Fighting Lust: A Deadly Sins Novel (34 page)
She smiles and kisses me once more, “I’ve got my suitcases all loaded up in the car ready to go. I can’t wait.”
“Me either,” I tell her. “I’ll see you out there soon.”
“Okay,” she tells me and kisses me once more before she disappears. Tonight after the fight, we are catching a plane and heading to Florida. It’s a red eye and we’ll be there in the morning. I want to introduce her to my mom but more than that, I want to see her on the beach wearing a bikini. I can’t fucking wait. Her to myself, twenty-four seven for a whole week. We have a whole list of things we want to do. She’s never been to Florida before. I will do anything she wants but personally, I can’t wait to feel the sand between my toes, and hopefully a few other places if I get to roll around in it with her.
Pulling my shorts out of my bag, I smile. Slipping them on quickly, I unlock the door and walk out into the attached room to see the smiles on Jax and Cole’s faces. “What?” I ask them.
“Nothing,” Cole says.
“You are ridiculous,” Jax says with a shake of his head.
“Shut up.” I tell them and put my robe on. Holding out my hands I wait for Cole to tape them up. “Jax, don’t even begin to go there. We all know you’d do the same shit for Rowan.” Jax smiles a little and shrugs – his only response. Turning to Cole, I shake my head, “Don’t even go there. It’s only a matter of time for you, and I really don’t think you want to give me the chance to say I told you so at some point.”
Cole shakes his head and continues his task of taping my hands. It isn’t long before we’re told it’s time and once again I’m making my way to the octagon. The crowd goes crazy but there’s only one person in the whole place who’s opinion I really give a fuck about.
It’s funny. The same women that used to get my attention and could easily distract me, don’t even get noticed now. I appreciate their support, and am glad that they come and see me fight, but that’s it. My interest ends there.
When I make it to the seat where my girl is sitting, I smile widely, give her a kiss and wink before stepping into the octagon.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to tonight’s heavyweight card. Fighting in the blue corner tonight, weighing in at one hundred and eighty-two pounds is Tommy ‘The Tank” Wilson.” The crowd cheers for him and he jumps around and shadowboxes. He points at me and screams, “You’re going down!”
Giving him the finger, I turn away and purposefully face Tessa as my name and stats get announced. “And tonight in the red corner, weighing in at one hundred and eighty-five pounds, we have Ryder ‘Tessa’s Playboy’ King.” With this, I see Tessa’s mouth fall open and I take that cue to unfasten my robe and drop it to the ground. The crowd begins to laugh and Tessa’s eyes become huge as she takes in my bright pink fighting shorts that have a blinged out waist band. Holding her eyes with my own, I slowly turn around, continuing to watch her over my shoulder, as she sees “Tessa’s Playboy” emblazoned on my ass.
She begins laughing, as do all the guys. Levi’s bent over at the waist, Cole’s clapping, Tyson’s shaking his head, and the other guys are all hooting and hollering. Tessa, rises from her seat and runs up to the octagon. With the whole crowd watching, I let her inside and pull her into my arms. “You are so crazy,” she says to me.
“Hey, you gave me your a-ha moment, it was only fair. Plus I totally rock the color pink.”
She laughs, “I love them.”
“Good, because they’re my new fighting shorts. I’m wearing them for every fight.”
She laughs, “I love you, Ryder ‘Tessa’s Playboy’ King.”
She leans in and kisses me hard, right there in front of everyone while grabbing my ass at the same time. I return it whole-heartedly and then she breaks away. With a smile, she smacks me hard on the butt, “Kick some ass!” she yells and everyone that saw her action starts laughing.
“Yes, ma’am,” I reply as I watch her head back to her seat.
Turning back to my opponent, I shake out my shoulders and bob my head back and forth loosening up. As much as I love fighting, love the rush, love the competition and of course the money doesn’t hurt when I win, I realize that for the first time, it doesn’t matter to me as much anymore. Fighting used to be such a large focus of my life because in a lot of ways, other than my friends, it was all I had.
Not anymore. Looking toward Tessa one more time I realize, that I’ve already won, regardless of the outcome of this fight tonight. I was lost before, living a life with no real substance. Avoiding attachment to anyone like the plague was easier – safer. I’m not interested in ever going back to that place.
Who would have thought that a firecracker living a life much like my own was going to turn my world upside down? Certainly not me. Even if I had tried, I wouldn’t have been able to anticipate her. But what I’ve learned, what Tessa has taught me through her own trials, as well as enduring my own, is that sometimes, the very things in life that we fear, are exactly what we need to be set free.
THE END
Coming this Summer - HONEYMOONED - a stand alone romantic comedy
Coming this Fall - FIGHTING PRIDE - Cole's story
Thank you for picking up
Fighting Lust
and giving it a chance. I hope you all enjoyed Ryder and Tessa’s story. I appreciate all of my readers more than you know. Thank you for your constant support.
Robin Harper, thank you for my gorgeous cover. Elaine York, you are the bomb – thank you for always making the inside of my novels look so pretty.
Angela Corbett, Jennifer Domenico, and Mayra Statham thank you for your constant unwavering support and your willingness to brainstorm with me.
Georgia Cranston – you are the best writing and coffee partner a girl could have. I would be lost without you.
Mom, thank you for always editing my books, but more than that, you always remind me I can do this when I doubt myself. I love taking this journey with you – thank you for always believing in me.
To my agent, Sarah Hershman, thank you for all your hard work on my behalf, and for your support.
To Christine Stanley with Hype PR, for all the amazing promo work, I hope this is the beginning of a long collaboration and friendship.
To all the bloggers who have messaged me, shared my cover and posts and have offered to help in any way you can, thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate it so very much.
Last but certainly not least, thank you to my husband and children. Making you proud is the highlight of my life – I love you.
Author Jennifer Miller was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois but now calls Arizona home. Her love of reading began when she was a small child, and only continued to grow as she entered adulthood. Ever since winning a writing contest at the young age of nine, when she wrote a book about a girl with a pet unicorn, she’s dreamed of writing a book of her own. The important lesson she learned about dreams is that they don’t just fall into your lap – you have to chase them yourself. Most importantly, she is a wife and mother, and is very lucky to have a family that loves and supports her in all things. She also has an unhealthy addiction to handbags and chocolate covered strawberries, neither of which she cares to work on. For more information about Jennifer Miller, please visit
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Other books by Jennifer Miller
Pretty Little Lies
Pretty Little Dreams
Pretty Little Vows - A Novella
Perfect Little Plan
Whispering Wishes
Fighting Envy
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Fighting Wrath
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