Fighting for Love (16 page)

“Relax, angel, you’re going to be fine. I’m not going to do anything stupid,” I assured her.

Gently, I squeezed her hands just once before putting the bike in gear and taking off down the road. I ended up travelling the scenic route up US 101 to Santa Rosa because I figured she’d enjoy it more. After a while, she let go of some of her fear and giggled when I sped up, except her grip always tightened up again around the curves if we had to lean into them. Riding was relaxing for me, but it also gave me an outlet if I needed to let off steam. Being able to twist the throttle and fly down the road was great to get the adrenaline pumping.

We arrived perfectly intact, and as soon as I parked the bike in the gym parking lot, Shelby got off and tried to remove her helmet. I helped her unclasp it, and as soon as she was free she squealed, “That was amazing.”

“Not as bad as you thought, right?” I pointed out.

Shaking her head excitedly, she unzipped her coat and slid her backpack off, which had her workout clothes in it. “No, it wasn’t bad considering I didn’t have a choice. I debated on making a run for it, but I knew I wouldn’t get very far. Besides, it was actually kind of fun.”

“I’m glad you had fun,” I said, taking her hand and leading her around the building to the front door of the gym. “Let’s get inside so I can show you how to kick someone’s ass.”

As soon as we entered, I noticed there were a couple of guys sparring in the ring who were new fighters in the Middleweight division in the UFC. I’d spoken to them plenty of times and watched them train before. Both were completely fearless and efficient with their strikes, but I figured it had to be in their genetics because they were twins.

“Wow,” Shelby breathed, taking a look around. “You said your coach owns the gym?”

Nodding, I pointed to where he stood by the ring, talking to the Jameson twins’ coach. “Yep, that’s him over there. Come on, I’ll introduce you to him.”

When Carter saw us approach, he smiled and patted the other coach on the shoulder before meeting us on the other side of the ring. “You ready to get to work, son? The guys should be done in about ten minutes,” he said.

“Please, I’m always ready,” I added. Turning to Shelby, I put my arm around her and introduced them to each other. “Shelby, this is Carter. He’s the one who helped me be the fighter I am today. Without him, none of it would’ve been possible.”

Carter chuckled and shook her hand. “Don’t listen to him, he’s just being modest. I’ve never seen a fighter quite like him other than Mason. Next season is going to be epic when they battle it out,” he told her.

“I can imagine,” she replied.

“All right, you two. I’m going to get our stuff out of the back. Start warming up and then we’ll begin.” Turning to Shelby, he winked at her and smiled. “You’re going to have a tough fight on your hands, little lady. I hope you’re ready.”

With a sly grin, she answered, “Oh, I can handle him just fine.”

That she can
, I thought,
especially when she used her mouth.

While Carter disappeared into the back room, Shelby and I separated to different locker rooms to change clothes. I knew it would take her longer to get dressed, so I met up with the twins who stood right by the ring packing up their stuff.

“What’s up, Reynolds,” one of the twins said. They both had dark blond hair, which was shaved close to their heads, and midnight blue eyes. It was hard to tell them apart since they were identical, but I’d noticed once before that Ryley was the one with the small jagged scar at his hairline.

Ryley held out his hand and I shook it before turning to his brother, Camden, and shaking his. “You guys are looking good up there. What are you going to do if the time comes for you to fight each other?” I asked.

Shrugging, they both looked at each other and grinned. Camden was the one who answered, “Then I guess we’ll fight each other. I’m sure I could ask the same question to you about Mason. It’s no different going up against a good friend.”

Good point.

When the time came for me to fight Mason, I was going to keep fighting to the very end. He was the best damn fighter I’d ever gone against, and even though we were close friends I didn’t want to hurt him, but we both understood that it was what we did. It was a sport we both loved and it was nothing personal. We’d beaten each other up plenty of times in our sparring, so it wasn’t any different.

