Avery’s head popped up from the phone. The announcer had already left. All that was left inside the cage were Rico, his opponent, and the referee. The octagon door was closed and locked. She quickly typed out one last message.
Right. Gotta go.
One last response popped up on the screen.
Good luck, sis.
Avery turned back to the fight to see Rico and his opponent tap gloves. Then, Rico sank into his stance and raised his hands. Seconds later, he deflected a flurry of punches. Scuttling backward, he forced his opponent to chase him around a bit before finding the perfect opportunity to land a hard cross to the hulk’s chin.
She held her breath. It had to be enough to knock him out. She let go of the air slowly in disbelief. He was dazed, but not down. The three minute round ended as the hulk landed a jab above Rico’s eye, leaving a small gash.
Avery watched, bewildered, as Max and Mark took off into the octagon. Rico slumped onto the stool that Max dropped onto the mat. Mark tugged on rubber gloves then rubbed at the cut with petroleum jelly until the bleeding stopped. Their words and actions were brief. Rico slowly rose. Max grabbed the stool and followed Mark out. It was time for round two.
Both men stalked each other as they looked for a moment of weakness. As the hulk threw some wild, weak punches, Avery saw Rico’s eyes light up. She knew that look. He had found his point of attack. Rico wrapped his arms around his opponent’s waist, lifted him up off the mat a few inches, and slammed him to the ground. However, somewhere in the scuffle, the hulk got the upper hand. He sat on Rico’s stomach and threw punches anywhere they could land on Rico’s body.
Even being so close, Avery couldn’t see what was happening clearly. Her heart fell in her chest. Was Rico all right? She glanced to Max and Mark. The anxiousness in their faces told her they felt the same.
She didn’t know what happened next, but she could see Rico wiggle out enough to free his limbs. Suddenly, he had a leg wrapped around his opponent’s head, his hand firmly grasping his ankle. The hulk started to struggle with everything he had. Rico applied more pressure. Mark and Max’s mouths were moving excitedly.
The hulk’s hand slapped the mat repeatedly. He was done. The referee pulled the two men apart. Rico jumped to his feet in triumph and raced to his corner while the officials made a final decision. He had won.
Mark spun on his toe and headed to the octagon door. Avery felt someone nudge her. Max smiled. “We should go.”
Where?
Max pointed. “In there. You want to congratulate him, right?”
Yes. Most definitely.
She followed Mark and waited until the door was opened. Being inside the cage was intimidating. Max shepherded her in deeper where a large group had gathered. She reached Rico’s side as the referee raised his hand in victory. As Rico’s arm came down, he wrapped her in a tight embrace.
She held him as close as she could. Even in the cage, she felt that in his arms was where she belonged. He slowly let her go, taking her hand in his. They followed the others out of the octagon.
The celebration was dragged through the tunnel into the corridors of the arena. Pictures were taken. In each of them, Avery was tucked near to Rico’s side. She noticed Chloe with Max. Mark and Dan were somewhere behind them.
Avery watched everyone’s ecstatic faces as she held tight to him. Strangers approached Rico to congratulate him. She had never seen him happier. This was where he really belonged.
Then, he looked down at her. And his smile faded. She could decipher what he said well enough. “Could you guys give us a minute? I need to talk to Avery alone.”
Avery’s heart dropped in her chest as she watched everyone nod to him in understanding, clapping him on the shoulder for support. Chloe shot her a comforting smile before she followed Max. When everyone disappeared, Rico took her hand in his and led her into an empty locker room. It was small, with concrete block walls painted white. On the far wall was mounted a dry erase board.
Rico leaned against the trainer’s table. She could see him sigh heavily.
She felt tears burn her eyes as she signed to him. Rico, I am so sorry for what I’ve done.
