by Nikki Ash
“Well, that’s one way to wake up,” she says, and even though, it’s dark and I can’t see her, I can hear the laughter in her words. I give the top of her pussy one last kiss then I drag my body up hers until I’m face-to-face with her. I give her a kiss that begins soft, but quickly turns rough, all my emotions trying to convey what my words can’t say, begging her to love me enough, to want me enough—for me to be enough— so she’ll never leave me.
When I end the kiss, she licks her lips, tasting herself. “Does that taste good?”
She nods shyly and I laugh. Even with her own pussy juices on her mouth, she’s still adorably shy.
We wake up around nine and order room service. I feel like the clock is counting down and it’s making me sick. I want to beg her to come with me, but I know it would be for the wrong reasons. Of course, I’m going to miss her and Bella, but the real issue is, I’m scared shitless she’s going to stray away from me. I know it’s crazy because she loves me, and I know, deep down, she wouldn’t cheat, but if you saw what I saw growing up you would understand. Fuck, maybe I need to see a therapist.
After breakfast, we pack up and head home to meet Kayla and Bella. As soon as she’s through the door, she’s in my arms. “Daddy, I missed you so much. I had so much fun with Auntie Kay and Uncle Bentley.”
She started to call Bentley, Uncle Bentley, a few days ago and I swear the man almost handed over his life savings to her when he heard her say it for the first time.
“I’m happy to hear that, Princess. Why don’t you go get dressed and we’ll go out for the day before I leave tonight?”
Bella smiles wide at going out, but as soon as she hears that I’m leaving tonight her sadness mutes her smile. She says okay and runs upstairs to get ready.
The three of us spend the day at the park. Bella insists I push her on the swings even though she can do it herself, we make castles in the sand area, and we watch her play tag with other kids. I find myself mentally soaking it all in before I leave.
Eight o’clock comes around and we’re all gathered in my house ready to go. Liz and Bella wanted to say good bye at the airport, but with so many people going, we decided to take one vehicle to the airport. Plus, there’s no reason for her to drive all the way there and have to drive back late at night with Bella.
“I love you so much,” I tell Liz. “I’ll call and text you. Please send me pictures of Bella on Halloween.” I give her a chaste kiss because anything more and I just might not leave her.
“I love you, too, and I promise I will. Have a safe flight.” She peppers several kisses on my face and neck before she hugs me good bye.
We’re taking a chartered jet over to Boulder because it’s easier than dealing with a public flight. Bentley, Kaden, Caleb, and I are sitting in the chairs bullshitting while Hayley and Kayla are sleeping in the one bedroom the plane has.
I know my phone doesn’t have service up here, but it doesn’t stop me from checking it every five minutes.
“Bro, you’re seriously pussy whipped. Chill out.” Bentley laughs, nodding at my phone burning a hole in my hand.
“Yeah, whatever. I will gladly accept that name if it means I can be inside my woman’s pussy for the rest of our lives.”
Kaden jumps in. “Well, shit. Those are some big words. Are we talking marriage here?”
“Well for starters, I told her I want another baby, and she said okay. So, I would say marriage is definitely coming soon.”
All the guys look at me like I’ve grown a third head and I chuckle, changing the subject. “So, Bent, what’s going on with you and Kayla? Bella said she had a great time with both of you last night. I’m pretty sure we only asked Kayla to watch our daughter.”
Caleb, who barely ever speaks, cuts in. “He’s just as pussy whipped as you are except he isn’t getting any of Kayla’s pussy.”
“Shut the hell up, man,” Bentley retorts. “She wants me, but she wants it to just be all fucking and I’m not having it. She’s either all in or not at all. She’ll come around, it’s just a matter of time. I told her the next time we fuck, she’s mine.”
Kaden throws his head back with a laugh. “So now you guys aren’t fucking at all. How’s that working out for you?”
Caleb adds, “It sounds like Bentley has the pussy in this relationship.”
