Fighting Love (Love to the Extreme) (6 page)

clear “not ready for this” sign.

She went back to her room and closed the door, then walked over to her dresser. She picked

up the gift she’d wrapped for him in shiny red paper, feeling stupid for being hurt that he’d

forgotten Valentine’s Day. But this was the first year since they were ten they hadn’t exchanged

presents, and damn it, it hurt.

She’d never forget their first year. While all their other classmates had received those cheap

paper character Valentines, both of them had gotten a “special” real card for the other. The one

he’d given her had the cutest puppy on the front of it, and inside it said, “Will you be mine?” Her

child’s heart had almost exploded with happiness, just as her adult heart expanded at the memory,

because she knew now what Tommy had done to buy that card. His drunk of a mom had

begrudgingly bought the other Valentines but refused to buy Julie’s. For a week, Tommy had

walked up and down the streets collecting bottles for the deposit until he had enough money.

After she put the present back on the dresser, she slipped between the covers, leaned over,

and shut off the light. She’d just stretched out and put her head on the pillow when a loud static

sound came from under it. She shot straight up and gaped at it.

“Green Knight to Lady J.”

He didn’t!

She hadn’t heard those nicknames in forever. After introducing himself as the Green Knight the

day they’d met, he’d coined her Lady J when he learned her name was Julie. He’d called her Lady

J until he outgrew his knight-and-castle phase a little over a year later.

To keep a peal of laughter from erupting, she pressed the back of her hand to her mouth.

Grinning, she shoved her hand under the pillow and pulled out the walkie-talkie. “Lady J, copy.”

“Emergency meeting in the dungeon. Meet me in five. Green Knight out.”

“Copy that.”

Pushing back the covers, she jumped out of bed and rushed for the door, assuming the

dungeon would be the living room. As it squeaked open, static screeched in the room.

“Retreat! The infidels are watching. You’ll be discovered! You must use our usual method of

movement.”

Her gaze strayed to the window. Was he serious? “Tommy. It’s thirty degrees outside.”

There was a moment of silence, then, “Live a little, Lady J.”

The walkie-talkie went dead. A soft scoff escaped her mouth as it hit her why Tommy was

always telling her to relax. While he was trying to recreate their childhood, she was worried about

the cold. Wow, she really had forgotten how to relax and just go with it. Maybe she needed to

listen to him more.

After she pulled on some thick socks and her Uggs, she yanked on her white fur-lined winter

jacket, wrapped a scarf around her neck, and pulled on a plaid knit hat. At the last second, she

snatched up the present and zipped it inside her jacket.

When she lifted the window, an icy breeze smacked her in the face and she shivered, but she

climbed through the opening. Once she dropped to the ground, she paused. As kids, these

emergency calls had meant meeting at the tree house in her backyard to play video games

because Tommy had needed to get out of his house and away from his mom. There wasn’t a tree

house here, but she still had a backyard.

As she made her way down the side of the house, an orangey glow appeared, growing larger

the closer she got to the backyard. When she rounded the corner, her unused fire pit had a

roaring flame and the temperature went up about ten degrees. As she spotted Tommy standing

beside a blanket he’d spread on the ground and the TV from his room sitting atop it, a bubble of

laughter shot past her lips. He was wearing a long-sleeved green shirt and dark brown slacks with

a black belt low around his hips—with a wooden sword hanging at his side. An almost exact replica

of the outfit he’d changed into daily after school to become the Green Knight when they were kids.

Happiness filled her chest as she walked toward him. He hasn’t forgotten. And this was the

best gift he’d ever given her—memories.

When she reached his side, he kissed her cheek. The touch of his lips on her skin burned, but

she didn’t have it in her to be upset by the reaction. All of this was just so sweet.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Lady J.” As he placed a crown made of aluminum foil on top of her

head, love filled her chest to overflowing, just as it had the night he’d done this so long ago. Hours

after they’d met, a ten-year-old Tommy had tapped on her window with a set of walkie-talkies and

a crown exactly like this one. After giving her one of the walkie-talkies, he’d set the crown on her

head and said, “From this day forth, I dedicate my life to protecting you, Lady J.”

And he had never broken that promise.

“I don’t think you’ve called me that since right after we turned twelve, Tommy.”

He held up a finger and gave her a stern look. “It’s Green Knight tonight.”

He had given her a lot over the years. The more money he earned, the more extravagant the

gift—but this one beat them all. Because it was from his heart.

“This is fantastic.”

“I have more.” He motioned for her to sit and she saw the Super Nintendo set up in front of the

TV.

“Are you serious!” She turned an excited smile to Tommy, who was grinning ear to ear. “What

game?”

“Which do you think?” Before she could answer, he said, “We’re going to get it on like Donkey

Kong tonight.”

Even the double entendre didn’t faze her. All she could do was laugh at the length he’d gone to

recreate this. She sat down on the blanket and took a controller in her hand. After he dropped

down beside her on the blanket, he dug around in a backpack that was set off to the side and

pulled out two Yoo-hoos.

At the sight of their favorite childhood drink, she threw her head back and laughed again. “Oh

my God. You pulled out all the stops, didn’t you? How many of these did we guzzle growing up?”

“Between the two of us, I think we kept them in business.” He turned the bag upside down,

pouring out all kinds of snacks from when they were kids. Airheads, oatmeal cookies, Doritos,

Sugar Babies.

He’d done so much. Remembered so much. And the happiness filling her became

overwhelming. Tears pricked her eyes as she gazed at him.

His expression turned from smug to horrified in a second. “Shit. I won’t ever do anything like

this again if you cry.”