“You have a point. I’ve fought Mason before and we know the difference between fighting for sport and fighting to injure someone,” I replied.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Camden agreed. “I guess the same can be said for us.”

We stood there talking for a while until Ryley elbowed his brother in the arm and pointed toward the door. “Dude, look at her,” he marveled. “Is she not hot or what.”

When I recognized the curvy, blonde haired girl he was talking about, I couldn’t help but cringe and shake my head. She was definitely a looker, but she happened to be one of the many mistakes I’d made over the past couple of years.

“What’s that look for, Reynolds?” Ryley asked. “Please tell me you didn’t bang her too.” Nonchalantly, I shrugged and didn’t comment, which in turn confirmed his suspicion. Ryley burst out laughing. “Damn, man, is there any girl that comes in here that you haven’t fucked? I guess I’m going to have to settle for your sloppy seconds.”

Shaking my head, I put my hand on his shoulder and leaned closer to him. “Believe me, you’ll want to stay away from that one. It felt like a punishing brillo pad scraping up and down my dick. I hurt for a week after that.”

As soon as I made that comment, I knew I was in trouble—so did Ryley and Camden—when Shelby’s voice spoke up from behind us, “Wow, I so didn’t need to hear that, but I guess since you hurt for a week after it probably cut down the number of women you’d been with to what … one hundred and seventy-five?”

With her jaw and fists clenched, she stormed right past us and jumped up into the ring. She had on a black sports bra and a pair of black spandex boy shorts that showed off her flat stomach and the voluptuous curve of her ass. When she noticed me staring, she narrowed her eyes and snarled her lip.

Holy shit, she’s pissed.

“Dude, you pissed her the hell off. Good luck because you’re definitely going to need it,” Ryley pointed out, as if I didn’t already know.

“Thanks,” I grumbled.

The twins and their coach said their good-byes to Carter as he brought out the pads and gloves. I climbed up into the ring with Shelby, but she wouldn’t look at me as I approached her. All she did was stand there with her arms crossed at the chest, fuming.

“Shelby,” I murmured cautiously.

Immediately, she held up her hand for me to stop and closed her eyes. “Please, do me a favor and don’t talk right now. I really don’t want to think about it anymore. Knowing you have a past with women is one thing, but actually seeing the people you’ve slept with and hearing about it is another. I know if the situation was turned you’d understand.”

“You’re right, and I would hate it,” I admitted honestly. “I hate knowing you’ve been with other guys, but you’re with
me
now and I trust you. I may say stupid shit sometimes, and that’s something I’ve always done, but you have to learn to trust
me
if this is going to work out. You promised not to leave me and I promised I wouldn’t leave you. You also have to believe in me.”

Her shoulders relaxed just a bit, but now Carter joined us in the ring and immediately picked up on the tension. “Well, I see there’s some hostility that brewed up in the few minutes I’ve been gone. It’ll make for an interesting session.” Carter smiled and taped Shelby’s hands before sliding a pair of gloves on her.

“All right, Shelby, I’m going to show you some strike moves, and also some defensive ones. Then after that I’ll let you practice them out on Matt. It’s important to be skilled in every single aspect of MMA fighting. You have to be agile, quick on your feet, and be able to think quickly to anticipate your opponent’s next moves. You understand?”

Nodding, she watched him closely while I stood there, stewing in doubt. I knew she was angry, and she still hadn’t looked at me. Sooner or later she would have to. While I waited on them to finish, I ran a couple of miles on the treadmill and lifted a set of weights. About thirty minutes later they were done.

“She’s ready, son,” Carter called. “Get your ass up here.”

Shelby was on fire and covered in sweat by the time I climbed up into the ring, but she didn’t waste any time going on the attack. Swinging her fists, I blocked each and every one of her strikes and almost took her down to the mat, but thought better of it. If this was the only way to help her get out the anger, then so be it.

“Does this make you feel better?” I challenged.

“No,” she growled, “it doesn’t.”

