Fighting for Love (Second Chances #4)(18)

Doubting him led to one conclusion: I didn’t know if I could trust him yet. Staring out the glass doors of the arena, I could see Lexi power walk up the path, adjusting her camera along the way.

“Thank you for the insight, Garrett, but I don’t think my article will cover Matt’s sexual preferences,” I responded impassively. “Besides, what he does is his business, not mine.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he confessed. “You’re different from the others and I’d hate to see someone like you get hurt because of him.”

Too late, the damage has already been done. Turning to him, I said, “Trust me. I have no intention of getting hurt by anyone. Thanks for the concern, though.”

Lexi burst through the doors at that moment with her camera in hand. “Shels, I’m so sorry I’m late,” she apologized. “The traffic was a bitch. I thought I’d never get here.” After straightening the camera around her neck, she held out her hand to Garrett. “Hey, I’m Lexi Martin.”

Garrett took her hand and grinned, making her blush crimson. “Garrett Wells. It’s nice to meet you. Now that you’re here, let’s go see the fighters in action.”





GARRETT HAD STROLLED DOWN TOWARD the ring while Lexi and I hung back a little ways so we could talk. Around the arena there were several other fighters waiting for their turn to get their pictures taken, ranging from every single division. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Lexi taking pictures of those so-called fighters with a huge grin on her face. Hey, it was hard not to look, but my focus remained on only one person.

In the ring, Matt and another fighter posed in a faceoff with their gloves held up by their face in striking position. They looked so serious glaring at each other, but as soon as the pictures were done they grinned and immediately started talking. Matt was a likeable guy, and ever since we were younger he always had people migrate toward him. They loved him. He was a leader; charismatic and bound for great things.

Snapping pictures with her camera, Lexi nodded toward the ring and sighed. “Out of all the athletes Bryan could have picked for the article he chose Matt Reynolds. That’s fate right there. I can’t believe you didn’t call to tell me,” she scolded. Everything had gone so fast, calling her had completely slipped my mind. Although, I didn’t really want to tell her that.

With woeful eyes, she lowered her camera. “How are you holding up, anyway?” she asked.

Halfheartedly, I shrugged. “Fine, I guess. Just a little confused as to what we’re doing.”

“Have you two talked about getting back together?”

We hadn’t really discussed it per se, but from his actions I would say it was a given. “Kind of,” I told her. “I don’t know if you consider kissing a declaration of getting back together, but when I’m with him it feels right. Like it’s where I belong.”

Sighing, Lexi sat down in a seat on the front row and I joined her. Matt winked over at me and I smiled, loving the way he looked so happy up there in the ring.

“What are you going to do about Caleb? Have you told him yet?” Lexi asked sadly.

I shook my head. “No, I haven’t. I was going to last night, but Jace and I kind of got into it. I didn’t want to have to deal with another catastrophe.”

“What about our date tomorrow? Are we still going?” she asked. When I nodded, she continued, “Well, if you’re thinking of getting back together with Matt, what’s he going to say about you going on a date with someone else?”

Blowing out a heavy sigh, I lowered my head and groaned. “He’s not going to like it, but I plan on telling Caleb in person that I can’t see him again. He’s a great guy, but I can’t string him along. It’s not fair to him.”

“Okay, listen,” Lexi began, patting me on the hand. “I honestly think it’s a good thing that you’re going on a date, even if you’re breaking it off with Caleb. Matt needs to know that you haven’t been pining for him after all these years while he’s been out having his fun,” she ranted.

That’s true, but again, it isn’t like he cheated on me. “I know that, Lexi, and believe me it pisses me off. If for some reason he hasn’t changed then I’ll walk away. It’ll hurt, but at least I’ll know that it wasn’t meant to be.”

Happy with my answer, she nodded and squeezed my hand reassuringly. “Okay, and just so you know I think Matt’s about to come this way.”

Sure enough, Matt jumped out of the ring, with his gloves still on, and headed straight for me; his bare chest showed off the new tattoos he’d gotten over the years. The first one he ever got was a Celtic ankh on his left arm, and now it was surrounded by a whole sleeve that extended down his bicep to shoulder.

We had just graduated high school when we both had the urge to get our first tattoos; he got the ankh and I got a moon and shooting star on the upper right side of my back. Over the years, I was thankful I didn’t have it where I could see it every day to remind me. There were a lot of ‘firsts’ that Matt and I had, and it was almost like a game we played trying to see how many of them we could achieve together.

“Hey,” he said, wrapping his arm around my waist. His skin was so warm and hard. Immediately, my body melded against his side; I fit there perfectly.