FIGHTER: An MMA Romance Novel (20 page)

B
lood dripped
from Jax's upper lip, he could taste it in his mouth. Beads of sweat formed on his brow and soaked into his eyelashes. When he jumped to the side, it flew from his face like he'd just come up from plunging his head beneath water. Cuts covered his face and bruises were already swelling up on his chest — but there was no way to back off now. Not after how far he'd come.

Five rounds had passed over what felt like an eternity. Five minutes each round in the cage felt like thirty. Every time Kidwell moved, every time Kidwell hit, every time Kidwell dodged, it felt like time stood still.
How many punches did he throw before the bell rang? How many did he take? How hard had he gone?

With neither party backing down, neither contender able to knock the other out that easy, Jax was looking at the long game.
When this final round ended, would the referees think he'd fought better and harder than the champ?
Jax wasn't sure. For the first three rounds he'd been on top of his game, but in the fourth Kidwell had laid into him once he'd lost some of his steam. It was anyone's guess how the judges would call it.

Tired. Lagging. Underwater. Jax had given the start of the fight all of his energy, and he knew he was near running on empty. Flashing lights paired with the energetic scream of the fans, all concealed by the darkness. The overhead lights blinded him to most faces, although he could still make out the front row.

Kidwell lunged. Jax moved aside and tried to catch him as he charged. The rookie's fist connected with Kidwell's chest, but the punch was unsubstantial. Kidwell kicked his shin. The two split apart, and Jax longed to spit the rusty tasting saliva that pooled in his mouth. Mouth guard firmly planted, there was nowhere to go but down. Jax swallowed, stomach roiling. The fight continued.

It happened in slow motion. Kidwell darted back, expression dirty and gritted. Behind him, the front row of the audience was screaming, jumping, pumping their fists in the air. They seemed so distant they might as well not have been real.

A flash of emerald caught his eye.

It wasn't from his own shorts — Jax caught it from the audience. The way the light fell and the position he stood in revealed it for the first time. Behind Kidwell, the audience all clutched emerald flags.

"JAX! JAX! JAX THE AX!"

Voices joined together in unison. Now that he'd seen the flags, he saw more of them. Glittering in the darkness like the gems that shared the colors name, each one was a precious reminder of what he fought for. Emerald. The woman who'd given everything to make sure he had a shot at life. Jax would make sure she, and everyone else who looked up to him, knew how much he appreciated her sacrifices.

As though he moved through syrup, Jax's eyes took them all in. Some old, some young, these were flesh and bone people who rooted for him. Not anonymous voices on the internet, not views on a video, but breathing people who'd come out to see him do his best. Come out to see him win. In their midst, a familiar face.

Nicole.

She chanted along beside them, pumping her flag in the air with wild abandon. The light caught the emerald dress she wore and made it shine. The roiling in Jax's stomach soothed, and the stupor he'd found himself in dried up. All of this was possible because of Nicole.

How could one woman be so amazing on the inside and out?

Jax couldn't let her down.

The burning pain of Kidwell's hits exploded all at once, taking him over in full. The burning forced him awake, demanded that he move, that he hit. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and sharpened his senses. Everything still moved in slow motion, but Jax could see it all so much better. Vision sharper, picking up every detail, he locked eyes with Kidwell as the champ lunged again. The move was sloppy. Jax saw the exhaustion in Kidwell's limbs, could see it in his eyes. The man was just as tired as he was.

It was time to end this and take what was rightfully his.

Kidwell dipped low, and as he did, Jax's body moved automatically. The shot was perfect, and for a split second, he thought it might be a trick. Still, Jax did not hesitate. A crushing blow from his foot hit Kidwell square in the temple as he rushed forward. Jax got his footing again and braced himself for a counterattack, but none came.

Wes Kidwell, current champ and the UFL's longstanding belt holder, lay still at his feet.

Paramedics and referees rushed the stage as adrenaline coursed anew through Jax's body.

"KO!" The referee screamed, indicating for him to back off. Jax stood on the spot, gripping at the wrappings that kept his knuckle padding in place. None of it felt underwater anymore, vision far too sharp and details far too clear. Now it felt surreal. Jax turned his head to look out at the audience, breathing hard. The lights were coming back on, and he could see them all now. Men and women rose to their foot, screaming and hollering. The noise was a roar he could not make sense of. Instead, Jax looked back to her.

