Tap Out (Fight It Out MMA Series Book 2)

by Terra Kelly

  “Hey, think I should change my name for AFC?” I had been thinking about ways to stay under my father’s radar. “Maybe use my nickname, Sunshine, or choose a different last name?”

  “Since you have already started to build a following, I think you would regret changing your name.”

  “Yeah, true.”

  “You have a P.O. Box now, right?”

  “Yeah, and Brooks encouraged me to keep paying for the rent at the house.” I stood and walked around the counter. “Seems silly I know.”

  “Nope, not silly at all.”

  Lily and I continued to talk for a few more minutes. I noticed a woman walk in, but her head was bent. I stepped around Lily. “Jenny?” She stopped walking and slowly lifted her head. She wore oversized sunglasses, most likely covering a black eye or two. “We haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “Yeah,” she said, clearing her throat. “I don’t know if I can come in for the class at the time it’s held.”

  “Oh, do you have a better time?”

  She glanced around before saying anything. “Well, that’s the part I was hoping to talk to you about.”

  “Oh.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You have me curious now.” I was possibly leaving for Liverpool in one month, barring there were no hiccups in Chuck’s plans. So I had to figure out if I could even continue helping Jenny.

  “You’re at the gym daily, right?” Jenny said, placing her hands in her pants pockets.

  “For the most part, yes.”

  “Well, there are some days where I just don’t know when I can come over here.”

  Her situation was obviously much worse than I thought. “Jenny, do you need more help than just these self-defense classes?”

  “No,” she quickly said. “I need to learn how to defend myself.”

  “Okay, whatever you need.”

  “When you made the appointment with Chuck, I knew this meeting was going to be important,” Danny Green said, motioning for us to have a seat in his office. “Is this about your contract, Charlie?”

  “Yeah, it is,” I said, feeling a bit nervous.

  Chuck Anders opened his briefcase and pulled out a stack of papers. “I have a proposal that will be too hard to refuse.”

  Danny sat down behind his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  I sat quietly while the two men discussed me and where I would be a good fit. Danny felt my chances of visibility were better in main fights and not preliminaries. Whereas Chuck felt with fighters on the AFC tickets, even if only a preliminary fight, it was amazing exposure. Chuck expressed that the upcoming fight in Liverpool could propel my career to the next level.

  “Charlie,” Chuck said and handed me a file. “Are you prepared to fight with AFC?”

  Was this a trick question? I wanted to be with AFC hands down. It had been my dream since meeting Lily in grade school. Of course I was prepared. “Um, yeah, I am.”

  “If you sign with AFC today, I have to put your name on hold with Spartacus for a full five years.” Danny leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk. “It’s actually in the fine print of your contract. If you get bought out, this creates an immediate hold and we wait.”

  I was sitting in front of Danny. His words caught me off guard. I glanced over to Chuck. “Can you ensure I won’t be screwed by this decision?” AFC was legit, and I knew my career would skyrocket because of Chuck’s persistence.

  Chuck nodded his head. “I will add in your contract that we will continue paying you even if the contract ends.”

  “If I can see it in writing, I feel good with this path.”

  Chuck pulled out a pen and handed it to Danny. “We can offer one million to buy her out of the contract.”

  Danny didn’t say anything for the longest time. “Only one million? She had a year and half contract and five fights.”

  “How about one point five million?”

  Danny sat there staring at his hands for several minutes. Finally he looked up and nodded. “I think it’s fair.” When he finished signing his name, he handed the pen my way. “Your turn.”

  Spartacus had brought good things my way. Leaving now felt awkward, and a little part of me felt bad. Before reaching for the pen, I glanced over at Chuck. “You won’t leave me high and dry, right?”

  Chuck laughed. “Nope and I think Lily would hang me out to dry if I did.”

  “That’s how besties roll.” I signed the contract and stood up. “I did plan to fulfill my contract with you, Danny. Chuck just managed to present an offer I didn’t know how to refuse.”

  Danny stood up and held out his hand. “It’s business, Charlie, nothing more and nothing less.”

  As Chuck and I left the building, the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I was going to fight with AFC. Holy fucking shit. I knew Lily being one of the top fighters with them probably helped my chances. I silently said a fuck you to my father. He really thought this would never happen yet look at me now.

  We were standing on the sidewalk outside of the Spartacus business building. “Now we need to get you ready for Liverpool,” Chuck said and reached into his pants pocket for his car keys.

  “I’m already training and ready. You just need to tell me the place and time, and I’ll be there.”

  “It’s good to have you in the AFC family, Charlie.” He raised his hand and waved as he made his way out to the parking lot.

  “Thank you for the opportunity.” I watched as he got into his car and drove away. I turned and looked up at the building that started my career. Life always had a funny way of ensuring you would get what you wanted. The path toward the ultimate goal was shitty at times but worth it in the end.

  I threw my keys down onto the little table by the door. “Brooks, you home?” The house was quiet, almost too quiet. The living room was the next room after entering the house. There was a door to the room and it was closed. Since I moved into Brooks’s place, the door had never been closed. That was weird. “Hello?” I carefully opened it, worried for what I would find on the other side. The moment I had it wide open, a chorus of screams filled the room. “Oh sweet mother, Mary, and Joseph.” My hand was at my chest, and my heart rate increased to an abnormal level.

