Tap Out: BTU Alumni Series Book #2

by Ciz, Alley

  Her knee and foot lay flat to the mat, protecting her toes and ankle, while trapping Gage’s ankle in the bend of her knee. Hooking an arm behind the knee of his trapped leg, she used her shoulder to drive into his middle and pushed him back to the floor.

  The move was successful in taking him down, but she wasn’t able to escape, Gage’s muscular arms wrapping around her and rolling her beneath him.

  She bit back a moan as he ground his hips against her, her legs wrapping around his waist to leverage herself but she only managed to continue their almost dry humping.

  She tried to slip under his arm and swing around his body but he had her pinned to the mat.

  She heard Becky ask, “Does anyone else feel like we’re watching their foreplay?” and her brother gagged in response.

  Gage reached out to undo the Velcro strap underneath her chin and removed the padded helmet from her head then spit his own mouth guard out so it landed next to her ear.

  He bent close, his nose skimming along the tendon of her neck, breathing in deep.

  “Can we go home now?” His tongue followed the path of his nose. “I very much want to do this with you without any clothes…or an audience.”

  All of her hormones stood up and shouted yes please as she shuddered in his arms, giving him a nod of consent.

  Show over.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  The weeks ticked by as The Steele Maker focused on the training for Gage’s upcoming fight to defend his title. Rocky still felt a lingering sense of trepidation when she thought of what was essentially an upcoming grudge match, but she had to admit, the more she watched him spar, the more obvious it became he was in peak fighting form.

  He slipped out of Vince’s triangle choke, reversing their positions into an arm bar, his graceful movements at odds with his size.

  Her sexy AF man was currently sporting a pair of basketball shorts—only a pair of basketball shorts—as he popped up from the ground like a ninja.

  “You and your boyfriend are totally doing a cover for me soon,” Maddey said from her spot on the oversized beanbag chair they kept at the gym specifically for her. She had angled down the screen of the MacBook Pro perched on her lap to watch the action taking place in front of them.

  She had to agree. Gage, like the other men they surrounded themselves with, was totally bookgasm, romance hero material. The way the sweat from his workout glistened, highlighting the contours of muscle on his body, made her want to lick him from head to toe. The black wraps on his hands only added to his tatted-up, bad boy appeal.

  “Not that I’m sitting here lusting after your boyfriend or anything, but any similarities in my next hero are purely coincidental.”

  “Please, Madz.” Becky dropped down next to the beanbag to enjoy the floor show as well. “We all know one of your first best sellers was a fictionalized version of how Jordan and Jake got together. I could pick out each one of us in your books.”

  “Well, somebody’s got to be my inspiration since I’m currently not getting any,” Maddey grumbled.

  “Well, you’re the one that broke up with Cap,” Becky said offhandedly.

  Oh, shit.

  She watched her friend’s face turn red like the pixie her brothers had nicknamed her after. The way Becky’s face went lax with shock proved even she couldn’t believe that slipped from her mouth.

  They had known just how much their friend agonized over ending the years-long relationship. The fact that the two had remained as close post-breakup as she and Jase had, if not closer, was a testament to how truly special the Donnelly brothers were.

  “You guys broke up like a year ago.” She couldn’t keep the shock from her voice.

  “Fourteen months.” Maddey’s lips tipped down in a frown.

  She shared a wide-eyed look with Becky, neither one saying a word, the silence between them growing heavy.

  “Ogle away.” She finally offered, waving a hand to where Gage was once again grappling with her brother.

  The three of them lapsed back into silence as they watched the guys do their thing. She forcibly switched her brain from lustful girlfriend to physical therapist and trainer, watching with a critical eye for anything that could affect Gage during his fight.

  Back and forth, two of her favorite men battled it out on the mat. As she watched Gage slip out of the arm bar Vince tried to pin him with, there was something…different.

  She narrowed her eyes, trying to pinpoint what it was she was picking up on.

  She ignored the slap of the mat, barely blinking as she continued her inspection.

  Her dad called for them to move on to practicing hip throws, one of the moves he himself had mastered as a judo champion. It was when Gage swung Vince around his hip and dropped him to the mat that she knew, knew he had been hiding an injury from her. From everything she had observed, it was old, but it was there.

  He lied.

  THE GRUELING SCHEDULE of a shortened training camp was finally starting to take its toll on Gage’s body. For the first time in months, the pain in his hip was an active thing, instead of lingering around with the occasional twinge or tightness.

  It was bad enough as he scrambled around the mat, digging in his toes to get enough traction to flip Vince over. Now practicing hip throws, a move that had him taking all of Vince’s body weight and swinging it over the injured area, he was no longer able to mask it.

  An arrow of pain shot down his leg as he dropped Vince to the mat in his first throw. Son of a bitch, that hurt.

  “Stop.” Rocky’s voice called out in a tone he’d never heard her use before. All eyes in the gym—well, the training area—went to her.

  “Gage.” The cold look in her mercurial eyes hurt more than his throbbing hip, and that was saying something.

  She knows.

  “Vin…go…do…something.” She struggled to get the directive out. “You”—she pointed at him now—“are done. Come with me.” Then without waiting for a response, she spun on her heel, high ponytail swinging around, and stalked toward her treatment room.

