Finding Perseverance (The Unexpected Love Series Book 3)

by T. E. Black

  Brad shakes his head in disbelief. “Isn’t he leaving?”

  “How the hell do you know he’s leaving?”

  I didn’t think anyone knew about Rook going back to California since he only decided two days ago. Fuck me. Word travels fast around here.

  “I heard some sportscasters talking about it on the news. They were talking about him getting back into the league and upping his ranks since he’s been suspended.”

  Hearing someone else tell me he’s leaving—that hits my heart like a ton of bricks.

  “Well, good riddance. Let him leave then. He can go back to California, and I can get on with my life.” I try to sound angry, but the words sound so very, very broken. There is no conviction behind them.

  “I told you I wasn’t leaving.”

  I swing my head in his direction, half-expecting him to not even be standing there, but he is.

  “W-what?” I stutter, staring at him in shock.

  The short distance between us feels more like miles in my mind. Every step he takes eating up the vast distance between us. I steal every emotion I can from his eyes and lock them deep inside myself.

  Rook stops in front of me, but he’s on the other side of the bar—he’s too far away.

  “I’m not leaving,” he repeats. “I can’t leave you, Leigh.”

  The love expressed in his tone of voice makes my heart swell rapidly. These are words I’ve wanted to hear and believe since he got here. Yet, I can’t seem to accept them.

  “Rook,” I plead. “You can’t stay.”

  I’m lying through my teeth again, but it’s with good reason. I have to stand my ground. I have to make him think my decisions are justified, otherwise he’ll lose all he’s worked for.

  “Why?” His voice turns angry. “Why the hell are you trying to send me away, Leigh? Is it because you think you’re helping me—saving me? Is that what you think?”

  He’s pulling on my heartstrings. I know he’s angry with me for shoving him out the door, but it’s for him. Why can’t he see that? Why can’t he see that I’m doing this because I love him? Why can’t he leave my heart alone and stop trying to shatter it more than it already is?

  “I’m doing this for you, Rook!” I shout back as tears well in my eyes. “You can’t stay here because it isn’t where you belong. You belong in that cage with fans screaming your name. You belong on talk shows and fucking billboards, not hiding inside of a corner bar in Boston. I can’t be the reason you don’t have that. I can’t.” As hard as I try to keep my voice even, it cracks and then fades into a choked sob on the last word.

  He doesn’t bother walking around the bar to get to me. He plants both hands on the polished surface and vaults over. “Come here, babe,” he says, but I don’t have to go anywhere. His arms are already around me, holding me as I sob against his chest.

  “I don’t give a damn about billboards and fame. The only thing I give a damn about is you, Ryleigh O’Donnell. Since I was twelve, you have been the only thing that’s mattered. You’re the reason I wake up with a hard-on and the reason I go to bed with a smile—you. My sexy, gorgeous, strong-willed woman—I’m supposed to be wherever you are. Wherever I go, you’re meant to be by my side.” He pauses, and I fight to breathe. “I spent ten years without you, and it was torture. I can’t do it again. The last two months have been better than the last decade combined. I know you don’t want me to leave, Leigh. I don’t wanna leave either. So, I’m not. You can protest, fight me, hate me, but it doesn’t change the outcome. You won’t tell me that you don’t want me to go, so this is me telling you that I want to stay.”

  “Okay.” I look up at Rook and nod as I cling to the front of him.

  “Just okay?” He jokes, brushing his thumb over my cheek to wipe away my tears.

  “Stay. Don’t leave,” I manage to say between sobs.

  “Keep going,” he urges.

  “I love you, Rook Wallace. I’m sorry I was so stubborn. I want you. I need you. Don’t go. I won’t let you walk out that door without a fight. We’re fighters.” He kisses me then, filling it with a single apology and a thousand promises of forever. I pour my heart right back into him, telling him all the words I was too scared to say.

  Rook fought for me when I couldn’t fight for myself, and because of that, I will always be his fighter.

  Epilogue

  Ryleigh

  Compromise—a nine letter word with one meaning but endless possibilities. A word I thought was stupid until Rook chose me over California. For my entire life, I assumed selfless love was the strongest kind. It turns out, it’s not love at all. Love is so, so much more, and at the center of it is compromise.

  “Ry! Grab me another beer, would you?” Mac shouts from the end of the bar.

  I nod in his direction and scan over my friends who sit with him, enjoying the night. Callie sits with her head resting on Mac’s shoulder. She rolls her eyes, listening to something Sierra is saying next to her.

  Sierra giggles when Callie’s face turns bright red at whatever crude joke she just made. With his arm wrapped around Sierra’s shoulders, Evan sips from his beer bottle, watching the pre-fight antics on the big screen.

  I smile to myself as I grab Mac another round and take it to him.

  “Thanks.” He winks before taking the bottle. “Any calls yet?”

  I pull out my phone to check but shake my head. “Not yet, but we still have a few minutes.”

  I sit on the stool behind the bar and wait anxiously for the call. The bar is packed tonight, and everyone is yelling so they can hear each other. However, when I hear Rook’s name come from the group directly behind me, I lean back and pretend I’m not listening to them.

