8. Sam
SAM
I laid there, panting and staring up at the ceiling as I struggled to calm the need still growing inside me.
I didn’t dare look at the woman beside me. She was addictive, tempting, and a distraction I wasn’t sure I needed right now. But the moment my eyes locked with hers in the diner, it was like something overcame me and I was unable to stop myself from storming out of the diner and ravaging her.
Now…
“So…” She cleared her throat, and that was the moment I knew this was a mistake.
What just happened was fucking amazing in every way, but it shouldn’t have happened. I wasn’t cut out for a life like this, and I definitely didn’t have any right to do the things I wanted to do to a woman like her. She was too good for the way I would inevitably treat her.
And there was no way this could happen again.
Sighing, I sat up, scooting to the edge of the bed. Finding my pants, I started pulling them on as I heard her sit up. I knew it was coming. The inevitable question was about to be asked, and I wasn’t ready for it.
Getting to my feet, I tugged the jeans up and let them hang open as I searched for my shirt. I should have known better. Cassidy was not a ring girl or even one of the groupies who chased me after a fight. She was from this small town, and I’d just fucked her in my tiny house on wheels.
And I had no idea what to do now.
“Look,” I said, shoving my fingers through my unruly strands that had grown too long. “This was great, but…I mean, it was just a one-time thing.”
When I finally looked at her, I hated myself even more than I had ten seconds ago. She wasn’t crying or anything like that, but there was definite hurt smattered on her face.
“It really was good,” I tried to reassure her.
What did a guy normally say to a woman he’d just had sex with?
My extent of knowledge went so far as the groupies I woke up beside after a night of wild sex.
They all knew to leave afterward, and none of them required a conversation of any kind.
They were just happy they got to sleep with a champion.
But I wasn’t a champion now.
I had left that life behind, and now I was…
Fuck, I didn’t have a clue.
“Yeah,” she chuckled, scooting to the edge of the bed.
With her hair hanging in her face, she quickly gathered her clothes, not bothering to look at me as she continued to explain away that she was fine.
“I mean, obviously, this wasn’t anything…special. I mean, we kissed and ended up around the corner in a house.” She finally looked up and frowned. “A house on wheels that I often see being carted around town. Strange.”
Fuck, this was worse than I thought. “Cassidy—”
“Honestly, you don’t have to say anything else. It’s not like I thought this was going to turn into something else.”
I didn’t believe that for one second. Maybe it was a whim for her, but I could already tell she was regretting the decision to come back here with me, if only because I just said every woman’s worst nightmare.
That it was a one-time deal, and I wasn’t coming back for more.
“Look, I’m not used to this.”
She snorted in derision. “Sleeping with women or letting them down gently?”
“I don’t—I mean, usually, they just leave.”
Her head bobbed as she pulled on her jeans, tugging them up as quickly as possible. “Well, that’s not too hard. I can just get dressed and—”
“I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. I was just trying to explain that I don’t know how to do this.”
Her eyes flashed to mine, and something close to hatred flashed in their depths. “You don’t know how to do this? Let me down easy or tell me you never want to see me again?”
My mouth gaped as I struggled to come up with the appropriate response.
“You know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s my own fault, really. I mean, what kind of woman gets so swept up in the moment that she just follows a man to his house and allows him to do whatever he wants? And not even a real house. A tiny home on wheels!”
She laughed, shoving her fingers through her long hair. “Crazy people. And they usually end up dead. But I’m hoping that since we’re in town and you wouldn’t be able to get away with killing me in broad daylight, you’ll let me slip out with my dignity still somewhat intact.”
Even though I knew she was joking, I resented the implication. “I’m not a killer, and I would never lure a woman to my house just to set a trap.”
“Well, good to know, but I should have thought about that before I got swept up in the moment.”
She tugged on her shirt, then looked around for something, clearly not finding it.
“What is it?”
“My coat.” She sighed. “I left it at the diner.”
“I’ll get it for you.”
“No, that’s okay. I’m perfectly capable of doing the walk of shame on my own.”
I winced as I took a quick glance over her body. For the most part, she was put together, but her hair…There was no way she’d be able to walk around in public without everyone knowing exactly what she had done or who had done it to her.
“Let me at least drive you home.”
Again, she laughed. “I’m a big girl. I can take it.”
