man. You were good. You still fighting?”
“I am. Not so much these days, but yeah, in the small European circuit.”
The rest of the guys came by the table, and Slade introduced them.
Then Enzo turned to the booth where the women sat. “And who are these beautiful ladies?” he asked, his eyes zeroing in on Jamie Lynn.
“This is Chrissy, Slade’s sister. Jessica, Slade’s girlfriend. Jamie Lynn, Travis’s sister.” Francesca pointed behind her to remind him who Travis was. “And this here is Violet, a friend.”
Enzo shook all their hands but leaned in to give Jamie Lynn a kiss on the hand. Her face blushed red.
“So, are you staying for a while or is this just a vacation?” Francesca asked.
“Heard you bought the ol’ gym. Thinking of staying around for a while.”
“Great. Look forward to seeing you at WtF. Come on, let’s get some booze in you,” Jack said as he led Enzo to the pool table.
“Oh, my! He’s…wow!” Chrissy said.
“Yeah, he is. JL, you all right? You look a little flushed,” Violet said teasingly.
“Uh, yeah. Fine. He’s just so…so…”
She never finished her sentence, but all the women nodded, knowing exactly what Jamie Lynn meant.
—
Three days after the grand opening of the Academy, Slade was holding Jessica’s thigh up with one arm while bracing himself against the shower wall with the other. Her tongue was doing wonderful things to his tongue while he pumped in and out of her as the hot water fell on them. Five minutes earlier he had walked in on her showering, and the primal instinct to be inside her took over. But Jessica was nothing if not an eager participant.
“Slade. Don’t stop!” she yelled as her muscles tightened. They came together, sliding down the wall to the floor of the shower.
“Good morning, lady.”
“Good morning, baby,” she said with a lazy smile.
She kissed him, and then they turned off the water and got out of the shower, taking turns drying each other. She put on one of WtF’s T-shirts and a pair of ratty shorts and was heading downstairs to make them breakfast when she heard a loud yelp from outside.
Jessica stopped everything and went running outside to see what was going on. She found Chrissy crawling around on the grass with six weird-looking Chihuahuas with black and white spots.
“Chrissy, what happened?”
“Oh my God. That witch just left them on my porch. She rang the bell and left. They’re getting away. The pups—grab them, Jessica.” Jessica stumbled around grabbing puppies and placing them in a big hamper, but every time they’d grab one, another would escape and take off.
Slade ran out to see what all the commotion was about. When he saw the two frantic women he began to laugh. “It’s going to be awesome to see you and Jack trying to find these ugly-ass dogs a home.”
Jessica was sitting on the grass. One of the puppies was licking her face and another one was jumping on her back, trying to bite her hair. Jessica was laughing uncontrollably. And then it happened: she looked at Slade, her big doe eyes pleading.
No! No! No! I am not keeping one of those puppies. No way in hell!
Just then Jack pulled into the driveway in his police car. He got out of the vehicle and surveyed the scene.
“Slade, please,” Jessica begged. “Look, she loves me. And this one too. We can’t leave your sister with a new practice, a wedding to plan, and all these dogs. Please, baby. Look.” Jessica held the puppy out to him, and the sucker growled. Drogo’s offspring evidently came with the Slade-hating DNA. “So sweet, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, real sweet.”
But the moment Jessica looked at him with those eyes…how could he deny her anything? Slade took a deep breath and released it before shaking his head wryly.
Jessica grinned. “Is that a yes, Slade?”
“Can I ever say no to you?”
Jessica squealed. “Oh, Slade. I love you!” Still holding both pups, she gave Slade a big kiss before cuddling with the puppies some more.
Slade looked up at Jack, who had a knowing smirk on his face. Words were not necessary; he knew exactly what his best friend’s expression meant. Finally, Slade had the thing he’d never thought he would have. The thing he’d never even thought he wanted. He had the same thing his best friend had with his sister: he had the love of a woman. Not just any woman, but the woman he loved with all that he was.
To my very own black belt—my husband
Acknowledgments
Once again, and