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“Oh God, no, Whitney!” I exclaim, aghast. “I’m not pregnant! Jeez.” I raise my eyebrow, frowning, then turn back to Howard. “I’ve just given this some thought lately. I finished what I came to start and I am grateful for the opportunity you gave me. If you guys let me, I still want to be here and practice, I just don’t need to fight anymore. My ribs tend to hurt more than I can handle from time to time and I don’t need to injure them worse. I love ya’ll like my family. Hell, ya’ll are my family.”
Whitney was damn near crying, hormones no doubt, while Howard stood there nodding his head fully approving of everything I said. “That first day when you sat down in this office, I told you if you didn’t want to fight you were always welcome here. I mean that now. I’ll make the call so you don’t get scheduled anymore. I’m assuming you’ve talked this over with Garrett?”
I glanced out to see him and Lance laughing over something. He has no idea about this but I know deep down he will be happy. It’s what he wanted, and now it’s what I want.
“No, I’m going to tell him tonight after his fight. I just wanted to discuss it with you first and make sure everything was okay.”
“Come here.” Howard pulls me in for a hug and I laugh. My arms barely fit around him. Whitney jumps in, making sure she wipes her snotty nose on his shirt. He glares at her before planting a kiss on her forehead.
I walk out of the office like nothing happened, and so did Whitney and Howard. I couldn’t wait to see the look on Garrett’s face tonight.
***
I sit on Garrett’s lap in the back room waiting for his fight to begin; it was my turn to tease him. He had to grab my hand once or twice to make me stop. Every time he placed my hand back on his chest, I would run it back down just to hear him moan.
He was up in about twenty minutes; we could hear Blaize’s voice booming through the speakers. I prayed he wouldn’t spoil my secret; every time he spoke my nerves were on edge. Twenty minutes meant we could live dangerously if we wanted to. Unfortunately, Garrett placed a kiss on my neck before helping me stand.
“I need to get out there, babe. You going to be up front by Howard?”
“You know it. Good luck.”
“Thank you.” He kissed my lips lightly before grabbing my hand and squeezing it.
Howard approaches us as soon as we step out of the room. He pulls Garrett toward him to finish prepping him. I looked for Whitney only to be told she didn’t come tonight. Damn, I was looking forward to having someone to talk to while Howard yelled at the ring. I took my place beside Howard as Garrett stepped into the ring. I watched his flawless body move around, blocking punch after punch from his opponent.
Garrett only got taken down once; after that he refused to fall. He landed a nice punch across the guy’s jaw. His attempt to bring him down failed the first time and they were back to shuffling around. In a flash, I spot some ink on his inner bicep the next time he throws a punch. I can’t see what it says but I don’t remember him ever having a tattoo. That’s something I’m pretty sure I’d have seen by now. As I peer at his arm, trying to read the tattoo, I almost miss when he pins the guy to the mat, winning the match.
Lance asks if we want to go celebrate tonight, but I had a different agenda. I hated to be the one to tell him no, but Garrett didn’t seem to mind. Once we were home and he showered, he met me on the couch, pulling me to his side.
“Have you always had a tattoo?” I pry.
“No.” He appears surprised by my question. “I got it about a month and a half ago.”
“Can I see it?” He lifted the sleeve of his shirt to reveal several symbols. “What’s it mean?”
“Well, I never told you this before but my family is Jewish. This means destiny in Hebrew. You are my destiny. If I couldn’t have you with me physically, this would keep you with me no matter what. I never thought I’d want at tattoo, but you changed that.”
“I like it. Now it’s like you have two of me, can you handle that?” His arm tightened around me as I prepared to tell him what I’d been practicing over and over again in my head since I talked to Howard and Whitney in the office.
“Well, I’m glad you like it. Oh shit, I don’t know about two of you, though, I may go crazy. I love you. There’s no one else in this world I could pos
sibly love more than I love you. You’re everything to me, Raegan.”
I scoff jokingly. “I love you too. I want to tell you something.”
He stares at me intently. I’m confident and I feel good about this decision. Love is about compromise; he asked me to quit before, and I wasn’t ready. I am now.
“I’ve given this some thought, just to let you know. I never thought I would be able to do anything I’ve done in these last few months, but I’ve proven myself and it brought me to you. I’ve decided I’m done fighting. Howard already knows, I wanted to be the one to tell you tonight. I worry enough about you. You don’t need to be worried about me, too.”
His expression was unreadable at first; he just stared at me, maybe wondering if I was serious.
“Are you sure, Raegan? Promise me this isn’t solely because of me. I will support you one hundred percent if you decide you want to keep fighting, I want you to know that.”
“I promise,” I assure him. “I only started to get out of my house and now I’m here with you. Yes, I like doing it, but do I need to? No. I just want to be with you.”
A grin crawls across his lips as he sweeps them across mine, igniting a thousand sparks in my chest.
As our kiss deepens, I think about the time I compared us to Barbie and Ken in my mind. I can’t help but chuckle mid-kiss. He pulls away, looking somewhat amused.
