by Alexa Davis
In less than two months, I could be what I’ve dreamt of for the past six years, what I’ve nearly killed myself for some days: the heavy weight champion. The only way it would be better would be if I could hope that Karli would be there when I won.
As Charlie’s voice and the roar of the crowd buzzed in my ears, I had an epiphany. I finally realized what it was about Karli that I couldn’t let go of.
Before I met her, I had never been happy. I had thought I was. I was a party animal with a different woman in my bed any time I wanted one. I never had to worry or think about money, and my face and body graced every building in town. I used to tell myself I had everything that a man could want…and then I met Karli and realized that what I wanted was someone to be there for me, finally.
That’s what I never had, not growing up and not even after I was grown. I never had someone to go home to or someone to tell my problems to or share my victories with. I didn’t even realize how badly I wanted that until I met Karli. Now, I wanted it so badly that I craved it like a drug. I craved her. And in that moment, I made a promise to myself: I wasn’t giving up. Karli thought I was a player. She thought I was going to break her heart. Somehow, I had to prove to her that she was wrong.
There was suddenly a camera in front of me and a microphone in my face. I did what I do, what I had to do, for my job. That’s what I needed to make Karli understand; that’s all this was: a job. The groupies, the autographs, the appearances, the endorsements – they are all an unavoidable part of it. But that was it, part of a job with lines that I would never cross if I had a woman like Karli to go home to. Somehow I had to make her understand.
Chapter Eighteen
KARLI
I had seen dozens of fights in my lifetime, but watching Nick’s had been the hardest for me. I winced every time that big fist connected with his pretty face or that perfect body. I was happy for him when he won, though, especially since he looked so happy.
“I’m going to congratulate him,” Michaela said. She’d come with me today for moral support. If I had a choice, I would have skipped it altogether, but Dad insisted I be there. My work was done now, though. The clean-up crew would take care of the rest. I didn’t plan on sticking around and coming face to face with Nick. “I never got a chance to thank him for saving me that night at the frat house.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you out front.”
“Really? You’re not going to at least congratulate him?”
“No. I’m trying hard to stop doing things that lead him on.”
She grinned. “Like sex in the break room?”
I gave her a sarcastic smile and said, “Yeah, like that.” Rolling my eyes, I told her, “Don’t be too long. I’m hungry.”
“Well, I better get in line then because his groupies are already piling up.” I glanced back up at the octagon. Michaela was right; the line to see him and get an autograph was already at least twenty deep. I watched her go over and get in line before I snuck out the side door and literally ran into Ethan. He was smaller than Nick, but he was solid. It was like hitting a brick wall. He had to grab onto my arms to keep me from falling backwards.
“Whoa! Is there a fire in there?”
I smiled. “Hi, Ethan. Did you just get here?”
“No, I saw the fight. I had to step out while the crowd was going insane to take a phone call. My little brother did good, huh?”
“Yeah, he did great. It was a little hard to watch sometimes, though.”
“I’m getting better at it,” he said, “But I know what you mean. I was going to see if he wanted to go out for a celebratory dinner. Do you want to join us?”
“Um…no, thank you. I actually have plans with my friend Michaela.”
“She’s welcome, too.” People were crowding out of the event center and bumping into me. Ethan steered me over away from the doors and when we found a spot that we wouldn’t get run over, he said, “I thought we agreed to be friends.”
“We did, but I’m just not sure Nick and I can manage the friends thing.”
“Sure you can; that’s why you do things in a group.”
“What kinds of things are you going to do in a group?” I looked toward Michaela’s voice. She’d come up behind us and she was giving Ethan a curious once-over. He turned and looked at her, and I almost heard the sounds of angels singing as their eyes met. I somehow managed to keep a straight face as I said,
“Ethan Grant, this is my friend, Michaela Taylor.”
