Challenge: A Contemporary MMA Romance: Oni Fighters Book 3 (11 page)

I was puzzled, Xander had always pulled the chicks, well, at least when he could be bothered. “You talking about with Eden?”

He nodded slowly. “And that’s where my reluctance comes from to talk about this with you as this obviously involves her as well. However, under the circumstances, I know she’ll be fine with it.”

Now, I was really curious, I was also a little envious too at his absolute certainty of another person’s thoughts and feelings. What would it be like to be that close to someone? Is that what I wanted?

“I won’t betray your trust, man.” And I wouldn’t. I could tell how much this was costing him.

“I know.” He paused and looked down at his hands before he went on. “You weren’t here when Eden and I first got together. You know how she’s been slowly coming out of her shell?” I nodded. “Well, when I first met her, it took her about ten minutes before she could even meet my eyes. I’d never met anyone so shy or low on self confidence or worth. It started out just me wanting to help her get her confidence back and slowly it became a whole lot more. I started to see the person inside, rather than just the packaging. My point is Seth, it wasn’t about the sex. Shit, she couldn’t bare for me to look at her, let alone touch her. She wasn’t very experienced from before.” He got a far away look in his eyes. “Anyway you get the picture. By the time you turned up again, we’d only just got to the point of Eden being comfortable enough.”

“Yeah, but you sure made up for lost time quickly. I remember Vegas well,” I joked and immediately wished I hadn’t. He wasn’t in a laughing mood and my humour fell flat.

He lifted his chin and his face went blank. “What exactly do you think happened in Vegas?”

That set me back, what kind of question was that? “Well, you know. You had your girl there and you were always dying to get back to her…”

“I didn’t touch her like that for weeks before the fight.”

“What? What are you talking about?” He couldn’t be serious surely?

“I never told you or anyone for that matter, at the time—not even Reed. After what happened with the Cobra, I kind of have a hang up about leaving a child without a father. I wasn’t prepared to risk it with the woman I love. All we did was hang out and cuddle. Stuff like that.”

I was stunned. I never realized. I felt like a shallow fool for not looking past the obvious. I guess people saw what they wanted to.

“Mate…”

He held up his hand. “Doesn’t matter. My point is, we got to know each other really well during those times, because we were focused on something more than just the physical. There’s a lot to be said for just being close, affectionate, and knowing there’s going to be no happy ending.”

“You didn’t even…”

“No,” he gritted out.

I looked at him with a whole new appreciation. The guy was a machine.

“But…there’s other things.” I tried to joke it off and suddenly I felt a little bit more like my old self.

He raised his eyebrows at me. “You think I hadn’t figured that out after all these years. You’re choosing to miss the point. It was about us. I’m not too proud or embarrassed to say between you and me, just how much comfort I took from having Eden know everything about me. I know you’ve wondered why Eden’s the one for me, more than once.”

“No man…it’s not like that.”

“Yes, it is. People see the scars and a few see the woman behind them. I know her to the core, like she knows me. She understands my demons like I understand hers. It’s partially because of what she’s been through that she could reach me where no one else could. She’s the reason I won in Vegas and she’ll be the reason I win the world championship belt when I get my shot.”

Wow, that was some heavy stuff. “So, you’re saying I should focus on getting to know her like you did with Eden? Is that it?”

He shrugged. “Seems like a reasonable plan to me. She claims to love you for some crazy reason. Plus, I’m guessing you’re not quite going to be feeling like doing too much more at the moment with your pelvis healing.”

“Couldn’t do any more even if I wanted to,” I hissed out.

“What?”

“Nothing happening down there at the moment.”

“There a problem or just a side effect of the accident?” And that was the thing about Xan. He didn’t judge or tease—just a solid force of strength and genuine concern, and now I felt like shit for trying to make light of stuff because of my own fucked up insecurities.

God, I could be a dickhead at times. I just didn’t deal with the deep stuff very well. Xan was still looking at me. “Don’t know at this stage. Nurse said it’s normal—something about the body’s way of protecting itself while healing.”

He gave me a light shove on the shoulder. “Well, there you go—makes sense. Stop worrying.”

“But that’s the thing, mate. I’ve never been in a relationship. I’m the king of one-night stands. I don’t know what to do if I’m not well, you know.” I figured I’d better watch the way I referred to Sophia. I figured it wouldn’t be good for him to have to remind me she was now his little sister
twice
.

A knowing grin spread across his face and I can’t say I liked it. “Were the king—I’m thinking. You been with anyone else since you hooked up with Sophia?”

“No!” I wasn’t a total heel.

“And what’s it been, three months?”

“Almost four,” I defended, three sounded shallow.

“But whose counting—right?”

“Right.” We both grinned.

