Pushing the Limits (11 page)

She grabbed his arm, pulling him to her once more. “But as soon as they leave, those lips are mine.”

* * *

She wasn't kidding. The moment her brothers took off for the evening, her arms went around his neck and her mouth eagerly found his. Moving closer to Colby in the booth, Dane lifted her legs onto his lap, running his hand along her thigh. Damn. He'd thought the guys would never leave. The few looks she'd sent him in the last torturous hour and a half revealed she was just as eager to see them call it a night.

Her fingers made their way into his hair and he gripped her ribcage, drawing her as close as possible. Her breasts beneath her black tank top pressed into his chest and images of them exposed as she'd climbed on top of him the night before made his jeans fit tighter around his crotch.

She deepened the kiss and he dared to open his eyes to peek at her, which was a mistake.

Seeing Tyson and some of the other fighters from Punisher Athletics enter the club, Dane pulled away abruptly. “Fuck,” he muttered. He knew the bar was one of the fighters' favorite places to go, but he'd been hoping he was safe early in the evening. Until he saw the girls walking in behind him. Tyson's Hollywood movie-star girlfriend, Parker Hamilton, carried a cake. He glanced at the date on his phone. Tyson's birthday. One of the only days Tyson could be convinced to leave the gym before ten p.m.

“What's wrong?” Colby asked, the back of her hand flying to her swollen, pink lips.

He nodded in the direction of the group. “Ghosts from the past,” he said, reaching for his beer and downing the remaining liquid.

A wave of unexpected longing washed over him as he saw the group file into a booth on the other side of the bar. He used to be one of them, and he missed his friends, missed his life, missed his training . . .

Oddly enough, next to him, Colby looked as uncomfortable as he felt as she said, “Do you want to go say hi?”

He shook his head. “No.” He'd wanted to avoid them altogether. At least, he thought he did. Then, why had he come here, knowing this was a usual hangout? He refused to read anything into it, but the nagging feeling in his gut made him uneasy. He turned to face her again. “No. I don't have anything to say.”

“Well, it looks like someone has something they want to say to you,” she said, sliding out of the booth as Tyson approached. “I'll give you two some privacy.”

He frowned, wondering why she'd assume he wanted privacy.

The two exchanged a look he couldn't quite pinpoint as Colby rushed off toward the restrooms at the back of the bar.

Dane's spine stiffened as Tyson slid into the booth across from him.

“Tyson.”

“What the fuck, man?”

Guess they were skipping pleasantries. “I'm not interested, Tyson.”

“Yeah, I'm not buying that. Give me anything else—you're freaked out, scared, the thought of climbing back into the cage makes you want to vomit—any of that I'll buy. Not interested?” He shook his head as he leaned forward on his elbows on the table. “Nah, not the man I know.”

“Yeah? Well, I'm not the man you know anymore.” He climbed out of the booth and stood. It was true. He barely recognized himself as the person he was a year ago. The Consuelos fight had changed him.

Tyson stood too, and while the light heavyweight fighter's stance intimidated most people, they'd been friends for a long time. Tyson was all bark. “Just hear me out.”

“There's no point. You are wasting your breath. I'm done fighting. Accept that. I have.”

His buddy placed a hand on his shoulder and moved closer. “Fighting doesn't work that way and you know it. It's a part of you and not doing it will eat you up. Besides, you can't let what happened a year ago dictate the rest of your life, Dane. It wasn't your fault.”

He swallowed hard, weighing the words. He'd heard them all a million times before. “I'm not interested in being an easy win for Rico Mendez to retire on.” Damn, even he heard consideration in his voice, which made his stomach turn. In a year, he hadn't considered returning to the cage. What was it about Tyson's persistence right now that was making him cave a little?

Unfortunately, his former coach heard it too, and it was enough for him to pounce. “Fine. Then, come back and beat
his ass. That's what I want to see.”

Fuck. How had he allowed himself to be drawn into this conversation? “He's undefeated. I haven't stepped foot in a gym in almost a year.” What was wrong with him? Now he was giving excuses? Walk the fuck away, he told himself. But his feet stayed planted.

Tyson was grinning. “Your training was never stellar, man. You were hot and cold and damn if you didn't have the potential to be great, had you committed fully.”

Dane looked away, his hands on his hips.

“But it never mattered. The fans loved you. And they still love you. Did you even read those comments on the video of your fight at the bar?”

