speak to him again. He was a bad boy. He could never be the kind of father my child needed. He could never be the kind of man who would support me in my career. I was better off as a single mother than to try to rely on a guy like Crash.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“Are you working tonight?” he asked.

“No. I have the night off.”

“Perfect. I’ll get you on the VIP list and text you the address. Bring a friend. Or two. Maybe those girls from Brazil,” he said, winking.

“Okay. I’ll see if Ava wants to go. I think she has tonight off, too.”

What the hell was I doing? If I took Ava to watch Crash fight, she’d just encourage me to hook up with him again like she did the first time.

“Awesome,” he said. “I’ll see you tonight. I’ve got to go down to the gym now.” He held me tighter and cupped my cheek in his hand, tilting my face up towards his. Slowly, he leaned in, brushing his lips over mine, testing my reaction. I took a sharp breath before he crushed his lips against mine.

I moaned audibly and wrapped my arms around his neck. His tongue plunged between my lips and darted in and out of my mouth, causing a flood of desire to rise in my core. I felt all wet and gooey with need. If he’d taken me into the house right then and there, I probably would have let him have his way with me. But he didn’t; he backed away and told me he had to go to the gym.

I watched him straddle his motorcycle and drive away, flushed and full of aching lust for my stepbrother. What the hell was I doing? I had to make a decision soon. I would have to tell everyone that I was pregnant. This was the kind of thing you couldn’t keep a secret for very long.

What was I going to tell them? Could I tell them the truth? That it Crash’s baby? What would happen then? We could be condemned and tossed out of the family. I knew that my mother would understand eventually, but I didn’t know what Don would think of the situation. He already had Crash on some kind of probationary trial for his inheritance. How could I jeopardize Crash’s future? How could I jeopardize my own future, and the future of our child?

I went inside and laid down in my bed. I felt so confused and depressed, even with the desire still coursing through my veins. I could feel my body already starting to swell, even though the morning sickness had passed. My breasts were tender and almost a cup size larger than normal. My belly wasn’t starting to round out yet, but the evidence of my situation was clearly marking my body.

I wished I had someone to talk to. I wished I could tell someone, anyone. At least about the baby. If I said it out loud, maybe it would seem more real, and I would be able to make a better decision about what I needed to do.

Grabbing my cell phone from my bedside table, I dialed Ava’s number. She answered on the second ring.

“Hey, girl,” she greeted me. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to know if you have any plans tonight?”

“Not really. Mia is out with her boyfriend. Mine has band practice, but I don’t really want to watch again.”

“I was wondering if you’d like to go watch an MMA match tonight with me. My new stepbrother is a fighter and he invited me to come see him.”

“Oh my God, that’s hot,” Ava said. “Since when do you have a stepbrother?”

“Since my mom married his dad yesterday,” I said.

“I didn’t know your mom’s fiancé had a son,” Ava said.

“Neither did he until a few weeks ago.”

“Oh my God, that’s crazy. How are you dealing with all this?”

“It’s fine, I guess. He’s nice enough.”

“So, is he is super-hot, or what?” she asked.

“You’ll see at the match tonight.”

“Come on. Tell me he’s hot,” she said. “He’s got to be hot if he is a mixed martial artist.”

“I’ll pick you up at seven thirty, okay?”

“You buzzkill. I’ll see you then.”

We got off the phone and I napped for the rest of the day. When I finally woke up it was sunset, and I was starving. I went down to the kitchen and found pre-prepared meals in the fridge made by Gloria the cook. I took out a plastic container and put it in the microwave. A few moments later I had piping hot homemade lasagna sitting in front of me. Even reheated in the microwave, Gloria’s food was delicious.

Don had given most of the wait staff a paid vacation and they wouldn’t be around the house for the next month. Gloria had made a bunch of meals and stocked up the fridge and cabinets for me and Crash. It was awesome to have all the extra food. But with the staff gone, that just meant Crash and I had all the privacy in the world.

After my solitary dinner, I went up to my room and took a shower. When I emerged, I stared at my closet, realizing I had no idea what to wear to an MMA match. Were you supposed to dress up or down? Since it was a sports event, I decided to go with jeans, boots, and a flannel. After I finished dressing in my casual attire, I did my hair and makeup and made my way downstairs and out the door.

I arrived at Ava’s house at seven thirty and texted her that I was outside. She came bounding down the pathway and flung open the passenger side door. Her face was full of excitement. Her energy rubbed off on me, and I started to feel more excited myself. I was going to watch Crash fight for the first time, and that sent a little thrill through my whole body until it centered on my core. Just thinking about it made my pussy throb.
Great.
I was in big trouble now.

As I drove across town, Ava and I carried on a casual conversation about the hospital and our attending physician.

“It seems like she has it out for you,” Ava said.

“I don’t know if it’s that,” I said.

