Authors: Carly White
ROMANCE: SPORTS ROMANCE: Tight End (Bad Boy Football Romance) (New Adult Alpha Male Sports Romance) (12 page)
Chapter 8: Grady
I knew once I heard the soft moan against my lips, that she was mine. There was something in the surrender, as before, it was complete. She had brought up good points, ones that we would have to talk about later, but for now, I was happy to just feel her against me again. It was almost surreal. The amount of time that I had been yearning for her was too long to seem real.
Her lips were soft and her body molded against mine. It was different, not the way I remembered it, but she was so much more to me now. She was going to have my son and the thought of them anywhere else but with me, did not sit well. I had to have her.
The thought made me pull her tighter and then release her as she whimpered against me. My grip was too tight and I released her, afraid that I would hurt her and the baby. “I’m sorry Laney. It’s just that I finally have you in my arms, I don’t want to let you go.”
She looked down and then smiled back up at me. “I have been thinking about you and our night together for a long time. I don’t think I could ever stop thinking about you, Grady. You have done something to me, but I figured I would never see you again.”
“I’ve been looking for you and now you are here. I didn’t know about the baby, but I couldn’t be happier that it is with you. It’s meant to be.”
“But your record and my job. How can it work?”
I didn’t know. I couldn’t give up the gang. They were like family to me. I certainly couldn’t be with a cop. It wouldn’t be safe for her. One of us was going to have to give up what we did for a living. “I can’ leave the Black Angels. No one ever leaves. You are in it for life.”
She pulled away and sighed. “I know Grady. That is why it is impossible. My uncle was killed by a motorcycle gang. He got caught in the crossfire. That’s why if I would have known, I never would have looked at you again. I can’t be around that, my son is not going to be raised to think killing and drugs are normal.”
I could see she was working herself up. There was a knock at the front door and then the man from before was back. “Casper if you don’t get the fuck out right now…”
Casper shut the door and left Laney looking at me. “See.”
I didn’t see her point. The little punk was on my nerves and the last thing I needed to think about was if the two of them had been together. I didn’t even want to think about someone else’s hands on her. It drove me crazy to even consider such a thing.
“He is nobody and you know it. I am the one who’s child you are carrying. What does he matter?”
I could tell he mattered as much to her as he did to me. “So what do we do Laney? What do I have to do to make you come back with me?”
“I am not going back anywhere with you Grady. Our son is safer without you around.”
***
It hadn’t been easy to convince Laney to leave with me and I didn’t get her back to the city like I had hoped. We both couldn’t change who we were, but I told her I would try. I had some money stashed away for a rainy day and this was the downpour that I had saved for. But leaving the Black Angels wasn’t an option without consequences.
We had moved away from the city and further away from her home town. Renald knew about Laney and I didn’t want them to find us, so we had to completely disappear. It was not what she wanted, but after a little touching and tasting over a couple of days, she couldn’t think beyond the last orgasm and she finally agreed.
Now it was almost time for our son to be born and I was putting the finishing touches on the baby room. The furniture was put together and everything was set. I heard a noise in the other room and I stopped for a second. It didn’t sound like Laney. She was large and loud at this point in her pregnancy and would usually call out to me when she was home.
I hadn’t wanted her to go out alone, but she insisted. Laney was a hard woman to get along with, so used to doing things her own way. A touch could usually tame her. But it wasn’t her that was making soft noises as someone who didn’t want to be heard did.
The hairs went up on the back of my neck and I moved to the side of the wall. I saw the gun before I saw the man and grabbed it out of response. He pulled a shot off and I hear the loud ringing in my ears from it being discharged so close. The bullet went into the wall behind to me because I ducked in time.
I didn’t need to see the shooter to know who they were or at least, who had sent them. It didn’t matter how loyal I was, I knew once I left the gang, the boss would send people out looking for me. It was just too soon and I was racking my brain trying to figure out how they found me there. I moved back behind the wall and waited.
“Come out Grady. Loch has decided to give you a slide this one time if you come back now.”
Loch didn’t let anything slide, so I knew it wasn’t true. The fact that he had already squeezed off a shot was a good indication that what he said was a lie. Loch wanted me dead. I knew that.
I would have waited him out if it wasn’t for the familiar sound of Laney in the hallway, coming up the stairs. I moved out in front of him, knocking the gun out of his hands and putting my hand over his mouth. The last thing I wanted was for Laney to walk in on it. I didn’t want her to always be looking over her shoulder. Ignorance was bliss in this scenario.
Dragging the other man to the kitchen, his struggles were lessening and by the time she made it to the front door, he was out of sight. I didn’t know if he was dead, but he was out of the equation for the moment.
“Grady? Why is the door open?”
I put a smile on my face and shut the door on the incapacitated would-be attacker. “Sorry love. I was just about to check the mail when I had to use the restroom. How was your day? Did you get any shopping done?”
She smiled back at me and waddled towards me. She looked ready to pop and there had never been anything more beautiful that I had seen in all of my life. Laney practically glowed. The kiss got heated quickly and I had to push her away before I forgot what was going on.
“Is smells strange in here. Like something is burning.”
“Oh, I just put a candle out. I know how you like the smell of the cookie one.”
“Yes, it’s making me hungry and I have to pee.”
“I steered her away from the bathroom. “Why don’t we go out? I know you don’t feel like cooking and it’s been a while since we went out just because.”