Nicole was on her feet, jumping and screaming as she punched at the air in victory and crazed delight. The reality hadn't sunk in yet, but the excitement on her face was cluing him in real fast.

One of the refs took his right arm, and all of a sudden Jax found it lifted into the air. The audience was still going wild, but he only had eyes for Nicole. A sea of emerald waved in his victory.

"And the
new
UFL champion is Jax McCarthy!"

Not even the thrill of a victory twenty years in the making could take his eyes from her. It was love. Jax couldn't wait to share the excitement of his win with her.

"
A
nd the new
UFL champion is Jax ‘the ax’ McCarthy!"

Nicole screamed at the top of her lungs as the ref made the announcement, lifting Jax's fist into the air. The excitement ringside was thick, the fans losing their minds as the underdog took the belt.

In the moments that followed, the belt was brought onstage as Kidwell was rushed off it. The ref swung the belt over Jax's shoulder as cameras flashed and the shouting and screaming continued. All the while, Jax's eyes were locked on hers, expression blank as though he were in shock.

Nicole couldn't blame him — even with his confidence, physically winning the fight had to be a life changing moment. All his money problems had evaporated, and with any luck he'd have a long, lucrative career at the top. Until Jax could live the moment, Nicole was determined to live it for him. She screamed until her throat burned.

When the excitement died down, Jax was brought off stage. Nicole wasn't going to waste any time. Abandoning her seat, she raced up the stairways towards the exit and made haste for the backstage area.

"Nicole Washington! I work for Kade Holland!" She blurted out as she approached security, flashing her ID. Both men guarding the back doors stepped away, and she slipped in and headed in the direction of the locker rooms. Jax would just be arriving, she guessed.

And she was right.

Stepping into the locker room, he stood by his open locker, his team surrounding him. Shirtless, still glistening with sweat but cleaned of the blood he'd spilled, he was fresh from the fight. Nicole didn't care. At a running pace she cut across the tiled floor towards him, and he looked up when he heard her heels on the floor.

"Jax!" she cried, pushing past his coach, and threw her arms around him. He held her back, tired and worn from the fight, but still determined to make time from her. "Jax, I am so proud of you! I knew you could do it!"

"It was all that lasagna," he told her, humor shaping the words. The smile that colored his expression lit her heart like the sun on a clear day. "I couldn't've done it without you. I gotta call my mom and tell her that her life is gonna change, that she can rest easy now cuz I've got it all under lockdown. But before I do that, there's another matter that I need to tend to first."

“C’mon boys, let’s give the lovebirds a little room,” Eric interrupted. He gave Jax a wink over his shoulder and shuffled out of the room with the others, giving Nicole and Jax their privacy.

Happier than she'd been since she moved to Nevada, Nicole looked up at him.

"What's that?" she asked.

He kissed her. Hard enough to show his excitement over his win, yet tender enough that she knew that this kiss was about her and not just about the victory, Nicole melted to its intensity. With his hard body beneath hers, she thought of how much he meant to her — how much she loved the man who made time for her even in his moment of glory. But as much as Nicole reveled in the moment, it was fleeting. Seconds into the kiss, they were interrupted by familiar voice.

Kade's.

"Why am I not surprised to find you groping at men in the locker room? Get out, slut. The cocks you loved fucking and sucking need to have a little heart to heart."

The love and adoration she'd been showered with ended abruptly as the kiss broke. Jax squared his shoulders and lowered his brow, eyes narrow slits of agitation. When he broke away from her, it was only so he could stand between her and Kade. The man had crept in through the doorway and stood watching a short distance away. A chill ran down Nicole's spine.

"Don’t you dare talk to my woman like that," Jax snarled. "I may have fought through five rounds, but I’ve got another round in me if you don't watch your mouth."

Tension ran high between the two, and Nicole ducked behind Jax to avoid getting caught up in it. Kade wasn't as strong, but he was smart and he was wealthy. There was no doubt that Jax could take him down physically, but at what cost to his career?

Kade was thinking the exact same thing.

"Your woman? Pffft, maybe tonight. And you'd better watch your mouth, McCarthy, because I won't hesitate to fire your ass if you're going to give me crap like that."

"You mean the ass that your ticket holders are paying to see? The ones they're all cheering for? You're telling me that you'll take your champion out of the game because he called you out on your piss poor attitude?"

