Chapter Thirty-Five #2
“I want the future you planned, Princess. I want to do more than survive. I want to live.” He closed his fist over his heart.
“Maybe you have no reason to trust me, but I did mean every word I said at the wedding. I want a life with you. I want a family with you. And I should have said it back Sunday night. I love you. Lily, I love you. And, if you’re willing to give me another chance, I promise to spend the rest of my days showing you just how much I fucking mean it.
And—and maybe love isn’t enough. But you’re enough.
You’re everything. And I’m ready to do anything for you. I promise.”
All sound seemed to have been sucked from the room. The silence buzzed in her ears, echoing and vast. She darkened the phone. If Kieran’s video played again, she’d lose it. The quiet tears would succumb to a sobbing mess. She released a shuddering breath and swiped her fingers under her eyes.
“Lily?” Natalia inched forward and covered Lily’s hand with hers. “Are you okay?”
She swallowed heavily and shook her head. “No. No, I’m not.” She handed the phone back to Natalia and tugged on the hem of her dress, straightening it. “I need to get to the gym.”
* * *
They left Jack and the boys at Alex’s apartment and headed across the river.
Riverside Gym was abuzz with noise. From the moment they entered through the front doors, sound slammed into them.
Cheering echoed not only down the halls and into the front lobby but spilled out from every TV displaying the match above the treadmills and weight machines.
On the screen, Herrera and another fighter Lily didn’t know circled one another.
Each was already bleeding, and they kept their distance, testing one another with a reaching jab before hopping out of arm’s reach.
Lily’s chest contracted, and she squeezed Natalia’s hand in hers. “What if he’s already lost? Or been hurt?”
“We won’t know until we find your team.” Natalia threaded her fingers through Lily’s and tugged, leading her further within Riverside.
Roger had more money than God, and it showed in his gym.
His training rooms with the Octagons were set up as if hosting large tournaments had always been his intention.
Those sponsorships Neal wanted to keep South Side alive?
They were tacked up along the walls of Riverside and branded into the floor of the cage.
Tall bleachers stuffed with fans circled the Octagon.
Some lucky fans who’d surely paid a pretty penny were even on the floor, mere meters away from the fight, held back only by the rope separating the crowd from the fighters’ crews.
But the South Siders weren’t there. Standing alone near the front, surrounded by other flashing cameras and media members, was Maeve.
She tracked the fight with her phone, capturing every moment.
She must be running the Live.
Lily shouldered through the crowd and didn’t stop until she stood between Maeve and the fight.
“Lily!” Maeve’s eyes widened, and she dropped her hand to her side, abandoning the stream in favor of dragging Lily into a bone-crushing one-armed hug. “You’re here! Kieran’s going to faint when he sees you.”
Hopefully not. He couldn’t win a fight while unconscious. “Where is Kieran? I need to talk to him.”
Maeve hooked a thumb over her shoulder and motioned toward an open row cut through the bleachers. “Locker room. He gets a breather while this fight here decides his opponent.”
Lily glanced over her shoulder. Herrera had woven in now. His fists flew against his opponent faster than Lily could ever hope to move. “That’ll be the final fight?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
A knot tightened in Lily’s chest. She swallowed it down and shot Maeve a small smile. “I better go wish him luck, then.”
“I’ll wait with Maeve.” Natalia lifted Lily’s hand to her lips and placed a kiss atop her knuckles. “Go get him.”
Lily didn’t need to be told twice. Only her stiletto heels kept her from sprinting to the locker room.
The door swung in with a single shove, and an overbearing wave of lemon-scented cleaner poured over her. Lily wrinkled her nose and strode onward, letting the sound of soft Spanish curses guide her.
“Hurry up,” Kieran growled. “Herrera’s about to finish it.”
Lily rounded a corner and stutter-stepped to a halt.
Kieran sat on a bench, a towel slung over his bare shoulders and his eyes glued to the TV in the corner where Herrera strutted around the Octagon with his hands raised in victory.
The roar of the crowd filtered through, not only from the TV, but from the gymnasium beyond the door.
Sebastián stood with his back to Lily and Kieran’s face cupped in his hand. “You can’t rush stitches, cabrón. They’ll either wait a fucking minute, or you can forfeit.”