“I heard her talking to the chief of staff about you.”

My heart sank. Our attending physician had been hard on me since the first day of my residency. I knew I didn’t have my shit together like I usually did, and that was having a negative effect on my work. If the chief of staff started to doubt me, then it could have serious implications for the rest of my career.

“What did she say?”

“She said you weren’t living up to your potential,” Ava said.

Living up to my potential? I had been an A+ student all through college and medical school. I had been the top intern in my class before passing my medical exams. I’d worked my ass off for years. Now I’m late for a couple of rounds, and I’m suddenly not living up to my potential?

“I can’t believe that shit. What the hell does she expect from me?”

“It seems more than everybody else. Winston was half an hour late for his rounds yesterday and she didn’t say a word.”

I shook my head in the darkness of the cab, feeling fury rise in my chest. We pulled up to the address Crash had given me. It was at a small arena on the outskirts of town. The parking lot was packed and the flashing billboard above the building displayed a picture of Crash and the other fighters participating in the match that night. Ava looked up at the billboard as we passed and her mouth dropped open.

“I swear to God, one of the fighters looks exactly like the guy we met in Brazil the night before we left,” she said.

“That’s because it is,” I said.

“Wow, does your stepbrother know him?”

“My stepbrother is him,” I said, parking the car and turning off the engine.

“No fucking way,” she said, laughing and covering her mouth with shock. Her eyes were bright with glee. I knew exactly what she was thinking. I was fucked. Literally.

“Now you see. Do you think he’s hot?”

“Girl, if I didn’t have a boyfriend, I would’ve ridden that pony all the way home from Brazil,” she said, giggling.

I looked at her with my eyebrow raised. “That’s disgusting,” I said.

“If you think it’s disgusting, you’re not doing it right. By the way? Whatever happened between you and your, um, stepbrother?”

“Nothing,” I lied, climbing out of the car.

We walked into the crowd of spectators, and I told the ticket guy that I was on the VIP list. They waved me by after instructing me where to go for my VIP seats. There were roped off seats in the second row with my name on them. Ava and I sat down as the noisy crowd chattered and shouted. After we were comfortably in our seats, Ava stood up and told me she was going to get a beer.

“Do you want one?” she asked.

“No thanks,” I said.

She frowned at me and scurried off up the aisle toward the concessions. How was I going to explain not wanting a beer? Even when I drove, I would usually have at least one with my friends. Refusing alcohol altogether was somewhat conspicuous for me. Even being a serious scholar, I still participated in social events and shared a drink when it was an appropriate setting. Watching my stepbrother at an MMA match was that type of setting.

Ava returned several moments later as the first match began. She sank into her chair as the lightweight contenders climbed into the ring and began warming up. These guys were smaller than Crash. I didn’t know anything about mixed martial arts or boxing or sports in general, really. But if the announcer said these guys were lightweights then Crash must’ve been a heavyweight, considering how huge he was.

“These dudes are so hot,” Ava yelled in my ear over the sound of the cheering crowd.

“If you like that sort of thing,” I said. The guys were mostly covered in tattoos like Crash. Ava usually went for the bad boy type. Her boyfriend was a rock musician. I’d never been into that kind of guy. I’d always gone for the upwardly mobile type. After spending three years with Jeremy and his super controlling ways, though, maybe that had been a mistake.

“Everyone likes that sort of thing,” she said, laughing beside me.

The fight began and the two young men in the ring clashed with each other, brutally punching and kicking and pinning each other on the mat. Blood and saliva flew across the ring. Even over the sound of screaming and cheering and clapping, I could hear the smack and the crunch of fist against bone. I sucked a deep breath between my teeth, imagining that Crash went through this on a regular basis. What would ever make someone choose this kind of occupation?

When the second fight started, I excused myself to go to the restroom and came back to sit beside Ava with a glass of water. She looked over at me, drinking her second beer, with a questioning look in her eyes.

“Why aren’t you drinking?” she asked.

I could see Crash step into the ring, his muscles pumped and glistening, his tattoos etched over his taut skin. A thrill went through me and exploded in my core. My head went dizzy with excitement and confusion. I leaned over to Ava and spoke in her ear the words I had been wanting to say for weeks.

“I’m pregnant,” I said.

“Bitch, what?” she said. Her face fell and she stared at me. Crash and his opponent began to circle each other and my heart beat furiously inside me. “Who’s the father?”

“I can’t talk about it right now,” I said.

Crash charged aggressively towards his opponent. He feigned one direction and then twisted around and kicked the man in the chest. His opponent went reeling backward, but corrected himself and punched Crash in the ribs. The brutal collision of two bull-like men was a thunderclap of alpha male aggression. I watched in stunned silence as the two forces of nature collided with each other in front of me. I was on the edge of my seat the entire match as Ava stared at me, forgetting what was going on in the ring.