“So, take the time and get to know her, let her in. What have you got to lose?”

I thought on that for a long moment and cursed my inability to move once again. If I could move around, I wouldn’t be in this predicament.

“Probably nothing…it’s just…”

“Scary as all fuck, maybe?”

“Yeeep.”

“Nothing worth having is ever easy, Seth.”

I shook my head and he chuckled “Oh, please, spare me the inspirational shit. We’ve known each other too fucking long.”

“Okay, but only because I know you know it too and even if you’re laying here feeling sorry for yourself, there is
no way
you’re too stubborn or stupid to forget it—
right
.”

“Right.”

“One other thing…please tell me I don’t have to give you the brother-in-law speech. You know the one I mean.” He raised his eyebrows and stared at me. I knew the one. I might be a lot of things but stupid wasn’t one of them. “She loves you. You need to handle that carefully and with respect, you got me.”

“Loud and clear.”

“Good. My work here is done.” He got up to go.

“What? You’re leaving me? We do the tough stuff then you want to bugger off?”

“I’m figuring you’ve got a lot to think about. Besides, I’m going to go home and cuddle my woman when she’s finished doing girly things with your woman. If you’re smart, you’ll be enjoying the same soon. And Seth, those fancy degrees you’ve got tell me you’re not dumb.”

My woman
!

“No, I’m not stupid. Even if I’ve been acting the arse of late.”

“We’ll cut you some slack. You’ve been injured.” He said diplomatically. We both knew I’d been more than an arse. I’d been nothing short of revolting to everyone that had been trying to help me.

“And what’s this about a girl’s night?”

“Nothing. Eden’s got Sophia and Tori over. I cooked for them, then buggered off. They’re watching movies and drinking wine and painting toe nails or something like that. Although, Sophia had better not be drinking; she’s in training.”

She hadn’t said anything about it. “She said she was coming back.”

“Guess you pissed her off real good.”

Fuck!

“I guess I did.”

He sat back down. “Actually, there is one more thing I want to talk to you about.”

It was nearly three hours later by the time he finally left. In that three hours, we covered a lot of territory. I actually felt hopeful.

I
t was now or never
. I’d kept myself busy and away from him for as long as I could. I’d cooked, cleaned, trained, sorted my resume, and fretted over what I’d done for the best part of the last two days. After all that, I was still no closer to knowing what I should or shouldn’t have done. The only think I knew with certainty was that I’d been honest with him.

I did love him.

What he did with that was up to him.

“Morning, Sophia,” Narelle said as I passed the nurses station.

“Morning. How is he this morning?” I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer. If he was more withdrawn and grumpy, I was likely to give him a piece of my mind.

“Better actually.” She seemed pleasantly surprised. “He’s more mobile. Physio came yesterday and got him up on a walker. He’ll be back later today. Maybe getting out of bed did him good.”

“Let’s hope!” I called as I carried on down the corridor to his room. Somehow, he’d managed to get the pick room with a nice view of the city. It was probably more likely that the nurses wanted him as far away from their station as possible.

I walked in and was amazed.

He was sitting up much straighter and had his laptop out on the mobile table in front of him.

“Morning,” I called as I moved up beside him and moved to drop a kiss on his forehead. It was all I’d been game to do to date. He caught my arm and pulled me down against him bringing his lips to mine before I fully realized what was happening.

And right away, I melted. Tingles zinged through my body and my ears began to ring. His tongue teased along my lower lip until the promise of what he’d do to me was too much to bare.

“Let me in, babe. I haven’t kissed you in forever.” It was that low full-of-heat sex voice, the one that ensured my panties were damp and every fibre of my being was aching for his touch.

And all my defenses fell, like a house of cards. He tasted of minty toothpaste and the sweetest treats. His tongue stroked and tormented mine as his hand fisted in my hair, holding me tight to him.

I was in Heaven, right where I wanted to be, and I wasn’t coming up for air. God, I’d missed him. Missed us.

Breath by breath, I began to relax and sink more into him. Into his strength and maleness. He was back and my heart was doing back flips.

He sipped and lapped, nipped and nibbled. It was as if it was our first kiss all over again and, in many ways, it was.

Slowly, we broke apart and just looked at each other. Something passed between us in that moment. Something important.

“I want to talk to you, I need to talk you about making us work.” Surprise and hope filled my heart in equal quantities. “But first, I need some more of this.” His lips found mine again and immediately, I was right back under his spell, only this time, I had hope and anticipation, for something far bigger than us coming together physically.

“Hmmm, hmmm.” A disapproving clearing of someone’s throat had us pulling apart. My eyes flew open and I stepped back as if burned. I probably would have stumbled back except for Seth’s big hand closed over my forearm holding me tight and steady.

