Romance: JADEN: An MMA Fighter Romance (Bad Boy Tattoo Romance) (New Adult Pregnancy Short Stories)

by Kristen Chase

  “Just be careful.”

  “Okay.”

  I nodded, smiling. I was beginning to think this was his way of showing a girl he was interested. He didn’t know quite what to say but it actually seemed like he didn’t want me to leave. I was so confused. His signals were so mixed up and incoherent, I didn’t know which way he wanted me to go, or what he wanted me to do, or what he even felt. Right now I felt as though he was wanting to see me again, but just moments ago and rewinding back the last hour, he had acted as if I didn’t even exist. I thought girls were supposed to be the complicated ones but Jaden was definitely giving that theory a run for its money.

  “I think I can convince you to come back.”

  I looked at him confused, not sure where he was intending to go with this.

  “Can we chat this week sometime, you know, just so we can work out something?”

  “Work out what?”

  Shit, I didn’t want to be so abrupt but I really didn’t know what he was on about. I should have taken his invite with open arms but my head obviously didn’t agree.

  “Training.” He spoke matter-of-factly, like what else would he be talking about?

  I suddenly realised what he had been meaning this whole time, and my wall of defence came up immediately. He thought that he could help me become a thin gym junkie like his other barbie dolls. My anger rose considerably fast.

  “Why do you want me to train so badly?”

  “Shit. No I don’t.”

  “Whatever.”

  My heart couldn’t take anymore and my brain couldn’t muster together any more polite responses. He had just made it very clear that I didn’t belong in his world and I definitely wasn’t good enough. I walked out, this time, desperate to leave the room without another interruption. As soon as I felt the air on the other side of the door rush against my face, relief hit my anger and calmed me down. I continued walking until I reached my car and then slowed down, relaxing my anxious breathing.

  I sat in my car and I saw Jaden walking towards me. He just couldn’t take no as an answer and I was beginning to really dislike him now. I pretended not to see him and I checked my phone to avoid his eye contact. There was a knock at my window, and even though I knew it was Jaden, I jumped automatically, momentarily, scared by the sudden noise at my side. I rolled down the window and faced my new found nemesis.

  “Are you crying because of me?”

  I felt my cheeks and the wetness on my fingertips surprised me. I hadn’t actually realised that my tears had won the war against my head.

  “No.”

  I lied angrily.

  “Sorry.”

  He stood at my door looking helpless and uncomfortable.

  “What do you want?”

  “I don’t know. I just wanted to apologise.”

  “For what?” I asked snidely.

  I hated when people apologised just because they thought they should, without actually knowing why.

  “For making you upset?”

  “Do you even know why I’m upset?”

  “Um…not really.”

  He sounded scared of what my reaction to his honesty might be.

  “Do you think you can just turn me into another one of those model whores back there?”

  “What? No.”

  He seemed genuinely shocked and confused.

  “I don’t need you to change me okay?”

  “What? I don’t want to change you.”

  I started to soften. He actually sounded as though he was completely unaware of what his words had sounded like to me. I began to think that maybe I had made a big mistake. My pride, however, wouldn’t let my embarrassment seep in again, and I stuck firmly to my argument.

  “Well, I don’t want to train.”

  “We don’t have to.”

  “Well stop pushing it.”

  “I’m so confused. I didn’t mean to force you into anything.”

  “Okay, cool. Well, I gotta go.”

  I turned back to look out my front window, ready to drive away.

  “I just wanted to see you again.”

  I stopped and slowly turned my head towards him. He was looking down and then slowly raised his head till our eyes met and I once again melted in the intensity of them.

  “Really?”

  He nodded.

  “Why?”

  “What? I dunno, I just…I just couldn’t let you walk out of the room. I couldn’t let you drive away. I didn’t mean to keep stopping you but I just did. It just kept happening.”

  I tried to hide my giddiness at his confession.

  I searched for a pen in the middle console of my car and then turned back towards him.

  “Give me your hand.”

  He looked at me nervously and cautiously held his hand out for me. I grasped his wrist and I felt his warm skin against me. My breathing quickened.

  One of his tattoos caught my eye. It was positioned on the top of his hand beneath the finger next to his thumb. He had so many huge and beautiful tattoos but this tiny one of a heartbeat line and a date, was the one that intrigued me the most. I ran my finger over the lines and I heard him take a deep breath in and then blow out slowly. I looked up at him and he was staring at the spot where my fingers had just traced. I decided not to ask him about it though. It seemed too personal for me to enquire about and I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable with my unnecessary nosiness. I snapped out of my daze and brought his attention back to me as I brought the pen to his skin. I wrote my number down and my name underneath.

  “So you can call me if you want.”

  He smiled at me.

  “I’ll think about it.”

  I was shocked by his cheeky tone and grin that now appeared on his face. Did he just make a joke with me? One that I would make and he wouldn’t understand? I stared at him, even more intrigued as he continued to surprise me. Then it hit me. What if he wasn’t joking and actually meant he would have to think about it? That seemed more in line with Jaden, from what I had so far experienced.

