Doomsday Love: An MMA & Second Chance Romance (16 page)

Drake—he was capable of a lot. I could tell.

He was afraid of getting close—afraid of letting me in. But the fact that he was opening up to me and being so honest right now proved to me one thing.

He fought all the time—fought with himself, fought during his free time, fought with his past—but I think when it came down to me, he didn’t want to fight it anymore. He
couldn’t
fight it because if he tried he knew it would be his first loss.

So he tapped out.

He gave in.

Just like me, he wondered. He probably daydreamed about it—maybe not as much as I did, but at least once… I hoped.

I was glad he felt he didn’t have to ward me off anymore.

I was also glad that he felt this way about me—like I was his only friend back then. Like I was the one he could confide in. Like I was the girl he would never forget.

We’d gone separate ways, but we were back now. Maybe a little more attracted to each other than friends should have been, but that was okay.

Being only friends with someone like him seemed boring anyway.

This, I thought, could work.

There could be so much more between us.

My hopes were high…maybe a little too high.

I
didn’t know
what the hell I was doing at this damn carnival with her.

Riding the damn merry-go-round, the rollercoasters—all of it. I hate rollercoasters, but somehow she managed to talk me into getting on one. The biggest one.

I don’t know how the hell I didn’t end up vomiting all over her lap, especially after all of the cotton candy and popcorn I ate.

She would have hated this whole idea of a carnival if that would have happened.

After the ride, we sat on the nearest bench. She went for a candy apple, a brownie, and water. When she brought it back and offered, I refused it.

“Can’t handle anymore sweets,” I mumbled.

“You are a such a wimp,” she laughed, bumping my shoulder playfully.

“I’m not used to all the junk food.” I shrugged.

“I bet, with all of the working out you do.”

I looked over at her as she took a bite of her brownie. When she caught my eye, she gave me a full, chocolate-crumbled grin. Crumbs were between every tooth, and she looked so silly I couldn’t help but huff a laugh.

I tried to fight it, I did, but it was useless.

She was so damn innocent and cute. She didn’t even know it.

She snorted. “Sorry,” she giggled.

“Don’t be.” My face straightened as she dropped her head. I didn’t get it—why she apologized so much. “Do you even realize how often you apologize for doing absolutely nothing?”

“No…?” She looked confused.

“You shouldn’t feel sorry for being yourself.”

She chewed slowly and looked me deep in the eyes for several seconds before pulling away. “It’s a bad habit. I’m working on it.”

I sighed and sat back, watching the families and couples stroll by. The carnival lights were bright tonight, the sun nowhere in sight. Children screamed and the salty aroma of popcorn mingled with the sweet scent of funnel cakes and cotton candy.

I spotted three kids running towards the bumper cars line, screaming like banshees. When my arms locked across my chest she blew a breath.

“Should we go now? Am I boring you? I know you have things to do.”

I sat forward and stopped her from taking the next bite of her brownie. “I don’t have to be anywhere for another two hours. I’m in no rush, Jenny.”

“You seem so bored,” she admitted, laughing nervously.

“Not bored.” I looked up and bobbed my head. “I was thinking about how easily I could beat you in bumper cars.”

I grinned as she did. Her smile was so damn perfect, her innocence so sweet. If Mom had met her, she’d have called her a
“sweet darling.”
Those exact words.

“You’re kidding, right?” She gave me a bullshit look. “I will
own
you in bumper cars.”

“Wanna bet?” I slanted a brow.

“All right.” She lowered her dessert, giving me all of her attention. “Bet what?”

I licked my lips, and she watched the action, her eyes flicking from my mouth to my eyes instantly. Her cheeks turned red, and she swallowed.

“If you get more bumps, I’ll win that teddy bear you keep eyeing over by the darts game.” She looked towards the game, a guilty smile on display.

“And if you win?” she questioned.

“If I win… you will come back to my truck and let me kiss you again—this time with no interruptions.”

She blinked rapidly, those eyelashes like butterfly wings. She held my gaze, and neither of us moved as my words filled the air.

After several seconds, she pulled it together, stood from the bench, and nodded towards the bumper cars. “It’s a bet, Doomsday!” She jogged for the gates and I hurried after her.

There wasn’t much of a line, which was good. The sooner I could get this done, the sooner I’d have her back in my truck, teddy bear or not.

I couldn’t stop looking at her—watching her. Her laugh was so light, and to know she was laughing with me and not at me made me wonder why I held back for so long.

I didn’t do mushy or sweet or any of that bullshit, but with Jenny, mushy and sweet didn’t feel so wrong. I guess Oscar was right. Mr. Sweet Talk got shit done.

