All He Wants (21 page)

They were quite an accomplished group. And in the immortal words of Zoolander, “
Really, really, ridiculously good looking
.”

And that wasn’t the end of the Sloan parade of well-wishers. Jessie and Zach had spent a good portion of the morning here. Then Seth had stopped by with his wife Amber. And before they left, Bobby Sloan, who worked at Elite Protection with Billy, stopped by with his wife Sophie, Grandpa J’s
actual
granddaughter.

The constant stream of people continued with Lloyd, who’d been there for most of the day, and six or seven fighters had come to by. The outpouring of concern and love meant a lot to Maxi, and even though he didn’t show it, she knew her dad appreciated it. She’d always wanted a big family like the Sloans, and it was nice to feel a part of it, even if it was just for a day.

But now they were finally alone and as far as she knew, not expecting anymore company. Maxi thought this was as good a time as any to bring up what had been on her mind even if the thought of doing it made her want to puke.

She scooted closer to the edge of her chair and rolled back her shoulders, to try to alleviate the tension in them. “Dad, have you given any thought about what Dr. Shaw said?”

Dr. Shaw had told them all, in no uncertain terms, that if her dad kept going the way he was, he’d have another heart attack sooner rather than later and next time he might not be so lucky. He not only needed to eliminate the stress in his life, he also needed to change his eating habits. He needed to exercise and take care of himself.

Charlie Rizzo always took care of his fighters, made sure that they were in peak physical condition and on a healthy diet. Back in the day, he used to workout with them, and eat what he prescribed for them. But over the years Maxi had noticed he’d picked up some very bad habits. Like having steak dinners a few times a week and burgers and fries on the other nights, staying up late even if he got up early, and smoking cigars.

“Yeah, I thought about it.”

“Annnnnd,” she prompted.

After sighing, he begrudgingly said, “And I’ll go see that nutritionist.”

“Good.” They’d just cleared one hurdle, now she just had to get over the next. This one was the one that had her palms dampening at the mere thought of broaching it.

Instead of dipping her toe into the cold waters of the butting-in pool she plugged her nose and dove right in. “He also said that you needed more rest and that you needed to eliminate stress in your life, so I was thinking that maybe you could retire.”

The silence that filled the room after she said the r word was
loud
. The only sound was coming in the form of beeps from the machine monitoring her dad’s heart rate.

“I’m buying the gym.” Her dad stated flatly.

Those were probably the last words she’d ever expected to hear. She was prepared for him to fight her on not retiring, but she hadn’t for a second entertained the notion that he’d actually be taking on more stress, more work, more responsibility.

“What?!” She and Billy spoke in unison.

“You heard me. I’m buying the gym from Lloyd. He’s moving out of state to be closer to his daughter and grandkids. It’s been in the works for a while. That’s why I decided to extend my fishing trip, because I wasn’t sure when I’d get another chance to do it. He’s retiring, not me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Maxi asked with a much more accusatory tone than she’d ever taken with her dad before.

She half expected him to raise his brow and tell her to, “
Watch it, young lady
.”

But he didn’t.

“I was waiting for the loan to go through, which happened on Tuesday, but I wanted to tell you in person.” Her dad shifted in his bed and grimaced slightly and seeing him in pain amplified the urgency that she felt.

She tried to keep her voice calm as she made her case, “Dad, with everything that’s happened I’m sure Lloyd would understand that you can’t—”

“This isn’t up for discussion.” He went to his go-to parental conversation ender.

But this wasn’t whether or not he got out and started dating or wore clothes that didn’t match or any of the other things that she’d nagged him about over the years. This was his life.

“Dad, this is serious—”

He sat up straighter, raising his voice as he cut her off, “You don’t think I know that?”

“Does the offer still stand?” Billy interrupted the quickly escalating conversation.

Whipping her head around, she saw him staring straight at her dad.

“What offer?” her dad asked, even though she could tell from his tone of voice that he knew the answer.

“The offer you made me when I hung up the gloves. The offer to come on as a coach. The offer to work with you.”

This was the first she’d heard about any
offer
and she turned back to see if her dad did know what he was talking about.

He frowned, wearing a stubborn expression. “You weren’t interested then what makes it different now?”

Good question
. She certainly wanted to know the answer to that. She turned back to Billy and found herself holding her breath to hear what he had to say.

“I was pissed that my career was over before I was ready for it to be. I didn’t want to be on the sidelines, I wanted to be in the ring.”

Like she was watching a tennis match her head turned back to her dad.

His eyes narrowed. “And now?”

Following the “ball,” her neck swiveled back to Billy.

“Now…,” he began, but paused. After a beat he continued, “I thought I could walk away and not look back, but
now
I know that’s impossible. Boxing wasn’t my career, it was my life. It is my life. I miss it and if the offer is still on the table, I’d love to join your team and get back to my life.”

That was quite a serve. Maxi spun to see if her dad was going to hit it.

“I never took it off the table, you know you always have a place on my team,” her dad volleyed back and scored, clearly winning the game in her opinion.

Game, set, match
.

Maxi felt tears forming in her eyes. With Billy back at the gym she wouldn’t have to worry about her dad overdoing it. He would watch to make sure he was okay without hovering.

If she hadn’t already been head over heels in love with the man sitting beside her, she would be now.

Just as she feared her emotional reaction would be called into question, she was saved by an angel in the form of the nurse she’d met the night before. The door opened and Stephanie walked in. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail and the style accented her heart shaped face perfectly. Maxi was struck by her emerald green eyes and full lips. She had the kind of natural beauty that people paid big bucks for.