“It wasn't my fight. I was working as a bouncer, and I stepped in to break it up,” he mumbled. He'd never admit to the guy that he'd read all of the comments on the video.

“But the comments, man. Did you read them? It doesn't matter, I'll tell you what they said.
They
want you back.
I
want you back. You deserve a comeback.”

From the corner of the bar, he could see Colby approaching them slowly and it served to snap his focus back to the present, back to what mattered now. “I have a new future now. I'm sorry, Tyson,” he said, tapping his shoulder as he moved past him. “Thanks for trying, but it's time to let it go.”

“Dane, this offer from the MFL is the best chance you've got to get back into fighting. This opportunity won't be knocking twice,” Tyson called behind him.

He turned. “I'm okay with that.”

* * *

He was not okay with that, Colby thought, watching him approach. She'd only caught the tail end of the conversation, but she knew what Tyson wanted. She held her breath, hoping the man hadn't told Dane about her visit to his gym. “Everything okay?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, let's get out of here.” Taking her hand, he headed toward the door.

She nodded. “Okay.” Right now, her mind wasn't on the story, it was on him and getting back to his place. Her attraction to him pushed everything else aside, which wasn't good.

As they approached the exit, she saw Parker Hamilton walking toward them and her eyes widened. They grew even wider when the Hollywood actress touched Dane's arm. “Hey, stranger,” she said in a voice that was pure silk and made Colby twitch involuntarily with a slight wave of jealousy.

Especially when Dane's face lit up and his mouth curled into a smile as he hugged her.

Great. He'd dated a movie star.

“Parker, great to see you,” he said before turning to her. “Parker, this is Colby . . . Colby . . .”

She shot him a look. “Parker Hamilton, yes, I know.” She smiled at her as warmly as one possibly could smile at a gorgeous movie star with natural blond hair and deep, chocolate-colored eyes, who'd had sex with her . . . ? What was Dane exactly? The source she'd had sex with. “I saw your latest movie. It was brilliant,” Colby said. The actress had played a female MMA fighter in her latest film,
Into The Cage
. It was a hit opening week at the box office and Colby had been one of the first to see it, getting premiere tickets from work.

“Thank you. I'm really proud of the film.” Parker turned to Dane. “Did you see it?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. But I will,” he said.

Parker pointed a finger at him. “You better. After all, you were my first trainer.”

“Is my name in the credits?” he asked, teasing the other woman in a lighthearted way she'd rarely seen in the few weeks of knowing him.

She swallowed hard. Obviously Dane had been more than just the woman's trainer. He seemed so much more relaxed around her than he did around anyone else.

Parker's laugh was as perfect as the size-two body it came from, and Colby sighed.

“No. Sorry. I had no control over that.” She hesitated, glancing over her shoulder at the group gathered in the booth. “Will you two join us? We're celebrating Tyson's birthday before we go to LA. for the weekend for the
Cagefighter 5
premiere.”

Dane frowned. “Tyson's going to LA.?”

Parker grinned. “He has a cameo role in the film,” she said excitedly.

Dane's mouth dropped. “No shit.”

Parker nodded. “I know, right? Anyway, please join us. You can tease him about it. The other guys certainly haven't
shown any mercy.” Parker glanced at her. “Please.”

Secretly, she hoped Dane would say no. She wasn't exactly thrilled to have to make small talk with an ex-lover of his, and besides, she was worried one of the fighters at their table might recognize her as a reporter with Knock Out Sports. Not that any of them had ever glanced her way when Faith Hart had been present, but still . . .

He shook his head, but Parker pouted.

Oh, come on. As if . . .

“Fine, okay,” Dane said.

Huh? She glanced at him in surprise. He wanted to hang out with his former fighter friends? Or did he want to spend time with the blond movie star? She had no right to be feeling the crazy jealousy she felt, but knowing that changed nothing.

“You okay with that?”

Did she have a choice? Apparently this woman's pout could convince him to do anything. “Sure.” She checked her watch, hoping her disappointment didn't show. She'd stay long enough not to seem like she was leaving because she was uncomfortable, and then she'd slip out.

If Dane came with her, great. If not . . .

But an hour later, Colby was shocked at the great time she was having. After realizing Parker and Tyson were an inseparable couple, she had an easier time relaxing with the group. Dane's arm casually draped over her, keeping her close, helped. She wasn't sure if it was his way of making her feel better or if he found security in having her there.