  “My money’s on Reaper,” one of the guys declares.

  “No way. He can’t stay undefeated. It’s impossible! Put my money on the other guy,” his friend chimes in. I smirk and go back to staring at my phone.

  The buzz flowing around Max’s tonight is out of control. I’ve been having what Rook deemed “fight night” since he won his first match back in the cage with a three-second knockout. He’s stayed undefeated for four fights now, and I’m hoping Vegas is another win.

  About two weeks after Rook told me he wasn’t leaving, we began talking about his career and our future. I wanted him to continue fighting for a living, but I didn’t want to leave my life here in Boston. So, we came up with a compromise, and a damn good one that should have been obvious.

  Rook would train in Boston, and only leave when he had a fight out of state. In the beginning, I wasn’t so sure Rook would convince Luke to pick up his life and move here. I wasn’t even sure if Luke would train Rook. Rook went into his negotiation with Luke with a solid plan—don’t negotiate.

  Ten years ago, Rook wasn’t in a place to give demands. Now, he’s worth a million dollars, if not more. He’s put his time in. He’s fought hard—sweated, bled and cried for his career. He built an empire, and the only person besides Rook who was there was Luke.

  Rook said it was simple. He wouldn’t leave Boston because of me. And, he wouldn’t fight anymore without Luke. I’m just thankful Luke agreed to pack his shit and train Rook here. Had he not, I would have been devastated if he stopped fighting.

  The first two weeks were the hardest on Rook and Luke. On top of training, they were trying to swoon the pants off his old sponsors who dropped him because of the investigation. He was even trying to obtain some new ones, but no one would touch him or let him represent their name. During the third week, the district attorney’s office put out a statement stating Mark was arrested for the murder of Lauren and Rook wasn’t involved. That’s what did it, and not two days later, sponsors—both old and new—were tossing in offers.

  I made Sarah a manager so I could travel and sit ringside at any fight I wanted to go to, even though Rook comes home in between his fights. Every now and then, when I’m starting to miss Rook more than usual, he sends a plane ticket and a car to drive me to the airport.
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  In the past six months, he’s done it six times, and each time, when I stepped off the plane, it felt like my first time seeing him all over again.

  As if summoned by the thoughts, my phone buzzes in my hand and Rook’s picture appears on the screen.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” he smiles wide, which I think he does on purpose because he knows what the smile does to me.

  “Hey you!”

  “Have you gotten more beautiful since I last talked to you?”

  He’s such a smooth talker.

  “Have I gotten more beautiful since I woke up?” I chuckle. “I sure hope so. I showered and shaved today.” I wink, flirting.

  He lets out a hearty laugh, staring at me through the camera. “God. I miss you, Leigh. I can’t wait to see you.”

  Knowing he needs to focus on his fight in less than five minutes, I give him what he needs to step into the cage—reassurance.

  “I miss you, too, Rook. But, you’ll be home tomorrow. Win your fight, and maybe I’ll have a sexy surprise for you when you get home.”

  “You should have come with me.” He gives me a fake pout before continuing, “Sarah could have held the fort down while I whisked you away to Vegas for a day or two.”

  “If I didn’t have workers coming to redo my office, I would’ve.”

  He chuckles. “You know, we could have had a romantic night in Vegas.”

  I know what a “romantic night” is code for, and let’s just say they’re wouldn’t be candles anywhere but the ones I was using to drip hot wax on my man’s six-pack.

  “Rook!” Trent calls in the background. “They need you in the tunnel, man.”

  I watch as Trent pops up in the background of our video chat. “Hey, Ry!”

  “Hi, Trent!”

  Trent and Rook have also come to a compromise. Trent goes to every fight that I can’t make it to. Hell, sometimes he, Shay, and Abby come when I’m there.

  “All right. I have to head out, babe. See you on the big screen?” he asks with a crooked grin.

  “Always.” I blow him a kiss.

  “I love you, Leigh.”

  I answer without an inch of hesitation. “I love you too, Rook.”

  The call ends, and everyone in my group directs their sight toward the big screen hanging in the bar. The sportscasters narrate as the crowd booms with excitement for the match.

  Moments before Rook’s about to emerge from the tunnel, the cameras zoom in on the Jumbotrom and a sponsored commercial begins to play.

  I grin wide thinking about how this ad is one of Rook’s ways of compromising. He made it part of his new contracts with his sponsors. In order for him to compete, they had to agree to show this specific ad before he walks out of the tunnel.

  The ad for my bar ends, and Rook’s introduction music, “Don’t Fear The Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult, booms from the speakers in the arena. I wait anxiously, as I do every time, for him to walk out. Each beat of my heart is a little harder than the last, but it’s all right because it means I love him more than I did the day before.

  The crowd goes wild when they spot Rook. Most people stand from their seats, holding signs that profess their admiration for him. They range from, “I love you,” to, “Fuck me.”

  I thought it would bother me to have beautiful women throwing themselves at my man, but it’s become more of a reassurance if anything. Rook tells me about each and every one of them and how he politely turns them down by saying he already has the love of his life.