“Hello, Mr. I’m Fine,” she greeted her dad. “I would ask how you’re feeling but I’m pretty sure I know what the answer would be.”

“Did they teach stand-up in Bedside Manor 101?” Her dad grinned, clearly impressed with his joke.

“Yep.” She nodded without missing a beat as she removed an empty bag from the IV pole and replaced it with a full one. “And I was at the top of my class.”

After checking his vitals and making small talk about the fate of the White Sox and, whether or not they’d still be playing in October, she manifested two Tapioca pudding cups from what seemed like thin air, but must’ve been in her scrub’s large pockets.

Her dad’s face lit up.

But instead of handing them to him, Pudding Houdini kept them just out of his reach. “I scored you the last two I could find on this floor. You’re only going to get them if you promise
not
to give Molly a hard time when she comes by to get your dinner order tomorrow.”

“I didn’t want to eat any of that crap the hospital serves.” He shrugged dismissively.

Maxi had been there when Molly had attempted to take the dinner order. Her first mistake was waking him up to ask him, her second was trying to make the bland dishes sound appetizing.

Maxi had mouthed an apology to the nurse out of her dad’s line of vision.

“Yeah, well I didn’t want to get up and come into my third twelve hour shift in a row after only getting three hours sleep thanks to my new neighbor working on his motorcycle all day. But I want a paycheck, so I did.” She held them out a little further. “So the real question is; do you want these puddings or not?”

Maxi saw that her dad tried to suppress a grin.

“That’s blackmail,” he countered.

“Yep. Blackmail class was right after stand-up, and it was advanced” Stephanie shot right back.

Maxi liked this girl. She liked her a lot.

“Fine. I’ll take the chicken and soup,” he conceded.

“Actually tonight you’re having the turkey burger with a side salad. I ordered it when I came in.” She corrected him as she handed him the pudding. “Tomorrow you can have the chicken and soup after you order it
nicely
from Molly.”

“Turkey burger?” Her dad’s face soured like he’d just bit into a lemon.

“Turkey burger.” She chirped happily at her dad before turning towards Billy and Maxi who’d quietly enjoyed the show. “What about you two, can I get you anything?”

“No, we’re good. Thanks.” Maxi appreciated the fact that Stephanie and all the nurses had continually checked on them too.

After promising to be back later, Stephanie waved before heading out.

“I like her a lot,” Maxi enthused after she left.

“Yeah, she’s a piece of work. And she’s single.” Her dad’s observation was directed at Billy.

Maxi felt her stomach drop. Which was ridiculous. She and Billy weren’t anything. They’d had sex once. They weren’t in a relationship. There was no reason that her dad shouldn’t be trying to set him up with a pretty nurse. No reason that he knew about anyway.

“She’s not really my type,” Billy said casually.

Please, please, please drop it
, Maxi silently pleaded. This was not a conversation that she wanted to be witness to.

“Really?” Her dad didn’t drop it. “What’s your type?”

“I’m partial to brunettes,” Billy answered as a full-blown Cheshire-Cat smile spread across his sexier-than-sin face.

Thankfully, her dad’s dinner arrived and she wasn’t subjected to any further conversation on her least favorite topic.

As her dad reluctantly ate, Billy moved his hand so that it was resting on Maxi’s knee, which she hadn’t noticed had started bouncing up and down. His touch was like a shot of whiskey, spreading warmth through her. She’d spent all day in the hospital room with Billy sitting beside her, but they hadn’t had any contact. She missed it. She craved it.

If this was how she felt after one day without his touch, she didn’t need a professional opinion to know that she had it bad. Really bad. And she had no idea what to do about it…

“O
h my God, this is so good.” Maxi closed her eyes and moaned as she took another bite of Billy’s homemade lasagna.

With each sound of satisfaction she expressed, Billy’s pants grew tighter. When he’d made Maxi’s favorite dish for dinner tonight, his goal had been for her to finally eat a good meal; it had not been for him to get blue balls. It looked like that just turned out to be an unfortunate side effect now that he knew what it felt like to be inside of her when she made those same noises.

After several more bite-orgasms, Maxi sat back in her chair and sighed. Billy couldn’t help but smile at how cute she was. After her shower she’d changed back into his shirt, even though Jessie had dropped off her bag this morning and Jana had packed her sweats and pajamas. He tried not to read too much into her choice of wardrobe, but he couldn’t help feeling happy and a little possessive about it.

Leaning forward, she rested her forearms on the kitchen table. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

She hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Did you know anything about my dad buying the gym?”

“No,” he answered honestly.

He’d heard rumors that Lloyd might be moving and if he did he was planning on selling the gym, he’d even briefly thought about buying it. But that was as far as it had gone. When he’d asked Charlie about it, just a few weeks ago, the man had changed the subject so fast Billy had wondered if he’d even heard him. The interaction had seemed strange to him at the time, but he let it go. Now he knew it was because Charlie himself was buying the gym.

Maxi’s lips pursed and her eyes dropped to her hands. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head. She was a classic over-thinker and normally he’d let her work out whatever it was she was processing, but with everything that was going on he didn’t think that was a good idea. The problem was, getting Maxi to open up was like using a toothpick to pry open a clam that was super glued shut.

“If you could have any super power, what would it be?” He tried a non-direct approach.

She shook her head slightly in confusion. “What?”

“If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” he repeated.

“Umm…” Her eyes lifted to the ceiling as she pondered his question before answering, “I guess I would want to fly.”

“Solid choice.” He nodded in approval.