The two men had somehow come to a silent agreement not to discuss the Rico Mendez fight anymore that evening, and by the time they made their exit a few hours later, they even shook hands.

Walking to his truck, Dane looked more relaxed and at ease than she'd ever seen him. The transformation was nice.

“They were really great,” she said when they stopped next to her car.

He laughed. “That's a stretch, but yeah, they're okay.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. “I'm sorry we didn't get to continue that kiss though.”

Her breath caught as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Want to come back to my place?”

She nodded eagerly. “More than anything.”

* * *

“You okay? You seem like you're a million miles away,” Colby said, looking at him as she lay on his chest a few hours later.

He smiled and held her closer. “How could I not be okay after that?” He kissed her forehead.

“You're thinking about the fight, aren't you? The one against Rico Mendez?”

There was no point lying about it. “Yeah.” He
was
thinking about the fight. But more than that he was thinking about how much he hadn't realized he'd been missing the fight world until that evening with his former friends and training camp.

He'd convinced himself he was done and he was okay with that. The devastation of the last time he'd stepped into the octagon made it feel impossible for him to ever reenter. But the last few weeks, seeing how the fans hadn't abandoned him the way he'd thought, Tyson's insistence that he could still compete, and Colby's silent but supportive affection toward him made him wonder . . .

Leaning on an elbow, she ran a finger along his jawline. “Why don't you do it?”

“I'm not a . . .”

“You're not a fighter anymore. I know, that's what you keep saying. But Dane, being around those guys tonight, you were different. You were smiling, you were relaxed, you looked like you were exactly where you belong,” she said softly, but the words struck their intended mark.

The problem was, he knew what she said was true. It hadn't taken long for the uncomfortable uneasiness in the pit of his stomach to subside, and he'd had a good time. Other than his time with Colby the last few weeks, he couldn't remember feeling as good as he had with his old friends that evening.

But that didn't mean he should return to the cage. It just meant maybe he had to stop pushing everyone from his past out of his life. But could he do one and not the other? “I'm terrified.” There, he'd said it. The truth was it was easier to walk away than face his mistakes and rebuild his career as a fighter. He wasn't sure he could handle the disappointment if he failed when he knew how much it would take for him to even try.

Colby kissed him. “The best way to get over this is to face that fear. It's one fight. One match. You said yourself, you're not expecting to win. No one expects you to win. So use it as a way to conquer the fear you feel.”

He released a sigh. She made it sound so easy. “I'm not sure I can.”

“I'm not sure you can't.”

Sitting in his truck behind Punisher Athletics the following Monday after work, Dane fought the urge to tear out of the parking lot. He still wasn't sure how he had agreed to accept this fight.

Somewhere inside he knew this was the right thing to do. He wasn't returning to the cage because he wanted to go back to a fighting career. He wasn't stepping inside the octagon to give Rico his shot at redemption. He was taking this one and only fight in an attempt to move past the demons plaguing him. He was going insane with guilt and grief and soon they would consume him, if he didn't at least try to beat them.

That still didn't make it any easier to open the door and climb out of the truck.

Tossing his gym bag over his shoulder, he made his way toward the gym and went inside. The familiar surroundings—the octagon in the center of the floor, the heavy bags along the far wall, the workout equipment and weights upstairs, the smell of leather and sweat and blood—all made him feel as though he hadn't been away for a year. The loud heavy-metal music playing on the sound system throughout the gym drowned out the thumping of his heart as, head down, he made his way to Tyson's office. He noticed several guys glance up from their training, but he wasn't ready to talk to anyone yet, so he kept walking.

“Hey, man. Glad you didn't back out,” Walker Adams, another middleweight fighter, called from where he sparred inside the cage.

So much for making it inside the office without talking to anyone. “The day's not over yet,” he called to him, but he knew he wouldn't back out. Once he'd given Tyson his word the night before, there was no changing his mind.

His coach had answered on the first ring. And it was a good thing because had he not, Dane would have found a reason to hang up. “When do you want to start training?” he'd asked immediately.

“That confident that's why I'm calling, huh?”

“It better be,” Tyson had replied, and ten minutes later he'd hung up the phone wondering what the hell he'd just done.

And opening Tyson's office door a minute later confirmed that he was locked into this fight.

“Yes. He's here now to sign the contract,” Tyson was saying into the phone. He gestured for him to have a seat where the contract from the MFL sat waiting for his signature. His knees felt like rubber as he sat, setting his bag on the floor. His mouth was dry as he scanned the document again. Since Tyson had e-mailed him a copy the day before, he'd read and reread
it. The MFL was really concerned with him being aware that this was a one-time-only fight, and they weren't offering him an extension upon a possible win.

