by Ora Wilde
And it was then when I knew that I did the right thing.
Chapter Forty-Four
MEG
He didn’t get the penthouse suite.
That was reserved for the champ, and he settled for a room at the fifteenth floor. His pride wouldn’t have accepted that kind of an arrangement, but he wanted that fight so bad that he agreed to a lot of things: secondary billing, lower purse, first to enter the ring, first to have his weight verified, first to be introduced, and yes, an accommodation that shouldn’t eclipse the luxury afforded to the champion.
As I stood right in front of his door, I didn’t know what to expect.
Room 1438, Artemis replied to my text, he’ll be there but I don’t know if he’s expecting you.
Security was, surprisingly, lax. It was almost non-existent, actually, save for one really stocky bald guy at the end of the corridor. He asked me who I was. I told him my name. Artemis - bless him - apparently gave word that I’d be coming over, and the security guy allowed me to proceed to the room.
I pondered on whether I should knock. Maybe he was sleeping. Maybe he was with friends, partying, celebrating the end of the event like most celebrities do. Maybe he wanted to be left alone, to think about what has happened, to contemplate on something that could potentially change his career as well as his life.
But I needed to see him.
I needed to tell him how proud I was of him.
And so I decided to tap on the door.
But before my knuckles could touch the wooden surface, the door opened.
It was him.
And he was smiling at me.
It was the first time I ever saw him smile like that... like he was... genuinely happy.
“Uh... uhm... hello?” I said. I was so jolted by his sudden appearance that I didn’t know what to say.
“God, Margaret! Thank you for being here!” he exclaimed in what seemed like... delight?
“Were you... uhm... were you expecting me?” I asked.
“Oh... no, no, no.... I wasn’t,” he apologetically said.
“Then how come you’re like that?”
“Like what?” he sought a clarification, still with that uncanny smile of his that, quite frankly, looked ridiculous... in an adorable kind of way.
“Like you knew I was here.”
“Errrrr...” he mumbled before chortling. He pointed at the small camera on top of the door.
Geez... I felt so stupid! He probably saw how conflicted I was before I attempted to knock.
“That’s... embarrassing.” An honest remark to salvage my dignity.
“What’s so embarrassing about that? You came. You’re here. That’s what’s important.”
“It is important?”
“For me, yes. Of all the people in the world, you know that it’s you who I wanted to be here.”
That made my heart melt, so much so that I failed to stifle my smile.
“Thank you for coming, Margaret,” he continued.
“I just came to tell you that...”
“That?”
Say it, Meg! Just say it!
“Well...”
“Well?”
“Uhm...”
Come on, Meg! You have gone this far! Just say it!
“I... I have to go...”
Idiot!
“Well... errrrr... okay,” he replied, with an almost palpable disappointment in his voice. “I won’t keep you from your honeymoon. What? You’re like Mrs. Bon Jovi now?”
“Ha! Nope!”
“No? Why? What happened? The priest wasn’t available?”
“Nothing like that. I... I... I dumped him.”
His eyes widened... with glee or mere surprise, I couldn’t immediately tell.
“You... dumped him?” he asked in disbelief. “On your wedding day?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Because...”
“Because?”
My fear of expressing what I truly felt was making me lose him. He was slipping away... and I didn’t want that. I had to be brave... just like him... and say what I really wanted to say.
“Because,” I started to speak, “No one bets against my man.”
He just stood there with a quizzical look on his face, trying to understand what I just said.
I didn’t give him the chance to think about it.
I lunged myself towards him and hugged him tight. My mouth met his. His lips were cold and busted, yet, something about them was reassuringly warm.
I kissed him.
He kissed back.
He wrapped his strong arms around me with so much passion that made me know that he longed for that moment as much as I did. Our lips pressed harder against each other.
His lips were swollen. There was a gash under his right eye. He flinched when we hugged as his body was battered and bruised. He still favored his shoulder, which was worse than how it was before the fight.
There was much to do that night. I should help him heal.
And there was much to do in the coming days. Our love, by no means, would be a walk in the park. Too many preconceptions to overcome. Too many conventions to defeat. Too many ears to explain to.
But at that moment, none of them caused me any worries.
I was with him.
And that was all that mattered.
- FIN -
Message From The Author
First and foremost, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story of Conner and Meg.
The character of Conner was inspired by the current (as of this writing) UFC Featherweight Champion, Connor McGregor. He is quite a character, but he is also very, very hot! One big “hell yeah” for those who’ll agree, girls!
If you’d like to be updated on my new releases, as well as various promos we run from time to time, please do join my humble mailing list. We’ll have contests, review copy giveaways, free goodies, and a whole lot of other fun activities. Simply click on the link below, and I’ll meet you on the other side.
http://eepurl.com/bqa9yn
Again, thank you so much for your continued support for independent authors. Your patronage goes a long, long way in putting bread on our tables.
Have great weeks ahead of you! Hope to meet you again come the next book!
Yours Truly,
Oracle Wilde
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UV4
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