Mr. July: An MMA Sports Romance (Calendar Boys Book 7)

by Nicole S. Goodin

  He chuckles. “We’ll see.”

  The game intro comes on, and I laugh. It’s an MMA fighter game.

  “That’s cheating.”

  He smirks at me in that devilish way that suits him so much. “Hey, you’re the one who said you could beat me at anything.”

  “If I kick your ass in the cage, do I get to keep your title belts?”

  His smirk deepens. “I think the UFC boss might have something to say about that.”

  “Pffft.” I roll my eyes as I choose the biggest baddest-looking fighter the game has to offer. “Hey!” I giggle. “That one looks just like you.”

  He doesn’t answer, and when I pull my eyes from the screen, I swear he’s blushing.

  “Oh my god, that is you, isn’t it?” I demand.

  “Maybe.”

  “You’ve been immortalised as a gaming character; do you know how jealous I am?”

  A chuckle rumbles from deep in his chest. “Out of all my achievements, that’s the thing you appreciate?”

  I giggle. “Fake game blood I can handle,” I explain.

  “Of course,” he muses as he selects his own character to fight against mine.

  “I should warn you, I’ve got a killer spinning back kick.”

  Apparently his gaming character has the same strengths he does – a handful of his K.Os have been at the mercy of that kick.

  “So I’ve heard,” I drawl. “And you should know that I have one hell of a power punch,” I inform him as I read the list of strengths my character has.

  He chuckles.

  We’re in the virtual cage now, and while I can’t watch a real fight, I’ll have no problem watching animated characters punch and kick the shit out of each other.

  “Show time, pinky.” He smirks.

  ***

  “I give up,” I announce as I toss my controller onto the couch next to me.

  He chuckles and leans back against the couch, his controller landing in his lap.

  His grin is wide and easy – I get the feeling that I’m getting a rare glimpse into the man behind the mask.

  “It’s a shame you can’t make money from gaming, then you wouldn’t have to punch people for real,” I say as I fall back against the plush cushions.

  He kicked my ass. I only won one fight out of the eight or so we played. I don’t know how long we’ve been hiding out up here, but I can still hear the pumping music coming from his back yard.

  I sigh. “I should probably go find Juliet… let you get back to your friends.”

  I roll my head to the side and find he’s watching me, his dark eyes probing.

  “I like hanging out with you, Ramsey,” he says quietly, carefully – his voice measured, almost as though he’s not sure he should be saying the words. “I feel comfortable around you… like I’ve known you forever.”

  I try to swallow the lump in my throat.

  I can’t handle this, his intense stare, his words, his smell, the entire presence of the man is too much – too alluring, too tempting…

  I know I can’t go there – it would give Justin a heart attack.

  I almost laugh at myself – the way I’m trying to convince myself that I can’t have a man that probably has never even thought of me that way.

  I’m his best friend’s little sister – not some woman he has his eye on.

  “I like hanging with you too,” I admit. “It’s easy. I feel like me when I’m with you.”

  His lips part and his tongue darts out to moisten them, and my entire body goes on high alert.

  “Fuck it,” I hear him mutter under his breath.

  He leans in closer to me, his hand lightly brushing my thigh.

  “What are you doing?” I whisper as he gets even closer, until our foreheads are touching.

  “What I’ve wanted to do since the first moment I saw you,” he replies, his voice a hoarse murmur.

  My heart thumps in my chest.

  He’s about to kiss me. Hudson Scott is about to kiss me.

  He leans in so our lips are only a fraction of an inch apart, I can feel his warm breath against mine.

  I tip my face and our lips brush ever so softly.

  He presses in again.

  “Horror, you up here?” a voice calls loudly. My brother’s voice.

  “Shit,” Hudson hisses.

  I feel the whoosh of air as his face moves from mine, and I open my eyes.

  I don’t know what he sees when he looks at me, but he mouths the words ‘I’m sorry’.

  “In here, J,” he calls loudly.

  I suck in a deep breath.

  Justin appears in the doorway, his eyes flickering between the two of us.

  I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. I can’t be up here kissing Hudson. I need a mental bitch slap to knock some sense into me.

  We were this close to being caught by my brother.

  I hope like hell I don’t look as guilty as I feel, because if I do – we’re screwed.

  “Party for two?” Justin growls, his eyes narrowing at Hudson. He’s suspicious.

  Hudson chuckles lightly, like he hasn’t got a care in the world. “We needed a break from the chaos. Vanessa was about ready to claw your sister’s eyes out.”

  I hate the way he calls me ‘your sister’, it’s as though he’s giving himself a reminder that I’m forbidden territory.

  “Who the fuck invited that bitch?” he asks with a frown.

  “Rusty probably, you know he always likes to stir up trouble.”

  “Rusty is here?” I ask, my excitement genuine.

  Justin nods. “Beast too. They just arrived… you better get down there, I left Juliet with them and they’ll eat a sweet little thing like her alive.” He frowns to himself as though he’s only just realising his mistake.

  I jump off the couch and hold my hand out to Hudson. “Rematch one day?”