We all start laughing and the girls come out. Kayla looks around and asks, “What’s so funny?” We all go quiet and both girls are glaring at us. Hayley says, “Hmm… Sounds like the guys were just caught gossiping like a bunch of chicks.”
She’s definitely not off base with that observation.
Thirty-Two
Cooper
It’s Thursday night and it’s been two days without my girls. I’ve been busy with interviews, press conferences, and photo ops. Between my title fight coming up in February, Caleb fighting that night as well, and Bentley fighting in two days, it’s been crazy. People don’t realize how much more goes into being a part of the UFC aside from the fight they see on the television. And now with me being the owner of several of the training facilities, I have even more responsibility.
It’s nine o’clock here in Boulder, so it’s eight o’clock where we live. Knowing Bella will be going to bed soon, I break away from the craziness and call my girls to say good night. Liz’s phone rings but goes to voicemail. I try again and it does it again, so I send her a text asking her to please call me as soon as she can.
I spoke with Liz and Bella a couple times yesterday and was able to say good night to Bella. I would like to say good night to her tonight as well, so I can keep my promise to her. I hate that I’ll be missing Halloween with her, so I take a look at the schedule to see if I can find a way to fly home tomorrow to be there for the trick-or-treating and be back by Saturday morning. It would mean a lot of flying but getting to see my princess in her Elsa costume trick-or-treating would be worth it. I find a large enough gap in my schedule, only having to reschedule one meeting, so I pull up the flights to book one.
A few hours later, there’s still no call back from Liz, and we’re finishing up at the training center. Everybody agrees to grab dinner at a local pub on the way back to the hotel. I’m nursing my second beer when I see Caleb and Bentley looking down at one of their phones, looking nervous. I don’t know why, but I get a bad feeling deep in my gut.
“What the hell are you guys looking at? Don’t be rude. Share.”
This gets Kayla’s attention. “It’s probably one of the whores Bentley brought home. Did she let you take pictures?”
His eyes turn murderous and he growls out, “That was one time! One time, woman! I didn’t even sleep with her! I haven’t brought anyone else home since then, and I said I was sorry a million damn times. I don’t know why you even care because you sure as hell don’t want me. And for your information, the picture we’re looking at is of a woman, of your best friend actually, who appears to be cheating on my best friend. So, before you talk shit, get your facts straight.”
He turns to look at me, realizing he just threw up at the mouth. “I’m sorry, man. It’s probably nothing. Alex is at club Surrender. He just sent me a picture of Liz and some other guy there… together.”
Kayla and Hayley both yell, “Bullshit,” and stalk over to Bentley, yanking his phone out of his hand. It must not be good because one look at the photo and both women are trying to make excuses. “It has to be a mistake because Liz would never cheat. For God sakes, you are the only guy she’s ever been with.”
Hayley chimes in her opinion. “Yeah, plus, she went five years without getting any. There’s no way she would cheat now, so there has to be a reason for this.”
I get up and slowly take the phone from Kayla. Staring at me is my woman and she’s absolutely stunning in a dark purple strapless dress with black fuck-me heels on. Her hair is down and curly, and I want to touch her through the screen. The issue isn’t her, though. The issue is that with her, is a guy probably in his late twenties, with his arms ar
ound my woman, his front to her back, while she throws her head back against him. And it looks like they’re fucking through their clothes.
I throw the phone on the table and stalk out. I can hear everybody around me shouting my name but I need to be alone. This is what I get for thinking for even a second I could have a career and a family. My dad warned me over and over again. He said I couldn’t have both, but I thought he was wrong. I thought if I just tried harder, gave more, loved them enough, I would be able to prove him wrong. The man might have been a complete asshole, but according to that picture, it seems he knew what he was talking about. I guess the joke’s on me.
Thirty-Three
Liz
Four Hours Ago
“Bella, go help Tristan clean up the toys and games you guys took out and played with, please. We need to go soon.”
