Worth The Fight (Hard To Love Book 1)

by T A. McKay

  “Get the fuck off me.” He doesn’t listen, moving closer behind me.

  “Bryce, please.” I pull my arm out of his hold, refusing to listen to anything he has to say. I hear him call after me as I leave the gym. My only thought is of escape, I need to get away from Zeke before I do something I regret.

  Zeke

  I wanted to cover Asha’s mouth the minute she started talking to Bryce. The last thing I wanted was for her to go blabbing about what we’d done together. I knew he would find out, but I was hoping that when he did I wouldn’t be there to see the look of utter devastation on his face. When she spoke he looked like he was in physical pain, as if something was tearing apart inside him. I wasn’t planning on talking to him today but when he was leaving, I reached for him out of instinct. Touching him had brought me peace but I can’t think about that anymore. I can’t think how Bryce makes my past feel less important, that everything I went through doesn’t need to influence who I am today, or how he settles my racing mind with just being near me. He has this ability to make me feel that I'm enough, that maybe I could be loved. That doesn’t matter now, my feelings don’t come into account. I need to move on with my life and be the person they all expect.

  That’s why I ended up at Asha’s house last night, I needed to feel like I did before Bryce arrived. She opened her front door and even though I felt how wrong it was, feeling it deep in my bones, I went inside and fucked her. I think I needed to prove something to myself, but now that I've seen Bryce I'm not even sure what it was. After having sex with her I got straight in the shower, needing time to myself to sort out what I was feeling and to wash away the memory of her touch. The whole thing felt wrong, like I was cheating on Bryce, and I suppose I was. I swore to him that I wouldn’t be with anyone else while we were together, then at the first sign of trouble and I run from him straight into someone else’s arms.

  “Fuck!” I turn to go after Bryce but Asha comes back from the locker room with the gloves I asked her to get for me. I don’t really need them, but I needed to get her to leave in case Bryce said something. Deep down I knew he wouldn’t, even though I’ve been a bastard to him he wouldn’t ever say anything that would affect my career or me.

  “Here you go, baby.” She runs her empty hand over my back and it takes everything in me not to shudder under her touch. I turn and kiss her head like a good boyfriend would do.

  “Thanks. I need to go and do something. Can you get yourself home?” I drove her here, and I won’t abandon her if she can’t get another way home.

  “Is everything okay?” I force a fake smile, not wanting her to see that I'm getting closer to falling apart. I feel like my nerves are buzzing and I need to move, need to go after Bryce and sort this out.

  “Yeah, it’s all good. I just need to rush off and sort something out, something that can’t wait.” She gets a funny look on her face before she smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

  “I can get a lift home with Jenny. Will I see you later?” I lean forward and give her a kiss on the lips.

  “Of course. I’ll be at your place for dinner.” I turn and leave, not even looking back as I follow the man who has my heart. I need to talk to him, try to explain why I'm doing this. I just hope he's willing to listen to me.

  ****

  I bang on his door again, planning on making as much noise as possible until he answers. I know he's in there, his car’s in the driveway and it hasn’t moved because I blocked it in with my truck. I had visions of him sneaking out the back door and driving away as I knocked.

  “I know you’re in there, Bryce. I'm not leaving until you talk to me.” I hear movement from inside but the door still doesn’t open.

  “Please let me in, I need to talk to you.” I hear a thump on the other side of the door before I hear him.

  “The time to talk was last night, Zeke. Where were you then?” I lean my head against the door, making the same noise he made a few moments before and I wonder if we are mirroring each other’s positions.

  “Please, I don’t want to do this through a door.” There’s silence and I think he's gone and left me standing here on my own. I'm about to start banging again when I hear the lock click, the sound makes me both excited and scared. I know that we need to talk and clear the air but I'm scared shitless about what I can actually say to explain.

  I open the door just a little since I’m worried that something might be thrown at my head. The hall is empty with no sign of Bryce at all. I would shout out to him but I'm pretty sure he won’t reply. I walk through his living room, and see that it’s also empty, so I continue on to the kitchen. There’s no point checking his bedroom, I know there’s no chance he’ll be in there. I walk into the kitchen and see him leaning up against the kitchen unit, his arms crossed against his chest. He might have looked hurt earlier in the gym but there’s no trace of that now on his face. All I see is anger glaring out of his eyes. I lean on the unit across from him, I know I need to start the conversation but I'm not sure how to go about. Maybe I should start with the obvious.

  “I'm sorry, Bryce.” He gives a humorless laugh at my words and I know this isn’t going to be as easy as I hoped.

  “What are you sorry about? Running, pretending I don’t exist, having me worry all night about where you were … or for fucking someone else?” I flinch at his words, feeling them deep in my gut. I didn’t let myself think of how he was feeling last night, that he might be worried about me. I just thought about losing myself inside Asha’s body.

  “I got scared. Dwayne saw us, he fucking saw us.” I can feel the same panic as yesterday start to build. It’s crawling under my skin making me feel like I need to scrub myself clean.