I laughed at the thought, just as Jenny and I buckled into the cars. She pointed two fingers at her eyes and then the same fingers at me, an
I’ve got my eyes on you
gesture.

I quirked a cheek, glancing at the stoplight on the wall for our cue to go. A buzzer went off, the light turned green, and it was game on.

Jenny came right for me, but I pressed on the pedal, rushing forward and laughing as she hit the wall.

“Cheater!” she shouted.

“Too slow!”

She twisted her steering wheel, coming after me again. I made a roundabout around the ring, but some fucker hit me on the left, closing me in against him and the wall. He held up one hand and shrugged.

I frowned as he backed away and took off in the opposite direction.

“Pussy,” I muttered. I pressed down on the pedal, but just as I took off, someone hit me from the rear.

I looked back, and there she was.

Jenny.

Grinning like a kid in a candy store.

“Gotcha,” she sang.

I made a large U, but it was too late. She’d backed away, and spun around, going around the ring again. She was competitive. That was a good thing. It made this little competition of ours more fun than it probably should have been.

I laughed as I started to get close, people were hitting me left and right, but none of them were keeping me away from winning my grand prize.

Her, in my truck.

My lips on hers, tasting her sweet skin, the brownies she just ate, the cotton candy that melted on her tongue.

Jenny was trapped by two of the young kids that I saw running to get to the line, and when she saw me coming, she squealed. I sneered as I bumped her right in the rear.

I backed out and went in again.

And once more.

Three to one.

I looked towards the green light, waiting for it to flash to yellow.

Come on, fucking buzzer. BUZZ! I need to win!

“Stop it! You’re cheating!” She was laughing so hard, in hysterics. “Oh my gosh! Get these kids off of me! Did you put them up to this?”

I busted out laughing, looking at one of the kids. I inched forward, but he backed away, snickering as he took off and then bumped and trapped someone else.

The other kid did the same, and Jenny was finally free.

She made a loop around to get to me, but it was too late.

The buzzer went off, metal scraped, and the bumper cars came to a rapid halt.

“What? No way!” She looked around, stomping on the pedal to force it to go.

“Ha!”

She looked up. “You so cheated.” She unclipped her seatbelt and stepped out of the bumper car.

“You keep saying that.” I slid out smoothly, landing on the metal floor. “But I think we both know that was a fair game.”

She came my way, a little light of fire in her eyes. She was ready to argue and I’m sure she was about to until I swung my arm over her shoulders and pulled her in close.

My gesture took her completely off guard, but she didn’t say anything. She was about to continue about my “cheating” but I’m guessing this was better.

“What was that about cheating?” I mused.

She looked up with rosy cheeks. “Oh, hush.” She looked towards the stand with the big, pink teddy bear.

I looked with her, stopping in my tracks. “Don’t worry. You’ll get your prize for effort.” I released her and walked towards the stand. “Come on.”

“Yeee!” Her squeal was shrill as she met at my side. I stopped at the stand, offering up the five bucks for a quick game.

“Five bucks for three darts?” I frowned at the guy behind the booth.

He held his hands out with an innocent plea. “I just work here, man.”

I shook my head, and threw one of them at the purple balloons at the very top. They were worth more points. Jenny waited at my side, anticipating the damn bear.

“Hey,” the man said, stepping closer and waving a finger, “aren’t you that fighting kid? Doomsday or something like that, right?”

I avoided his gaze. “No,” I lied.

Jenny stopped bouncing at my side, looking up at me. I could feel her confusion.

“Oh,” the man went on. “Could’ve sworn you were him. All those fancy tattoos. You’re huge too. Actually, now that I think about it, I think Doomsday might be a little bigger. Never mind.” He waved a hand. “You ain’t him.”

I scoffed. “Yeah.”
This guy.

I threw the other two darts at the purple balloons, won the damn game, got Jenny her stupid teddy bear and walked away.

I stopped at the funnel cake stand and Jenny met up with me, but I could still feel the man looking at me, peering over the other heads to watch me.

“What was that about?” Jenny asked.

“Nothing,” I muttered.

“It was obviously something. Did you know him?”

“Nope. But he looks like he attends the fights.”

“He knew who you were. Why’d you deny it?”

I blew a breath. “Because if word got out, we wouldn’t be having a good time anymore. We’d be kicked out. No one trusts a fighter, especially an underground one.”

“Oh.” Her throat worked up and down. She then focused on her teddy bear and squeezed it against her chest, smiling. “Well, it’s whatever. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just walk away.” Reaching down, she grabbed my hand that was balled into a fist, and smiled so sweetly it damn near made me melt inside. Well, it more like cooled me down. “It’s okay, Drake. Let’s go this way.”