  “Charlie.” Lily jumped forward and wrapped her arms around my body. “Welcome to AFC!”

  “Wait a minute”—I placed my hands on my hips—“How did you find out?”

  Brooks walked up and kissed my cheek. “Ask him,” he said, pointing to Chuck.

  “How the hell did you beat me home?” I pointed my index finger at Lily. “Is that why you had me stop and pick up some sparkling water?”

  Lily tried to feign innocence. “Maybe.” She shrugged her shoulders.

  “Oh my goodness, I adore you.” I grabbed her hand and tugged her back closer to me. “You know that, right?”

  “I had my suspicions.”

  I turned to find Chuck walking our way. “You’re sneaky.”

  “Well, actually I’m just thankful Danny agreed,” Chuck said. “Sometimes he rejects my offers.”

  I could see everyone from the gym in the backyard through the sliding glass doors. Several of them were in the pool. I squeezed Lily one more time and then headed outside. When everyone noticed me, they started chanting my name. I shook my head and forced myself to hold in the tears. They didn’t need to see a cry fest over their generosity.

  I reached for a water and poured a splash of wine in the glass.

  “Wait, I thought you said you were training already.” Chuck winked.

  “It’s a splash. I need to enjoy a little for the celebration.”

  He poured straight up wine in a glass and handed it to me. “Enjoy a little more. You deserve it.”

  “Um.” I reached for the glass. “Okay, you won’t see any argument from me.”

  “First time for everything,” Lily yelled from the other side of the yard.

  I held my middle finger up in her direction
and took a big sip of the wine. This was my family. Everyone in this house played a role in making me smile or causing me to laugh. They were not blood, but they were full of heart, and I was pretty damn lucky.

  Six

  “How many bathing suits did you order online?” Lily picked up one of the bikinis sitting on the edge of my bed.

  “Only six,” I said and ripped a tag off one of the suits.

  “Only six,” she repeated.

  “This way I can mix and match. Plus, I have variety since I have no clue where Brooks is taking me.”

  “Well, it’s somewhere in the United Kingdom, right?”

  “I think so, but I really have no clue.”

  “And you won’t until we get there,” Brooks said and stepped into the room. He walked over and lifted up the green and blue suit. “Oh, I like.”

  “See, you didn’t need six. He loves that one.” Lily sat down on the edge of the bed.

  “Bite your tongue,” Brooks teased. “I’m looking forward to the runway show later.”

  “And that’s my cue to leave.” Lily stood and made her way to the doorway. “Flight leaves at eight a.m. sharp. Don’t let that runway show get too wild and crazy.”

  “You’re no fun,” I pouted.

  “See you tomorrow.” She raised her hand and waved as she walked down the hall.

  Brooks’s place took some getting used to. The house was basically a mansion like Julian’s place. It was only about a mile from Julian and Lily. He had his own gym but rarely used it before I made myself at home. Now, every night I made him go down and workout with me. I did have to bribe him by fighting in the nude. Lily encouraged me to give it a try.

  “Six suits, eh?” Brooks stepped closer to me. “Did I forget to tell you that we are going to try out a nude beach?”

  “What? No.” I quickly rejected the idea.

  “Why not?”

  “You get to see me nude. Lily has seen me nude. Some women at the gym maybe, but that’s it. My body is not made to be on display.”

  He burst out laughing and nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck. “It should be. You have a fucking amazing body.”

  I jumped up into his arms. “We’ll see.”

  He lifted his head up. “Really?”

  “I’ll decide when the opportunity presents itself.”

  Nude beach? Um, fuck that shit.

  Then again, it could be fun.

  “How many bags did you bring?” Brooks said, pulling two heavy suitcases from the back of his vehicle.

  “Enough,” I said and reached for the heaviest bag and pulled up the handle to roll it inside. “You never know what you’ll need. Plus, you and I will be on vacation for two weeks after the fight.”

  He walked over and kissed me. “And I can’t wait to have you all to myself for two full weeks.”

  His words caused a shiver to run up my spine. Brooks was becoming more to me. My heart was learning to accept another person past my perfect wall I created so long ago. This vacation was needed on so many levels.

  Before I left, I found a way to contact Jenny and let her know I would be gone for the next month. I didn’t want her risking everything to go to the gym, only to find I wasn’t there. We agreed to resume our private sessions once I was back in town.

  “Hey, sunshine,” Lily yelled from behind me as I walked into the front entrance of the airport. The moment I turned toward her, something caught my attention just to the right in my peripheral vision. It was a man that looked an awful lot like my oldest brother. I quickly looked toward the man in question, but somehow he disappeared. Lily placed her hand on my shoulder. “You okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” I looked over in the direction where I could have sworn Mason was just standing, but still no one was there. “Just thought I saw someone.”

  “Story of my life.” She laughed. “I mean, after the Mom stuff.”