His lips set in a hard, thin line. “It was hell, Avery. Being without you was hell. I couldn’t train. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t work. All I could think about was you. I got the crap kicked out of me because I had nothing to fight for. It was easier just to give up. It was so bad I ended up in the hospital. I was praying that if I was knocked out tonight, it was for good. Avery, I need you. I love you more than anything. But I will not survive you leaving me again. You have to accept all of me. If you can’t then I don’t think we should start over.”
She fought to hold back her sobs, but it was no use. She had hurt him to the point that she was going to lose him. Lose the only man she had ever truly loved. She had never felt so lost in her life.
Suddenly, she was crushed against a warm body. Rico wrapped his strong arms around her tightly and buried his face against her hair. She cried into his T-shirt as he held her. Her heart shattered as she felt something damp against her head. He was crying too.
Avery needed to talk. She needed to say something to him. But his grip was so tight that she couldn’t free her arms. She pulled loose from him a little, not to get away, but to nudge him toward the dry erase board. Grabbing one of the markers, she popped off the top with her thumb and began to write.
He took the marker from her hand. She looked up at him confused. “Talk. With your voice. I love it. So please try.”
She shook her head. “But it can’t sound good. It’s been so long.”
“It may crack. It may fade. But it’s music to me.”
Avery swallowed hard then took a deep breath. “Please don’t let me go. You’re the only one who has worked past my walls. I missed you so much that I didn’t go to class or work. I stayed in bed and cried while I hugged the pillow you slept on. It’s been hell for me too. Please. Don’t give up on me.”
“I want to start over with you. I do. I can’t imagine life without you.” He set the marker in the tray beneath the board then let her go. “I need to take a shower. The ones here are awful, so I’m going back to my hotel. Come with me. When I’m done, we can sit down and tell each other everything about ourselves. No secrets. No lies. Only truth.”
She frowned through her tears. “Aren’t you supposed to meet the others to celebrate?”
“They can wait. This can’t.”
She stared at him silently for a moment. Then, she smiled. “Okay. Sounds good.”
Rico pulled her to him, kissing her softly, before he led her out of the locker room so that he could change. She leaned against the corridor wall as she bit her thumbnail nervously. Butterflies swirled in her belly. She was about to learn everything about Rico. Everything. Her mind flashed back to the pictures she had found on the internet. Could she handle listening about all the other women?
She looked up to see him in the doorway, watching her, dressed in a pair of charcoal colored sweatpants and a matching hooded sweatshirt with the Hard Drive logo. A red duffle bag was slung over his shoulder. He reached to her with his free hand. She scuttled across the hallway to him, wrapping her fingers around his.
The hotel was only a couple blocks from the arena. It still took an unreal amount of time to get there. Several fans stopped Rico on the street to congratulate him. He posed for pictures and talked with them awhile.
Ever since that moment in the military hospital in Germany, Avery had loathed celebrities and their picture perfect lives. Now, she knew the truth. There stood Rico, every bit the MMA superstar he portrayed himself to be, even though inside his heart was being twisted apart because of her.
Finally, they had reached their destination. He offered his neatly made, king size bed for her to sit on then disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower. She settled on the soft mattress with a sigh. Even though he had only been checked in for a couple of days, the room smelled of him�
��aftershave and that masculine scent that kicked her pulse up a notch. She closed her eyes and slowly breathed it in.
She jumped at the sensation of a hand on her shoulder. Her mouth went dry. Rico stood there beside her, wearing a pair of tight, low-slung blue jeans that caressed his hips. His thick, dark hair was wet and tousled. Her eyes roamed over every inch of his naked, sculpted chest and abs. Oh, lord, she thought.
Ready? he signed.
She forced a smile. “Do you mind putting a shirt on?”
He looked down at his body. “What? Is it that bad?”
“No, it is not bad at all. It’s incredible. I just know I won’t be able to concentrate on our talk. I will be staring. And drooling.”
He laughed as he crossed the room and retrieved a T-shirt from his suitcase, tugging it on over his head. Avery stared, mesmerized, at the Hard Drive logo in the center. She couldn’t clear what she had seen from her mind. She was sunk.