  “I will…call you. I was joking.”

  He obviously saw my confusion with his first response and cleared up any of my weary thoughts.

  “Okay.”

  I spoke nervously and he laughed now somehow gaining the upper-hand. He had just taken a quick turn from the soft-spoken confusing guy to the confident, forward guy I had thought he would have been from the beginning. Wow, this guy was really baffling everything I thought I knew about the male species. But he was going to call me, and I couldn’t wait.

  ***

  “Hello?”

  “Told you I’d call.”

  I was lost for words. I had only been home for an hour and my phone was already ringing with an unknown number flashing on the screen, and now I was hearing Jaden’s voice on the other end.

  “I have to run another class but I just wanted to show you I would call you.”

  I laughed.

  “Wow, now that is record timing Jaden.”

  “Shit, too soon?”

  “No, no, not at all. Just surprised me.”

  “I have a feeling I’m going to like surprising you Alyssa.”

  “Well, lucky I like surprises.”

  “Lucky. Anyway I gotta go. I will call you again.”

  And I was left listening to the beeping on the phone as he ended our call. I was still in utter shock that that conversation had just happened. It was so simple and nothing special, but at the same time, it was adorable and exciting, and I was totally falling for him. I clung to my phone, lying in my bed that night, dreaming not just of his eyes running through my mind, but now of his touch and his lips and the way his voice made me feel.

  Jaden had invited me to come and watch him fight tonight. His conversation on the phone was quick and straight to the point again but it just made every word he said that much more significant. I once again was a little confused if my appearance at his fight was his idea of a first date, and the thoughts of him having the
intention of just being friends came barging back into my head. I was, therefore, going to feel incredibly uncomfortable again, but at least this time I could sit down in the crowd and enjoy the show that I, this time, didn’t have to take part in.

  I had no idea how big mixed martial arts was but I was soon caught up to the fact when I entered the arena where the fight was to take place. Here I was, thinking I was just going to be entering a school gym, and now I was at a ticketed event, pushing my way through crowds, and stepping over fanatic people to get to my seat. Jaden had saved me a seat right at the front and as much as I appreciated it, as soon as the first fight began, I became terrified at the act I saw in front of me and I actually think I might have enjoyed having more of a skewed view.

  They announced his name and Jaden came out in silky shorts and no top. My stomach did flips and I felt like I was about to melt into my seat and never be able to stand again. Every time I saw him, he just got sexier and sexier and my heart became further endangered with going into cardiac arrest. I had felt the pain of every kick and hit that occurred in the first three fights, but none of it had appropriately prepared me for the sick feeling my body produced when I saw Jaden’s body being brutally abused by his opponent. I squirmed in my seat and pleaded in my head for him to make it through the fight alive. He was actually very impressive and as much as it scared me, the way Jaden dodged the other guy’s hands, and the way he struck, actually was turning me on. I’m crazy, I know.

  And then he was struck hard and went down and the whole crowd roared and rose from their seats. Jaden didn’t get up. I felt sicker, and my worry immediately exceeded any concern I’d ever felt for somebody else’s wellbeing before. The referee instantly paused the fight and Jaden’s trainer ended up helping him out of the ring. He was hobbling along but still looked like he was in a complete daze and might possibly be concussed. I had to go and see him.

  He lay on a bed in the rooms below the stands and I watched as people fussed around him. He was finally left alone to rest with the diagnosis being that he was not concussed and he was going to be just fine. The relief I felt, as I heard those words, were amazing and I was finally free of the worry I had been clinging onto.

  “Jaden.”

  I sympathetically spoke his name as I walked over to him. He looked over at me smiling.

  “You came.”

  “Of course I did.”

  “I usually win.”

  He laughed.

  “I don’t care.” I assured him and sat myself next to him on the bed, his amazing physique now so close to my desiring eyes.

  He grabbed onto my hand and I was once again shocked by his bold act of interest.

  “I’m glad you came.”

  I smiled at him and watched as he closed his eyes.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah just a little tired.”

  He kept his eyes closed as he spoke and I decided I should probably leave. He was still holding my hand though and the temptation to let him hold onto it forever while I sat here and watched his manly chest rise and fall with his every breath, was making it extremely hard to walk away.

  “I’ll let you rest.”

  I raised after a few moments and he tugged me back down slowly.

  “Come here.” He murmured and pulled me closer to his face as he opened his eyes again.

  “I need a proper goodbye.”

  My heart was racing.

  “It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later.” I corrected him, nervously awaiting his next move.

  “Shut-up.” He whispered and before I could register my anger at this, and my shock, he pulled me into his lips and felt his hand around my neck.

  He pushed his tongue slowly into my mouth and my tongue reciprocated its movements. He then pulled out and lingered his lips upon mine before opening his eyes again and smiling at me, looking quite pleased with himself.

  “See ya later.” He grinned.

  I got up slowly, taking my hand out of his grasp.

  “See ya.” I replied and left him there to regain his energy that I had just received the last ounces of.

