Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2) - Sidney Halston

Chapter 1

“Slade Martin! Open the damn door.” An incessant knock vibrated through the house. Had he not heard the chirpy voice, he’d have thought it was his sister, Chrissy. She had a knack for pounding on doors. But still, this voice was familiar even if he couldn’t quite pinpoint it. Unfortunately, he knew exactly what he’d find on the other side: the wrath of a scorned woman.

Slade rolled off the uncomfortable single bed in his spare bedroom. He hoped that the knocking hadn’t awoken Jessica. In the last two weeks, while she’d been staying with him and recovering, he had discovered that Jessica could sleep through anything. But who was he kidding? The knocking could’ve woken up the dead. He fumbled for the pair of navy blue sweatpants he’d thrown on the floor the previous night and slipped them on, followed by a white T-shirt. Leaving the room, he peeked into his bedroom, where Jessica seemed to continue to sleep in his comfy king-sized bed, unfazed by all the noise. He closed the door and padded downstairs quickly. The knocking and shrill voice needed to stop. He flung the door open to come face-to-face with a tiny blond woman whose voice matched her body: small, fiery, and annoying as all hell. Charlene, Charlotte, Chanel, Chelsey, Chantel…?

“Slade,” she whined.

“What the hell, Chantel?”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Chrissy and Jack walk across their lawn to his, Chrissy holding a leash with one hand, the other in a sling. And attached to the end of the leash was the bane of Slade’s existence: Drogo, a tiny five-pound Chihuahua that hated Slade. The feeling was mutual.

“Yo.” Jack tilted his head up at Slade in the universal guy-hello nod, and Chrissy waved with a smile as they approached. Drogo growled.

“Chastity.”

“What?” Slade asked, looking back down at the woman.

“You called me Chantel, but my name’s Chastity. How could you not remember? We’ve been dating for months, you asshole!”

Chastity? Really?

Jack snorted. “Chastity? Yeah, right,” he whispered. Chrissy slapped him across the chest.

“Yeah, okay, whatever,” Slade said. “Listen, you gotta stop with the knocking. What the hell time is it, anyway?” He ran his hands through his unruly hair as he yawned. His eyes skidded down to her tight Bon Jovi T-shirt, tiny jean shorts, and flip-flops.

“You better not have another woman in there, Slade!”

“Wait! What?” He stepped forward and shut the door behind him. “Keep your voice down.”

The tiny blonde stood with her foot tapping. “I’ve been calling you for over a week and you haven’t answered my calls or texts.” She was right—he hadn’t answered her calls, or anyone else’s for that matter. All he’d been doing for the last two weeks was worrying about the woman who was currently lying in his bed recovering.

After months of mutual yet innocent flirtation with Jessica, Slade had thought she’d finally left her abusive boyfriend, Dennis. To his horror, he had instead found her in a hospital bed, beaten to a bloody pulp. And it was all his fault. The guilt had been eating away at him, and the least he could do was tend to her while she recovered. It wasn’t lost on him that he wanted her in other ways too, but now wasn’t the time to explore those feelings. God, he wished he were upstairs in bed with Jessica. But they were just friends. At least for now. Instead he had to deal with the woman currently shooting daggers at him.

As Slade opened his mouth to answer, the woman got on the tips of her toes, flung her arms around his neck, and pressed her red lips against his. It was so sudden and the height difference was so great, he had no choice but to hold on to her so he wouldn’t lose his footing.

“Brother, not good. Stupid move,” Jack said, shaking his head. Slade tried to push her away, but the woman was an octopus; even though her lips had detached, her hands continued to snake around his neck, chest, and back. Chrissy just stood there, her mouth open, her eyes moving past him. He finally got Chastity disconnected and was able to distance himself from her tentacles before slowly turning his head. Jessica Cross stood behind him, staring, her hand holding his front door open. Shit!

“Oh, Slade.” Chrissy winced.

“You cheating son of a bitch!” Chastity said as she wound her hand back and slapped him right across the face.

“Jesus!” Slade palmed his stinging cheek. “I didn’t cheat on you!” He took