Stitches? The hairs along the back of Lily’s neck stood at attention, and she cleared her throat, announcing her presence.
Kieran’s gaze shot to hers, and though he didn’t flinch away from Sebastián’s needlework, a smile lit his dark eyes. “Hey, Princess.”
“Hey, yourself.” Lily inched forward, eyeing the needle and thread Sebastián guided through a gash in Kieran’s upper left cheek. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve had worse.” He nudged Sebastián in the leg as if he could force his friend out of the way.
Sebastián swore but kept an even pace. “You can tongue-fuck her mouth in a minute. I can’t have you bleeding all over the Octagon.”
Heat tingled in Lily’s cheeks, and she glanced around the room.
Kieran’s gloves and mouth guard lay on the bench beside him.
Other than the personal effects, it was like any other locker room she’d seen a hundred times.
She let her attention settle back on Kieran.
There was light bruising around his face and chest. Along with the gash on his cheek, his left eye and bottom lip were swollen.
Lily swallowed and shifted her weight from foot to foot.
“I guess I should have expected that blood would be a thing in a real fight.”
“Nah, no blood here. I just have some Gusher juice on my face from lunch with Saoirse.”
Lily let a small smile lift her lips. “Stealing sweets from a baby now, Kier? You better cut that shit out before we have any kids of our own.”
Though he was sitting still for Sebastián, Kieran had been relaxed. At her words, his shoulders stiffened, and a dark seriousness sank into his eyes. “You still want that? A future with me?”
She swept her hands down the sides of her dress.
Yes. She wanted to say it. Scream it. Swear it before an altar or a yew.
Instead, she swallowed past the sudden dryness in her throat.
“Do you?” She’d watched the video. Heard the earnestness in his voice.
But neither his rejection to the windshield nor confession to the world had been said to her face.
His actions and words were all swirling within her, begging for clarity.
Sebastián finished the last stitch and snipped off the excess thread. “Done. I’ll see you out there, Southpaw.”
Kieran leaped to his feet in an instant, closing the distance between them with long, purposeful strides. The rough pads of his fingers cradled her face and tilted her chin upward.
“I want every moment with you. I want to worship you, rejoice with you, grieve with you. I wanna love you until the sun burns out. Lily—” His voice pinched upward on her name, and his eyes softened. “I’m so damn sorry for hurting you. I was scared, and I was an idiot.”
She cut him off with a finger against his lips and took a deep breath. “I meant every word I said at the wedding, too. You’re the man I want to spend my life with.”
He paused, blinking as the meaning behind her response sank in. “You saw my video.”
“It was hard to miss. Keep it up and you’ll pass me in followers.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, and laughter swam in his eyes. “You’re all I wanna post for the rest of my life. I love you, Lily.”
She covered his hands with hers and tugged his left hand forward, dropping a kiss into the center of his palm. “I love you, too.”
They stayed right there, frozen in time, their hands intertwined and eyes locked on one another.
She memorized his face all over. His soft, supple smile.
His strong, freshly shaven jaw. Those piercing eyes as dark as the earth but as warm as sunbaked clay.
And a new wound—stitches stretched across his cheek. But still kind. Still handsome.
Sometimes this life would hurt. That didn’t make it any less beautiful.
And a messy life was worth it, as long as they were together.
A buzzer screeched over the intercom, echoing off the bare walls and vibrating through her body. The crowd roared with excitement, and at the height of their cheers was Kieran’s moniker. Southpaw.
He groaned and leaned his forehead against hers. “I’ve gotta go, but you wait right here. I’m gonna teach you the proper way to use a locker room shower.”
A laugh burst free from her chest, and Lily surged up on her toes, capturing his lips with hers.
With a growl that nearly buckled her knees, he dragged her bottom lip between his teeth then kissed it better. His arms locked behind her back, crushing her against his chest.
It wouldn’t take much to get lost in him. She could forget the tournament or the fact Maeve and Natalia were waiting for them. Another clang of the buzzer forced Kieran back with a heavy sigh.
He gave her a final, chaste kiss and stepped away. “I won’t make you wait long.”
Lily grinned and watched as he backpedaled toward the door. “You’re that confident?”
“Absolutely.” He winked, and a real smile ticked up on the unstitched side of his face. “After all, I’m fighting for you.”
* * * * *