DS Fight Club Box Set (Volumes 0-3)

by Josie Kerr

“Let me grab a jacket and I’ll meet you at your car,” she said.

  When Bailey came outside, Colin was already at his car, still in his shorts, but wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Bailey saw his grin beam out of the hood. “Ready?” he asked.

  “Sure. You still look kinda nuts.”

  Colin opened the car door for her and Bailey got settled inside.

  “Where do you have in mind?” Bailey asked after Colin pulled out of the driveway.

  “I’m thinking somewhere where they have hot dessert.”

  “Okay…” Bailey said, full of skepticism. “But it’s kind of late, Colin.”

  Colin grinned again and made his way into Midtown.

  Chapter Ten

  Colin was laughing at her, but she didn’t care. Bailey’s eyes almost popped out of her head at the selection of baked goods in the glass cases.

  “Colin, oh my Lord. How can I choose? It all looks so good.” She was tempted to lean on the case and press her face up against the glass.

  “We can get a couple of things. And hot chocolate.”

  “I’m suspecting that you just might have a sweet tooth.”

  He grinned. “Maybe. And since I’m not in training, I can indulge a little.”

  Bailey contemplated the selections as she rubbed her belly. “I think I want a piece of pie.”

  “A piece would definitely be good.” Bailey looked at Colin but he was concentrating on the selections in front of him. Bailey, you have a dirty mind.

  Colin, what in the hell is wrong with you? “A piece would definitely be good”? How crude can you get?

  They picked out their selections and their hot chocolates and sat down. Bailey giggled at the sight of Colin’s huge body at the tiny café table. He didn’t bother trying to pick up the small demitasse by the handle; he just grasped the body of the cup delicately with his big hand.

  They chatted about their days, but not about Tripp. They talked for hours, so deep in conversation that they didn’t realize the café was closing or how late it had gotten.

  “Colin, my lands! Look at the time. I’ve gotta get up for work tomorrow.”

  “Holy shit,” Colin said when he looked at his watch. “I’m sorry, Bailey. You’re going to be exhausted.”

  As they walked back to the car, Colin’s arm seemed to naturally slip around Bailey’s shoulders, and Bailey’s arm around his waist.

  “It’s going to be worth it. Thank you, Colin, this was exactly what I needed after the day I had.”

  “It was my pleasure.” He beamed down at her, and she grinned up at him.

  “What the ever-loving fuck?”

  Colin’s head snapped toward the voice that rang out over the crowd of people gathered outside on the heated patio of a bar. What the fuck was Andrea doing in Atlanta?

  Colin increased his pace, causing Bailey to almost have to skip to keep up with him. “Colin, what’s going on?”

  “Nothing, Bailey. Let’s just get back to the car. It’s cold out.”

  “Bren Carmichael, you lying piece of shit.”

  Fuck!

  “Brennan Carmichael, don’t you dare walk away from me!”

  Bailey stopped. “I think she’s talking to you, Colin.”

  “I know she’s talking to me. Come on, babydoll.” Colin tugged on her hand. “Bailey, I’m not going to let her drag you in the middle of this.”

  “Brennan Carmichael, who the fuck is she?” Andrea screeched, eyeing Bailey’s huge pregnant belly. “She’s gotta be at least eight months pregnant and…”

  “And we stopped seeing each other way over a year ago, Andrea, but it wouldn’t matter anyway.”

  Bailey looked at the furious woman confronting Colin and she wrinkled her nose. The woman was obviously drunk, but not drunk enough to not recognize Colin. She was wearing a short, tight dress with high-heeled boots and some sort of fur jacket. Her boobs were huge and her waist was tiny and her legs were long. She was gorgeous.

  Was this the type of woman that Colin usually dated? If so, what in the heck’s he doing with me?

  “Andrea, what the fuck? Why’d you leap over the railing?” another man said as he jogged up to the three of them.

  Bailey looked at this man and gasped. He was at least as big as Colin, if not bigger. Not taller, but heavier.

  The other man stopped as soon as he realized who this Andrea was talking to. “Oh, fuck me. What the fuck are you doing here, Carmichael?”