Already, she showed signs of fatigue and huffed in anger, pushing herself past the limit. I didn’t know what the hell to do. Carter moved out of the ring and gave us our space, knowing our situation needed to be handled in our own way and with a little privacy. It was hard to have that with everyone in the gym staring at you.

Circling around her, I lifted my arms in the air and shrugged. “Well, then what would make you happy, huh? Do you want to hit me, is that it? Tell me what—”

Stopping mid-sentence, I saw someone out of the corner of my eye come through the door that I hadn’t seen in a really long time. When I turned to look, Shelby glanced in the direction as well at the long, dark haired beauty that smiled and waltzed her way over to the ring.

All I heard from Shelby was a low growl and her voice saying, “You have got to be kidding me.” Suddenly, her fist slammed into my right cheek and I fell to the mat. The girl could pack a punch, especially when pissed off. Lying on the mat, I tilted my head back to peer at the girl behind me with her elbows resting at the edge of the ring.

“Well, well,” she began with a chuckle, “it’s been ten years and the girl can still knock you off your feet. I thought you would’ve learned your lesson by now.”

Rubbing my cheek, I groaned and collapsed onto the mat. “Oh, you know me … when I fall, I fall hard. It’s been, what … four months? I can see you’re still as charming as ever. Welcome back, Gabriella.”

She winked and smiled wide. “It’s good to see you, too, brother.”

THE MOMENT MATT SAID GABRIELLA’S
name I knew I had made a terrible mistake. I didn’t want to hit him, but when he turned away from me to look at another girl I just reacted. I hadn’t seen his sister since she was thirteen years old, and a lot had changed in ten years. She was twenty-three years old and completely different … grown up.

Sheepishly, I covered my face with my hands and groaned. “Matt, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.”

When I heard him shuffle on the mat, I lowered my hands and hesitantly opened my eyes. Standing in front of me with a huge smile on his face, it was hard to stay angry.

“Now, did
that
make you feel better?” he asked, tilting my chin up with his finger.

As much as I hated to admit it, yes, it did.

“Actually, it did,” I answered truthfully. “But I promise I won’t do that again. It just feels like every step forward we take there’s always something that tries to hold us back.”

“And that’s why we’ll keep pushing,” he murmured low. “Nothing is going to hold us back because I’m not going to let it. I’ll fight for what’s mine, and you, my angel, are mine.”

Staring into his swirling green gaze, it was so easy to get lost in them. However, the moment was broken when Gabriella cleared her throat. “Long time no see, Shelby. I see you found your way back to my brother. If I’m not mistaken, I thought he wasn’t good enough for you.”

Taken aback by her words, I almost thought I had imagined it, but by Matt’s glare I knew I didn’t. “Gabby, what the hell are you doing?”

“What?” she snapped, glaring back at him. “Have you forgotten everything? Because I know I haven’t. I was there, remember, unlike her.”

Turning on her heel, she stormed through the gym and out the door. I used to spend time with her when Matt and her mother would be at work. We grew really close to each other, and when I ended things with Matt I never saw her again—never told her good-bye—but I missed her. Being with Matt again, I didn’t even think about what it would be like to have to confront his sister or his mother. It wasn’t just him I left behind.

Matt sighed, his gaze weary when he turned to me. “I’ll be right back. I can’t let her leave like that.”

“Wait,” I called, grabbing his arm, “let me go out there and talk to her.”

“Are you sure? You know how tough she can be.”

“Yes, I know,” I agreed, “but she also needs to hear me out. I know she probably hates me, and she has every right to. I owe her an apology at least.”

Matt smiled sadly and nodded for me to go. I rushed out the front door and turned the corner to the parking lot to see if I could find her. Thankfully, she hadn’t gone far; she stood by Matt’s sport bike with silent tears streaming down her face. She looked so different now; she was taller and her raven black hair was long past her shoulders, instead of chin-length like it used to be. I could only assume by the gray California State T-shirt she wore that it was most likely the college she attended.