Fight Like A Girl: An Opposites Attract Romance (Fighting For Love)

by Harley Reid

  My groin swells in my pants as I divert my gaze back to my laptop screen. This is definitely not going to help me get back to sleep.

  “No.” Because I can’t think about anything other than grabbing that mess of hair, yanking your head back and kissing you.

  “It must be the heat.” She sits down opposite me. “I can’t believe you’re wearing jeans right now.”

  “You can talk. Who the fuck are Ghost Poet?” I glance down at her t-shirt, concentrating on the curves of her body underneath.

  “Oh.” She looks down and giggles. “It’s one that Lexi gave me, they’re pretty popular in the Northern Quarter.”

  I finish my drink and reach for the bottle, my hand brushing against hers as she goes for the bottle too. She pulls away and starts twirling her hair around her finger as I fidget in my seat, trying to discretely rearrange myself as my dick pushes against my zipper.

  “Erm… Do you want something to eat?” She jumps up and heads towards the fridge. The sexy scent of warm, rich fragrance captures my senses as she walks past, pulling me to my feet and over towards her.

  Walking towards her as she ferrets in the fridge, I place a hand on the cupboard above, caging her in as she closes the door and spins to face me. This is a bad idea, but my hormones are raging out of control, I know I’m about to do something I’ll regret but I’m going to do it anyway.

  My heart hammers against my chest as I cup her face with my hands, pulling her towards me until I can feel her breath on me and then I kiss her.

  The ingredients in her hands crash to the floor, spilling over my feet as her arms wrap around my waist, pulling our bodies closer as our tongues meet, hungrily exploring each other like two teenagers that have been left alone for the first time. Her hands roam up my torso and come to rest over mine.

  “Daddy!” A sleepy voice interrupts the moment as I quickly take a step away from Mia and when I turn around, I spot Maddie in the doorway, rubbing her eyes. “I had a bad dream.”

  “It’s okay baby, daddy’s here.” I walk towards her, scooping her up in my arms and turning to see Mia on her hands and knees clearing up the mess we just made. “I’ll go settle her and come back to give you a hand.”

  “It’s okay, I’m just going to sort this out and then I’m heading to bed.” She looks up at me, confusion in her eyes. “Goodnight Ethan.”

  I have never been kissed like this before. The kind of kiss that makes your knees weak. The kiss in the movies that causes the girl to pop her foot off the floor only, instead of lifting my foot, I raise myself onto my tip toes and press my chest against his, feeling his rapid heartbeat pounding.

  I don't know if it's the sticky summer heat, the way his tongue wildly explores my mouth or the huge erection poking into my stomach but I'm burning up.

  Completely intoxicated by his raw strength and masculinity, I never want this moment to end — even though I know that nothing good will come from it.

  What exactly are we doing here?

  It's been great getting to know him better and realising that there's more to him than just a violent man whore but this...

  I never expected this.

  I never expected a kiss that singlehandedly beats every sexual encounter that I've ever had — not that four years with Peter is an extensive comparison.

  Every bone in my body tells me to push him away, but I can't help myself. My hands drift up his chest and come to rest on top of his as a tired little voice breaks my trance.

  He steps away, dropping his arms to his sides, just in time to see Madison appear in the doorway, both of our chests heaving as we stare silently at each other with desire in our eyes. Then he turns away to take care of his daughter.

  As I bend to pick the groceries up from the floor, I can’t help but think about that kiss. Peter never kissed me like that, and we were supposed to be in love.

  For a second, I allow myself to get lost in my thoughts. What would have happened if Madison hadn’t interrupted us? Is he generous in bed? Why am I so drawn to him?

  Butterflies flutter in my stomach and suddenly reality hits hard. Come on Mia, pull yourself together. You want a husband, that won't happen if you fall for someone who is emotionally unavailable.

  A couple of minutes later, I sneak to my room, hoping not to meet Ethan on his way back down from settling Madison. The coast is clear as I slip into my room, turn off the light and collapse on to my bed, kicking the covers off my sweaty body.

  I close my eyes and instantly, the kiss starts playing in my head on repeat. I can still taste the whiskey on his tongue and the sweet fruity smell of his body spray.

  Thank heavens Madison interrupted us when she did. Clearly, I have no will power when it comes to him and as much as I want to experience all of him, he's off limits — and very bad for me.

  Rolling on to my side, trying to push these visions from my brain, I grab my phone from the bedside table.

  It's late but Lexi is pretty much nocturnal, so I text her, hoping for a little distraction.

  Mia: You up?

  I wait for the dots to appear but instead, I see her photo pop up on my screen and I answer her call.

  “What are you doing up so late?” She asks curiously. “Is everything okay?”

  “I... yeah... I think so.” I stutter, “What's up with you?”

  “Yeah good. I'm shooting another crappy commercial on Monday.” She sighs.

  “At least it pays the bills though.” I roll over onto my back, my voice a whisper as I try and be positive for her.

  She tells me all about the cereal commercial she's shooting — the ultimate test of her acting skills as she pretends to be a little stepford wife and mother. There are a couple of sitcom auditions that she's waiting to hear back from, and she mumbles something about a reality dating show that have contacted her, so I have to remind her that if she wants to be taken serious as an actress, she needs to turn that down.