  He smirks and takes my hand in his. “Deal.”

  I stroll across the room towards the doorway. “You guys coming?”

  Justin waves me off. “We’ll be down in a minute.”

  I don’t like the sound of that, but there’s nothing I can do.

  I need to put some serious distance between myself and the man I very nearly locked lips with.

  I throw one last glance at Hudson before leaving the room hurriedly.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Hudson

  I’m about to get the talk, and frankly, I deserve it.

  I was about half a second away from claiming the lips of a woman I’ve been told to look out for – a woman who I’ve been warned off and instructed not to touch.

  I’m a shitty human and an even worse mate, but fuck, I lose my head when it comes to Ramsey. I can’t explain the pull I feel to her – it’s like gravity.

  Everything about her entices me – those long lashes around her golden eyes, her sexy body… even her damn pink hair.

  I want to know more; I want to get closer. I need to.

  But the look in Justin’s eye right now informs me that I already know too much.

  “Just say whatever’s on your mind, J,” I tell him as I set my controller on the coffee table next to Ramsey’s and get up to hit the off button on the TV.

  “Alright.” He nods his head. “I don’t like you being alone with my sister.”

  I cross my arms across my chest. “Why?”

  “She’s a chick, and they all seem to fall at your feet.”

  “And if she did… would that be so bad?”

  He narrows his eyes at me. “You’re asking if you sleeping with my sister would be a bad thing?”

  I nod.

  “You’re lucky I don’t knock your head in right here and now,” he growls, crossing his own arms.

  We’re locked in a standoff now, and I don’t know why the fuck I’ve pushed him on this – I knew before that she was off limits, but now he’s spelling it out for me – leaving no room for doubt.

  “I’m only going to say this once – Ramsey
isn’t yours to take. She doesn’t fit in our lives; she’s not some ringside hussy and she never will be. She’s better than that.”

  I almost growl at him.

  I’d never treat her like that. Not in a million years.

  “I won’t warn you again.”

  I hold my hands up in surrender. “We’re just friends, J, I like her – she’s not like the girls that hang around the fight scene.”

  “Friends.” He tosses the word around like he’s getting a feel for it. “As long as you don’t fuck your friends, you and I won’t have a problem.

  I nod at him, one sharp bob of my head, and he returns the gesture.

  We’ve just reached an understanding, one I’m not sure I can live with, but have to try to.

  I’d rather have Ramsey as a friend than have nothing at all, and I don’t know what I’d do if Justin wasn’t in my life.

  This is something I can’t fuck with.

  This is family.

  “We better get back down there,” he says, his arms relaxing from their tense position.

  I follow him out of the room and down the stairs, and when I see Ramsey in Rusty’s arms, being swung around in circles, my jaw ticks.

  He sets her down on her feet and plants a kiss on her cheek.

  “Maybe it’s not me you need to be worried about,” I say through clenched teeth.

  ***

  “Hey, pinky.”

  She smiles shyly at me. “Come in.”

  I’m here for my physio appointment.

  I might have seen her only last night, but it feels like an eternity.

  It was the longest few hours of my life watching Rusty flirt with her in front of me – I’ve never wanted to hit a mate so badly. I guess that’s how Justin felt about me.

  I follow her into the room, and she closes the door behind me.

  “How bad was the mess last night?” she asks as she gestures for me to climb onto the bed.

  My leg has improved a little bit – all my niggles have actually, but not enough that I can even consider going back to training yet.

  “I’ve had worse. Nothing a cleaner can’t fix.”

  She goes to her desk and picks up her clipboard.

  I don’t know if she’s really reading what’s on there, or if she’s just trying to avoid eye contact.

  We haven’t had a chance to talk about what happened between us last night and I’m dying to see if she’s okay.

  “Alright, let’s start with your shirt off,” she tells me, still not looking in my direction.

  “Okay.”

  She sets down the clipboard and crosses the room to stand in front of me.

  My legs drop open on auto pilot and she steps in between them. She reaches for the hem of my shirt and gently helps me take it off.

  A shiver passes over my skin as her eyes graze over my body, still not making their way to my face.

  She presses on a few tender spots and runs her hand down my neck and over my shoulder.

  “Can we talk about what happened between us?” I ask in a whisper.

  She freezes for a moment before starting her gentle massage of my neck again.

  “What do you want to talk about?” she asks, her eyes flitting to mine for a fraction of a second before going back to her work.

  God she’s so fucking beautiful it hurts. She’s not got a scrap of makeup on her face and her hair is piled messily on top of her head, but she’s sexy as hell.

  I want so badly to reach out and touch her again – find out what those lips feel like when they’re really pressed against mine, but I can’t do it.

  No matter how much I want to.

  “I kissed you.”

  “Barely,” she breathes. There’s a longing in her tone that makes my head hurt, because I feel the same way.

  “I shouldn’t have done that… we can’t go there.”

  She digs her thumb in deeper, and I wince.

  “Sorry,” she says quickly. “Carry on.”

  She soothes the pain with her soft touch.