  “He saw what, Zeke? And even if he saw you bending me over and fucking me, you could have talked to me and told me how you were feeling. Instead you went and sunk yourself into the first female body you could find. Tell me, have you been fucking her the whole time you’ve been with me?” I can’t believe he's asking me this, does he really think I would cheat on him? Okay, technically I did but who the fuck does he think he is to doubt me? One night of second thoughts doesn’t mean the whole thing was a lie. I stand from the unit, moving towards him.

  “How the fuck can you ask me that? Everything I've done over the past few months has been centered around you, and now you doubt me? I know I said I didn’t want to label what we have, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t trying, our relationship is important.” He stands, mimicking my stance as he gets in my face, anger seeping out his pores.

  “How was Asha last night?” I feel my face heat with embarrassment. I can’t deny I spent the night with her, he saw it pretty much first hand earlier.

  “What, you can’t remember or you don’t want to tell me? Then tell me this, can she please you the way I do? Scratch the itches you don’t like to admit you have?” He has a right to be angry, I keep trying to tell myself that as he shouts abuse at me. Shame floods through my body knowing how much I’ve hurt him. I can see the pain on his face, hear it seeping through his angry tone. I’ve done the one thing I promised I wouldn’t and now I'm arguing with him like I think it’s his fault.

  “I know you're angry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just think that we need to take a break. I need to focus on training and winning the tournament. I think that’s the only thing I should be thinking about right now.” He flinches like I've just hit him. I want to erase the look of pain on his face and never see it there again. It’s tearing me apart to say all this to him, to pretend that what we have isn’t important to me, when in reality it’s the best thing that’s ever happened. I just know it can’t go anywhere, that there’s no way I can be gay in the world of MMA. Half the fighters would refuse to go up against me and I would be pushed out. I have worked my whole life for the chance to be the best and I won’t ruin it, not for anyone. I’ve lived my life so far denying who I am, now I just have to become a master at it.

  “You’d throw me away just like that? After
months of getting to know each other, all the fun we had together, all of the times we made love together, and I'm gone as easily as that. Fuck, I actually thought we might be going somewhere. I’m such a fucking idiot, you were using me to fulfill some urge you have, and now you’ve done that I'm gone. Does it even matter to you how I feel? That maybe I get a say in what happens?” I want to reach out to him and tell him that it’s for the best but I know I don’t have the right. Everything he's saying makes complete sense to me, I'm making the decision for both of us and, as unfair as it is, it’s the way it needs to be. If I make the decision now it won’t hurt as much in the long run.

  “This is for the best, Bryce. It never would’ve gone anywhere.” I feel my heart shatter in my chest when tears swarm his eyes. His shoulders fall and I can almost feel all the fight leave his body.

  “After everything we’ve done together, I can’t believe you don’t want me. You’re the first person I’ve let in since Austin, the only one I let in when I was sure I should spend my life alone.” I instinctively move closer to him, needing to make him feel better. I know it doesn’t make any sense but I need him stop hurting because when I see him like this it creates an ache in my heart, making it hard to keep my distance. I reach out and cup his face, feeling the warmth of his cheek as he leans into my hand. He opens his eyes and looks up at me with pleading eyes.

  “Why are you doing this? If you don’t want me then why are you touching me? Why make me feel like this is still something you want. What do you want, Zeke?” I need to be honest with him, maybe if I tell him how I feel he will understand. I need him to understand that this is hard for me, and if I could walk away from him without hurting him I would.

  “Do I want to touch you? Yes. Do I want to taste you? More than anything. But I can’t, it’s not who I am. Why can’t you understand? Being with you is not that simple.” He pulls away from my touch and I miss him instantly. He looks deep into my eyes as he speaks.

  “That’s the thing, Zeke. It really is that simple.” He goes to walk past me and I grab him again.

  “Don’t fucking walk away, I'm not done yet.” I don’t even register what’s happening until it’s too late. His fist moves quicker than I could have ever imagined and hits me square on the cheek. The power behind it is surprising and it makes me stagger backwards. I hold my face, taking a few seconds to clear my vision before I can look at him. Fuck, this guy can hit.

  “Get out my fucking house.” It’s the only thing he says before disappearing into the hall. A few seconds later his bedroom door slams shut and with it goes any chance I had of keeping the man of my dreams.

  Bryce

  I pace across my bedroom floor until I hear my front door slam. I hit him. I can’t believe I actually hit him. I didn’t mean to, he was just throwing so many mixed messages at me. One minute he didn’t want me, and then the next he did but couldn’t be with me. I needed to get away from him and clear my head but then he tried to stop me and I just reacted. It was a reflex to his tone of voice he used from my fighting days. I haven’t hit anyone properly since my last fight. I’ve sparred but that’s not what this was, I wanted to hurt him as much as he’d hurt me. I wanted to smash his face in and hope that Asha wouldn’t want Mr. Pretty Boy anymore.