She gave a wobbly smile. “This is just so wonderful, and you did it even after everything that

happened last night. Tommy, I just feel horrible about what I said. It’s your life. It’s not my place

to judge it.”

He gave a dismissive shake of his head. “I was judging you, wasn’t I? Telling you that you’d

look back and see that you’d worked your life away. You were just being honest in return. Look at

the difference between us, Julie. Because you’ve worked hard, you have a successful business and

you own a beautiful home. I’ve played hard, and I don’t have a damn thing to show for it. In fact,

I’ve lost everything I had worked for. What right do I have to be mad at you for telling me the

truth?”

“It’s my fault that Ethan and Mike fired you.”

“Come on. You know better than that. That punch was the final straw. Nothing more. If it

hadn’t happened, I would have done something else to justify my release. Either way, maybe this

needed to happen.” He nudged her shoulder with his. “You’re right. I do need to grow up.”

Guilt churned her stomach. “Oh, Tommy.”

“Would you stop being so damn somber? I’m messing with you.” Then he gazed off into the

distance. “Besides, when everything is taken away, you start to realize what’s really important. I

miss fighting. And because of my choices, I won’t step foot in a CMC cage again. That’s humbling,

you know?” Glancing at her, he sent her a tight smile.

“Yeah, I can imagine it is.”

The silence that fell between them was thick. Wanting to get back to the carefree way they

had been moments before, she unzipped her jacket. “I got something for you, too.”

The corner of his mouth quirked up. “Really?”

She withdrew the present and handed it to him. After he ripped open the wrapping and lifted

the lid, he froze for a moment with a breathed, “No shit.” He snapped his head over to gape at

her. “Where did you find this?”

His amazement made her bite her lip to keep from grinning like a fool. “There’s a memorabilia

sports shop in downtown Atlanta. I went over on my lunch break today and they had it.”

Awe etched on his face, he turned the baseball cap over in his hands. “Jesus, Julie. This is

better than the first time you gave it to me, and it was pretty damn awesome then.”

Tommy had always been a huge Braves fan. That hat was the first big present she’d given him

after she got her first job.

“There’s one more thing in there.”

He peered inside. “My iPod?”

“Yep.”

After he put an earbud in and hit play, his laugher finally made her grin break free. “Are you

kidding? New Kids?”

“It’s not a tape, but I thought it’d work as a replacement.”

For a long moment, he studied her. As his gaze moved over her face, his delight faded to a

seriousness that was so unlike Tommy it made her shift uncomfortably.

“Thank you,” he finally said with a grittiness to his voice she’d never heard before. He leaned

over and kissed her cheek, whispering against her skin. “Best Valentine’s Day ever.”

“Yes, it is.”

As he leaned back, their eyes met and something odd happened. The air went suddenly still.

Her heart skipped a beat and a crackle zapped between them. Clearing his throat, Tommy reached

over and ruffled her hair the way he used to do when they were kids. “You’re awesome, Lady J.

Think I’ll keep you as my BFF for another couple of decades.” He twisted open his Yoo-hoo and

took a long swallow.

Julie blinked. Had she imagined all that sizzle?

God, she didn’t know. She wasn’t one to read into anything with Tommy because he was

usually pretty straightforward and easy to read. Especially for her. But this was the first time she

had ever felt what could possibly have been a mutual moment of attraction. Had it really been

attraction, though? Definitely on her part. She wasn’t so sure on Tommy’s…

It easily could have been an emotional moment for him. She had given him two presents he

had been very upset about losing yesterday. That had to have brought on some overwhelming

feelings. Which definitely made more sense than the attraction thing.

She studied him now. Shoulders relaxed, face the same. He looked back at her with his usual

casual smile. He shook an Airheads packet and tossed it to her. “Here. I know how much you loved

these.”

Yeah, she’d definitely imagined it.

…

Tommy rolled over and cracked his eyelids open to check the alarm clock to see how much

longer before he had to get up.

Six forty-five.

He shot straight up in bed. That couldn’t be right. He snatched the clock off the nightstand

and groaned. He’d set the alarm for the correct time; he just hadn’t set it to go off. Damn it. He

was supposed to have been up thirty minutes ago, and out of the house by now.

He blamed Julie. She’d fucked up his head after she’d given him her present, and continued

doing so long after they’d parted for the night and gone to bed. Shoving the covers aside, he

stalked across his room to the door.

There had been a freaky weird moment last night. Jesus. He’d almost kissed her. And not the

way he usually kissed her—a peck on the cheek. He’d wanted to really kiss her. How nuts was

that?

After tossing and turning most of the night, he’d finally found peace by connecting the

ridiculous impulse to the emotions he’d been feeling at the moment—the overwhelming awe and

affection he’d felt for her when he’d opened that gift had left him stunned. When he’d looked at

Julie, the feelings had only quadrupled as he’d realized how much she listened to him, understood

him, and was always there for him, no matter what.

Because she was his best friend.

He strode down the hall. When he reached the bathroom, he grasped the knob, pushed inside,

and instantly felt like he’d been hit with the stupid stick.

With her back to him, fresh from her shower, Julie was completely nude as she ran a comb

through her hair. The wet brunette strands reached right below her shoulder blades, gently

caressing her skin and introducing him to an hourglass figure and a flawless, apple-shaped bottom.

His gaze locked there. The rounded cheeks were cock-hardening perfect. A woman’s ass had

always been his weakness, but Julie’s? Fucking hell. He’d never wanted to get his hands on a butt

more.

“Tommy!” She twisted toward him, covering herself with her arms, but not before he saw the

enticing swell of her breast. As she squatted to snatch a towel off the floor, he still hadn’t moved.