Because they wanted him to lose.

He shouldn't care. He wasn't concerned with robbing Rico of the undefeated hall-of-fame title, but he did care. A lot. Too much.

“Yes, Erik. No, he won't back out.” His coach's gaze was locked on him as he said it. “I'll send you the signed contract in an hour,” he said, disconnecting the call. “Prick,” he muttered.

Some things never changed. Tyson and the MFL matchmaker, Erik Johansen, had never liked each other. Not since Tyson had banged Erik's girlfriend, Faith Hart, years before. The only reason Tyson ever got a fight himself was because of his family's legacy of being the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and the fact that despite his former playboy ways, he was one of the MFL's biggest-ticket draws.

Coming around the desk, he patted Dane's shoulder. “Hey, man. Was starting to think you weren't going to show.”

“I had to work,” he said, his eyes still glued to the contract. “So, this is it.”

Tyson handed him a pen. “This is it.”

He hesitated. “One fight and I'm done.” He couldn't emphasize that fact enough. While he wasn't cool with the idea of going in there and losing, he also didn't want his former coach getting his hopes up for a more permanent return. He knew he wouldn't be walking into the cage with any other motivation than to put his fears to rest, to try to put the past behind him and move on. If Tyson thought this was a step back toward a fighting career, he was wrong and he was going to be disappointed.

But his coach nodded. “One fight, you're done. I get it. Now sign so we can get started.”

His hand shook as he scribbled his signature along the bottom line, sealing the deal, sealing his fate. In three weeks he would step back inside the cage—the closest thing he could imagine to hell on earth.

* * *

“I don't know how you did it, but I have my fighter back, so ask away.”

Colby shifted uncomfortably in her chair at Perk-Up the next afternoon. “Dane says he is only returning for this one fight. You realize that, right?” She was afraid Tyson was getting his hopes up a little too high.

The MFL champ checked his watch. “You got twenty minutes, what do you want to know?”

She sighed, rotating her shoulders. Right now, she couldn't think of Dane as the man she was falling in love with, but as a fighter she desperately needed information about. Faith was going on maternity leave in three weeks, and soon Ari would announce her replacement. She needed to at least have a story for him—or some other network—to consider. “Okay . . .” She opened her notebook to a free page, but Tyson sat forward and spoke first.

“What's the deal with you two, anyway?”

She frowned. “I thought I was the one asking the questions.” She was stalling, but the last thing she wanted was to try to explain a relationship she herself didn't understand.

“I'm just wondering what your deal is. Do you really care about Dane or are you using him for this story?”

Her mouth fell open. “We . . . are . . . um . . . well . . .”

His eyes narrowed. “Look, I agreed to help you because I didn't know Dane was in love with you, but now I have my fighter's frame of mind to think about.”

In love with her? Her mouth went dry and she sipped her coffee. It burned her tongue and she set it aside. Focus on the questions she had for him. “How was Dane's training before the Consuelos fight? Was he focused?” she asked.

Tyson nodded slowly. “He might have been a little distracted. His grandmother had just died.”

She hadn't known that. Dane rarely discussed his family.

“My turn.” He sat forward again. “Does he know you're doing a story about him?”

She swallowed hard. “No.” She flipped her notebook page. “Did you know he was accepting the Xtreme Fight match?”

“No. Do you love him?” he countered.

“Yes,” she said honestly. Setting the notebook aside, she sighed. “Look, Tyson, I never set out to get this story on Dane. It just kind of happened, and I care about him, but there's a really big story here.” She sat on the edge of her chair. “The Xtreme Fight League is allowing fighters to fight injured, and I'm fairly certain that was the case in the Consuelos fight. I'm trying to prove that and hopefully put an end to it.”

His jaw clenched. “I've suspected that for years. Those assholes . . .”

“I'm going to tell Dane the truth. I just need more time.”

His eyes narrowed, but he nodded. “He's a great guy, Colby, and the last few days, I feel like he's come back from the dead. He's training better than he ever has; he is focused and determined.” He paused. “I don't want to see him getting hurt.”

His concern for his fighter, his friend, brought a lump to her throat. “It's not my intention to hurt him.”

“Yeah? Well, sometimes, shit happens,” Tyson said.