I watched his eyes turn from raging with heat to icy cold in the blink of his eyelids.

As I turned to see who he was glaring at, he answered my question.

“Mum.”

The resemblance was uncanny, their grey eyes identical. She was a beautiful woman and perfectly put together—hair, clothes, right down to her matching handbag and shoes. I’d known Rachel for years but never met her mum.

At a glance, you knew she was the type that spent the time and money needed to always be at her best. Regardless of the trimmings, she would have still been an attractive woman in a burlap sack.

“Seth.” If Seth looked pissed, then his mum looked furious and the way she said his name all but confirmed it. “I see you’ve not changed your ways, even laid up in hospital.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he growled.

“Don’t act dumb. It doesn’t become you. It’s not the first time I’ve walked in to find you all over some floozy. Like father, like son.”

My jaw dropped and my voice froze.

Stunned!

I was a totally stunned. She’d called me a floozy and what was that about Seth’s dad? What was she talking about?

“You’d better apologise to Sophia right now, Mum. You don’t know her nor have you got any right to judge her.”

Her eyes narrowed. “That may be, but I know you and the type you prefer.”

“People change, grow. I’ve changed not that it’s any business of yours.”

“I’m still your mother.”

“Damned shame neither of us can change that. You may have given birth to me but you stopped being my mother when you married that arsehole you call a husband.”

What the devil was going on? My euphoric haze at having Seth back was disintegrating quicker than soap added to bubble bath.

It just seemed to roll off her…I was stunned.

“How are you?” There was not a hint of warmth or concern. In fact, it sounded like the complete opposite.

“Why do you care?” he spat back.

And I became more and more uncomfortable by the second. He must have sensed it because his eyes cut to mine. I indicated with my eyes that I’d leave to give them some privacy.

His answer was simple and clear. His hand closed tighter around my arm.

“Regardless what you think, I care, very much.”

“Funny way of showing it, Irena.”

Somehow, the use of his mother’s first name landed his hit even harder.

Her jaw twitched and it was obvious she was struggling with firing back at him.

“There was mail when I arrived home. Letters from the hospital. Things I needed to sign. I came in to discuss them with you.”

“You’re unbelievable. I’ve been here for over two weeks and not so much as a call or a visit. Then you finally get around to sorting out some mail and bang, you turn up. You’re fucking unbelievable.”

“I had commitments. Your sister was touring and don’t you swear at me.”

“Half sister and she’s an adult. I’m sure she’s well past needing you to hold her hand.”

“Well, I’m here now!” Irena fumed.

“So you are, aren’t I lucky.”

She took some papers from her handbag and put them on the table.

“Apparently, these need my signature as your next of kin.”

Seth looked at the papers, then to me before finally turning his eyes back to his mother. “Leave them. Sophia signed everything as my next of kin.”

“Your what?” Seth’s mum turned and spluttered at me.

“She’s my next of kin now.”

“This floozy?”

“Is everything okay in here?” It was nurse Nancy with a face that looked anything but approving. “Because I’m going to have to ask you to keep it down in here. Everyone on this floor can hear you. It is a hospital, you know.”

“Nancy, meet the woman who gave birth to me, Irena. She’s finally decided to grace us with her presence. Tell me Nancy, in your experience, is it normal for a patient’s mother to wait this long before visiting her critically injured son that was in ICU for over a week?” Nancy said nothing. She didn’t need to, the look on her face said it all as she directed her eyes to Irena.

“The papers, what do I need to sign and submit?” I watched his mother’s jaw set to steel as she attempted to bring things back to the damned paperwork. I’d seen that look before on her son.

Nancy took the papers from the table and leafed through them before returning them.

“These are redundant. Sophia already signed them when Seth was unable to as his next of kin. I’m not sure why the hospital forwarded them to you, must have been an administrative error.”

“Why do you keep rabbiting on about her being his next of kin?” Irena glared between Seth and Nancy.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Things were getting totally out of hand. This was about to go tits up right here and now. What would Seth say?

What should I say?

Far out, I had no point of reference for this sort of family craziness.

“That would be because she was here right from the start and was his closest relative. Sophia and their friends have been his only visitors,” Nancy clarified and I could tell she enjoyed doing it.

The two women were glaring at each other now.

“Closest relative.” Irena looked like she was about to explode.

“She’s his fiancée and, as Seth pointed out just before, he’s not had a blood relative here before you.” I had to give it to Irena, she didn’t even flinch at the sting Nancy delivered. Instead, she spun around to Seth.

“Fiancée. I’m not buying it. You don’t do relationships. I don’t know how many times you’ve told me that.”

“And whose fault is that? I don’t like your taste in the women you want me to date. Besides, I told you I’d changed.”