I’m sitting in Ashley’s kitchen, having a glass of wine while gossiping over my sex life and her nonexistent one. We spent the afternoon shopping with the kids, and then took them to a cute trunk-or-treat event at the local church. They got a bunch of candy and are currently running around completely hopped up on sugar. I have no idea how I’m going to get Bella to sleep, but I’m glad her mind is off her daddy being gone. It was a rough night last night. After she spoke to Cooper, she threw another one of her tantrums and I ended up letting her sleep with me. I know, shitty parenting move, but I was exhausted and, to be honest, I hated the thought of sleeping in my bed alone.
“You know, my parents are coming over to watch Tristan tonight so a few friends of mine and I can go to Club Surrender. They wouldn’t mind watching Bella as well. They would actually love it because Bella would keep Tristan busy.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I know Bella would be fine here but going out to a club without Cooper feels wrong.”
“Sweetie, you are going out for some drinks and maybe some dancing. That’s it.”
I remember the first and last time I was at a club. It was the night I met Cooper. I fell in love with the music and ambiance. It would be fun to have a drink and let loose a little.
“Okay, I’m in. Drinking and dancing.”
“Yay! Okay, let’s find us something to wear.”
Four hours later and I’m at the club, on my sixth, maybe seventh shot of tequila… I’m not exactly sure, but what I do know is Ashley’s friends are drinkers. It’s a good thing we cabbed it here because I’m definitely not fit to drive anywhere on my own.
I down another shot and it goes down my throat like water. I know I’m definitely drunk when I no longer feel the burn of the alcohol in my throat. I hear Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo come on and Ashley shouts this is her jam, so we make our way to the dance floor. We’re having a blast, grinding up against each other and laughing at some of our drunken moves, when the room begins to spin. I tell myself after this song I’m done for the night. 2 Chainz pops on the surround sound and I can’t help but lower my ass and pop it out to his solo. Dancing can be so freeing. I should ask Cooper to come out with me to the club, again.
Out of nowhere, I feel a strong pair of hands wrap around my waist and it’s like Déjà vu to the night in the club with Cooper. In my drunken state, I tilt my head back, but when I see the horrific look in Ashley’s eyes, I jump forward, realizing it can’t be Cooper because Cooper is in Boulder. Shit.
I make my way back to Ashley, a bit shaken up at the thought of another man’s hands on my body. I know it isn’t his fault. He didn’t do anything inappropriate. I stopped it immediately, but I still feel guilty.
“I’m going to head back to your place,” I tell Ashley when I get over to her.
“No way, I’m ready to go as well. What happened with that guy over there?”
“He came up behind me the same way Cooper did all those years ago at the club when I first met him, and for a second I thought it was Cooper. It wasn’t until I saw your face I remembered Cooper’s out of the damn state.”
Ashley laughs and says, “Yup! We’re definitely drunk. It is time to go home. Our rugrats will be up before we know it.”
We make it back to Ashley’s place and both pass out in her bed. Tomorrow is going to seriously suck. Hangover plus trick-or-treating equals… I don’t even know what the hell it equals, but it sure as hell can’t be anything good.
We wake up to the kids running around and playing. I grab my phone to see what time it is and it’s dead. Shit. “Hey, Ash, I’m going to head out with Bella. My phone is dead, so I need to charge it.” She mumbles what I think is a reply and goes back to sleep. Luckily for her, her parents spent the night and are hanging out all day with Tristan.
We get home and I jump in the shower to rinse off last night then swallow a few pain relievers hoping to get rid of this massive headache I have going on. Once my phone charges enough to turn it on, I check it and see my phone is overflowing with what looks like a million texts.
Coop: Hey baby girl. I tried to call you to say good night to you guys. Call me. Love you.
Coop: Baby, everything okay? You haven’t called me back.
Coop: Bella must be in bed by now. I tried to call to keep my promise to her. Just let me know you guys are okay.
Coop: Liz, are you mad at me?
Damn, I should have told him I was going out, but I didn’t even think to. I’ve spent so many years coming and going as I please, I didn’t even think about that fact that Cooper would be worried if I didn’t answer his calls or texts, and on top of that, he didn’t get a chance to say good night to Bella. I keep scrolling through my texts.