  “How was your night in with his hotness?”

  “Yeah, it was okay.” The conversation we had earlier showed me a completely different side of him. He was married for ten years so maybe there is a bit more to him than a conga line of big-boobed babes. Unless that’s why things were so complicated between him and Samantha before she died. “I'm pretty sure he was cheating on his wife before she died though.”

  “Explains why he would retire for a couple of years, I guess. That guilt is going to eat you up inside.” She paused. “I thought you were watching a movie. It sounds like you both had a right chin wag?”

  “That's not all we did.” The words fly out my mouth and I instantly regret it.

  “What!” She screeches so deafening I have to pull the phone away from my ear temporarily. “Tell me everything.”

  Reluctantly I tell her about the heart to heart we had, about me waking up and going get a drink after having a dream about him and then I tell her all about the kiss.

  “Oh Mia, what are you doing?” She groans.

  “What? You of all people should be happy. You're the one that keeps telling me that I need to put myself out there.”

  “And I stand by that completely. You've always been too much of a goody two shoes and deserve to live a little but...”

  I already know what she's going to say and deep down, I think that's why I chose to confide in her. I need someone else to validate how stupid I'm being right now, but I'd be lying if I said a part of me wasn't hoping that she'd tell me to go bang on his door and jump his bones.

  “You get attached too easily. You need someone who doesn't see you every day. Someone who isn't your boss.”

  “Yeah, I know. I guess I just got swept up in the moment. Thanks for being there.”

  “No problem. That's what sisters are for.”

  “Call me when you finish filming on Monday.”

  “Of course. Good night.”

  “Night.”

  I close my eyes, trying to think of anything other than Ethan but no matter how hard I try, I can't get
him out of my head.

  Why did he kiss me?

  I've seen the type of women he tends to go for and we are worlds apart. When I was doing my research, I came across his wedding photo and he looked so happy and in love with the tall brunette by his side. Loose curls falling softly against her olive skin.

  I can't imagine being that in love with someone and having them taken away forever. Is that why he has been with so many other women? Did he kiss me because he's missing her and I'm here?

  What the fuck was I thinking?

  If Maddie had walked in a minute or two later, it would cost me a fortune in therapy when she's older but it's exactly what I needed.

  I needed to be reminded why Mia is here. Why it can never happen again.

  I knew it was a bad idea and I did it anyway because I was too busy letting my dick make the decisions to worry about the consequences. At least I'll be leaving for the press tour in a few days so I'll be away from temptation for the best part of a week and hopefully all will be forgotten by the time I return.

  I head down the stairs from Maddie's room, straight to mine. A mixture of emotion bubbles up inside as I make my way across my room towards the bed and there's only one person that knows me well enough to help. I need to talk to her.

  I open the drawer of my bedside table, pulling out my favourite photo of Sam.

  It was taken about a year before she died when we were in Las Vegas for a fight. We'd just watched Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian and she wanted a photo taken with the gondola boats in the background.

  Whenever I look at it, I'm reminded of a happier time.

  “Hey honey.” I lower myself on to my bed leaving my feet firmly planted on the carpeted floor. “Sorry it's been so long.”

  Although completely alone, I still feel awkward whenever I speak to her, even after two years and a half years. It started as a coping mechanism that I used almost daily but now, well let's just say it's been too long.

  “Maddie's growing up so fast. She's a lot like you, you know. It's difficult to look at her without seeing you staring back at me.” I smile, stroking the photo with my thumb as I try to imagine what she'd say if she was here.

  It's been almost six months since we last spoke. Why now?

  “I've messed up and I don't know what to do.”

  What have you done now?

  “I kissed the nanny.”

  Does she have feelings for you?

  “I don’t know. She kissed me back.”

  Do you have feelings for her?

  “I’m not sure. I'm trying not to. Fuck, it feels so weird talking to you about this.”

  It's been two years and I'm not coming back. It's time to move on baby.

  “I'm not ready." I sit in silence for a second, tears welling up. "When I found out about you and Lucas, I was so angry with you but when you died, it broke me. I can't open myself up to that again.”

  Hurting you was the worst thing I've ever done and I'm so sorry, but you can't let one bad experience with me ruin your chance of being happy.

  “I'm not sure I know how to be happy anymore.” I swing my legs on to the bed and cover myself with a thin blanket, laying my head on the pillow next to the photo of my late wife.

  Getting rid of some of my things would probably be a good place to start.

  Her words echo in my head as I drift off to sleep.

  The next morning, my alarm wakes me with a start. The sun spills in from underneath the curtains as I drag myself out of bed and return Samantha safely to my drawer.

  I hate these early mornings but at least it's not winter. There's nothing worse than having to get up when it's still pitch-black outside.

  For the next hour I go through the motions, starting with a five-mile run to warm up for this morning's workout.

  I've thought a lot about my conversation with Sam last night and she's right. Having her things in the room is not healthy so once I'm back from the media tour I'm going to sort everything out and donate it. Of course, I'll keep some of her jewellery for Maddie to have when she's older.

