A Fighter's Desire (Gloves Off 0.5 & 0.6)(5)



She huffed and I could hear her getting out of bed. “Fine, I’ll be there in about thirty minutes. You owe me, Ryley.”

She had no idea.





Thirty minutes later, Gabriella Reynolds walked through the door in a pair of pink pajama pants and a CSU sweatshirt, her long, midnight-colored hair pulled up in a ponytail. She was a good friend, and probably the only female I could say that about.

When her gaze landed on me, she covered her mouth with her hand and laughed. “Wow, I must say … you sure know how to party. Do you ever do anything other than fight?”

A mischievous grin spread across my face. “Do you really need me to answer that?”

Holding her hands up, she rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Okay, never mind. I already know what you and your brother like to do. Now come on and let’s go so I can get your worthless ass home.”

Putting my arm around her shoulder, I squeezed her tight and bent down to kiss her cheek. “What would I do without you, Gabby? Thank you for coming to get to me.”

“Oh, it doesn’t come without a price, Mr. Jameson. There’s something I want from you.”

We ventured out into the parking lot and stopped by her little silver sports car. She turned to face me with a sly smile, folding her arms across her chest. I knew that look; she was up to something. “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret this?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say you’d regret it, but it is going to take some work.”

“What do you want?”

Her grin grew wider. “You have a fight next weekend, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And of course afterwards there’ll be a party?”

Sighing, I stared at her hopeful gaze, knowing very well what she wanted, and nodded. “Yes, but you know you can’t go to it. Your brother would kick my ass. He already hates the fact that we hang out together.”

“Tell me about it,” she groaned. “He just knows how you and your brother are. What he fails to realize is that I’m a grown woman and can make my own decisions.”

She was a grown woman all right. She was f*cking hot and a newbie fighter as well. Her brother had been teaching her mixed martial arts for a while, and I helped her fight every now and again; she was a firecracker in the ring.

“So why are you wanting to go to this party? What’s in it for you?”

She winked and bit her lip. “I have my own reasons, Ryley. Get me into the party and I’ll call everything even.”

“How about you bring a friend and then we’ll call it even,” I countered. “I’d love to meet one of them. How about your friend Ashleigh? You always talk about her.”

Gabriella rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m not going to let you seduce my friend. Besides, I don’t think she’d fall for your schemes. She’s a smart girl and definitely not someone to play around with.”

“So basically what you’re saying is that she can’t handle me, is that it?” I asked, chuckling.

Laughing, Gabriella strolled over to her side of the car. “Oh, Ryley, if only that were true. I hate to say this, but it’s the other way around … you wouldn’t be able to handle her. Not even with the help of your brother.”

I scoffed. “Yeah, right. I have yet to find a female I couldn’t handle. You have no idea what I can do in the bedroom.”

She nodded. “True, but I’ve heard plenty of stories about you and your brother’s trysts in the bedroom. I must say it’s pretty interesting. You know, one of these days you’re going to want to stop doing that and settle down with one woman.”

“I’m not a one woman kind of guy, sweetheart. There’s too many to pick just one.”

Gabby held up her hands up in defeat. “Okay, fine, have it your way. I’ll bring Ashleigh, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Getting in the car, I looked over at her and smiled. “Then I’ll get you into the party. Leave your brother to me.”

I loved a good challenge.





MONDAY ROLLED AROUND and it was time to get back to work, to training. Camden apologized for not picking me up at the police station, and like I already knew, it was because he was busy f*cking the three girls at the club. At least someone had fun. Thankfully, my motorcycle was still there in the parking lot when we went back to pick it up.

When we walked into the gym, I saw the owner, Carter Bennett—who also happened to be Gabriella’s brother’s coach—down at the ring talking to mine, Danny Echols. Carter was probably somewhere in his late forties and a head shorter than my coach by almost a foot, but he was one of the most hardcore fighters I knew.

Gabriella’s brother definitely had one of the best coaches around along with me. My coach was a little bit older, but he was just as bad ass as Carter. Thankfully, my brother and I were early which earned us an appreciative smile from him when we approached. I had to make sure he didn’t find out about last night.

Matt Reynolds was in the ring, battling it out with Mason Bradley, two of the best Heavyweight UFC fighters of my time and also my mentors. “You better train hard this week, brother,” Camden commented. “You’re up against Nate Anderson this Saturday.”

I sneered at him. “Please, I’m not worried about that f*cker.”

L.P. Dover's Books