Fighter: 10 Seconds or Less (a bad boy romance) (North Side Kings Book Book 5)

by Scarlett Winters

  Everything he said was making her more and more attracted to him. He was handsome, in incredible shape, self-employed, motivated, driven. All the qualities she wanted in a man. For a brief moment all her troubles were washed from her mind as she gazed dreamily into his eyes.

  She sat in the wooden chair, her chin resting on her fist as she gazed at him. She almost didn’t notice the silence between them as she got lost in his attractiveness.

  “Here, come with me!” he said.

  He stood up and extended his hand. Molly took his hand in hers and walked along the roof top with him. They came to the edge of the building where he pointed out various parts of the city. He placed his left hand around her waist and pointed using his right hand to the large skyscrapers of downtown, and various local attractions that could be seen from the roof. He then took her by the waist and moved her over a few feet.

  “Stand right here. This is the best spot on the whole roof!” He said as he now stood behind her. “In a few minutes the sun will drop behind the downtown skyline and you will see the most amazing silhouette of downtown LA ever.” He said as he smoothly wrapped his arms around her waist and held her against his body.

  Molly let out a deep sigh. His arms were comforting as she found herself melting into his body. She watched the sun slowly disappear behind the buildings as she felt his arms hold her a little tighter and pull her body a little closer to his.

  They stood on the roof top for the next 20 minutes as they slowly watched the day turn to dusk. Liam slowly turned Molly to face him and without a word being spoken he kissed her. Their lips touched tenderly as her body ignited. Passion and lust filled the air as the soft kiss quickly developed into a long deep French kiss. She could feel his strong arms tight around her body as she needed to be even closer to him. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his as he held her tight. Her body wrapped around his, her feet off the floor as they kissed hungrily.

  After a very long kiss her feet finally found the floor again. His hand found her breast as he kissed her again. She had little experience with boys, and zero experience with sex. She quickly became conscious about herself again and wanted to step back.

  “Sorry!” She said. “Sorry, can we slow down?” she asked.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Nothing. God nothing is wrong. Everything is right, everything is perfect!” she said.

  “I don’t understand.” he replied.

  “I’ve never had a boyfriend! I’ve never been on a date and I’ve never had sex. I turned 18 just two months ago.” She said shyly.

  “I see. I don’t want to push you if you are not ready. But I am extremely attracted to you, and I would love to see if we could develop something here.” He said.

  “Would you be willing to see where this goes?” He asked softly.

  Molly didn’t know how to answer. She was insanely attracted to him, but he was a little older than her, and her life was in shambles. She was not exactly in a good place to start a relationship.

  “I would be willing. But I don’t even have a place to live, no job. Why would you want to date a train wreck like me!” she asked.

  “First, you are not a train wreck. You are going through a difficult time. Mental attitude is half the battle darling.” he said. “Now, repeat after me. I am going through a difficult time. It will get better. This is short lived!” he said. There was silence, Molly felt embarrassed and uncomfortable.

  “Say it!” he demanded, but smiling reassuringly.

  “I am going through a difficult time. It will get better. This is short lived!” she said.

  “Good!” he said. “Now say it like you mean it! Believe it! Own it!” he said. She said it again.

  “Believe it!” he commanded. She said it again, but this time shouted it!

  “Excellent. And how do you feel?” he asked.

  “Better!” she said. “I don’t understand.” She said confused.

  “The mind, it knows only what you tell it, and feed it. If you feed it negativity and stress, it will return more negativity and stress. Feed it positive thoughts, feed it statements of CAN-DO. And the mind will do things you never thought possible!” He explained.

  He took her hand and walked back to the chairs and grabbed his beer and took a big sip.

  “Tomorrow, after I win the fight. Let’s go celebrate!” he said.

  “I’d love that.” She said.

  “It’s getting late. Let’s get you into bed to rest for your interview tomorrow. Shoot me a text as soon as it’s done so I know how it went.” He said.

  They went inside and walked to her small room. There were still a number of boxers in the open area below. The sounds of the men working out filled the room as they arrived to her door.

  “Would you liked to come in to my humble abode?” she asked with a laugh. Liam said nothing but kissed her one last time.

  “Get some rest sweetheart. I will see you tomorrow.” he said softly.

  Molly closed the door, locked it and leaned against the door with her back to it. She could not believe what just happened. She had a huge smile on her face and was feeling alive for the first time in a very long time. But, her lack of confidence in herself soon appeared as the smile slowly turned to sadness.

  She worried about being a virgin, she worried about being with an older man, a very attractive older man, and she worried about not knowing how to be in a relationship. She walked to the cot and lay there. Her mind worrying as she felt a single tear slowly run down her face.

  Chapter 4 – The audition

  Molly woke up, grabbed her toiletries and walked to the female change area. The gym was barren of anyone as it did not open until 11 AM. She had a shower, brushed her teeth, her hair and applied some makeup. She went back to her room and pulled out a tight fitting dance outfit that she had used many times during dance rehearsals and practices before. She figured she would be asked to dance, so best dress accordingly.