“Well, hello there.” Michaela gave him one of her prettiest smiles as he held out his hand. She took it and as they shook, he said,
“It’s nice to meet you, Michaela. That’s a really pretty name.” She giggled. I almost rolled my eyes. They were still holding onto each other’s hands. I cleared my throat and said,
“We should get going, Michaela. I’m really hungry.”
Ethan let go of her hand and said, “I was just telling Karli that you and her were invited to celebrate Nick’s win with us over dinner.”
I tried to convey my thoughts about that to my friend with my eyes, but she wouldn’t even look at me. “That sounds nice,” she said. “I was waiting in line to see Nick, but it was taking so long that his bodyguards finally called it.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Ethan said, “But you’ll get to see him in person and get your autograph if you go with us to dinner.”
“Michaela…” I tried. It was no use. The only things she could see at the moment were Ethan’s blue eyes and dimples.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Well, Santori’s is Nick’s favorite. He loves Italian food, so I thought I’d take him there.” He glanced at me then and said, “Besides, it’s off the beaten track and we can probably eat in peace without Nick’s groupies harassing him.”
“I love Santori’s,” Michaela was saying. She was being honest, at least. It was one of her favorite restaurants.
“Good. It’s settled then.” He turned to me and as if I were an afterthought, he added, “What do you think, Karli?”
What was I going to say? Michaela had already decided we were going. I felt like I didn’t have a choice. But I wasn’t sure I wanted one. The idea of seeing Nick sent a thrill straight through me. “Sure, as long as Nick doesn’t mind.” Ethan smiled.
“He’s not going to mind.”
The place was almost completely emptied out before the fighters started to emerge. When I saw Kevin come out, I excused myself and went over to talk to him. It wasn’t like Michaela and Ethan would miss me. They seemed to have already hit it off.
“Hey, Kevin!” The poor kid was looking around at a few of the other fighters that had already come out. They were all three surrounded by scantily clad women clamoring for their autographs. No one but me seemed to notice Kevin come out. The loneliness I could see in his eyes was almost palpable in the air. Maybe it was a sibling thing. For his sake, I hoped not.
“Hey, Karli.”
“Great fight.”
He smiled. “You’re such a liar, but thank you.”
“I’m not lying. It was your first real fight, right?”
“Well, when I was fighting underground, I beat bigger guys than that one.”
“Ask my dad.” As soon as I said “my” dad, I hesitated. He shook his head.
“You don’t have to do that, Karli. He’s your dad, no matter what.”
“Anyways, I was going to say that size is only part of the reason a fighter wins a fight. I’m sure he’s gone over that with you and I’m sure you know it. You were distracted tonight. It happens. It won’t happen next time.”
“Thank you, Karli. Can I give you a hug?”
“Of course.” We hugged and while he was squeezing the life out of me, he said,
“Blood or not, I already feel like you’re my sister.”
“Good, I always wanted a dorky, little brother that I could beat up.” He laughed. I was happy to see him smile. I was even happier when a cute, petite girl app
roached him. She had blue hair and a nose ring and was wearing a tank-top with a flowy skirt. She looked like a pixie.
“Hi,” she said, shyly.
“Hello,” I said. When Kevin didn’t say anything, I elbowed him in the ribs. He cleared his throat and said,
“Hey.”
“My name is Elaine,” she said softly. “I just wanted to tell you that I thought you were amazing, Kevin.” I was glad I was wearing my sunglasses because he lit up like the sun. I smiled at Elaine and then at him and smacked him on the arm.
“See you at home later, bro.”
He laughed. “Yeah, see ya.”
By the time I got back over to where Michaela and Ethan were still flirting hot and heavy, Nick was coming out the door. Suddenly, there was a flurry of female activity and the big bodyguards flanked him and held them back slightly to keep them from jumping on him. I saw him smile and my heart sped up, and then his eyes met mine and it began to beat so hard in my chest that I thought it might explode.
He said something to one of the guards, but I couldn’t hear what it was. The guard stepped in front of him and made a path through the adoring fans for Nick to walk through. He was blowing off close to fifty women for me because he thought it was what I wanted. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how unfair I’d been to him.
