Paxton's Promise (30 page)

“Really?” I asked incredulously.

He sighed. “Believe it or not, I care. Paxton was my friend at one point or another. And right now, I have none. He reached out to me and now I’m reaching out to him.”

I scoffed. “He’s got a good life right now and he doesn’t need all the bullshit you bring.”

“I’m not trying to do shit to him,” Kyle growled. “If you haven’t heard, I can’t exactly get into much trouble from a fucking wheelchair. I’m sorry for what I did to you and your family, but there’s nothing I can do about that now. It’s done. All I’m asking is for you to tell Pax that I called to ask about him. I’m trying to make things right.”

It was strange hearing Kyle sound sincere. I even pulled the phone away from my ear to confirm that the screen still said it was him.

“Again, I’m sorry,” he repeated and let out a heavy sigh. “Tell Pax I’ll talk to him later.”

“Wait, hold on,” I grumbled. “It’s kind of hard to talk to you and not be a bitch.”

“I know and you don’t have to explain. I’m kind of used to it by now.”

“Have you talked to Kacey?” I asked curiously. After what he did to her, I was pretty sure she bitched him out every time he tried to talk to her.

“Not really,” he confessed. “She won’t talk to me. I’ve tried, but it’s not like I can drive to her house and see her.”

“True, but what you did was really fucked up. I was with her after it happened.”

The line went quiet, but then his voice dipped low. “Thank you for helping her. I would give anything to take that night back.”

“What’s done is done, right? All we can do now is make up for our mistakes and do the right thing. If you’re sincere in making amends, she’ll come around one day.”

“I doubt it,” he added. “I fucked up and I know she’ll never forgive me.”

“You just have to keep trying.” Which was what I needed to do with Paxton. I had to keep trying to talk to him until he let go of his fears.

“Thanks, Gabriella. I guess I never thought you’d ever talk to me. It surprised me.”

A small smile splayed across my lips. “I’m glad I could surprise you. And don’t worry, I’ll tell Pax you called. I’m going to try and talk to him. Hopefully, he’ll come around.”

“He’d be stupid if he didn’t.”

After we said our goodbyes, I headed toward the garage and stood by the door. His hands were covered in grease and so were his T-shirt and jeans. He hadn’t noticed me yet, but when I walked in, his body stiffened. I had to keep reminding myself what Mason just told me. But it was hard to push forward, when all I felt was rejection.

Without speaking, I came up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I’m not going anywhere,” I promised. “If you need this time to yourself, that’s fine, but I don’t want you to shut me out when I know you need me. Please, just talk to me.” Resting my forehead against his back, I broke down and cried. For the first time in my life, I sobbed without holding back, letting the tears come freely. When Paxton’s hands closed over mine, I let go even more.

“I’ve missed you,” he murmured. Taking my hands, he pulled them away from his body and pulled me around to his front. I placed them on my face and a smile splayed across his lips. “You realize I have grease all over me, don’t you?”

I stared up into his sea green eyes and melted. “I don’t care. As long as you’re talking to me, nothing else matters. Whatever you’re afraid of, you have to talk to me about it. I’m here to listen, always.”

Hanging his head, he looked down at my hand and at the ring still on my finger. “I didn’t mean to shut you out, Gabby. I was afraid to look you in the eyes and see nothing but disgust looking back at me. That was something I knew I wasn’t ready to handle.”

Grasping his shirt, I balled it up in my fists. “No, Paxton, that’s not how I feel at all. I love you for who you are. If I had the chance to kill Rage, I would’ve done it and not thought twice. Think of all the women, including myself, you helped save. So, no, there will never be anything but love in my eyes for you. That I can promise.”

Eyes glistening, he lowered his lips to mine and pressed down firmly. “I have a lot to make up for don’t I?”

I smirked and ran my fingers through his hair. “Two and a half days, to be exact.”

His gaze turned heated. Ripping off my shirt and pants, he slammed me down on the hood of his car, spreading me wide. “Well then, there’s no time to waste.”

Fight Night

A MONTH HAD passed and things had slowly started to quiet down. Some people called me a murderer, some called me a saint. Of course, there were a handful of fighters who thought I should have to forfeit my title, but the league wasn’t having any of that. As long as Gabriella was by my side, I didn’t give a shit what anyone else said about me.

“Does she know about the party tonight?” Matt asked.

I knew Gabriella and Matt didn’t have the best childhood as far as Christmas went. Their Christmas trees consisted of a small plastic one that could only hold a couple of ornaments. Not this year. It was our first Christmas together and I was going to make sure it was something she’d remember forever.