Irena glanced at me assessing. I felt like I was in some crazy other dimension. There was so many questions and so much emotion and anger floating around.

“Where’s her ring?” Irena demanded and my stomach dropped.

Quick as you like, Seth came right back without a second of hesitation. “She’s not wearing it. Sophia came straight from training. Unlike some people, she’s hardly left my side.”

“She’s here more than I am, and that’s saying something,” Nancy mumbled clear enough for everyone to hear.

Irena chose to ignore the jab. “Training?”

“Sophia is a fighter like I am, you can’t wear rings.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re telling me you’re going to marry a woman that fights?”

“Seems that way and, once again, why do you care?” he said with a level of nonchalance that was targeted to piss her off more.

“Oh, I care, more than you think.”

“Not feelin’ it, Mum, haven’t felt it in about twenty odd years. You can go now. I don’t have anything more to say to you.”

“Well, I have plenty to say to you.”

“Not like I’ve been busy. You wouldn’t have even had to make a time, in fact you could have had my undivided attention.”

“Right. I’m going to ask you to leave now.” Nancy glared at Irena. “I have obs and other things that I need to do for your son.”

“She staying?” Irena glared at me and nodded.

“If Seth wants her here—yes,” Nancy confirmed for her.

“Sophia stays, I want her here.” His eyes didn’t leave his mother’s. He was delivering a message to her, but the conviction in his words at wanting me made my heart flip flop.

“Fine. I’ll go, but this is not the end of it, Seth. We’ve got things to discuss. I’m not going to let you ruin your life like your father did his.”

“Whatever. I’m not going to hold my breath. I’m still waiting on that birthday dinner you promised me about ten years ago, so excuse me for not getting too hung up on it.”

His mother spun on her heel and her angry footsteps echoed all the way down the hall. Seth seemed to deflate back against the bed, all the fight gone out of him. He massaged the bridge of his nose with the thumb and index finger of his left hand.

None of us said anything. What did you say to that? Nancy looked at me and I looked back at her and shrugged a little, indicating I had
no idea
.

“She always like that?” Nancy asked, sliding the blood pressure cuff onto his arm.

“Pretty much. You might want to wait a few minutes, I’m sure my BP is through the roof right now.”

Nancy sniggered and patted him on the shoulder. “You’re not on your own hon.”

I was still gobsmacked at what I’d just witnessed. I’d never seen anything like it. How could a mother speak to her son like that? If what she said wasn’t bad enough, it was the venom in the way she said it that was blowing my mind. There was some seriously intense bad blood between Seth and his mother and I wondered how much that shaped his thinking on many things.

He looked a lot embarrassed. “I’m sorry you both had to see that. Um, we don’t get on. Haven’t for a very long time. I never expected her to show up here.”

And wasn’t that sad in itself? A son had no expectation or desire for his mother to turn up when he’d been critically injured. I realized how telling that was about Seth in so many ways. He didn’t expect people to be there for him—the people who were supposed to be closest hadn’t been, it seemed.

“Nothing to be sorry about, stuff happens. I don’t appreciate people coming in here and upsetting my patients.”

There was a definite possessiveness and defensiveness about Nancy. You immediately knew she was the type who would fight to the death for the people who were important to her.

In fact, her words only served to punctuate how fucked up Seth’s relationship obviously was with his mother, although, I’m sure that wasn’t her intention.

Nancy made some notes in his file. “I’ll be back in a little while to check that BP again—it’s up, but that’s hardly a surprise. I just want to make sure it goes down.” She stared directly at Seth, then me. “You buzz me if you don’t feel good, you hear. I can rely on you Sophia, can’t I.”

I nodded. “I’ll make sure, Nancy.”

She gave me a warm smile a “Good girl,” and was gone.

We sat there for a few moments. I realized I hadn’t spoken to him throughout that whole exchange or after.

“Ready to run screaming for the hills? I wouldn’t blame you. She’s a bit of business.” His voice was filled with anger and resignation. There was also a level of embarrassment, I figured.

I gave a nervous chuckle, not quite knowing what to do. “Yeah, she’s certainly, umm...unique. But no, I think I’ll stick around. Besides, things just seem to have got interesting.”

“I’m not sure I’d call that interesting. I was thinking more along the lines of train wreck or clusterfuck,” he groaned out.

I took his hand and squeezed. That shit with his mum was crazy and definitely embarrassing for him, but not what was on my mind. “That wasn’t actually what I was talking about. I was referring to the bit before we were interrupted. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy that kiss a whole lot.”

He turned in the bed and looked at me. He was so handsome. I loved the hard masculine lines of his face. Seth screamed dangerous male from every pore. “I enjoyed it a whole lot too, right up to the point when she walked in. But I can’t do this now, Soph.”