She turned and we walked through the busy crowd, hand-in-hand. She started for the exit, and when I realized we were nearing the gates, I chuckled.

“You are wild, Snoop.”

“What?” She winked over her shoulder. “A deal’s a deal. I’m good for my word.”

“Hmm.”

She released my hand and walked for the passenger door of my truck. I met at the driver’s side, swinging my door open. When we were inside, she placed the bear between us, and then buckled in.

I did the same, starting the engine right up. I didn’t drive off right away though.

“What’s wrong?” she inquired.

“Can I take you to one more place?”

She nodded eagerly. “Sure.”

It took twenty minutes to get back to Fox River. I drove slowly, knowing damn well there was a place I should’ve been getting to. It had no choice but to wait for me.

Jenny gasped when she noticed the lighthouse a few yards ahead. “Lake Ultimate,” she breathed.

I nodded, pulling to the side of the bridge, parking, and then turning the headlights off. I made sure to face the vast body of water, the moon that looked as if it were perched atop the rippling waves.

“This is so beautiful, Drake,” Jenny whispered quietly. She looked around, watching as the light from the lighthouse circled its perimeter. “Are we allowed to park here?”

“Probably not.”

She turned quickly to look at me. “Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?”

I scoffed. “Hell, no.”

“It’s considered trespassing this late. You could get arrested and go to jail.”

“Don’t you mean
we
could go to jail?” I was teasing her now.

Her face drew a blank, eyes wide. She didn’t know how to react.

I laughed. “Holy shit. I’m just kidding, Jenny. Calm down. I come out here all the time. I have never gotten caught. No one works this area. I’ve checked, and if they do they most likely know who I am. The men that work around the harbor, the security, they all attend the fights. They would let me off easy. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. But if something happens, make sure you run like hell, okay? Even if I happen to get locked up.” I was teasing again, but she wasn’t buying into it.

“You are terrible with joking around.” Her voice was faint.

I fought a laugh. “Stop worrying.” She side-eyed me and I looked at her fully. “Come here.”

Her head shot up. She watched me carefully, looked out of the window, and then with slight reluctance, came my way, sliding across the leather bench with a sigh.

“I can tell you’ve never done anything bad before.”

She sank beneath my arm. I wrapped it around her, gluing her to my side. “I haven’t. I have a rep to keep—plus… my parents.”

“I wouldn’t let anything ruin your rep. Trust me.”

She snuggled in some more. I shifted uncomfortably when her hand landed on my lap. “Why’d you bring me out here anyway?”

“I thought you’d like to see it.” I tried ignoring how close she was to my cock.

“It is pretty,” she admitted. Then she looked up at me. “You said you come here often?”

“Whenever I happen to be free. Neither working or fighting or training.”

“And how often is that?”

“Let’s just say tonight is my first day off in a very long time and that’s only because it’s my birthday. I’m sort of taking it easy, fulfilling a promise to my grandmother.”

“What was the promise?”

“I told her I wouldn’t work or fight on my birthday. After I leave the Smashdown I’ll be back at home with her to eat some cake.”

She smiled. “You really love your grandma, huh?”

“To death.”

“That’s sweet, Drake.”

I focused on the lighthouse, suddenly uneasy. I wanted to tell her that my grandma was sick, losing a battle to stomach cancer.

Fortunately for me, the opportunity arose because Jenny asked, “Is she why you had to drop out of school? I mean, I just remember you mentioning her medical bills and stuff at the restaurant earlier. And then that first day I saw you again at The Dark Side, you told me you had responsibilities…” She trailed off, but didn’t dare meet my eyes this time. She was probably too afraid to, and I was too damn afraid to answer.

“Maybe,” I mumbled.

She sat up, sliding out of my grasp. “I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“I know you wouldn’t.”

She looked me over quickly before her gaze averted to the radio. She then sat back against the cool leather, exhaling. Her eyes zoned in on the lake. She was quiet for a while. So quiet I felt I needed to say something.

Something important.

“That is the reason why…”

“Why what?” She met my eyes.

I looked away. “I dropped out because there was no one else to take care of her. She was in debt, about to have her house foreclosed. I couldn’t allow it, so I told her I would make a way and I did. I worked hard. I have two damn jobs and I fight at night. I’m always so damn tired but I don’t stop. I
can’t
stop because I owe her everything.” My rough hand ran through my hair, tugging on the roots. “I didn’t want to become a fighter, Jenny. That’s why I lied to that man earlier. Because I don’t want to be known to people as just Doomsday, some lunatic that beats people up for a living. I’m good at it, yeah, but that’s not all I am.”