  I’m fucked.

  He’d been warned, from day one, not to try to hide an injury from her. But that’s exactly what he'd done—repeatedly.

  He shut the door behind him as he stepped inside the room, Rocky leaning against the treatment table, arms crossed over her chest as she waited for him. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her look so pissed.

  “You’re hurt.” She cut right to the chase.

  He nodded, knowing lying would only make things worse.

  “You’re hurt and you didn’t tell me.”

  Again, he nodded, thinking it might be safest for him to keep quiet.

  “You’re hurt. You didn’t tell me. And…you lied to me about it.” This time she ticked off each of his crimes on her fingers.

  Fuck.

  “Blue—”

  “Don't.” She cut him off. “Don’t you dare Blue me right now.” Jordan’s text handle may be mother of dragons, but it was Rocky who looked like she was ready to breathe fire.

  “I don’t get it.” She threw her hands up in frustration. “Why would you lie to me? There’s no way this is a new injury, not with the way you’re moving. I can tell that much now that I’m looking for it.”

  He had no idea how to answer without digging himself in deeper.

  Defeat sagged her shoulders as the fight left her. “I knew something like this would happen.”

  “That what would happen?” he asked as her eyes got suspiciously wet. There was more than him lying about his injury going on here, he just wasn’t sure what.

  “I can’t really blame you. It’s your career. I just—“ Her voice broke. “I just thought you were different.”

  Panic seized him. Why the hell does this sound like a breakup?

  “Rocky. What exactly are you saying right now? Because it’s starting to sound suspiciously like you’re about to break up with me.”

  She wouldn’t even look at him and he was acro
ss the room in two long strides, the ache in his hip be damned. Taking her face in his hands, he cradled it between his still wrapped palms, his thumbs pressing under her chin to lift it so he could see her eyes.

  “Talk to me, Blue.” Fuck if he wasn’t using his name for her. “I need to know what’s going on it that beautiful head of yours because, not gonna lie, you’re scaring me right now.”

  A sob broke free and a tear streaked down his tough girl’s cheek. This wasn’t the Rocky he knew at all.

  “Blue. Baby.” His grip on her tightened.

  “You lied,” she whispered.

  “I know. And I’m sorry.” His thumbs moved to wipe her tears. “I didn’t want to risk anyone knowing.”

  “I’m not just anyone, Gage. I’m your girlfriend.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m your fucking physical therapist, for Christ's sake.” The volume of her voice started to rise.

  “I know that too.”

  “It is”—a poke to his chest—“literally”—another poke—“my job”—this time a smack—“to know.”

  Never having been in a serious relationship before, he didn’t know how to handle the situation. He wished real life was like Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and he could phone a friend and call Wyatt for advice.

  “It’s my fault.” Her sudden change of heart made him nervous. “I should have known. I don’t know why I expected you to be any different. You’re just like the rest of them.”

  It was his turn to get pissed. What the hell did that mean?

  “Care to explain who you're trying to lump me in with?” It took all his self-control not to sound as angry as he felt.

  “You. Them.” She waved a hand toward the gym beyond the walls. “I even bet my dad was all, ‘Oh, Rocky doesn’t need to know. She’s only going to want you to sit out this fight if she knew.’ Am I right? Don’t want to risk your girlfriend putting the kibosh on things. Career first, after all.”

  Ahhh. Now things were starting to make sense. This wasn’t about him. Okay, maybe a little bit of it was about him seeing as he was the one to keep the information from her, but this was more about her needs or opinions being pushed aside for the sake of the gym. Hell, her dad wanted her to dump him when he first found out about them.

  He thought they'd worked through these issues weeks ago when he laid down the law and got her back as one of his trainers, but it looked like some of them were only lying dormant until now.

  “Listen. To. Me.” He didn’t even blink while he spoke. What he had to say was too important to break contact for the millisecond it would take to do so. “No. One. Knew. Not even Tony.”

  The mention of his old coach seemed to be the thing to pierce the haze of her anger enough for her to hear him.

  “I’m sorry I was too scared to tell you. I should have.” He let out a humorless laugh. “Hell…I’m sure if I did, I wouldn’t be in the pain I am now. If anyone can fix me, it’s you, Blue.”

  “Don’t suck up,” she scolded.

  “But I’m so good at sucking.” He bent to gently suck on the spot where her neck met her shoulder. “Not as good as you, but good enough.” He spoke against her skin and her body started to melt at his touch. “Do you forgive me?”

  He held his breath as he waited for her answer.

  “How long?” she said instead of answering. “How long have you had this?” He hissed as she punched his hip.

  “About a year,” he reluctantly admitted.

  “A year?” A full rim of white surrounded her gray eyes as they widened in disbelief. “For a whole year, you’ve been training with an injury without doing anything about it?”

  He felt like a scolded child. “Yes?”

  “Oh, Gage.” She massaged the ridge of her brow. “You stupid boy.”

  Though the last part was an insult, hope bloomed as his feisty girl started to reappear. Unable to help it any longer, he claimed her mouth in the kiss he craved, not stopping until she pushed him away.