“Hi, Karli. Did you see the fight?”
“I did. You did great.”
“Thanks.”
“It was hard to watch,” I admitted as I looked at the bandage on the side of his face. “How is the cut?”
“Sore, but I’ve had worse. I just hope it doesn’t take away from my astonishing good looks.”
I laughed. “Yeah, me, too. Hey, Ethan asked Michaela and I to join you guys for dinner tonight. Do you mind?”
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I’d like that.”
“Can I ask you a favor first?”
He grinned, almost seductively. I tried not to shiver. “Absolutely,” he said.
I smiled back and shook my head at him. “Not the kind of favor you’re thinking of.” He stuck out his bottom lip and I laughed. “Will you sign at least a few autographs before we go? Those poor girls look crushed.”
He looked over at the group of women still staring at him and glaring at me and then he looked back at me, confused. “Are you encouraging me to sign autographs because it doesn’t matter now that you decided not to be with me?”
I shook my head slowly and said, “No. I’m asking you to do it because I decided that I did. If I’m going to give this a shot…if you still want to…I’ll need to start by trusting you.”
“You won’t be sorry,” he said with a gorgeous smile. He turned back toward the women and then looked over his shoulder and said, “Oh and I still want to – badly.”
Chapter Nineteen
NICK
I was not sure what happened to change Karli’s mind, but I was thrilled enough that it didn’t matter. It was hard for me to concentrate on signing autographs and focus on the questions the women were asking me. All I could think about was Karli.
She was going to give me a chance. She was going to actually date me, and for the first time in my life, instead of feeling suffocated by the idea of a girlfriend, I felt ecstatic. I signed about twenty autographs and finally begged off, telling the rest of them to leave their names and addresses with the security staff and I would make sure they all got some kind of autographed souvenir, and then I went over to where my brother, Michaela, and my girlfriend were waiting. I smiled at the thought of it: Nick Storelli with a girlfriend. Imagine that.
“Geez, are you finally ready?” Ethan asked. “I’m so hungry I’m about to chew off my arm over here.”
I casually draped my arm around Karli’s shoulders. She didn’t move away. Instead, she stepped in closer to my side. Michaela looked shocked. Ethan looked amused. “I’m ready. But you know, bro,” I told him as we walked toward the car he had waiting, “it wouldn’t hurt you to miss a meal or two.”
“Fucker,” he said with a laugh. “I bet you outweigh me by fifty pounds.”
I reluctantly took my arm off of Karli’s shoulders and pulled open the car door. Ethan waited for Michaela to get in and started in behind her as I said, “Fifty pounds of solid muscle.”
Ethan just laughed and shook his head. I took Karli’s hand but instead of helping her in, I pulled her into my chest and kissed her. It was a quick kiss, but it was hot and passionate. She was shaking when I let her go. She visibly pulled it together as well as she could and slid into the car. I went in after.
“Is this a bad time to ask…what the hell?” Michaela said.
We both laughed. “She’s going to give me a chance; let’s not speculate on the why. We don’t want her reconsidering.”
Karli smiled and said, “I just realized that I was letting the past dictate my future and it was a bad idea.” I was overwhelmed with feelings that I’d never had before and all I could think was, “Please, God, don’t let me screw this up.”
********
Dinner was fun, but I wanted to be alone with Karli so fucking bad that it seemed to drag on and on. Michaela and my brother did most of the talking. I hadn’t seen Ethan so animated in a long time and surprisingly, to an outsider looking in, they seemed to have a lot in common.
I say surprisingly because Michaela was a far cry from the women my brother normally dated. He usually went for the quiet, brainy types…women like Karli. I loved him more than ever for not going for it with her. I looked at her now as the limousine pulled up in front of the parking garage at the event center and had another epiphany. As much as I wanted her, I craved her, if we didn’t end up having sex tonight, I would be perfectly okay with that. Well, maybe not perfectly.
