One Last Fight - Part Two (The One Last Fight Series Book 2)
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One Last Fight
Part Two
Ava Ashley
One Last Fight - Part Two
Copyright © 2016 Ava Ashley
Cover Photography: Kruse Images and Photography
Cover Model: Justin Miller
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locations is entirely coincidental.
Note to the Reader:
Hey there!
Thank you so much for grabbing a copy of One Last Fight Part 2!
As a special thank you and to celebrate the release of Rafe & Lily's story I have included the complete 2 part Alpha Fighter Series. An Amazon Top 100 bestselling series, included only with this kindle book for a limited time.
To find Cooper and Savannah's story, use the table of contents or click the links below.
Bonus Book: Alpha Fighter - Part One
Bonus Book: Alpha Fighter - Part Two
BOOKS BY AVA
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Email: authoravaashley@gmail.com
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Books by Ava
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
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Bonus Book: Alpha Fighter - Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Bonus Book: Alpha Fighter - Part Two
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
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Chapter One
Lily
“Yeah, just walk away!” Mel calls after me in a triumphant voice.
“Better than wasting my time,” I call over my shoulder with a smile. Kara and I keep walking down the beach, ignoring whatever else Mel says.
“I guess that wasn’t the best comeback,” I say once we’re out of earshot. “I hate drama and stupid catfights.”
“And yet you signed up for a reality dating show!” She laughs before we both groan. The bickering has gotten worse lately. I glance back and add, “Wow, there aren’t any cameras following us! We actually get some privacy.”
She looks back too. “Nice, isn’t it?”
“Yeah...” I sigh, and it sounds way more emotional than I like. This has been a hard week for me, the hardest so far. It’s been a week since my night with Rafe and he still hasn’t said a word to me. I thought we had made a real connection when I told him the truth. We talked things out and I felt like our bond was coming back. The lies and misunderstandings were cleared out. I know we connected both emotionally and physically. But then, he just wanted out of there and hasn’t spoken to me since. It’s like finding the warmth of fire for the first time and then losing it again. I’m losing him all over again. Maybe once he learned the truth, that was all he needed.
Or maybe, even worse, it was just sex to him. I have no idea how to deal with that. I have no defense for it. So this week I haven’t tried reaching out to him either. It just hurts too much.
The day after the rock climbing event, Heather got to go play on the dunes with him as her prize for winning. I heard they rented sand buggies, and I know Rafe must have loved it. It makes me nervous. He might decide Heather can keep up with him better than me, even though I’m in great shape too. She’s just so intense about it. And I might not even be in the running anymore.
Three more women have been sent home, leaving me, Kara, Mel, Samantha, Heather, and Zuri. Just six of us. That means more one-on-one time with Rafe... for those of us he’s speaking to, at least.
“I’ve gone over it a hundred times in my head,” I blurt out to Kara. “I did the right thing by telling him the truth. But I wonder if it was too much? What if I can’t fix us?”
It’s more than I should say to her. We’re competing for Rafe, after all. But when she turns my way while we walk, I see understanding on her face. Then she drops her gaze an
d takes a big breath.
“I have to tell you something. I think they’re testing the show. I overheard something about early audience response, and needing more conflict, and your name came up.”
“Came up how?” I press, knowing she’s holding back.
“People were pulling for you, so they got frustrated when Rafe stopped talking to you. Liam says they’ll lose viewers if things don’t heat up between you two again. And then they’ll lose advertising dollars.”
Her voice shows how disappointed she is about that. Of course she wants Rafe’s attention, and I try to show some compassion and not get too excited.
But it is exciting. The test viewers were rooting for me. And because of that, Liam might actually be helping me. It’s not the most noble motivation, but I’ll take all the help I can get right now.
“It’s all about the money,” I say to Kara. I don’t want to share my real reaction. “Thanks for telling me.”
“So you’ll give me something to tell Liam?”
I owe her something, and it might help her get in Liam’s good graces. So is there anything I can have Kara tell Liam that would help my cause? Maybe I can somehow get Rafe’s attention again with this.
“Well, Liam already knows this, but I apologized to Rafe for something that happened a long time ago. I’ve been dealing with it all this time, and that’s why I wanted to get on the show, to fix things. I had to make it right. Maybe Rafe just needs time to process all of it.”
“What did you do?” she immediately asks.
I shake my head, wanting to keep it private, but then again it might end up aired with the show. So I give her the quick version, hitting on how I tried to help him stay safe by calling the police... and getting him arrested. I even go ahead and tell her about how the Olympic team tried to contact him after that.
“I didn’t mean to,” I wrap up, “but I accidentally killed his dreams.”
Kara’s quiet for a while until she finally asks, “And Liam knows about all that?”
I sigh. “Yeah. They recorded it when we spent the night at the cabin.”
We approach the pool area, and Kara tells me, “I’ll see you later.”
I’m about to head up to our room when I feel a touch on my elbow. When I turn, it’s Rafe, standing just outside and around the corner where the others won’t see him. He jerks his head back toward the beach, asking me to follow him.
We walk back out where we’re hidden from the house. His hair is damp and he’s wearing swim trunks. I try not to notice the water droplets on his hard pecs. But that means looking at his face. In the sunlight, his brown eyes appear more hazel. They get to me every time. How does he keep hurting me like this?
“Rafe, what happened? How could you just shut me out like that?” I fold my arms, feeling myself shake with anger. “Do you know what that felt like, being close again and then you turning to ice?”
He drops his head and says something to himself. I start to soften, seeing how bad he feels.