  ***

  I couldn’t believe how all of this had developed. One minute I had no clue if he even remembered me and now I was getting ready for our first real date.

  Jaden picked me up around seven pm and when I got into his car, he stared at me with his eyebrows raised.

  “Woah.”

  He breathed out heavily, and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from smiling, and showing him how ecstatic I was just to hear him react like that from looking at me. My heart pounded and I had to concentrate on my breathing to control its attempt to run rapidly away from me.

  “Thanks?”

  I managed a small smile to show my appreciation. It definitely didn’t reveal how excited he had really just made me feel, but I believe that it, along with my blushed cheeks, was enough to hold off the embarrassment of being so flustered over a word that I didn’t even know if I could classify as a compliment or not.

  Jaden finally pulled his eyes away from me and my whole body relaxed against the chair. He started the engine and we drove ten minutes up the road without saying a word. We let the awkward third wheel (sexual tension) do all the talking for us.

  When we got to the restaurant, Jaden made me wait before getting out of the car. I wasn’t sure what he was doing but then he quickly ran around to my side and opened the door for me. I was once again floored by his chivalry. It was now I also noticed his smart attire. He was wearing suit pants and a shirt—no tie, a few of the buttons undone at the top, and I almost had to pick my chin up from off the ground as I gaped at him in amazement.

  “You look great Jaden.”

  He smiled shyly and didn’t look at me. He tried to hide his excitement but I could see it, and it made me feel more incredible than receiving the compliment from him. I mean, he must receive compliments all the time, so the fact that I could still make him feel special with my words, made me feel pretty special too.

  He grabbed my hand and guided me inside and to a table. I didn’t want to let go. It felt so right to be hand in hand.

  I was expecting the night to be quite awkward, especially to begin with, but it somehow flowed from the minute we sat down. I don’t think we stopped talking for the next two hours. It actually took us nearly the entire time to finish our food because we were talking so much. We just clicked. We worked so well together. It was if everything I had thought, about the potential of the two of us, had gone swimmingly in the opposite direction. And I loved every second.

  The night was over and we sat in the car outside my unit. It was that stage of the night where you desperately want to kiss but no-one is brave enough to make the first move. It was time I had to just get out of the car and try my luck with him next time.

  “Alyssa.”

  It seemed he really enjoyed always stopping me just before I was about to leave. I turned back around and he glanced down at my lips.

  “I really want to kiss you right now Alyssa.”

  I gulped and stared down at his pink lips.

  “Okay.” This was my lame response.

  He took it though. He leaned in and I met him halfway, our lips locking together, fitting perfectly on top of each other. I glided my hand across his cheek and pulled him further into me, greeting his tongue with mine, and relieving our entire night’s desire to feel our mouths pressed together like they were right now. I felt his hunger for me and I was no longer famished for his touch.

  “Do you want to come inside?”

  We parted lips and the words left my mouth before my mind knew what I was asking. He hesitated and my heart began feeling its well-known tightening at the thought of rejection.

  “I would love too.”

  My heart cut through the strings that were strangling it, embracing the unexpected victory.

  We lay on my bed, my head resting on his shoulder, his muscular arm cradling my body. Laying like this, with our fingers int
ertwined, I felt the normality of it all; the ease. It felt like we had been doing this for forever and were still more in love than ever. I had caught ‘the bug’ bad, and I just hoped he had too.

  We kissed long, hard and passionately, soft, sweet and warmly. He moved his hands over my curves and I explored his body with mine. My body craved him and my pelvis arched itself in anticipation, pleading him to take control of me. But he didn’t. He kissed me and embraced me, but he never went beneath the band of my pants. He never tried and I didn’t even care. He still made me feel safe and sexy and wanted. We fell asleep curled up in each other’s arms and my happiness was untouchable. I felt as though this moment was going to last forever.

  ***

  I woke with Jaden’s arm still draped over the top of me, and I smiled to myself as I remembered last night’s perfection. I looked down at our hands, still perfectly connected, and my eyes found the tattoo on his hand again. I traced it again with my fingers and Jaden moved behind me. I rolled onto my back, facing him and saw his beautiful face smiling down at me.

  “Good morning beautiful.”

  He called me beautiful. My insides swooned.

  “Good morning.”

  We lay silently again, enjoying the comfort of each other’s warmth and I caressed his hand in mine again.

  “Hey Jaden?”

  “Yeah?”

  “What’s this tattoo about?”

  I ran my thumb over the heartbeats on his hand and his jaw clenched immediately. He gulped and I saw pain swim to the surface of his eyes.

  “You don’t need to tell me.”

  I smiled at him and he sighed.

  “I want to.”

  I waited for him to be ready.

  “It’s my dad’s last three heartbeats before he left us…passed away.”

  His eyes were watering and he swallowed them back. I squeezed on his hand and felt his pain.

  “What’s the date?”

  “His last day.”

  I gulped too, trying to fight back my tears that wanted to cry for him and take away his pain.

  “He must have been a great man.” I smiled.

  He nodded and nuzzled his face into my neck.

  “He was.”