Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2) - Sidney Halston Page 0,17

manhandled her a few times before, but enough was enough. She wasn’t going to stay long enough for him to advance to beating her.

Over the next few days, he sent flowers and cards, apologizing repeatedly. She refused to forgive him.

The following weekend, she knew, Slade’s friend Jack would be fighting, and she really wanted to see Slade. So she went to the fight, and as soon as he saw her he asked her out, the way he always did. But this time she said yes. Little did she know Dennis was there and had heard their interaction.

As Slade and Jessica were walking toward Slade’s bike, Dennis came up from behind and pushed him. It had caught Slade off guard, and before he had a chance to recover, Dennis had grabbed Jessica and pulled her toward his car, his fingers biting into her skin. Slade lunged at Dennis in an effort to protect her. Jessica yelled at Dennis to stop, but instead Dennis pulled his arm back to strike her. Slade intercepted him with a punch.

That was the night that Slade had gotten arrested, which incidentally was the reason Chrissy had come back to Tarpon Springs after eleven years. And that night, after much begging and pleading, Jessica had stupidly gone back to Dennis, and so she’d never gone on that date with Slade. It was the stupidest decision she had ever made, because had she not gotten back together with him, she never would have found herself hospitalized months later as a result of the final beating by Dennis.

—

But now things were different. She thought of how Slade had sauntered into her life and changed it—changed her.

With a smile, she reached for her phone and sent him a text.

Jessica: What exactly does 2nd base entail? Need to make sure I handled my bases correctly.

She lay back on her pillow and looked up at the ceiling, a big silly grin lighting up her face, as she waited for his response.

Slade: Over-the-shirt action.

Jessica: What about 3rd base?

Slade: Under-the-shirt action.

Jessica: Okay, 3rd date, you get 3rd base. Wait! What’s 4th base?

Slade: There isn’t a 4th base, babe. It’s called home. As in home run.

Jessica: I think you’re wrong. You missed a base. How about mouth action? You know, oral?

There was no response for a few minutes.

Slade: We can squeeze that into 3rd base.

Jessica: So, when’s the next date?

Slade: You ready for 3rd base?

Jessica: Hell yeah!

Slade: Be there in twenty minutes.

Jessica: No! Gotta go to work.

Slade: I’m in the middle of training a guy right this very moment. Priorities, Jessica, priorities.

Jessica laughed at the screen.

Jessica: So you were just going to abandon that poor guy and come over here?

Slade: For third base? Fuck yeah.

Jessica: How about you pick me up at 7?

Slade: Me and my painful hard-on will see you in 12 hours. I hope you know it’s hurting. Bad.

Jessica: Poor thing. I’ll make it up to you…both.

Slade: Gotta go. The guys are staring at me.

Jessica: Bye. XO

—

At five o’clock that afternoon, her phone rang. It was Slade. “Hey, beautiful, change of plans. I have some news. Can you come over to my sister’s house when you get off work?”

“Sure. See ya later,” she said.

After her shift at the bar ended, Jessica rushed home and changed her clothes. As she walked out of her house, again she found a small bunch of sunflowers. Careful not to handle them too much, she grabbed them and tossed them into a nearby trash can. She felt guilty throwing away perfectly nice flowers, but her neighbor still hadn’t returned from her trip, and if she kept them in her house, she’d be wheezing in a few hours.

When Jessica arrived, she saw unfamiliar cars parked at Jack and Chrissy’s home. As soon as she climbed out of her car, she smelled the heavenly scent of BBQ. Slade had the door open before she had a chance to knock. His sexy smile was bright.

“Wow. You look happy.”

“I have news.” He reached for her hand. “So, you know how Mauricio’s been sick and there were rumors he’s retiring?” Jessica nodded. “Well, the rumors were true, and he asked me if I wanted to be part owner of the Academy. His daughter, Francesca, is moving back here from Brazil, and she needs help running the gym. So…” He took a deep breath. “I’m going to buy half the gym.”

“Oh, Slade, wow! That’s so perfect. It’s your dream come true: you’ll be the owner of an MMA gym. And what’s better than owning