  “Now, get on the table.” She reversed their positions. “Let’s see if I can fix whatever could-have-been-avoided-if-you-told-me-damage you ended up doing.”

  He did as she asked, all while wondering if she really did believe and forgive him.

  As she got to work on the best way to treat him, he worked on figuring out how to prove to her once and for all she was number one in his world and always would be.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Between the executives of the UFC and The Coven, their group had been booked into luxury suites at the MGM Grand and all travel arrangements were made. Rocky could tell Gage was surprised by how many people were going to be there to support him for his fight. For as comfortable as he had grown with them, it still took most people time to understand exactly how close their group was, and even then, witnessing it firsthand was something else.

  He had a small taste of it when Vince had his own fight, but Madison Square Garden was essentially local—Las Vegas, not so much.

  The look on his face when Skye came by with the itinerary for their trip and all the information about the plane they chartered to fly them all out there was priceless. When he questioned if a plane was really necessary, Skye simply ticked off all the people they had to transport from the NY-NJ metro area.

  She didn’t mention that Sammy and Jamie would be flying out the day of weigh-ins on Jamie’s private jet and would also be bringing out Wyatt, Beth and the baby, and Sean and Carlee with their parents.

  To say the last two were stoked about being able to go to Vegas for the fight would be like calling Mickey just a mouse. She had a feeling managing the two of them would be akin to wrangling raccoons after they raided the dumpster at a candy factory.

  Gage had originally booked his cousin to fly out, but Wyatt told him he wasn’t sure if he would be able to get the shift off. She knew he was disappointed and couldn’t wait to see his reaction when they showed up.

  Things had been strained with Gage since she discovered he was trying to train through an injury, keeping it a secret instead of telling her. It also didn’t help that the day before they flew out to Vegas, she caught him and her father having a closed-door meeting. She cleared him to fight, so she couldn’t imagine what it could have been about. Not asking about it was one of the hardest things she ever had to do, but she had refused to be the distraction her father worried she’d be.

  She shook off the negative thoughts the memories brought and focused on watching Gage’s reaction to their surprise arrivals in the hotel suite.

  “What are you guys doing here?” he finally asked after standing still for a solid minute, then exchanging hugs with his cousin and Beth, before liberating the baby from her mom.

  She loved to describe him as panty-melting, but when he cradled his infant niece, her tiny body barely bigger than his forearm, she swore she could literally feel her ovaries exploding like a bottle of Diet Coke with Mentos shoved in it.

  Sure, she’d seen him interact with the Donovan twins, but they were fast approaching toddlerdom, turning into little people. It was different than watching him with an itty-bitty baby.

  “Really?” Wyatt feigned like his heart hurt. “You’re asking that?”

  “Come on, Dumbass. Have we ever missed a title fight for you?” Beth shook her head and patted him on the chest as she made her way into the room, plopping down on the couch next to Rocky.

  “No,” Gage conceded. “But Wyatt said he couldn’t get off and you did just have a baby, so I wouldn’t have held it against you for missing this one.”

  “I didn’t just have a baby.” Beth rolled her eyes. “She’s old enough to have had her shots and, as you can see, babies are portable.” She pointed to her daughter currently snuggled in the crook of his neck.

  “And I switched shifts,” Wyatt explained. “There wasn’t a chance I was missing this fight.”

  While Gage and his cousin caught up, the rest of the room went back to watching the Storm take on San Jose. Jase wou
ld be catching a flight to Vegas after the game when the rest of his team took the team plane back to the east coast.

  Sammy and Jordan worked out the details of the suite they would be watching the Blizzards game from later that evening. Since it was an away game for their boys, they would watch them play the Vegas team from one of the luxury boxes instead of ice-level seats. Plus, Jamie was a major celebrity and it was better for them if he had a way to escape the general public. At least the night of the fight he would be surrounded by a bunch of professional hockey players as well as his built husband.

  With Jake and Ryan playing the home team, it made the logistics of them attending the fight a cakewalk.

  “So, Gage,” Jamie called out to get his attention. “Spins and I have a very important question for you.”

  She didn’t miss the way he still got the tiniest bit starstruck when faced with the singer. “Sure.”

  “Just how superstitious are you?”

  “How so?”

  Jamie looked at Sammy to pick up the train of thought. “Well…our hockey boys can be very particular about their pregame rituals, and we weren’t sure if you were like that before a fight, or if you were open to try something new.”

  She smiled at how true that statement was and just how weird some athletes could be with their rituals. Any of the Titans who had gone pro continued to tape up their uniform socks with rainbow-colored tape dubbed Sammycorn Tape, since the Titans went on a fifteen-game winning streak going into their second Frozen Four win after a lost bet to Sammy somehow led to Ryan wearing the colorful adhesive. Cap had scored a hat trick that first game and so the tradition began.

  Nick and Damon even carried on the tradition when they fought, adding a piece of the tape to the inside of their fight shorts.

  Tucker had a pair of laces from when his high school team won State that he tied onto one of his skates and Jase always wore one of Jordan’s hair ties on his wrist. Then there was how Jake always had to kiss Jordan through the plexiglass before a game.