The way Kade's eyes narrowed and his jaw set betrayed anger, but he did not bite back with a reply. Instead, the man crossed his arms tight across his chest and remained on the spot, refusing to move.

"If you want me to keep making you money, you're going to apologize to Nicole, do you understand?" Jax's demands were clear, but peeping out at how Kade looked made Nicole nervous. As the champ, Jax held almost as much power as Kade did. It would be insanity on the billionaire's part to give him any reason to want to leave. Nicole knew very well that top matches generated millions of dollars in profits. Kade wasn't going to give up that kind of money so easily.

"Fine. Point taken. I'm sorry, Nicole." Never had falser words been spoken, and yet Nicole still felt the thrill of vindication. One of her hands stroked the small of Jax's back, and the tension between his shoulder blades eased. Regardless, Kade's apology was still not enough for his tastes.

"What are you sorry for?" Jax demanded. Kade glared at him and held back on his reply, but was left with no choice but to clarify.

"I'm sorry that I treated you like the slut you are."

"I swear to fuck!" Jax lunged forward and Kade shrunk back. "I’m not fucking playing here, Holland. I’ll walk out that door and take my publicity with me."

Nothing more than narrowed slits of hate, Kade locked eyes with Jax and clenched his teeth. No matter how he turned the presence circumstances around, there wasn't a way he was going to get out of doing what Jax wanted. As sincere as he'd been during the last apology, Kade carried on.

"Fine, I'm sorry that I treated Nicole like a whore. It wasn't right. I am
so
sorry."

There wasn't an inch of regret in Kade’s tone, but Nicole didn't care. Hearing him acknowledge the wrong he'd done her was worth its weight in gold. Shielded behind Jax's capable body, she beamed.

"Good. Now that that's all clear, get going. You have no reason to be in the locker room."

Kade's mouth fell open, and for a second Nicole though he was going to argue. Instead, a moment passed, and in that moment he regained himself and closed his mouth. The billionaire turned on his heels and walked out of the locker room. Nicole knew that tonight's victory didn't mean she'd forever be free from Kade's tyranny, but it was a positive start in a new direction.

With Kade gone, Jax and Nicole were alone in the locker room once more. Jax turned to look at her, tension gone from his body, expression easy. A smile that hit her as hard as any punch lit Jax's face.

"It's not gonna change who he is on the inside," Jax said, "but I thought it might be nice for you to get an apology at long last. If Kade ever gives you any trouble again, you let me know and we’ll have words."

The UFL's new champ drew Nicole into his arms, and she tucked her head against his chest, gazing up at him in adoration. Kind, handsome, down to earth, and thoughtful, Jax was everything she could ever need in a man.

"You'd do that for me?" she asked.

"Just like I'm gonna take care of my ma," Jax replied, tone diminished so it only carried to her ears, "I'm gonna take care of you. I know that you've got what it takes to make it on your own, and that you've been doin' it for a while now, but... I wanna be there for you when you need someone to turn to. I wanna listen when you need an ear, and hold you when you need to cry, and laugh with you when something funny happens, and celebrate with you when life is going your way."

Each word shot through Nicole's heart like an arrow, each hit striking her with desire for the man who held her in his arms. Jax was right — she didn't need a man to look after her, but having someone at her side would make life that much more enjoyable. If that someone was Jax, Nicole thought she might never be unhappy again.

"The truth is, you're the one who gave me the strength to get through that fight. When I saw you in the crowd, I knew that I had to win it for you. The thought of letting you down after all you did for me was too much to bear." There he paused, pressing his lips against Nicole's forehead in a tender kiss. When they parted from her skin, he spoke in the most fragile voice she'd ever heard from him. "I love you. Let me show you what you mean to me."

Nicole's knees trembled. If Jax hadn’t been holding her, she would have staggered to catch herself.

Love.

The party girl had never experienced love before, and now here it was, reciprocated by the most genuine guy she'd ever had the pleasure to meet.

"I love you, too," she whispered back. One of her hands swept across Jax's pale skin, tracing the tattoos across his collarbone. The champion of the UFL, one of the most powerful men alive, was hers. "I want to be with you. I want to see where a future together might lead."

The way Jax smiled was all the reassurance that he wanted the same. When the fighter caught her lips in a passionate kiss, Nicole kissed back.

A new take on life for her. The start of a new dream for him. Nicole knew that everything in their lives would change in the days and months ahead — but if they faced those changes side by side, she knew that nothing could tear them apart.