  “Justin is my best mate, and I can’t betray him like that.”

  “We got caught up… it’s all good, just forget it happened.”

  I don’t want to forget though – that’s the god damn problem.

  “Can we be friends? I wasn’t joking when I said I like hanging out with you, Ramsey.”

  Her hands drop from my shoulders and she smiles at me. “I’d like that.”

  I dip my head, my grin growing.

  “And I’m sorry that you had to listen to Justin give the big-brother speech – I bet that wasn’t particularly enjoyable.”

  “He’s just looking out for you. Keeping you safe from a meathead fighter.”

  “You’re not a meathead, champ, you’re just a teddy bear disguised as a killing machine.”

  That makes me laugh. “You reckon so?”

  She nods, her nose scrunching up, a smile playing on the corner of her lip. “I know so.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Ramsey

  “Have you got any more clients today?”

  I shake my head and wipe my oily hands on a towel. “I don’t actually work a Saturday – but you’re the exception.” I wink at him.

  “Well now I feel like a douche,” he says with a frown.

  I laugh. “Don’t. Honestly. It’s not like I even had to go anywhere – you came to me. And speaking of, I’m sure you’re used to people coming to you, so if you want to do this somewhere else, we can.”

  He shakes his head quickly. “I’m happy to come here.”

  “Alright… let me know if you change your mind.”

  “So, what are you up to now then?”

  I shrug. “I might watch a movie. Juliet got called out to an emergency, so I don’t know when she’ll be back.”

  “Have you got popcorn?” he asks me.

  I huff out a laugh. “I think there’s a microwave pack in the kitchen… why?”

  He grins wide. “I’m not staying if there’s no popcorn.”

  I shake my head in amusement. “And who said I was inviting you to stay?”

  He slides off the bench and reaches for his shirt. He shrugs it on gingerly, and I can’t help but admire the fine specimen that he is.

  The guy is so hot it’s hard to look directly at him.

  “We’re friends now, pinky, friends watch movies.”

  I laugh. “Is that right?”

  “So, what are we watching?” he asks as he walks to the door, his limp still visible.

  I don’t answer, and when he looks back at me over his shoulder, his hair falling in his eyes, my breath gets caught in my throat.

  “Whatever you want,” I choke out, and he grins again.

  Jesus. Being this man’s friend isn’t going to be easy.

  ***

  “You could have warned me that you were one of those people, you’re lucky I’ve seen this movie at least a dozen times.”

  “You have?” He frowns at me. “Why didn’t you say something?”

  I shrug.

  “And what do you mean ‘one of those people’?”

  I giggle. “One of those people that misses a plot point so asks what’s going on and then is too busy talking and making incorrect guesses about what will happen next, that they miss the next plot point.”

  “I don’t do that.”

  “You’ve done that for the past hour and a half – along with eating eighty percent of the popcorn.”

  He glances down at the bowl. “I didn’t do that either.” He grins.

  “You’re a liar, and not a very good one.”

  “Says the girl who keeps talking through the movie and eating all the snacks.”

  I bat his shoulder with the back of my hand and roll my eyes. “Shut up.”

  “Why don’t you just save us both some time and tell me what happens,” he suggests as he hits the mute button on the remote.

  He’s made himself right at home.

  He’s got his fee
t on the coffee table, and unlike when Justin does it, it doesn’t bother me.

  “They get together, and then she disappears. He’s miserable, blah, blah, blah. They eventually get back together after a short airport terminal chase.”

  “Why is it always an airport chase with these chick movies?”

  “That’s romance for you, champ. And don’t give me attitude about it, you picked the movie.”

  He grins, his dark eyes shining. “Don’t tell anyone I watched that – I need people to be scared of me.”

  “People are scared of you,” I reassure him as I rest my elbow on the back of the couch and my head in my hand.

  “You think?”

  “Do you not notice the wide berth people give you? Even your fans are wary of coming too close. You’re one hell of a scary bastard, Hudson Scott.”

  “What about you? Do I scare you, Ramsey?”

  He’s looking at me with that intensity again, the one I feel right deep inside of me. The one that seems to make it impossible to lie, even when I know I should.

  “You terrify me,” I whisper.

  I want to tell him that it’s my heart that is scared, but the words get caught in my throat.

  This is like déjà vu. He’s got that gleam in his eye, the very same one as last night, right before he kissed me.

  He must realise this moment is heading into territory he’s just sworn away from because his head falls forward, a deep breath whooshing from his lungs.

  When he looks back at me, there’s a grin plastered across his face.

  “I better get going.”

  I try to match his smile, but it doesn’t really work.

  I want to be friends with him, I really do… but it’s hard when on the inside I want so much more than friendship.

  I’m so into him, it’s insane.

  He pushes up from the couch and stretches his arms above his head.

  I’ve had him shirtless, my hands on his bare skin more than once now, but the sight of that deep ‘v’ leading into the waist band of his shorts as his shirt rides up, is an entirely different sight.

  “I’ll see you on Tuesday?” I offer weakly.