Laney was happy with the surprise. “Sure that sounds good.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as I ushered her out the door. She stopped and looked back for a minute at the wall in front of her and then walked towards the car. Laney waited for me to open the door and then got in. I closed it and went around to the driver’s side. “So are you really not going to tell me why there is a bullet in the wall or why there was a gun shot in the house?”
I looked over at her stunned. How did she always know? “Laney, I…”
“Was it Loch that sent him?”
I nodded and started the car. “So we have to move again?”
I shook my head again and she sighed. “Well I really liked that place. How many times is he going to make us move? The baby is going to be here soon, we need to take care of it.”
She was scary sometimes. There was no other way about it and I couldn’t help but think that she would have been someone I could have worked the business with. There was something sexy when she acted tough. I knew that I was part of the reason I had been drawn to her no-nonsense way and I loved what Laney had become. “I will take care of it. You don’t worry about anything.”
Resting her head on my shoulder, I heard her sigh. “With you next to me, how can I worry about anything? I know you take care of what is yours.”
Chapter 1: Denise
“Come here baby.”
I felt a hand grab my butt and I turned around. Antony Frost had his hot hand on my ass. He was one of the fighters that had just fought in the octagon. I was just there to congratulate my uncle that had just had his last fight of his career.
“Hands off. I am not one of the groupies.”
His dark eyes twinkled, but he removed the offensive touch and let me walk away. “You could be.”
I looked back and shrugged. “Looks like you have enough.”
There were girls lined up to see the two stepbrothers. Since coming to the MMA scene the year before, Antony and Mike Frost had made a name for themselves. The women loved them for their ripped abs and tattooed biceps. I had been around those types of men my whole life and while they were impressive, I wasn’t that impressed.
Uncle Ray moved out of the changing room and I gave him a big hug. He had a few girls following him too like a fly to honey, but I ignored them. “You looked good tonight. Are you okay?”
I knew that it would be hard for him to give up the spotlight, but his body was not made for the abuse anymore. He had sadness in his look, but he covered it quickly with a smile. I knew that he would miss it, but I hoped that his charity work would keep him busy. He had teamed up with several charities to be their spokesperson now that he had no contracts with the MMA. Ray was going to miss the action, but he had earned a break from it.
“So did you want to get something to eat? How long are you in town for?”
“Of course, I am always hungry. I’m here for a week, but I was hoping to check out some internships while I was here.”
He shook his head. “I just can’t believe that you would want to get into this business.”
It wasn’t the first time I had heard that. Ray didn’t understand why I loved entertainment so much. I had spent my childhood watching him as a wrestler and then as a MMA fighter. I used to cherish the tension and the way the audience held their breath in each fight. I wanted to make people feel the same way and having him as my uncle, opened doors in the sports entertainment region and I would be a fool not to take advantage of it.
“You know I have always loved it. Besides, I won’t be the one flinging myself around. Behind the camera producing it is much better.”
“Fine, but I don’t like you around all these guys anymore.”
I had to giggle. He was just like my father, always looking out for me, whether I liked it or not. “You used to love bringing me here before.”
“That’s before you grew up. Back then, you would recite stats like you knew them by heart. It was cute. Now…”
“It’s not that bad. Just a few gropes today.”
His eyes narrowed and I wished I hadn’t said anything. “Who?”
I was tempted to rat out the man, but I didn’t want things to get ugly. “No one Ray, calm down. Let’s go get something to eat.”
***
When we got to his favorite restaurant, there were several fighters there from the fight. I wanted a nice, quiet meal, but I soon found myself at a huge table with the guys I had watched fight in the octagon earlier in the evening. Antony and Mike were there and I caught them looking at me, Antony saying something in his stepbrother’s ear. It became clear that they didn’t know who I was by the way they kept looking at Ray.
Going to the bathroom, when I came back out, Antony was standing there. His dark eyes looked down at me as if I were a meal.
“When you said you weren’t a groupie; I didn’t realize that you meant not one of mine. How does an old guy like Ray get a hot chick like you to chase after him?”
This guy was insufferable and I tried to walk away before he grabbed my arm to stop me. “Get your hands off of me. I thought we went through this before?”
“Just tell me why him?”
“Uncle Ray invited me here for his last big match. Why him, because he is my dad’s brother. Now get your hands off of me.”
He did, almost immediately and I could see regret in his eyes. My uncle may have been older, but there was no way that anyone wanted to mess with him. He was known for being mean and protecting his family was one of his great causes. He had gone to jail several times for fighting with people that messed with his wife. He would do no less for me and I knew that.
“Sorry I didn’t know that you were his niece. Why didn’t I ever know about you?”
“I can think of a few reasons. Now if you are done, I need to go.”
He let me walk away, but I could feel the burn in the back of me from his gaze. I looked back once and he had a look of surprise on his face. I didn’t know if it was because of who I was or that I had turned him down. I doubted that many people told him no.
When we got back to the table, Ray was looking passed me towards Antony. “He didn’t bother you, did he?”
I shook my head that he hadn’t. I didn’t much care for his style, but Antony was too pretty to fight Ray. I was sure that he would ruin his pretty boy face.
“No, he seems pretty harmless.”
Ray laughed. “I’ve never heard anyone describe him as harmless. Just be careful around these guys, you are too pretty for your own good. You don’t know what they would do to you if they got ahold of a good girl like you.”
I nodded like I understood, but there was a hint of a smile on my face. It wasn’t the first time I had been called a good girl.