  “You know I live here now, Pierce.”

  “Yeah, I know you fucking live in Atlanta, C. What are you doing here?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, Pierce, but I was treating my friend to some dessert.”

  “Dessert, huh?” Pierce shook his head. “God, you’re such a…I don’t even know what to call you. Goody-two-shoes?”

  Colin shrugged.

  “So who’s your friend,” Pierce sneered.

  “None of your business,” Colin said. “Come on, babydoll.”

  Colin wrapped his arm back around Bailey’s shoulders and ushered her through the parking lot. She could hear the other couple arguing even as Colin helped her into the car.

  It seemed like Colin held his breath until they got to the freeway, and then he blew out a big stream of air and visibly relaxed.

  Bailey’s curiosity got the best of her. “I take it she’s a member of your Sunday school class?”

  Colin barked a laugh. “Oh, man. Andrea is …”

  Bailey arched an eyebrow at Colin, but didn’t say anything.

  “Bailey, it’s been over a long, long time.”

  “She’s obviously still upset about it, Colin.”

  “She’s upset that she’s not with me, that’s true. But it’s her own fault.”

  Bailey didn’t say anything for the rest of the car ride.

  When they got to the house, she popped out of the car and hurried to her door, but Colin quickly caught up with her. Damn his long legs.

  “Bailey, please look at me.” Bailey turned around, but still didn’t meet his eyes. “Bailey, look at me.” When she complied, the look she saw on Colin’s face almost broke her heart. “It’s been over for a long time, like I said. Way over a year, officially, and really longer than that. I was pulling away from her because she was using me.”

  Bailey huffed a breath and rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to explain anything to me, Colin. I’m not your girlfriend. It’s late and I’ve gotta get up for work. Thank you for dinner and dessert. It was nice hanging out with you.”

  “Bailey…” Colin started to say, but she went in the house and closed the door. “Don’t be upset with me, babydoll,” he whispered to the closed door. “Please don’t be mad.”

  Fucking Andrea.

  Chapter Eleven

  Bailey peeked out the living room window and watched Colin get in his car. She guessed he was headed to the gym because he was wearing gym pants and a hoodie. Man, I love those gym pants. She closed the curtains but stayed at the window.

  Just go talk to him, you silly girl. He’s not going to bite you. At least, not unless you ask him to.

  Bailey groaned. She should have never let her hormones get the best of her, but it was so nice to have a man, especially a man like Colin, pay such close attention to her, even for just a little while.

  Bailey shook her head. Snap out of it, Bailey Jenkins. This is exactly how you got into the mess with Tripp. Heck, you were a virgin until you got involved with him, Good Bailey said.

  But Colin obviously enjoyed you, Naughty Bailey said. And you liked it. A lot. You deserve to have some fun.

  Bailey groaned again.

  She had tried not to think of that first night, (the only night! Good Bailey scolded, while Naughty Bailey sighed, that first night!), but it didn’t work. He had been so sweet, so attentive, so hot. Absolutely nothing like Tripp, who always took her from behind but never really touched her. Colin practically engulfed her wi
th his kisses and his big body when he wrapped her in his arms. He made her feel safe and wanted.

  But then there was that other woman. The woman that Colin was involved with previously. They looked like they belonged together.

  Colin closed the trunk of his car and looked directly toward the window that Bailey was peeking out of. He stood there by the car, his brow creased and that full lower lip clenched in his front teeth.

  Good lord, that mouth.

  His mouth was almost feminine in its shape, with lips just begging to be kissed and nibbled and licked, and oh my God, Bailey. Down, girl.

  Bailey could see Colin’s shoulders rise as he inhaled deeply, and then he shook his head, and spun around to get in his car.

  Oh. He’s not going to come over.

  She stood at the window for a long time after he left the driveway. Why on Earth would he come over? They hadn’t even talked since the night that they ran into her.

  God, Bailey, you have absolutely no right to be jealous. She reminded herself that she was not his girlfriend. Heck, they had just known each other for a few months. And they were both really busy. Colin was trying to get his gym ready and who knows what else. He seemed to have a lot going on.