This is where it gets weird…
Kayla: Liz, you need to call me ASAP
Hayley: Where are you?
Hayley: Liz, please call someone as soon as you get this.
Kayla: Liz, I know you wouldn’t cheat on Cooper. Please just call so we can get this whole thing figured out.
Cheat. On. Cooper. What the fuck?
I immediately try to call Cooper, but his phone goes straight to voicemail. I try again and again and nothing. I feel sick to my stomach with worry. Why would they think I was cheating on Cooper? I try his phone a few more times and just as I’m about to try Kayla, I hear the front door open and close, and then Bella screams, “Daddy!”
I walk into the living room and see Cooper standing in the door way with Bella in his arms holding her tight to his chest. His gaze turns to me, and my stomach drops when I see the exhausted and defeated look in his eyes.
He swallows loudly, composes himself, and gives his attention back to Bella. “Hey, sweetie. Did I make it in time to go trick-or-treating with you?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes, you did. Thank you, Daddy!” Bella gives him a huge wet kiss on his cheek.
“Good. Why don’t you run upstairs and get your costume ready and then we’ll all go to lunch and trick-or-treating.”
“Okay, Daddy!”
Cooper waits until Bella is upstairs before he turns his attention to me. I open my mouth to say something but close it again. I’m not sure what happened, but for him to be here when he should be in Boulder says a lot. It should be a good thing that he’s here, but after reading the texts Kayla and Hayley sent me, I have a feeling he’s here for another reason.
“What’s the matter? Not sure how to explain what happened last night? If you want, you can call up my mom and ask her how it’s done. I’m sure she can help you explain and justify what happened.”
I flinch at his words, like I was just slapped in the face. I don’t know what’s going on, but it must be bad because Cooper doesn’t speak to me like this, ever.
He moves a step closer, and I finally speak up. “I don’t know what you think I did, but you’re wrong.”
He moves a bit closer. “You didn’t go to Club Surrender last night?”
“Yes, I did. Ashley and I went with a couple of her friends.”
He moves closer with his eyes never leaving mine. “Did you dance with anyone?”
What. The. Fuck! “Yeah, Coop. I did. I danced with Ashley
and a few other people. What’s going on?”
He takes one more step and he’s right in my face. If I didn’t know Cooper would never hurt me, I would be terrified of the expression on his face. I can see why other fighters fear this man. When he’s pissed, he’s not someone you want to mess with.
He pulls out his phone and lifts it up to my face. It’s so close I have to pull my head back a bit and squint to see what he’s showing me. My stomach drops when I see the grainy photo of me and some guy, who isn’t Cooper, extremely close to each another. I’m sweaty from all the dancing and shots, and I have my head thrown back up against the guy’s chest while his hands are around my waist. Fuck. Not good.
“How did you get that?” I spit out more harshly than intended. I should feel bad about the picture but the truth is nothing happened, and I’m pissed that someone is sending photos to him. I’m even more pissed that he doesn’t trust me.
“Does it matter how I got it? What fucking matters is why my woman is grinding all over another man’s dick while he has his hands wrapped around her.”
Wow, it’s not even a question, just straight up accusation. Apparently, I’m guilty without even a trial.
“So, let me get this straight? You get some picture, taken by God knows who, and you jump on a plane, not to take my daughter trick-or-treating, but to accuse me of cheating on you.”
He lets it sink in for a second before he responds. “No, I was already coming here to take our daughter trick-or-treating. I just figured while I was here I would find out why I was only gone for less than two days and the woman who supposedly loves me is already all over another man.
Taking a closer look at Cooper, I notice his eyes are dark with black circles under them like he hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in a few days, his shoulders are slumped over a little, and while his words sound so sure, I can see he’s sad and scared and confused. I could argue with him. I could scream and curse and be pissed about his accusations, but it wouldn’t do any good. Cooper needs to feel secure about us and arguing isn’t going to help anything. He might be a badass fighter on the outside, but on the inside, he’s an insecure little boy who’s been traumatized by the choices his parents made.