Fight Like A Girl (Part One) (8 page)

The fight was in thirty-six hours, and I
still had to get to Connecticut. Boston occasionally hosted fights,
but generally, I was going to have to travel to get to my fights.
It was fine with me, seeing as I loved to travel. Wynter agreed to
drive me to my first fight, though I wasn’t even sure if she still
would, given how disappointed she was in me.

My relationship with Kingston, if it could
even be called that, frustrated her. She wanted me away from him,
but there was something about him that drew me in. I had no idea
what it was, but I wouldn’t walk away without finding out. Of
course, he basically said goodbye the night before and walked out
of my life, so who knew if I’d even see him again.

Wynter showed up at noon.

“You all ready to go? I was thinking we could
hit up Foxwoods tonight!” She was far too excited for a casino.

I didn’t gamble much, but I figured I could
just socialize. “Sure,” I agreed.

I grabbed my duffel and Wyn carried my gym
bag and we walked together down to the car. Once we were on our
way, I decided to bite the bullet and send King a text.

Wynter and I are on our way to Foxwoods.
Thanks for training me.

Simple and to the point. I didn’t mention
that I missed him, which I didn’t.
Yeah, right
.

My phone rang almost immediately. The caller
id showed Kingston’s name.

“Hello?”

“Don’t leave yet. I need a ride,” he
explained.

“Wyn, pull over. Kingston wants to ride with
us,” I said to my friend, who rolled her eyes but dutifully pulled
over.

“Where are you?” I said into the phone.

A heavy sigh filled my ear. “Meet me at the
gym in ten minutes.” He hung up.

Irritation didn’t even begin to cover how I
felt, but I directed Wynter to the gym and decided to let Kingston
have an earful when I saw him.

When we pulled up to the gym, Kingston and
his friend Caleb were waiting outside.

Wynter freaked out. “No fucking way. He’s not
coming, Max.”

“Will you relax? If nothing happened between
you two, it’s not a big deal, right?” I gave her a pointed
look.

“Right,” she mumbled. She popped the trunk as
she pulled over to let them in.

With their bags secured in the back of
Wynter’s car, Kingston and Caleb jumped in the back seat.

“Hey girls,” Caleb greeted us.

“Hi Caleb,” I replied, eyeing Kingston, who
was unusually quiet.

“Thanks for the ride. I’m fighting tomorrow,
too, and I don’t have a car.”

Wynter rolled her eyes as she put the car in
drive. “You could have taken the train.”

Kingston laughed. “She’s got a point.”

“Shut up, King. You’re the one who insisted
we ride with them so you could keep an eye on your girl,” Caleb
stated.

“Fuck you, Caleb.”

I bit back a laugh. At least I knew Kingston
was having just as hard a time staying away from me as I was from
him.

“I have some ground rules,” Wynter
announced.

“Oh, great.” Caleb shifted in his seat.

“I’m in charge of the music and when we
stop,” she said, ignoring Caleb altogether. “And that means
whatever I say goes. Tonight, we’re relaxing and not practicing
fighting, or whatever.”

Caleb looked at Kingston. “Practicing
fighting?” His eyes met mine. “How are you two friends when she
knows nothing about this world?”

I laughed. “We don’t talk about fighting. She
keeps me grounded and well-rounded.”

“Or keeps you distracted,” Kingston muttered
from behind me.

I turned to glare at him. There were so many
things I wanted to say to him, but I decided to wait until I got
him alone.

* * * * *

Foxwoods was gigantic. I felt lost almost
immediately, but Wynter acted like she owned the place, so we all
followed her through the hotel to check-in. Despite its massive
size, I felt like she and I had a security detail, the way Kingston
and Caleb hovered around us.

After a few minutes at the desk, Wynter
turned to us. “We’ve got two rooms,” she said, handing me a key and
then turning to the guys. “You two are sharing.”

Kingston and Caleb shared a look, but I
ignored them, ready to drop our stuff and maybe do a little
gambling. Even though I wasn’t a big fan of it, I’d never really
been to a casino, and with the fight tomorrow, I couldn’t drink, so
I wanted to enjoy myself in some way.

Wynter led our expedition to the fifth floor,
where both rooms were located. She slid the key into the lock at
our door and turned to Kingston and Caleb. “We’ll meet you guys out
here in half an hour.”

“Why so long?” Caleb piped up.