“I couldn’t talk to you after...” He trails off, something I don’t remember him doing often. Rafe always knows what he wants to say, and he just says it. I nod. I want to know what’s going on in his head so I try to hold on to my temper. It’s hard when things have been building up inside me all week.
“Why?” I finally ask. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Lily.” He sighs and turns a half step to gaze out at the ocean. “I don’t like feeling out of control.”
Out of control? I step closer and touch his arm. “What do you mean?”
“I had so much shit to work through after getting out. It’s all coming back now. I have these dreams. I don’t know how to handle it, and seeing you, talking to you—” He steps away, and I know to give him a minute.
I thought I could make things better between us by telling him the truth but I actually opened old wounds. What if I can’t ever be anything other than a reminder of all that? Could I walk away from Rafe if that were the case?
“It was a lot to take in,” I finally agree, hoping to keep communication open. I’m not ready to think about losing him.
“Running from it didn’t work. And I know we have things to talk about,” he says, turning back to me. “It’s hard to open up like this. It’s not my nature. Not anymore, at least, after all I’ve been through.”
“So we can talk? Can we try?” I ask.
He rests his hands on his hips, his face relaxing into a thoughtful expression, and that makes me nervous again.
“Yes, we can talk. Not right now.” He rubs his face. This week was probably hard on him too, after learning the truth. “Will you meet me back here by the pool tonight?”
I’m surprised by his request but nod and say, “When tonight?”
“One. Let’s make sure everyone else is in bed.” He holds my gaze in the darkness. It looks like I’ll have to wait to hear anything else.
“I’ll see you then,” I say quietly. He reaches over and lightly runs his knuckles down my cheek before turning to leave. Maybe there’s a chance for us after all.
Chapter Two
Rafe
I drive down to park close to the beach house a few minutes early. Then I just sit behind the wheel instead of getting out. For both Lily and me, I want to make things right. I miss her friendship and the way she’d listen to me. Lily used to understand me. She knows where I came from and how I think. We have history. I need to talk to her. I want to see her. I know that much.
But there’s so much in the way now. I just wanted the truth before, and now I don’t know if I can handle having that between us if we try to build anything.
I walk quietly up to the back of the house before spotting Lily standing by the pool house. For a second, she looks just like she did six years ago, with the light behind her, highlighting her wild, curly hair. Her face is bare of makeup but her dark eyes still stand out. I always thought she had a natural, almost shocking beauty that made people stare. She waits for me without moving.
“Want to walk on the beach?” I ask. We’ll have a lesser chance of being spotted, but I don’t need to point that out to her.
“Sure,” she says, her voice low and quiet. We leave the beach house behind and walk under a sliver of moon that doesn’t provide much light, so we step carefully and slow. Down below, I can make out the tops of the waves as they come in. There’s the lightest shine on the water and wet sand, just enough for me to see it.
“What happened the other night?” she asks.
“It was nothing.”
“Rafe! Damn it! It was something.”
Whoa. I’ve never seen Lily like this.
“We talked things through and then I woke up alone,” she continues, an angry quiver in her voice. She folds her arms and walks with her face down. “You’re out cooking breakfast and calling the helicopter, and you ran away from me as fast as you could. After what we shared....”
I can tell from her voice she’s on the verge of tears. Or maybe she’s crying already. I really hurt her.
“I’m sorry.” I drag a hand through my hair, then make fists and relax them. “I had to get out of there.”
“Why?”
“It was just a bad dream. But I had to get up, and then I just needed to keep moving, you know?”
“Just a bad dream? Apparently it’s hard for you to talk about, so it’s not nothing. Tell me about them. Talk to me.” She used to say that a long time ago when she knew I had things to get out.
“I have to backtrack. I want to tell you about that day,” I start. She’s quiet. That probably means she knows which day I’m talking about—the day I got arrested. “We were on the way out with the money. I just had to get most of it to Brick and his guys. That’s who my father owed so much money to. The job was done and I had to do the drop off, and then I’d be free. I went out of the building after two other guys, and suddenly everything lit up. There were uniforms all around with heavy machine guns pointed at me. Cop cars behind
them. Lights on us. They were yelling and screaming. Lily, they were ready to shoot me dead right then and there.”
She starts to reach for my hand but stops. We both know it’s too much right now. She wants to comfort me. I want to accept. But I can’t. I have to get this out.
“They took us down, handcuffed us, threw us in the cop cars. They were rough about it, too. There were bars separating the back seat. I felt like a caged animal. Like trash. I’d worked so hard to stay away from a life of crime. You know that. You know me.”
“I do. And I know you didn’t belong there or in jail.”
I have to stop as her words sink into me. I didn’t know I needed to hear that from her, but suddenly I can’t speak. I try to just breathe for a while, then spot a log settled into the sand a few feet ahead. I sink down and lean back against it. Lily sits next to me, almost touching.
The moon is sinking toward the ocean. We might lose what little light we have for the walk back but I don’t say anything.
“That was the next stop. That was the worse night of my life up to that point, and it just kept getting worse. So I was in jail with lowlife criminals that just cared about their next high. I had no money. I’d lost everything with that job. So I had this shitty, overworked lawyer who didn’t give a fuck about if I was innocent. He just wanted to be done and move on.”
We just listen to the waves for a while and then she says, “You know how sorry I am, right?”
“Damn, Lily, I’m not trying to make you feel bad. That wasn’t my intention at all. You wanted to keep me safe, and did what you thought you had to do.” I turn to her, trying to see her eyes. “I made the choices I did. I just want you to understand.” I can see her nod.
“I learned how to survive in prison,” I tell her.
“I know,” she says, her voice almost lost in the breeze.