  I just about have time to grab a bite to eat when I hear chatter outside, I get to the exterior gym doors as Jamison, Jesse, and today's mystery guest approach.

  "Morning Sunshine." Jesse chirps. He's always ribbing me because I don't smile much. Apparently, I'm destined to grow into some grumpy old man, like the type you see in the movies sitting on their porch with a gun to keep everyone away. "Have a good weekend?"

  Shrugging as he strolls past me and taps me on the back of the shoulder, I am so proud of the little fucker. He's new to the team but had his debut fight a couple of months ago and completely smoked the competition within sixty seconds of the first round starting. He's got a way to go yet but if he keeps it up, he'll definitely be on track for a title shot in the featherweight division within the next couple of years.

  About six months after I lost Sam, he came to me asking for coaching. Initially I fobbed him off, but he was persistent — wouldn't take no for an answer and he's actually made me realise that coaching is something I enjoy — well it beats these fucking training camps anyway.

  "Ethan, this is Mike Mansell, the boxer Sarah told you about." Jamison appears in front of me with an eager young athlete. We've got a sparring session booked this morning to help polish up my boxing technique and Sarah has brought in some up-and-coming heavyweight boxing star to put me through my paces.

  "Hey." I keep things as brief as I can, I'm not in the mood for making friends, I just want to hit shit. "Are we going to stand around all day or are we actually going to train?"

  The next thirty minutes are a bit of a blur, I’m frustrated because I can’t get Mia out of my damn head and I want to. I really want to. As a result, I’ve been taking it out on Mike.

  “For fuck sake!” Jamison yells as he flaps his arms around frantically, “You’re training him for a championship fight not a god damn playground scrap. You’re not being paid to take it easy on him.”

  The elite striking partner he and Sarah brought in for me to work with is stood with a bloody nose and a mouse starting to form just below his right eye, his line of sight directed towards the floor. Mike is supposed to be helping me to build up my defence against a heavy hitter but so far, it's been very one sided. Don’t get me wrong, getting the better of him is great for my ego — and it's certainly helping with my frustration— but it’s not going to help me beat a tough opponent like Stone.

  “I was just easing him into it boss.”

  “Well, he's not going to learn anything if you keep letting him beat you up, is he?” Jamison is a tough coach, and I can see the guy cowering as he yells. “He needs to know how it feels to be hit and at this rate, I’d be better off getting his fucking seven-year-old daughter in here to do your job!” It's a comical scene really because Mike is a very similar build to me, Jamison on the other hand is about 6 inches shorter and built more like a long-distance runner with his long slender limbs. Sometimes I wonder how he stays on his feet when we're hitting pads. “I’m going for a drink and hopefully by the time I come back you will have remembered how to do your fucking job!”

  With that, the head coach storms out of the gym mumbling under his breath until he is out of sight while everyone else gives him a wide berth.

  “Shit, what’s up with him? His period come early or something?” Mike chuckles to himself as he walks out of the double doors leading to the courtyard and sparks up a cigarette.

  “I’m glad you find it funny. The last time I saw Jay this worked up, he shoved some guys head through a glass window.” Jesse explains as he follows Mike outside. “And that was just because he didn’t like the way he looked at him.”

  He’s not wrong. Jamison might be a small guy, but he has one hell of a temper when he loses it. When I first met him, he’d been in care for a couple of years. His mum was in prison for killing his father after finding him with another woman and he’d pretty much bounced around from one home to another.


  None of the other kids wanted to share a room with him so I ended up drawing the short straw and on my first night, he woke me up ranting about me stealing one of his t-shirts. We beat ten tons of shit out of each other and the next morning when the adults asked what happened, I covered for him. He’s been a loyal friend ever since and he’s had my back multiple times. Especially when I first found out about Sam and Lucas.

  I follow him into the kitchen — I could go a chill with the guys outside until Jay comes back but I can’t stand small talk. I’d much rather focus on what I’m doing than talk about shit like the weather or the latest hot topic of my new house mate — plus, I really want to know what’s crawled up his ass today.

  “Hey man, what’s up with you?” I ask cautiously as I approach, not wanted to startle him when he has his back to me. “You okay?”

  He turns, his face bright pink. “Yeah, just a shit weekend. I shouldn’t be taking it out on you guys.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just pull yourself together and get back in there before Mike coughs his lungs up.”

  “Will do.” His face shifts into a half smile. “How's things going with Mia?”

  There are not enough hours in the day for this conversation. “Yeah, she's doing a great job.”

  It's been a few weeks since she moved in, and the house has now settled into a routine.

  The house smells more homely, thanks to the homemade breakfasts and scented candles that have suddenly found a home in every room of the house and the conversations that we have managed to have were a pleasant surprise.

  She seems to be settling in okay. Maddie absolutely adores her, although I could do without the constant stream of Disney songs blasting through the house at all hours of the day, but I haven't seen her since last night and I'm worried things are going to be really awkward.

  Either way, it's nice to have her here. It feels good not to be alone in an empty house on a school afternoon and I’m definitely not complaining about that kiss.