Fighting 'round the Christmas Tree (Fighting #4.5)
Page 11
“Basking in the glory of my win,” he jokes.
“Well, you need to bask in the glory of this run. Let’s go!” I take off running to get a head start knowing Marco will follow and catch up to me in no time but when I turn the corner, I don’t see the huge ass rock in my way. My foot hits it and because there’s nothing but air around me to catch my fall, I fall onto the ground right onto my knees.
“Ow!” I roll over onto my butt, holding onto my legs. My knees hit the hard ground and that shit hurt. Bad.
“You okay?” Marco bends down to check on my knees.
“I’m fine. It just hurts.”
“Let me see.” He sits down next to me and grabs my legs putting them on top of his. Both my knees are red and lightly bleeding.
“We need to clean these up in case there are pieces of rock in your cuts.” Marco rubs his hands down my leg causing my stomach to do flip-flops.
“I’m fine,” I say and try to move my legs out of his reach.
“Stop. Let me clean your knees.” He grabs my legs back and holds onto them tight. Then he grabs his shirt from the back and lifts it up over his head, leaving his sweaty front on display. I avert my eyes back to my cuts.
Taking his bottle of water, Marco wets the shirt and gently rubs each of my knees. I flinch when the material hits my cuts.
“Sorry,” he says softly. He leans down and gently blows on the cuts, making my stomach clench and my heart go erratic. After both my knees are clean, he stands up then reaches down to help me up as well. As I come up onto my feet, my body hits his not realizing how hard he was tugging me up. Our faces are close, only inches apart. He looks down at me and sighs and I can feel his cool breath hit me. It smells like the peppermints he’s always sucking on. Our eyes lock and we kiss.
And holy. shit. Do we kiss.
His lips start off soft just barely touching mine like he’s testing the waters, unsure of himself. Our eyes are still open, neither of us blinking. My heart is pounding and his breathing is heavy. When my lips move in sync with his, his eyes close, his kiss becoming more aggressive. My head tilts to the side and his tongue finds its way inside. Marco’s hands leave mine and land on my butt, pulling me closer to him until our sweaty bodies are lined up with no space between us.
Our kiss goes from sweet and gentle to frantic and desperate within seconds. Our tongues entwining with each other. I finally close my eyes and sink into his hold. Just as I think I am getting the hang of this, it stops. Marco’s lips leave mine and he backs up.
“Shit.” His hands come up to his face, his head shaking in disbelief, and I don’t even know what to say. I would be lying if I said I’ve never imagined what it would be like to be kissed by Marco. I’m a teenage girl, of course I have. But I never imagined it would be so… Wow! This is my first time being kissed and if this is what my first kiss feels like… Well, I can’t even imagine it getting any better than that.
“Shit,” Marco says again. His head is tilted to the sky now like he’s praying to the heavens above. He’s breathing like he just ran ten miles and his fists are clenched at his sides like he’s pissed.
“Umm…” I start to say having no idea what to continue with. What I want to say is ‘let’s do that again’ but something tells me, Marco’s ‘shit’ isn’t a good shit, more like a ‘what the hell was I thinking’ shit.
“We need to get back,” he says, and without waiting for me he turns around and starts running back to his car. I run after him but unlike every time we run together, this time, Marco doesn’t wait for me.
“Should we talk about this?” I finally ask when I catch up to him outside of his car.
“Later,” is all he says.
He hits the key fob unlocking the doors and gets in, and without waiting for me to turn on the music like he always does, he turns it on himself. He turns it up loud, making it clear he doesn’t want to talk. Okay, fine, I think to myself. We will talk later, like he said. It will give me time to process what happened.
Tomorrow.
We will talk about this tomorrow.
Once we have both processed what just happened we will discuss this.
One-click -> Tapping Out
Other books by Nikki Ash
All books can be read as standalones
The Fighting Series
Fighting for a Second Chance
Fighting with Faith
Fighting for Your Touch
Fighting for Your Love
Fighting ‘round the Christmas Tree: A Fighting Series Novella
Fighting Love novels
Tapping Out
Clinched
Takedown
Stand-alones
Bordello
Knocked Down
Unbroken Promises
Heath
The Pickup (coming February 2019)
About the Author
Nikki Ash resides in South Florida where she is an English teacher and writer by day and a writer by night. When she’s not writing, you can find her with a book in her hand. From the Boxcar Children to Wuthering Heights to latest single parent romance, she has lived and breathed every type of book. While reading and writing are her passions, her two children are her entire world. You can probably find them at a Disney park before you would find them at home on the weekends!
Reading is like breathing in, writing is like breathing out.– Pam Allyn
Contact Nikki Ash
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Amazon * Website
Nikki Ash’s reader group
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Acknowledgements
FIRST AND FOREMOST, I would like to thank my readers, especially those in my reader group: Nikki Ash’s Fight Club. This novella ONLY happened because of your encouragement and love for this series and the characters. One year ago, Cooper and Liz popped into my head. I never imagined I would end up writing four books and a Christmas novella. Thank you for taking a chance on me and my fighters. Thank you for reading and reviewing my books. I love every single message I get from you! They literally make my day. Your passion for these books is what keeps me going. Thank you!
Bloggers- You are right up there with the readers. You took a chance on me, and for that, I will always be thankful. You posted and promoted, read, and reviewed my books. Thank you!
My beta readers- I don’t know what I would do without you guys. Krysten, Shawn, Andrea, Lisa, you guys are everything! Thank you for your honesty and support.
My children-Thank you for simply being you. I LOVE YOU!
Morgan Reeves- You are more than my cover designer, you are my friend, and I am so grateful to have you in my life. You take my vision and make it come alive each and every time.
Kristi Webster- You are such a breath of fresh air. You listen to me and encourage me, you write with me, and most importantly, you never judge me. Thank you for being you.
Thank you to all the authors who share my books. It means so much to me that you take the time to spread the word.
My mother- You are the reason I love Christmas. You made sure every Christmas was filled with family, love, and laughter. You made everything feel magical.