“No, she has no clue, but she’s ecstatic to have Ryley and Ashleigh in town.” Speaking of Ashleigh, they were off in the corner talking away when she should really be stretching. Now that Gabby and I lived together, I had permanently taken on the role as one of her coaches. Matt seemed to be pleased with her progress. She was ready for her fight. “I told everyone to give us an hour, so I can get her home and ready.”

“And you don’t think she’ll mind that you invited Kacey and Tyler?”

Gabriella could be a jealous person at times, but I knew there was nothing to worry about with her and Tyler and vice versa with me and Kacey. Gabriella actually wanted to find a way to talk to Kacey about Kyle. I never thought the day would come when Gabby would feel bad for him.

About that time, Garrett Wells stormed through the door, out of breath; his suit and tie in disarray. “Holy shit, it’s insane out there. Have you seen the amount of people?”

Gabby froze, eyes wide.

“Nice, Garrett. Good way to make her nervous,” Matt scolded.

“No, on the contrary,” she replied, “it’s fucking
awesome
.” We had trained vigorously for the past month and studied Allie’s movements. She was more than ready.

“Just make sure you concentrate. We all know how you get when you’re excited,” Ryley stated.

Gabby rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm. “Trust me, I’m gonna concentrate. Have you seen my coaches? They’ll kick my ass if I do something wrong.” She looked over at me and winked.

“Well, let’s just hope you don’t do anything wrong,” Garrett said. Then he looked at his watch. “But right now we need to go. You’ll be up soon.”

Opening the door, Garrett walked out with Ryley and Ashleigh, leaving me and Matt with Gabby. We were both going to walk her down the aisle to the ring. “You can do this, Gabby,” Matt told her. “You’ve gotten so much better. It must be all of that underground fighting.”

“Or, it could be that I have two amazing coaches. I’ll admit, Paxton’s fighting is a lot different from yours.” Standing up on her tiptoes, she kissed my cheek and smiled at her brother. “But it’s what’s going to help me win.” Taking a deep breath, she turned toward the door. “All right you two. Let’s go.”

As soon as we left the room, camera flashes blinded us. Dressed in her red sports bra and black shorts, Gabby looked fiercer than I’d ever seen before. I had never been with a woman who could challenge me the way she does. Not to mention, she was hot as hell when she kicked ass in the ring.

“Remember, that’s my sister you’re looking at,” Matt mumbled under his breath. When I looked over at him, a smirk splayed across his face. “It’s going to take some getting used to, but I’m working on it.”

“Don’t worry, Reynolds. She’s in good hands. Just remember, one day I’m going to be your brother-in-law.”

“True enough. But if you so much as hurt her, I’m going to kick your ass. You got that?”

“Noted,” I laughed. “But you don’t have to worry about that.” As far as everyone believed, Gabby and I were still engaged. After the party tonight, I was going to make it official.

“You know I can hear you, right?” Gabriella chuckled. We made it to the curtain just in time for the announcer to call Allie out. The crowd boomed with thunderous cheers, but it didn’t seem to sway Gabby one bit. One thing we worked on pretty diligently was her focus. She was a master at it now, so I wasn’t worried.

“And now, competing for the Bantamweight title championship is
Gabriella . . . The Machine . . . Reeeyyynnnooollldddsss.”

She looked back at me and Matt and winked. “Let’s go boys.”

The music blared overhead and the crowd went wild, her name echoing off the walls. Allie bounced on her feet in the ring, ready. When Gabriella hopped into the ring, the whole room sparked with energy. Both women smiled at each other and touched gloves before getting into position. Allie was one of the genuine fighters, like Mason, Matt, and Tyler. She wanted this fight to push herself, to compete against the best available. Gabby was definitely one of the best and she was going to show the world that tonight.

Ding, ding, ding
. The fight was on.

ALLIE WAS ONE tough bitch. I saw stars when she punched me on the side of the face. However, that didn’t stop me. One thing I was definitely good at was my floor game. My brother and Pax were experts. As soon as I got her down on the mat, it was game over. The second I felt her gloved hand tap on my arm, I let her go. She slumped over, hanging her head and instead of parading around the ring, I helped her up.

“I’m going to admit, I was scared shitless of fighting against you tonight,” I confessed.

After catching her breath, she laughed and put her arm around me. “I’m not going to lie either. You thoroughly kicked my ass.”

Smiling, I rubbed my sore jaw. “Don’t worry, I’m going to have a sore face for quite a while.”

We both laughed and bumped fists. “Merry Christmas, Reynolds. But don’t get used to that title. I’m going to try and get it back.”

“And I look forward to it.” I winked at her and then rushed over to Paxton who had his arms outstretched. Jumping into them, I squealed and held on tight as he swung me around. “I did it,” I shouted.