  She got into her car and drove to the dance studio. She got there just before 8 and entered the studio.

  There was a woman behind the counter who looked up from her computer.

  “Yes?” she said.

  “Hi, I’m looking for Becca, I’m Molly!” she said.

  “Punctual! I like that, come with me.” she said as she stood from the computer and walked into the dance studio.

  “Liam tells me you can dance! We have classes out of here 7 days a week. 4 classes a day Monday to Friday and 10-12 classes on weekends. Most classes are 1 hour long, but there is one class on Sunday afternoon that is 2 hours.” She started explaining.

  “Now, before I see what you got, answer me one question. And yes, your answer to this question will determine if you even stand a chance to be hired.” She said bluntly. Fear raced through Molly’s body.

  “Why?” she asked. “Why do you dance?” she added. The fear instantly dissolved as Molly answered from her heart.

  “Freedom! Love! It allows me to express myself without words. When I dance, I am free. When I dance I can show people a side of me that I could never explain in words. Life can be good, bad, ugly. Things can happen in life that are not always positive. But dance. Dance is always positive. It allows you to be intimate with yourself. You can do it alone, with another person, with a group of people. You can do it in a dance studio, a barn, an open field, a bar. There is no wrong place to dance. There is no wrong music to listen to when you dance. Sometimes you just want to sway to the music. Sometimes you want to perform for a crowd of thousands to the most intense choreographed dance of all time. Dance makes you push yourself, to better yourself. Dance is the purest form of yourself that there ever could be!” she said as she suddenly stopped talking. Realizing she had gone on a bit of a rant.

  Silence filled the studio. Minutes passed as the silence became forcibly awkward.

  “If you dance half as good as your speech, you’re hired. Now, show me what you have! We will start with Latin. We do a tremendous amoun
t of Latin dance here. Are you ready?” she said wasting no time.

  Molly put her purse down on the side of the studio, positioned herself in the middle of the floor.

  “Ready!” she said as she took a deep breath.

  Becca pressed the play button on the sound equipment as a lively Latin beat blared through the speaker system.

  Molly began to dance her heart out. With every beat of the music her body moved in perfect synchronization. A huge smile covered her face as she worked the studio floor as if she owned it.

  The music came to an end and Molly stood again in the center. Her breathing was heavy as she just finished a vibrant dance.

  “Next, Hip-hop!” said Becca. Molly was excited. Hip-Hop was one of her favorite types of dance.

  “Great!” she said maintaining her permanent smile on her face.

  The music started and she started to dance one of her award winning performances from a few years ago. A performance that she had practiced a thousand times or more. A performance that was so flawless that she got 9 out of 10 judges to give her a perfect 10 on her performance. The 10th judge gave her a 9.5. Never in the history of that competition had anyone scored as high as she had during that performance.

  The music was fast, the base was pounding and Molly was killing it. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she danced across the floor.

  The song came to an end and Molly positioned herself in the middle of the floor awaiting the next song.

  “I’m impressed! And you can ask Liam – I am rarely impressed! We run a tight studio. We are the best in LA and I expect the very best from my instruction team, and my customers. Molly, you can dance. There is no doubt about it.” She said as for the first time a smile formed on Becca’s face.

  “Come shake my hand. Let’s go do some paperwork. You are hired!” she said. Molly put her hands over her mouth.

  “Oh my Yes! For real?” she said in complete disbelief of what was happening.

  “Yes! For real. Don’t just stand there, come here and shake my hand!” she said in a much more welcoming tone than before. Molly ran over to her and shook her hand.

  “Thank you, I can’t tell you how appreciative I am. I’ll learn to teach faster than anyone you have ever hired before. I’m a hard worker and a quick learner.” Said Molly as she rambled on.

  “Stop! You already have the job, I don’t need a sales pitch.” Becca replied smiling. They entered Becca’s office and she handed her a form.

  “Fill this form out.” She said as she handed over a standard new employee form. Molly started to fill out the form and froze when she got to the address line. Becca could tell Molly was about to burst out in tears.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Becca.

  “I don’t have a place to live currently.” she said fighting back the tears. “I was thrown out a couple of days ago from my stepmother after my father had passed.” she said wiping the single tear that tickled down her face.

  “Leave it blank for now. I am sure you will find something soon. And once you do, you update me. Just make sure you update your Social Security Number.” She said softly.

  “Thank you!” she said. Molly filled out the rest of the form and handed it back to Becca.

  “Great. You start Monday at 10 AM! I will see you then. I will get you fitted for your dance outfit. All our instructors wear logo embroidered dance outfits.” Becca said.

  “Thank you! I’m very excited!” said Molly.

  “I’m sure you are! Have a good day now.” she said as she turned to her computer to return to her work. Molly walked out the door and jumped into the air in excitement. She pulled out her phone and texted Liam.

  I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!

  She waited a few moments before her phone beeped.