  Lily’s story about her mom was like watching an action movie as she told me every detail several months ago. The fact that her mom was messed up in the mob world didn’t seem possible. I totally understood what she was saying, because for her, she probably always looked behind her and around every corner. Somehow we both became best friends and then acquired the same damn life but with a slightly different timeline. Well, minus the mob boss part.

  I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “You’re safe love, and besides, Julian would kick ass if anyone tried to mess with you now.”

  “Whose ass am I kicking?” Julian stepped beside Lily.

  “No one, babe,” Lily reassured. “Let’s get through security before our plane decides to take off without us.”

  “Chuck would be pissed if that happened,” I said and pulled my driver’s license and boarding pass out for security to check.

  “Especially because we all are on the same flight,” Zoe teased from behind me.

  “Zoe.” I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I got a little worried you weren’t going to make it.”

  “Nah, I’m always late but not that late.”

  I glanced around at the six of us, that included myself, Lily, Zoe, Julian, Brooks, and Tyler. Brooks told me that since Tyler was part owner of Fight It Out, he wanted to be a part of this event. I loved how Zoe, Lily, and I were about to take it to the next level in our careers. Well, technically Zoe had already been in AFC for several years and had the strawweight championship belt taken from her in the last fight. It was a fight she made clear we could not discuss…ever.

  “Well, let’s do this,” I said and started walking in the maze that was the security line. I was the only one that got checked from head to toe. Plus my bag got the special pat down. They were all waiting for me by a bench. “Seriously, how am I the only one that got the special attention?”

  “You’re just too damn sexy, girl,” Lily teased, flipping a lock of my hair up in the air.

  “Whatever.” I rolled my eyes and headed down the hallway leading to our terminal.

  There was a store with tons of items that had the Las Vegas logo plastered in every which way. Again, there was someone who looked familiar lurking by a table in the store. The guy had a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes and was looking down. I could’ve sworn it was Mason or damn, my brother had an amazing doppelgänger.

  “Hey, Lily.” I reached for her hand. “Don’t be obvious when looking, but the guy in a black baseball cap right in the front of the store.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Does he look like Mason or am I just seeing things?”

  She stopped for a split second and then resumed walking. “It’s hard to tell. Why would Mason be here?”

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking. It’s the second time I have seen that guy lurking about.”

  Lily squeezed my hand. “I bet your mind is playing tricks on you. Mason would hate Las Vegas.”

  “True.”

  She was right, my brother would never step foot in this town. It had too much flash and flare for him. Plus, he would find it too dirty for his taste. Whatever that meant. Mason was worse than my father when it came to money, power, and looks. Which was why he loved my dad and his company so much.

  There were several seats unoccupied all in a row. We all plopped down and waited for boarding to begin. I pulled out my book and pretended to read. Every time I read the first line, my mind would wander to my brother. Several times I looked back, expecting to see him. A little part of me wondered if my mind really was playing tricks on me. Words my father said to me so long ago still rang loudly in my ears: We’ll see about that. Did he plan to take my money? I really didn’t know how that was possible, but I never put anything past my dad. When he wanted a company, he bought it out. He was heartless and ruthless.

  If he wanted my money that bad, he would find a way to get it.

  Seven

  “What would you like to drink?” the flight attendant asked me.

  I pulled out my earbuds. “Do you have spar
kling water?”

  “I have some seltzer.”

  “Nah, just a water will be wonderful.” Pulling the table down from the seat in front of me, I reached for my drink. “Thank you.”

  The flight was going to be twelve hours, so we all settled in for the long trip. I was in the aisle seat with my pillow resting on Brooks’s shoulder. Tyler was next to the window, but I noticed every so often, he would glance up at where Zoe sat by the window in front of him. Did they have a thing? Zoe and I were not that close, and Tyler rarely shared anything about his life outside of the gym.

  I pulled Brooks closer so I could whisper in his ear. “Are Tyler and Zoe together?”

  He glanced over at his brother and back at me. “Um, not that I know of. Why?”

  “Just my woman’s intuition talking.”

  “I can’t see him with someone like her.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I said a little too loudly, causing heads to turn in our direction. “I mean”—he smiled to distract from my outburst—“she’s fantastic.”

  “I was saying that more for Tyler,” he reassured. “I’m sure Zoe’s wonderful.”

  “Sorry, that caught me by surprise.”

  “I see that.” He winked and leaned closer. “So what did you bring to wear at night?”

  “Nothing. Was I supposed to bring something?” He started to move around in the seat. “You okay?” Glancing down, I noticed he had an erection. “Wow, really?” I could say the simplest thing, and he would get all hot and bothered. It was actually sexy as hell. Suddenly I had an idea. “Hey, curious about if the bathrooms can really fit two people?”

  Brooks’s eyes went wide. “I don’t think it’s even possible.”

  “Have you tried it?”

  “No.”

  “Then how do you know?”

  “Well, since it’s a tight fit with just me in the small space…” He shrugged his shoulders.

  “Okay, don’t say I didn’t offer.” I placed my ear buds back in and started to scroll my playlists. Suddenly my one ear bud was yanked out. “What the—” I glanced over at Brooks. His face was telling. “Oh, did you change your mind?”