  She told herself that she was just as busy getting ready for the baby – after all, her due date was last week – but she knew that she was avoiding him. Why, she didn’t really know. He hadn’t pressured her to do anything, be it sexual or just spending time together. He was just a nice, sweet guy.

  A sweet guy that didn’t deserve to get caught up in what was rapidly devolving into an ugly legal battle. The actual physical custody was moot because the baby wasn’t actually here yet and Tripp was still in jail, but Bailey didn’t have any doubts at all that once Tripp was released, things were going to get really ugly, really fast.

  Worse still was that Bailey didn’t feel like she really had anybody to talk to about this situation other than her lawyer, a lawyer that Ashley’s private investigator brother recommended and who she was sure was not charging Bailey her usual rates.

  Bailey didn’t want to talk to Em about it because of Em and Tripp’s former relationship and truthfully, Bailey was still embarrassed about dating her friend’s ex so soon after they broke up. Both Em and Tripp said that the last three years of their relationship wasn’t actually a romantic, physical relationship, but truly, Bailey should have known better. Dating your best friend’s ex – who did that, other than terrible high school girls? Ugh.

  Okay, Bailey, you need to do something. Get out of the house.

  Bailey decided she needed to do some grocery shopping because heaven knew, if this baby came tomorrow, she wouldn’t have a thing to eat that didn’t need a lot of preparation. She looked through the cabinets and the refrigerator and made a list and headed to the store.

  Chapter Twelve

  Colin shook the little fighter’s hand. “Trevor, welcome to the Fight Club.”

  “Tig. Call me Tig. No one calls me Trevor except for my Mama, and even then, that’s rare.”

  “All right, Tig. Welcome home,” Colin said with a laugh.

  “Thanks, man.” Tig tilted his head, his cowboy hat shielding his face. After he took a big gulp of air and cracked his neck, he looked at Colin and repeated, “Thanks. You don’t know much I appreciate this opportunity. I fucking need this.” He blew out a breath, obviously overcome with emotion. “Now, I gotta find some place to live. You know of any cheap apartments that aren’t total death traps?”

  “Oh, does that sound familiar or what?” Junior slapped Colin on the back and said to Tig, “When this one decided he was going to go pro, those are the exact words he said to me.”

  Tig grinned. “And what did you say?”

  “I said, I had no idea because I was 35 and living in my mamá’s basement.”

  “Hell, I’m still sleeping in my high school bedroom the nights I’m not up here.”

  Colin cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind construction noise, we’re building out a fighter’s dormitory upstairs.”

  Tig grinned. “Construction noise beats sleeping in the truck, waiting to get robbed.”

  Junior shook his head and looked at Colin. “Okay, he’s definitely one of ours. I say we keep him.”

  “We’ve got to. I already fed him.”

  And the three men laughed as they walked up the stairs to look at what would soon be the fighter’s dormitory of DS Fight Club.

  “And then, I went back to Mick and Em’s and gave her the business while Mick watched.”

  “Sounds like a good time. Wait, what? You had sex with a woman?” Colin looked at Junior in confusion.

  “Gordo, you are a million miles away.” Junior slapped the back of Colin’s head with Tig’s paperwork.

  “Oh, so you didn’t have sex with a woman, much less my sister-in-law. Okay. Good to know.”

  “Man, what is with you? I haven’t seen you this distracted since Duke first got sick. What gives?”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “Colin. You’re talking to El Junior. Tell me what’s going on or I’m going to assume the worst.”

  Colin frowned. “What would you assume?”

  “That you’re back on the sauce and I better pull out bail money out for when do you something stupid.”

  Colin huffed a laugh at that. “No, I’m definitely not drinking again. I’m sorry. I guess I am a bit distracted.”

  Junior gave him a reproachful look. Colin groaned and cracked his neck.

  “Oh, the neck crack and the groan. That says you’re either worried about a fighter or about a woman. Seeing as how we just took on the most talented featherweight kickboxer I’ve ever seen in my life, it’s got to be a woman.”