  AWESOME NEWS! Tonight we celebrate. I will be by the club around noon. Talk then xo

  Molly was grinning from ear to ear. She laughed to herself as she thought about the purse snatcher. If only he knew how much he did for her by trying to steal her purse.

  She got into her car and drove back to the club. She walked up the stairs and in the front doors. Sam was there now as he was sitting behind the front counter.

  “Good morning Sam!” said Molly as she walked by him.

  “Good morning Molly!” he replied back.

  In the short time she had been there she had talked to Sam a few times and he had gone out of his way to make sure her stay there was as comfortable as could be under the circumstances.

  Molly went up to her small room and sat on the edge of the bed. She was happy and borderline giddy. Her life had done a complete 180 in less than 24 hours. She looked at the time. It was just before 11 and she knew Liam was going to be there soon. She decided a quick shower to rinse the sweat from the mornings interview would be a good idea. She showered quickly, redid her hair, her makeup and looked through her suitcase trying to find something to wear that didn’t look like it came from a thrift store.

  She had a semi-formal and quite revealing top, but she thought she would save that for the fight tonight.

  She found a nice flowery summer dress, halter top style that was nice, clean, hardly wrinkled. She didn’t like wearing it for long periods of time as she found herself constantly hiking up the top so her boobs would not fall out of the dress.

  She looked in the mirror and admired herself. She liked how she looked and she was in a fantastic mood.

  There was a knock at the door. Her heart skipped a beat as she turned and opened the door. Liam stood there with a bouquet of flowers.

  “Congratulations!” He said as he handed the bouquet to her.

  She took the flowers and smelled them. Her heart melted as she looked at him with a tear of joy in her eye.

  “Thank you! You are so amazing!” she said. She gave him a tight hug with her one free hand. Liam kissed her sensuously.

  “Listen, I can’t stay long. Here is your pass for tonight. When you get to your seat, ask for Hunter. He will introduce you to everyone! I will see you after the fight.” he said as he handed her a pass with big VIP letters on the front and the seat number written under it.

  “I can’t wait! This is going to be exciting.” She said. “Knock him out for me!” she said playfully.

  “My pleasure!” Liam replied with a big grin. He gave her one more sensuous kiss and disappeared as fast as he appeared.

  Molly found herself sitting in her room. Smelling the flowers and smiling. The day was perfect and she thought to herself there is no possible way this day could get any better.

  Chapter 5 – The Fight

  Molly got to the arena around 7:30 PM. The fight card started at 8 PM, and she did not want to be late. There were 4 matches scheduled and Liam’s was the last one. She asked one of the floor staff to point her to her seat. She walked to the front row and sat in her numbered seat. She was nervous and quite uncomfortable. Her mind raced with questions, who were his friends? How would they know she was who she was? What if they didn’t like her? She felt the palms of her hands beginning to get sweaty as she sat there looking around the arena as people slowly stared to trickle in.

  “You must be Molly!” said a tall stranger to her right. She was caught off guard as she was looking in the other direction.

  “Hi! Sorry, Yes! I’m Molly!” she said stumbling over her words.

  “I’m Hunter! This is my fiancé Octavia, my little brother Ethan and his girlfriend Brooke, Dean and his girlfriend Paige, and finally Blake and Melissa.” He said doing the introductions to everyone.

  She extended her hand and shook Hunters. Octavia sat beside her and put her arm around her.

  “Relax, you look as nervous as someone about to go for a root canal.” She said. “Here’s all you need to know. You are in with a great bunch of people. You will be taken care of. And Liam really likes you.” Added Octavia as she emphasized the word really.

  “Do I really look that nervous?” she asked.

  “Hun, you look like you sat on a
bicycle with no seat! Yes you look nervous!” she said. Molly started to relax a little.

  “How do you know he likes me?” she said.

  “There are no secrets in this group. If someone starts dating someone, everyone knows about it. Hunter and Ethan are family by blood. The rest of us are family by choice!” she said. “Welcome to the family!” she added.

  Molly was taken aback by her statement. She really liked Liam, but had no idea he already had started telling his friends about her.

  “COLD BEER, HERE!” shouted the man with a back pack of beers on his back.

  Hunter raised his hand. The man came over.

  “9 beers please!” he said.

  The young lad pulled 9 beers out of his case on his back and handed them one each.

  “That will be 63 dollars please!” advised the bot.

  “Here’s 100, keep the change!” he said. “But come back often!” he added in a commanding tone.

  “Yes sir!” said the young lad thinking he had just won the lottery with a 37 dollar tip.

  The announcer took to the stage. The audience silenced as he began speaking. He announced the four matches for the night, and putting extra emphasis and excitement on the final match that night with Liam defending his heavyweight championship belt. Adding the winner of the match will be going to Ireland in a couple of months to fight for the international title.

  Then everyone in the arena heard.

  “LETS GET READY TO RUMBLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!” from the announcer.

  Goosebumps covered Molly’s body as she took a big drink of her beer. The announcer went on to introduce the first two fighters in the Lightweight division. The clang of the bell rang through the arena as the first two boxers faced off and began fighting.