Wynter rolled her eyes. “We require time to
get ready.”

“Fine.”

Thirty-four minutes later, Wynter had done my
makeup and put me in a sexy-as-sin red dress. She even managed to
do her own makeup and slip on a slinky black dress. When we exited
our room, Kingston and Caleb were impatiently waiting.

Caleb seemed shocked by Wynter’s attire and
paid me almost no attention, which was more than fine, since
Kingston couldn’t seem to take his eyes off me. I had a similar
problem. Seeing him in black slacks and a button-up shirt with a
loose tie forced some dirty thoughts into my mind as I considered
how much fun we could have with that tie.

“You shouldn’t show so much skin,” he
muttered as we made our way to the elevator.

“Bite me,” I whispered to him with a
smile.

He shook his head and the four of us went
downstairs.

It turned out, the place was packed, far
busier than any of us expected, but a good portion of the crowd was
anxious for the fights tomorrow night, which excited me. People
might not know my name yet in the mixed martial arts world, but
they were going to.

After an hour of playing slots, I was beyond
bored.

“Want to get out of here?” Kingston
asked.

I glanced at Wynter and Caleb, who were both
thoroughly engrossed in a game of roulette. “Sure.”

He walked me to my room, not saying a word
the whole way up.

“Max,” he said when I opened my door. I
turned back to him and waited. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

He sighed. “For everything. There are things
I can’t tell you about myself, and it’s not because I don’t want
to. Believe me, I’d like nothing better than to tell you everything
you want to know, to answer all your questions, but the things I
know, the things I’m keeping from you – they aren’t my secrets to
share. I hope you can understand.”

I nodded. “I get it.”

“Don’t give up on me, though. If everything
goes as planned, it won’t be much longer and I’ll be able to tell
you everything.”

I didn’t trust him, but the fact that he
wanted to tell me made a difference. I stepped forward and placed a
chaste kiss on his lips. “When you tell me everything, we’ll talk
more about us, but for now, there can be nothing between us.”

He hung his head. “I know.”

* * * * *

Kingston tipped his head at me. “You’re up,
kid.”

I gulped, ready to get in the ring, but
nervous, too. True to his word, Kingston didn’t make a pass at me,
and the day went smoothly, with the four of us watching each of the
fights together. Caleb’s fight was hardly a fight, considering it
was over so fast. Wynter, I noticed, cheered him on the most. I
wondered if something had changed between the two of them last
night. I would have to catch her alone later. For now, I was
ready.

The fight was fair, with our weights almost
exactly matched, but the brunette was taller than me, which meant I
had more muscle mass than she did, so I took advantage. We circled
the ring several times before she made her move. There was no time
to think as my natural instinct took over. In minutes, she was down
and we moved on to the second round. I blew out a heavy breath.

The fight wasn’t even half-way over and I was
exhausted, but somehow, I managed to get through it without going
down. The brunette went down a second time and I was thrilled. One
more round and I’d be declared the winner.

“You’ve got this,” Kingston shouted in my ear
when I approached him for a drink between rounds. “Take her out.”
His nod of approval gave me a second wind and the bell barely
dinged again before I had knocked the girl out.

Shouts from my friends reached my ears and I
grinned, happy to have not only won my first fight, but also to
have proven, to myself and everyone else, that I was more than
capable of making it in the MMA world.

Kingston put my zip up sweatshirt over my
bare shoulders and I was vaguely aware of a buzzing against my hip.
I reached into the pocket and pulled out my phone. The number
didn’t look familiar but I answered it anyway.

“Great job Max,” a strong male voice spoke in
a hushed whisper.

It took me less than a second to recognize
that deep voice. “Daddy?”

Part Two coming in late November.

Broken Series

Broken Promises

Broken Dreams

Broken Pieces

Broken Valentine

Best Friends Forever Series

Dreams Series

Crazy Dreams

Wild Dreams

Unbroken Dreams

Fight Like A Girl

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Callahan Brothers Series
(releasing
2015)

(order subject to change)

Roman

Riley

Reece

Ryan

Ryder

Dawn Pendleton spends her time between Maine
and somewhere warm for the winter, dragging her husband and pup
wherever she goes. A lover of travel, an avid reader, and a softie
at heart, Dawn writes romance novels that face the dark reality of
life, which is that not everyone gets a happily ever after right
away.