Paxton's Promise (Gloves Off #3)(61)
Grasping his shirt, I balled it up in my fists. “No, Paxton, that’s not how I feel at all. I love you for who you are. If I had the chance to kill Rage, I would’ve done it and not thought twice. Think of all the women, including myself, you helped save. So, no, there will never be anything but love in my eyes for you. That I can promise.”
Eyes glistening, he lowered his lips to mine and pressed down firmly. “I have a lot to make up for don’t I?”
I smirked and ran my fingers through his hair. “Two and a half days, to be exact.”
His gaze turned heated. Ripping off my shirt and pants, he slammed me down on the hood of his car, spreading me wide. “Well then, there’s no time to waste.”
Fight Night
A MONTH HAD passed and things had slowly started to quiet down. Some people called me a murderer, some called me a saint. Of course, there were a handful of fighters who thought I should have to forfeit my title, but the league wasn’t having any of that. As long as Gabriella was by my side, I didn’t give a shit what anyone else said about me.
“Does she know about the party tonight?” Matt asked.
I knew Gabriella and Matt didn’t have the best childhood as far as Christmas went. Their Christmas trees consisted of a small plastic one that could only hold a couple of ornaments. Not this year. It was our first Christmas together and I was going to make sure it was something she’d remember forever.
“No, she has no clue, but she’s ecstatic to have Ryley and Ashleigh in town.” Speaking of Ashleigh, they were off in the corner talking away when she should really be stretching. Now that Gabby and I lived together, I had permanently taken on the role as one of her coaches. Matt seemed to be pleased with her progress. She was ready for her fight. “I told everyone to give us an hour, so I can get her home and ready.”
“And you don’t think she’ll mind that you invited Kacey and Tyler?”
Gabriella could be a jealous person at times, but I knew there was nothing to worry about with her and Tyler and vice versa with me and Kacey. Gabriella actually wanted to find a way to talk to Kacey about Kyle. I never thought the day would come when Gabby would feel bad for him.
About that time, Garrett Wells stormed through the door, out of breath; his suit and tie in disarray. “Holy shit, it’s insane out there. Have you seen the amount of people?”
Gabby froze, eyes wide.
“Nice, Garrett. Good way to make her nervous,” Matt scolded.
“No, on the contrary,” she replied, “it’s f*cking awesome.” We had trained vigorously for the past month and studied Allie’s movements. She was more than ready.
“Just make sure you concentrate. We all know how you get when you’re excited,” Ryley stated.
Gabby rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm. “Trust me, I’m gonna concentrate. Have you seen my coaches? They’ll kick my ass if I do something wrong.” She looked over at me and winked.
“Well, let’s just hope you don’t do anything wrong,” Garrett said. Then he looked at his watch. “But right now we need to go. You’ll be up soon.”
Opening the door, Garrett walked out with Ryley and Ashleigh, leaving me and Matt with Gabby. We were both going to walk her down the aisle to the ring. “You can do this, Gabby,” Matt told her. “You’ve gotten so much better. It must be all of that underground fighting.”
“Or, it could be that I have two amazing coaches. I’ll admit, Paxton’s fighting is a lot different from yours.” Standing up on her tiptoes, she kissed my cheek and smiled at her brother. “But it’s what’s going to help me win.” Taking a deep breath, she turned toward the door. “All right you two. Let’s go.”
As soon as we left the room, camera flashes blinded us. Dressed in her red sports bra and black shorts, Gabby looked fiercer than I’d ever seen before. I had never been with a woman who could challenge me the way she does. Not to mention, she was hot as hell when she kicked ass in the ring.
“Remember, that’s my sister you’re looking at,” Matt mumbled under his breath. When I looked over at him, a smirk splayed across his face. “It’s going to take some getting used to, but I’m working on it.”
“Don’t worry, Reynolds. She’s in good hands. Just remember, one day I’m going to be your brother-in-law.”
“True enough. But if you so much as hurt her, I’m going to kick your ass. You got that?”
“Noted,” I laughed. “But you don’t have to worry about that.” As far as everyone believed, Gabby and I were still engaged. After the party tonight, I was going to make it official.
“You know I can hear you, right?” Gabriella chuckled. We made it to the curtain just in time for the announcer to call Allie out. The crowd boomed with thunderous cheers, but it didn’t seem to sway Gabby one bit. One thing we worked on pretty diligently was her focus. She was a master at it now, so I wasn’t worried.
“And now, competing for the Bantamweight title championship is Gabriella . . . The Machine . . . Reeeyyynnnooollldddsss.”
She looked back at me and Matt and winked. “Let’s go boys.”
The music blared overhead and the crowd went wild, her name echoing off the walls. Allie bounced on her feet in the ring, ready. When Gabriella hopped into the ring, the whole room sparked with energy. Both women smiled at each other and touched gloves before getting into position. Allie was one of the genuine fighters, like Mason, Matt, and Tyler. She wanted this fight to push herself, to compete against the best available. Gabby was definitely one of the best and she was going to show the world that tonight.