I stepped out of the car and helped her out. Ethan and Michaela stepped out after us. They said goodnight and Ethan walked her to her car. I walked Karli to hers and when we got there, she reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling herself up to kiss me. I dipped my head down and this time, we shared a long, sizzling hot kiss that would sustain me for months, or maybe even years if it had to.
“I’d invite you home with me,” she said, “but Dad probably wouldn’t let you sleep in my room.”
I laughed. “My Dad is way over in Henderson, if you want to come back to my place with me.”
“My car or yours?” she asked with a smile.
“Yours is closer.”
I think she drove to my place faster than I ever have. I kissed her in my driveway and again at my front door. I unlocked the door and we fell in kissing before I picked her up and carried her down the hall to my bedroom.
This was going to be the first time that any woman had ever been in there, other than my cleaning lady. I sat her down on her feet and she looked around at the posters of fighters I had hanging on the walls, and the one of me in my first, televised fight above the bed. My right eye was cut and swollen nearly shut and I had an ugly, red welt in the center of my chest from a well-placed kick. My mouth guard was still in place and because of that, I had a big green smile on my face. It was my first, “official” win and it didn’t matter how beat up I was, I was on cloud nine for a week afterwards. I didn’t think I’d been that happy since…until tonight.
I sat her down on the bed and stood looking down at her. I was actually shaking. I couldn’t remember ever wanting anyone so fucking bad and I was afraid that I wasn’t going to be able to hold back. One of these days…soon…I wanted to spend all night making sweet, gentle love to her, but not tonight. Tonight, I wanted to fuck her, but I didn’t want to scare her away. In the interest of gaining her trust, I said,
“So, would you be disappointed if this wasn’t slow and gentle?”
A slow, sexy smile spread across her gorgeous face and she said, “I might be disappointed if it was.”
I reached down to pull off the shirt she was wearing and tossed it over against the wall. I licked my lips at the thought of getting my mouth on
those hard, sweet nipples. I took off her pants next. Her panties matched her little, white-lace bra. My mouth was watering.
I pulled her up so that she was sitting eye level with my hard cock trying to break free of the prison it was currently trapped in. I reached around and unhooked her bra. She let it slide down off her arms. So fucking hot. I pushed her back and ripped off her panties and tossed what was left of them aside. I hoped they didn’t have any sentimental value. She was lying on my bed now, completely naked.
I’d imagined this probably a hundred different times since I met her. It was almost surreal. My cock was throbbing and straining so hard that it hurt. I stood up straight and pulled off my t-shirt and then my jeans. I watched her pretty eyes widen as she looked at my thick cock when I slid down my boxers.
I climbed up on top of her, and she reached up and put her hands on my biceps to squeeze them as I kissed her with a ferociousness that might have scared away a lesser woman. I finally had to breathe, so I slid my lips down the side of her face to her neck. I roughly sucked and bit my way across the sensitive skin, and she made sexy noises. In response, I felt a primal growl rising up in my chest.
I kept nipping and licking my way down, between her breasts, and then first one nipple and then the other, and then I grabbed a handful of that firm flesh and squeezed. She cried out, but arched her back up to encourage me. I had to assume that she was enjoying her walk along the fine line between pain and pleasure. I sucked and licked and bit and squeezed and pinched until she seemed almost delirious. She was making incoherent noises, and it was sexy as fuck.
I licked my way across her muscular stomach with big, wet swipes of my tongue. When I reached the top of her mound, she lifted up her hips, silently begging me to taste her. Little did she know nothing was going to stop me from doing just that.
I pushed her thighs open and buried my face between them. I felt her shudder and shake as my tongue touched her slit. I loved knowing I was making her feel good. I gripped onto her hips and dug my fingers into her tight ass and held her there while I ate her pussy like a starving man. I shoved my tongue into her as deeply as it would go, over and over again. I sucked on her clit and bit down on it.