“You go first,” he offered.
She shook the image away and took a deep breath. She started to talk. She took long pauses as she grew accustomed to speaking again. She left nothing out, even though she had told him all this once before. She told him about following in her family’s footsteps with a career in the Marines. She told him about her friendship with Ambrose. Tears burned in her eyes as she forced herself to tell him everything about the bombing, her injury, and Ambrose’s death.
He pulled her into his arms. She had never cried about losing Ambrose. She had buried it deep inside her, refusing to deal with the loss. Avery didn’t want to be weak. But with Rico, she never was.
Once she composed herself, she continued. It seemed pointless. She had already told Rico all about this, but he encouraged her to go on. She narrated about going home to California. She had hated being treated as an invalid by her family due to her injury. Within a month, she had moved in with Lindsey to work on getting her degree. And then, Rico had stepped into her life.
He smiled warmly at her as she laid her hands in his lap. There was a long moment before he started his story. The butterflies took flight in her stomach again. Here it was. Rico’s life.
He had been born and raised in Chicago. Avery almost started to cry again, when he told her how he had lost both his parents in a car accident when he had been ten. It had been his father’s fault. He’d been drinking way too much before he’d gotten behind the wheel and killed not only himself and Rico’s mother, but also a couple in another car.
Rico was placed with his mom’s older sister and her husband and their very large family. They did their very best to include him, but it was difficult with six children of their own. He loved his aunt and cousins, but was locked in a battle of wills with his short-tempered uncle. His uncle called him spoiled and complained that he was just another mouth to feed.
Rico never fit in. He missed his mom and dad more than he could bear, but he couldn’t come to terms with what his father had done no matter how hard he tried. He was forced to leave all his friends behind when he’d switched schools. To get attention, he would act up there and at home. He spent more time in detention than in class. His new classmates had wanted nothing to do with him. He had felt completely alone.
The first few times he came home after getting in trouble at school, his uncle locked him in his bedroom without supper. Then, when his aunt was at the store, out came the belt. Up to that point in his life, he never felt so much pain as that strap of leather inflicted when it left welts on his flesh. He’d had to wear long sleeved shirts and jeans on warm days to hide the bruises. Rico’s teachers became suspicious.
One time, when he was thirteen, the punishment got out of hand, and instead of using the belt, his uncle had used his fist, breaking Rico’s jaw. When the doctors questioned the injury, his uncle had lied and told them he fell. The worry in his aunt’s eyes at the whole situation was too much. They were the only family Rico had left. Reluctantly, he agreed to the lie. He spent two weeks in the hospital. To this very day, he hated hospitals and didn’t think that would ever change.
To keep himself from thinking of his parents, he snuck his uncle’s boxing videotapes to his room. He would watch them for hours, bopping and weaving along with the athletes on the screen. They were superheroes in his eyes. They were larger than life.
A couple of months into his eighth grade year, Rico found a group of the class jocks tormenting a smaller, weaker boy. They did it on a regular basis. It bothered Rico to see the kid suffer. He wasn’t sure if it was a sense of right, or if it was the beating he received that morning from his own bullying uncle that made him snap.
But he strode through the mob of boys and stood in front of the child. Then, he swung. His fist connected sharply with the chin of the largest boy, knocking him flat on his back. He had punched a couple more before a crowd had formed around them.
Not long after, he was physically hauled to the principal’s office until the police arrived and arrested him. He learned later that the smaller student told everyone what actually happened, but it was too late. Charges were pressed. He was sent to juvenile hall.
While Rico had been there, he was assigned a caseworker. Stan investigated the incident at school. He heard the suspicions of the teachers and the doctors about Rico being abused by his uncle. Stan met privately with Rico in one of the visitation rooms.
After going through his findings, Stan stood. He motioned for Rico to stand also. Then, he instructed the boy to throw a punch. Confused, Rico did as he was told. Stan blocked it with a smile. Being a former boxer himself, he saw talent in Rico.
