AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It doesn’t feel like I have a choice,” I say.
It was the best feeling in the world. It felt like all the stars were aligned this very moment. There was no way not to love Hugh Maddox.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX : HUGH MADDOX
We spend the next two days jumping each other’s bones every chance we get while preparing for the move.
Yep, that’s right. I’ve decided to go back to New York. When we got back from the hot springs I kind of lost it for a couple of hours in a flurry of activity. First of all, I shaved. Then I drove into town where I had cell service and called my agent. He could not believe it was me. We hadn’t spoken in years.
I told him I was coming home and it was time for him to find a new fight for me.
Not surprisingly, given that this would be the biggest comeback story in mixed martial arts history, he was overjoyed.
Sam loves the idea even more than he does. She knows I have all the money we’ll ever need, but she’s a city girl. I know she would stay out here if I asked, but I’m not going to ask. She has awakened something in me and I’ve got the urge to go back and take what’s mine. I never lost that title, I just gave it up.
Oh, and she’s going to write it up as the climax of the whole story. This might be a career maker for her.
She says her place is big enough for us both, but we can look for somewhere new if we want. I honestly don’t care about any of that shit. I’m just happy that I get to be with her.
Someone said once that if the people you love love you back, then you’re a success. That made sense to me then, and it makes way more sense to me now.
There really wasn’t too much to do to get out of the cabin. I was going to hold onto it, and leaving didn’t mean much more than locking the doors and driving away, which is exactly what we did.
Now we’re on an airplane headed back to New York.
“Everyone knows who you are,” says Sam. “You should have shaved that beard ages ago.”
“Why? For the deer?”
She’s right, though. I’ve been away, but I might still be the most recognizable fighter in the world. But the attention I’m getting—most of it meant to be subtle, most of it actually turning out to be anything but subtle, particularly from women—feels weird now. I’m not used to it anymore and in all honesty my cup is full with Sam, and knowing that she’s all mine.
“Oh my God, I love the way women are looking at you,” she says when we hit cruising altitude.
“What? Why?”
She squeezes my arm and leans her head on my shoulder. “Because I know they can’t have you and I’ve got you all to myself. Is that bitchy of me?”
“Yes. You’re absolutely awful. Never change, little monster.”
That night we crash at her place, exhausted, but not too exhausted for thirty minutes in the shower and another hour in her bed, which is just a little too small for me. I worried that the noises of the city might bug me after my years of solitude, but they’re surprisingly comforting. I needed to leave for a while, but it looks like I didn’t need to leave for good.
I feel like I’m home - in my town and with Sam.
They are both my home now.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: SAM WASHINGTON
The week we get back is a blur. Hugh spends a lot of time meeting with the upper brass at fighting headquarters and setting up a new training camp. He says he only needs about fourteen weeks to get through a full fighting camp. Apparently they’re going to let him challenge for the title right away.
I can’t wait to see him back on top. I almost forget about my own job. Trinity is absolutely bonkers for this story. She’s wants me to write it all long form, from the first meeting we had about it, to searching for the missing fighter, to finding him, to the sex, to the falling in love, to the return to New York and the road to the title fight.
If you ask me, The Inner Eye has already made too much of a mark on the world, and I’m no longer so concerned about pleasing my boss. I reject the idea of a full story that reveals the one on one moments I had with Hugh; instead I tell Trinity I will only write it if our private moments are left out. I was still holding my end of the bargain and I wanted to keep those beautiful memories between Hugh and I just that – between us. Trinity has no choice but to accept my ultimatum because Hugh won’t allow anyone to write his story but the person who knows him the most - me.
After the first week, things settle down a little. I take some time off from the office to write from home. Hugh puts in two training sessions a day at the gym and is otherwise at home. Sometimes we cuddle. Sometimes we treat each other’s bodies like jungle gyms. Sometimes we sit and work in companionable silence and it all feels perfect.
One night he says he’s got a big surprise for me. “Dress up, kiddo,” he says. “I’ve got something that’s going to blow your mind.”
I put on my nicest dress—one of the perks of having Hugh around is that I have someone to model for, and now. I don’t even have a guess as to what the big surprise might be.