  Colin grimaced and rolled his shoulders again.

  “Okay, definitely a woman. Come on. Tell Papi all about it.”

  That got a chuckle from Colin. He sat down heavily on a bench.

  “I ran into Andrea and Pierce when Bailey and I were out.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. That is one loaded sentence, Gordo. I don’t know where to begin with that.”

  Colin grunted.

  “Okay, first things first. Bailey? That mami that lives next door?”

  Colin grunted again.

  “You were out with her?”

  “We went to go get some dessert after dinner.”

  “You took her to dinner?”

  “No, I just grilled out. Then I wanted something sweet and didn’t have anything in the house, so we went to Café Intermezzo.”

  “You wanted something sweet.”

  Colin shoved Junior. “Stop being perverted.”

  Junior grinned at Colin’s discomfort. “So when did you run into Andrea and Pierce? Were they together?”

  Colin shrugged. “Hell if I know. I don’t keep up with who’s sleeping with who, but yeah, they seemed to be. Bailey and I passed a bar on the way to the car, and Andrea was on the patio. She saw me and she completely flipped the fuck out. She ran over to us and started screeching about Bailey.”

  “Oh, man. She thinks that Bailey’s pregnant with your kid. Fuck, C. This is not good.”

  “You think I don’t know this? And what’s worse is that Bailey’s been freezing me out ever since.”

  “She being a bitch to you?”

  “Oh, no. She’s just avoiding me, which is damn hard since I live next door to her. I feel like shit. No one should have to deal with Andrea, much less a sweet pregnant woman who doesn’t know her from Eve.”

  A slow smile crept over Junior’s face. He rubbed his hands together in glee and said, “Oh, you like this little neighbor, don’t you? I mean, you really like her.”

  Colin leaned his head back and covered his face with his hands. “Yeah, I might like her a lot,” he said, his voice muffled by his fingers.

  Junior continued grinning. “Okay, so now let’s talk about mami. What’s the problem? Other than the wh
ole ‘being pregnant’ thing?”

  “The ‘being pregnant’ thing isn’t really a problem.”

  Junior threw his head back and guffawed. “Oh, this is fantastic. I gotta say, Gordo, when you go for a kink, you really go out there.”

  “Oh, goddammit, Junior. I don’t have a...thing...for all pregnant women. It’s just Bailey. Damn,” Colin said, but he had to laugh. Good lord.

  Junior shrugged. “Man, you never know. You’re so tight-lipped about your sex life, I figured it was either celibacy or circus sex, one or the other.”

  “Circus sex? Like, clowns and stuff?”

  Junior stared at Colin. “There is something seriously wrong with you. What the fuck? Clowns? You’re one demented fuck, Carmichael.”

  “Definitely not animals or shit like that. Clowns are at the circus. What else could it be?”

  Junior just looked at him.

  Colin blew out a breath and, refusing to think further about what circus sex with Bailey would entail, said “Yeah, Bailey. I do like her. She went to visit see the baby’s father last week and I think it upset her.”

  Junior sat down on the bench and crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, tell me about her.”

  “Oh, God, don’t go all ‘Doctor Love’ on my ass, Junior.”

  “Too late. Let El Junior hear all about mami.”

  Colin sighed. “She’s very sweet. Easy to talk to. Super smart. Makes a mean fajitas and migas.”

  “Migas? You’ve eaten breakfast with her?” The smile crept back across Junior’s face.

  Colin groaned. Oh, fuck me.

  “Yes, I’ve had breakfast over there, but it’s not what you’re thinking.” Colin muttered. He kept his eyes to the floor of the gym.

  “Colin. Look at me.” Colin tilted his head toward his trainer, but didn’t meet his eyes. “Oh ho ho! Gordo! You have gotten back in the saddle then! Good for you!”

  “Junior, just...don’t, okay?” Colin’s face flushed red and his ears pinked up. “I want to do something nice for her before the baby comes. Hopefully put all this Andrea shit behind us and reassure her that there’s nothing going on between that psycho and me. Take her out or something. What do you think?”