When Rico was released, Stan took custody of him then had sent him to a boxing gym to be trained. He had made sure that Rico went to school and kept his grades up, fed him and took him on fun vacations. Rico still kept in touch with Stan. It was the closest thing he had to the relationship he’d shared with his parents.
Rico paused for a long moment. Then, he began to sign again. Except Max, Chloe, Mark, and Dan. They are my family. The guys are my brothers. Chloe is my sister. Blood does not matter. Our bond is stronger than that. I would do anything for them.
The day after his high school graduation, Rico had switched from boxing to mixed martial arts. It hadn’t been long before he was competing. There were victories and there were setbacks. He trained non-stop. There was no time to date.
Then, he received the offer from Jack, the guy who owned the gym before Max, to fight for Hard Drive, promising to jump start his career and put him on track for the UFC. He hadn’t been able to walk away from it. He told everyone in Chicago good-bye and made the move to Minneapolis.
He quickly formed friendships with Max, Chloe, Mark, and Dan. And he started to date Phoebe. Things had gotten physical quick, which he hadn’t minded. He knew she really wanted Max, but he hoped to show her what kind of man he was and convince her to change her mind.
His hopes were blown to pieces when he had caught her with Chloe’s stolen engagement ring. Possessing it gave Phoebe a strange sort of entitlement to Max. She was obsessed. Rico took the ring from her and returned it to Max. Though his torn ACL was fixed right after, his heart had been broken in its place.
He had salved his broken heart with quick, one-night stands. Avery fought back her cringe. Here it is. All the beautiful women he’s had sex with, she thought. Rico must have noticed, because he glossed over his affairs.
Rico paused. “Then, Chloe asked me to get her a cup of coffee. I stepped into the coffee shop and saw you. I fell in love. Before that, I believed love at first sight was bullshit. I was a quick convert. I begged Chloe to teach me sign language so that you would go out with me. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.”
Avery felt her cheeks grow hot at his compliment.
Rico continued. “So, now we know the truth about each other. What do we do now? What are your thoughts?”
Avery cocked her head to the side. “What are yours?”
“My feelings have not changed. I still think
you are the strongest, smartest, most incredible woman I ever met. You are still my world. I would do anything for you. I love you with everything I am.”
Avery bit her lower lip. “My feelings for you have changed. When we sat down to talk, you were the man I hoped to be my boyfriend again. Now, after everything you told me, you are the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. I want to wrap my arms around you every day. I want to kiss you until you are breathless. I want to help you train and sit beside the octagon for every fight, cheering for you however I can. I am so proud of you. I love you so much, Rico. I need you.”
“Even with the fighting and the women?”
“I love the fighter. The women…I’ll let that slide.”
Avery watched Rico laugh as he wrapped her in his arms. She felt the rumble in his strong, broad chest. This was something she could wake up to every morning. She frowned. No man had ever interested her. Now, in her mind, she was shopping for the house with the white picket fence that she would share with him.
She pulled away as her smile faded. “Rico, you slept with all those women. But you never slept with me.”
He lifted her chin to look into her eyes. She gasped as she sank into the deep blue of his. “I didn’t want to cheapen our relationship. When we make love, I want it to be special. Believe me, it’s hard to resist you. You have no idea what you do to me. I have gotten used to cold showers.”
They noticed the vibration of Rico’s cell phone at the same time. He slipped it from his pocket and read the screen. He typed quickly and tucked it away again as he stood. “Should we catch up with the others? They’re wondering where we are.”
Avery pushed to her feet and took his outstretched hand. “Sure.”
Chapter Ten
The route to the club where the post-fight celebration was held ran along the beach. The warm breeze drifting across the ocean filled Avery’s senses. Walking alongside the sand next to her man made the journey simply heaven. She gazed at Rico for several long moments as her imagination ran free. She turned away when he caught her. She knew she had to be bright red in embarrassment.
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