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She started to buck more violently against me, clinging onto me for dear life as her walls contracted around my shaft.
“That’s right,” I cooed. “Come for me, baby. Come hard.”
My heart fluttered with excitement. I just had the strong, intense feeling this was going to be the start of something new, something amazing, and I couldn’t wait to see where it led us. I knew it might be difficult, but as I’d faced a whole bunch of adversity in my past, and I’d somehow made it to this point, I was pretty sure that I could pull off anything at this point.
As I exploded in the glorious release I’d been craving, Ari pressed her lips hard against mine, building our bond even more intensely. She was mine. I was sure of it, and I didn’t intend to ever let her go.
“Wow,” Ari said softly and giggled as we collapsed next to one another in a heap, panting and out of breath. “That was... that was… I don’t even know what to say.”
Not wanting to say anything, especially as I was not sure what she was about to say, I pulled her in for another deep, passionate kiss. We were both naked in the boxing ring, in varied states of undress, lying in a gym I only aspired to enter as a kid with big dreams, and that was how I wanted this night to remain.
Much as I wanted to claim Ari, to make her mine, I also didn’t want the conversation to go the other way, fucking up what had been the happiest day of my life in a long time.
I got back into fighting.
I belonged.
I fucking won.
I made some smart decisions… and now I was here after having sex with the most wonderful woman on the planet.
“So, what now?” Ari finally asked, but I gained the impression she meant at that exact moment, rather than for the future, which was a question that I could deal with.
“I do need to get home, to check on my dad… but I would love to walk you to your car first, if that’s okay?”
Call me old-fashioned, but I always preferred to do the gentlemanly thing, especially now. I might not have always behaved that way, but that was what spurred me on even more. It was the main thing that separated what I had with Ari from what I’d had with countless other women in my past.
“That sounds lovely.” She grinned happily at me, stroking my arm. “Thank you.”
We rose and dressed ourselves slowly, but it wasn’t a moment that separated us because we kept smiling at one another and making sweet jokes. Usually, I hated the getting dressed part. I found it awkward and was unsure of what to say or do, but now with Ari, it felt right.
“Well, now this gym is going to have a couple of nice memories for you.” She laughed, and I smiled back. “Tomorrow’s training in this ring might not be as fun as what just happened here,” she said with a wink.
Chapter 20
Lotto
When Bones walked through the door, I had just arrived home as well. I had only enough time to go into the kitchen and get Pops his meds for the night and a glass of water. When I came out, Pops was gushing about the fight and praising Bones on how well he fought.
“I haven’t seen you that focused ever,” Pops said, slightly winded from his excitement.
“He’s been working his ass off training, and it was obvious tonight,” I added as I dispersed the meds into Pops’ shaky hand.
Bones smiled shyly, not quite used to the praise but visibly pleased by it. “Thanks, Dad. Means a lot comin’ from you,” he said as he took a seat on the worn leather couch. He leaned back his head and closed his eyes for a moment, the exhaustion after the fight clearly catching up with him.
“I’m proud of both of you,” Pops added, looking up at me.
I shook my head. “All I did was oversee the business stuff. Helped keep Bones on track. Nothing much.”
“Bullshit,” Bones snapped, glaring at me. “You did a hell of a lot more than that. You’re the one who believed in me from the start, long before I even thought I had a shot at this. Without you, I’d still be scraping by on the streets.”
I shrugged. “It’s all you.”
“With you in my corner,” Bones added.
“You don’t give yourself enough credit, son,” Pops added.
It still sounded foreign when he called me “son”. Even after all these years seeing the man as a father figure, and even being by his side through his illness, I still didn’t quite know how to respond when he treated me as one of his own.
Growing up in the foster system and spending more time in group homes than out of them, the sense of family hadn’t existed for me until I met Bones and his father. Everything had changed for me then.