Without another word, she slipped on her shoes and stomped out of the house, slamming the door behind her.
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I wanted to rewind the clock an hour and rethink everything that happened this morning. I was an asshole, and I definitely knew better than to screw around with someone like Cassidy. She was too good for someone like me.
I had fucked so many women, all of them begging to get on their knees for me. But when Cassidy did it, it was nothing like those ring girls. I could see it in her eyes—that desire to take me and prove to me that she could twist me up and take anything she wanted.
And she had.
I was putty in her hands from the moment she wrapped her hand around my cock. I’d never met a single woman in all my life whom I’d wanted another night from or had wanted to stay in bed with for more than the duration of getting off.
That was the problem. As I laid in bed after fucking her, I had no clue what to do, and not because she was different because she wasn’t a groupie, but because I did want to stay in bed with her.
I just knew I couldn’t.
Air puffed from my lips in the morning cold as I sprinted around town, keeping my pace quick to burn off the energy constantly thrumming through me.
I would never get used to living an idle life, and the longer I was in Montana, the greater my desire to return to the ring grew.
I missed the training, the thrill of an upcoming fight, and the screams as I stepped onto the canvas.
I could still feel the silk on my shoulders as sweat built underneath it before a fight, and I fucking missed it.
I slowed as my phone buzzed in my pocket, interrupting the music blaring in my ears. Stopping on the sidewalk, I stretched as I answered the call.
“Yeah?”
“Sammy, how ya doin’?”
A smile lit my lips as my manager’s voice reminded me of better times. “Not too bad. How ‘bout you?”
“Could be better. Haven’t found another one who could go the distance like you.”
An ache built in my chest, and I absentmindedly rubbed at it. “Nobody could replace me,” I jested.
“Which is exactly why I’m calling.” Deke sighed heavily. “Look, I know you said you were done, and I get it. But I think you threw in the towel too soon.”
“You heard the doc. That tear was bad.”
“And you’ve recovered. I was with you through PT, remember? He said you could still go back.”
Pressing my foot against the wall, I stretched my calf muscles. “He also said performance at the same level was unlikely.”
“Since when do you play odds? Come on, Sammy! You’re the best. You can’t tell me you’re really ready to throw in the towel.”
No, I wasn’t ready. I longed to get back in the ring and fight like I used to. But I’d gotten lazy out here. Yes, I was still working out, running and keeping up with my workouts, but I hadn’t put on a pair of gloves since my injury.
Injury was a nice way of putting it.
That night had ended my career, and it was all because of a dirty fight with Joe Rubin. The man gave me a cheap shot to the nuts, then slammed me to the canvas, torquing my arm in the process, tearing my rotator cuff. The fight was over before I got my shot at redemption.
“I won’t step into the ring and be anything less than what I was,” I finally answered.
“So, don’t. I hear you’ve got a lot of time on your hands up there. Look, I took the liberty of checking out a few buildings that would be perfect for your training. I can get everything you need in a day.”
“Deke—”
“Don’t say no. Not yet. Just listen to me. Give it six months. Get back in shape, and if you’re not feelin’ it, I won’t say another word. But if you do make a comeback, I promise you another shot at Rubin.”
The chance to take out Rubin was tempting. Maybe a little too tempting. But six months…Hell, I could get back in shape and see if it was even a possibility.
“Just think about it, Sammy. The chance to take out Rubin…”
Excitement filled my veins for the first time in a long time. The prospect of getting back in the ring suddenly made everything seem possible.
But just as I was about to answer, I looked up through the window and saw Cassidy standing precariously on a ladder with a drill in her hands, and my heart skipped a beat for an entirely different reason.
“Sammy—”
“Yeah, give me the day to think about it.”
I hung up and stormed over to the bookshop door, tearing it open, startling the woman on the ladder.
“Geezus!” she screeched as she spun, losing her footing. I rushed forward, grabbing her hips just as she was about to fall off the ladder. The drill came precariously close to my head, but she held it back, twisting it away from my face.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked, grasping her curvaceous hips and lifting her off the ladder, setting her on her feet.
“Excuse me?”
It took me a moment to release her, to step back when all I really wanted to do was back her up against the bookshelf and slide my hands over her body and feel her pussy wrapped around my cock.