  I collapse onto my bed and stare at the ceiling while I decide what’s going to happen. Zeke was always going to be a flight risk, I should have known better and then there’s the added problem of him being my boss. Shit, I’m going to need to find a new place to work. Maybe I should take Dwayne up on his offer to work with him, if that’s even on the table anymore. The only problem with that is that I don’t want to work with him, I want to work with Zeke. He’s an amazing fighter and I want to be part of the team even if it will hurt to look at him everyday. Luckily, Eddie doesn’t know about our relationship and even though Zeke technically employs me, my contract says that only Eddie can fire me. So unless Zeke wants to go to him with a reason to get rid of me, I still have a job. I don’t plan on quitting that’s for sure. No way am I going to make it easy for Zeke. I'm going to stay right where I am and make him look at my face every single day. Make him live with what he did to me. I just hope that it’ll make him suffer, I don’t want to be the only one in pain.

  Feeling determined, I get up off the bed and get changed into my running gear. I refuse to drown my sorrows in another bottle of alcohol, I refuse to give him that power over me. I will work out, run until my body is exhausted and then I’ll sleep. Tomorrow when I get up, I will go to work and be professional. There will be nothing between us other than me being his coach. Exiting my house, I push my earphones into my ears and take off up the street. My feet pound the pavement in time with the music and I feel light. Exercise always makes me feel better, it clears my mind like nothing else, well other than sex but that’s the last thing on my mind just now. I need to get back into this, I missed a lot of running recently, preferring to spend time with Zeke. I just need to get my routine organised and spend more time on myself again. Maybe I should Google for gay bars around here and look for a little fun of my own. I'm not usually into one-night stands but maybe it’s just the thing I need to get me over Zeke. My chest hurts to even think about being with someone other than him, but I need to move on. It’s time to be Bryce again, whoever he may be.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Zeke

  I flinch as Jason’s glove catches me on the side of the face again. I swear this black eye will take a month to go away if people don’t quit hitting it.

  “Where’s your form, Zeke? Come on. Pretend you know how to fight.” I turn and glare at Bryce, wanting nothing more than to return the favor and blacken his eye. He’s been pissing me off for the last week, actually it’s been since the day after I went to his house. I was worried about training the morning after, not sure how we would be with each other, but Bryce turned up with a smile and acted like nothing had happened. I think it’s pissing me off that he doesn’t look like this is affecting him at all. I'm tired and completely off my game, but he looks as amazing as always. I don’t know if it’s my imagination or not, but he looks more toned now than he had when we were together, and he's changed his hair. He's wearing it shorter at the sides and it looks as sexy as fuck. All I can think about is how he might have someone new in his life, someone special. I know I can’t say anything since I'm with Asha, but I don’t want Bryce with anyone but me. This is what’s upsetting me the most, I didn’t think he would get on with his life so quickly without me. I was the one who’d left, I was the one who wasn’t meant to hurt.

  I see Asha walking towards the ring and I go back to trying to get my shit together. I’ve been struggling to get my head sorted for so long now that I'm beginning to worry that I’ll lose my next fight. I have just over a week to get my head out my ass, and I'm hoping that when I do what I have planned tonight, that my mind will be able to concentrate. There will be no going back after it’s done, I will just need to live with the consequences. Another punch to the ribs steals my breath and I hear Bryce shouting from behind me. Something needs to happen before I lose everything.

  ****

  I pull at the collar of my shirt, feeling like it’s trying to strangle me. I never thought I would be in this situation, doing this has never been in my life plan. I feel my leg shake under the table and I try to hold it still, hoping that if I manage that then my nerves will go away.

  I look over to Asha as she eats her dessert. It’s nice in here, a little too fancy for my liking but I needed to make tonight special. If I'm going to live a lie with her I need to give her everything she could want. I’ll love her the best I can and give her the life she wants, the one she deserves. I take a deep breath and slip from my seat, getting down on one knee in front of Asha. I have given this a lot of thought and even though I don’t love her, I'm sure she likes me enough to become my wife. I need a good cover just in case Dwayne tells someone what he saw, and I know he will if I make it to the final with him again. This is t
he most logical thing to do: marry a woman that I like. I know I’ll never love her, but who really falls in love these days? You find someone you're compatible with and do the best with that. I think I’ll be happy with Asha, she makes me smile and has been a good friend for a long time. I'm pretty sure I was always her end game, even if she slept with the other fighters it was always me she came back to.

  She lets out a little squeal as she watches me take the ring out of my pocket. I've practiced my little speech quite a lot to try and get it to sound remotely believable.

  “Asha, you’ve been my friend for so long. I think we could make a great couple, and I'm wondering if you would do me the honor of marrying me?” I can’t even bring myself to say that I love her. Maybe one day I’ll be able to do it, but today I just can’t. She squeals again as she throws her arms around me, kissing all over my face and repeating ‘yes’ over and over again. I push her back slightly and place the large diamond ring on her finger. She has tears in her eyes and looks so happy, I hope I can keep making her happy like this. We both return to our chairs and she reaches over and takes my hand.

  “Thank you for asking me, Zeke. I love you so much, but I honestly didn’t think you saw me that way. I’ve dreamed of this moment for so long.” I’ve only been in an ‘official’ relationship with her for a few weeks now, but I would try anything to get my life back on track. Maybe if I settle down, commit to someone that I can take out in public with me, I’ll be able to organize everything else. I'm pretty sure my mum married my dad because she had to, I never once saw them being affectionate with each other. This will just be like that, we can be companions.