  I watch in awe as his team follows him to the gate and take up their posts. Rook’s never looked more at home than when they close the gate to the cage behind him. I can see how natural it is to him—the fans, the fame, the life. It’s a part of him. And, as I look around my bar, I see how naturally this comes to me.

  Rook and I found a way to have the best of both worlds.

  The cameras zoom in on Rook as he stands in the middle of the cage, waiting for the fight to begin. As the picture catches his face, he looks directly into the camera before grinning wide.

  I watch in anticipation for his now normal gesture. When he brings two fingers to his full lips and places a kiss on them, I mimic his movements. I move with him as he brings his fingers to his chest and places them against the “L” tattoo over his heart.

  If you asked me six months ago if I’d be sitting here watching my boyfriend show his affection for me on national television, I would’ve told you it was impossible. I would’ve told you that he and I wouldn’t have worked out and that I’d end up lonely for the rest of my life.

  But, now? I’ve never felt so surrounded by people who love and appreciate me.

  I’ve never felt more complete then I do right here, right now.

  It wasn’t easy, but I figured everything out—Rook and I figured things out. It just took us more than ten years and a whole shit ton of chaos. We found our way back to each other.

  We loved.

  We trusted.

  We conquered.

  We found perseverance.

  Acknowledgments

  I’m amazed I’ve published another book. This feeling of excitement, nerves, and worry never gets old. It’s one rush I’ll never get used to—no matter how many titles I publish.

  There’s always so many involved in the publishing process, and I hope I don’t forget to thank any!

  My Husband— You are my backbone. You are the person who keeps me hell bent on writing and publishing. I can never thank you enough for your support. xoxo I love you.

  Mom— Three books later and you’re still my rock. You never let me give up; even when I want at times. I hope you know how much I appreciate and love you!

  Kimberly— The craziest bitch I know; yet somehow we remain best friends and partners in crime. I owe you the world, but the most you get is a constant slew of FaceTime calls every day and lots of laughs from my insane antics! (I know you secretly love them.) I’ll make you a deal, here for the entire world to see; you keep answering my calls and I’ll still making your books pretty. We’ll also keep being friends. ;) haha! Love you bitch!

  Melissa— What would I do without you!? To answer that question; I’d be a mess! You are one of my dearest friends, also the kindest person I’ve ever met. Thank you for all you do! Please know how appreciated and loved you are. Always.

  Megan— My best friend, my partner in crime, my other half. All I have to say to you is thank you—for all you do, for all you say, for all of the support you give me on a daily basis. I love you, girl!

  Ashley from Adept Edits— My fierce editor, and now someone I call my friend. I know I’ve told you how amazing you are a million times by now, but I’ll say it again. You are amazing! The tender loving care you’ve put into editing my manuscript was something I’ve never had before. You took my weariness about editors and flipped the switch, making me trust again. I’ll never use another editor again. P.S. We’re totally going out for drinks soon!

  My T.E. Black’s Books girls— You lovely ladies are my everything. I’ve never been so excited to log into social media each day than I have been with all of you! Thank you for everything! I would be nothing without you!

  My BETA and proofreading rock stars— Thank you for everything! From your keen eyes all the way to your honesty. Thank you for telling me the truth when I needed to hear it and for loving my characters like I do.

  Bloggers— You are the backbone of the book world. You cut time out of your days to spread the word about our books. You to me are the most giving people there is. Just know how appreciated you truly are, and how much your support means. Thank you!

  Readers— Just like the bloggers, you also make the book world spin. Thank you for falling in love with my characters enough to spread the word. Thank you for taking the time to message me and say how much you loved my story. You put a smile on my face every day. I love every single one of you.

  Xoxo! T.E. Black

  About the Author

  New Adult and Contemporary Roman
ce author, T.E. Black, also known as Tiffany, is never without a book in her hand. Whether she’s reading the newest release from a fellow author, or proofreading one of her own drafts, she’s always keeping busy.

  Tiffany writes about imperfect heroes and strong-willed heroines. While, her heroines are known for going to head to head with the men in her stories, the heroes she writes always have that special touch of alpha.

  When she’s not immersed in the literary world, Tiffany makes use of her time by being a full-time graphic designer for a company she owns and operates, creating book covers, teasers, banners, and swag for other authors and herself.

  She began writing when stories she had read sparked an idea. She plotted her story, wrote three chapters, then scraped it where she let it sit in her computer for months. Instead of focusing on the potential of the story she had begun, she couldn’t help but feel as if she would never be able to publish a book as good as the ones she had read.

  Months later, she obtained the courage to go back to her laptop and open up the dreaded first draft she had written. With a clear head and determination, she worked for hours on perfecting the three chapters she had written.

  When she sat back in her seat, looking over her six thousand words, it clicked.

  The story fell into place.

  The characters spoke to her.

  The plot lines began to pour from her fingertips, landing on her keyboard.

  And then it finally happened.

  She had written a novel.

  Love it, like it, or hate it, Tiffany loves hearing from her fans! Feel free to connect with her!

  For More Information:

  @Authorteblack

  authorteblack

  www.authorteblack.com

  teblackwrites@yahoo.com