Chapter 26 Rome
ROME
You coming to the fight?
Yeah. I’ll be there all weekend.
Good. Can you stay with Dillan?
I don’t want to leave her alone, and Lucky isn’t sure he’s coming.
Done.
I’m scarier than Lucky anyway.
Thanks, man.
—Text from Rome to Ryker.
Hudson smacks the back of my head when I turn and watch Dillan come out of her hot yoga class, her pink mat rolled up and tucked under her arm.
My white Crucible hoodie is thrown over her beautiful body, allowing me to keep the tiniest bit of my sanity while she and Lexie chat outside the door to the class. “Do not lose focus now, kid.”
“You said we were done,” I argue back just to piss him off, and judging by the look on his face, it works. “Come on, Hud. I’m kidding. I’m not losing focus. I’m ready.”
“Yeah, you are. You’re ready. You’ve worked for this.
Bled for this. You made this happen. And now you’re going to fucking win it, you hear me?
You’ve got thirty-six hours before I need to see you in New York.
Don’t fuck it up. And for Christ sakes, lay off the sex until the fight.
You don’t need weak goddamn knees. She’ll understand.
” He grumbles something else as he pounds my back.
“I love you. I’m proud of you. You fucking earned this.
Be proud of yourself. And for fuck’s sake, don’t screw anything up tonight. ”
“We’re going to my parents’ house for dinner. Pretty sure that’s a safe zone. I don’t expect any press there.” I rip off my gloves and stuff them in my bag. “Acceptable?”
“Oh . . . You’re gonna get cocky now, huh? I see how it is,” he jokes. “Don’t let my sister feed you any shit either. Weigh-ins are in—”
“I know, thirty-six hours. I hear you. You know Ma hates the fates and refuses to come. She just wants to see me before we leave.”
“Kinda funny how much she hates violence, considering she might just be the most lethal sibling,” he laughs. “I’ll see you Friday in New York, kid.”
“You ever gonna stop calling me kid?” I ask, wondering if it’ll happen before I hit thirty.
“I wiped your ass and changed your diaper. You’re always gonna be a kid in my eyes, Rome. But kid or not, you’re a good man. One I’m proud of. Remember that.” And before I can formulate a response, he walks away as Dillan and Lexie join me.
“You okay?” she asks as she slides into my arms and up onto her toes to kiss my jaw as I watch Lexie shake her head out of the corner of my eye.
I wrap my arms around my woman and drop my chin to her head. “I’m golden. You girls good?”
“Were Lucky and I this mushy when we got together?” Lexie groans through a cute smile.
“Worse,” I tell her, loving how happy that girl makes my brother.
“Way worse,” Dillan adds as she steps back, her eyes still locked on me. “I need to shower before we head to your parents’.”
“Me too,” I tell her, a thought forming that I can already see Dillan shooting down.
“There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that I’m showering in the stinky gym shower with you, handsome.” She steps back, and a familiar smack hits the back of my head as I catch Hudson walking by.
“No weak knees, kid.”
Compromise is a beautiful thing when it’s done right. And tonight, it’s been done exceptionally well. I run my fingers through Dillan’s hair, washing out the shampoo and trying not to bend her over and fuck her raw as she moans about my magical fucking fingers.
I’ll give her magical.
In two damn days, after I win this fight.
“How did the meeting with your mom’s team go?” I ask and squeeze her citrusy conditioner onto my palm, then lather it in her hair.
Another little moan slips past her lips, and I press my cock against her ass. “You promised you’d be good, principessa.”
“I am being good, psycho.” She looks over her shoulder at me, water droplets clinging to her long lashes. “It’s not my fault I love the way you touch me.”
No sex. No sex. No sex.
Fuck.
This is going to be so damn hard.
Dillan pushes back, wiggling her ass, and I fucking groan.
“Did you sign with the agent?” I ask, trying to focus on anything besides her beautiful body.
“I did. Mom’s team is one of the best in the industry, and I think they can help when I’m ready for it.
I’m just not sure when I’ll be ready,” she admits softly as she turns in my arms and pours body wash onto a loofah and drags it lovingly over my chest and down my arms. “They aren’t forcing me to put a face to Theia DeLaurentiis, which is nice.
But they do have the mechanisms in place to help me handle it if I choose to go that route at some point.
In the meantime, they think they can really push Book Two to the next level, if I want that. ”
“And do you?” I push through gritted teeth, throwing my head back as she lathers soap around my cock. “Want the next level? It’s okay if you don’t.”
“I’m not sure yet. I think that level of success comes with a different level of fame, and I’m not sure I’m ready to handle that.
Not yet. Maybe not ever. But I am considering telling my friends the truth.
” She wraps her arms around my back and presses a kiss above my heart. “Do you think I’m crazy?”
“No, Dillan. I think you’re incredibly intelligent and intuitive.
Most people wouldn’t see past the money and the fame.
They wouldn’t care how it could affect their lives.
You’re smart enough to know everything comes at a cost. And only you can decide if it’s worth that price.
I think if you tell our friends, they’ll protect you with their lives. We’re kind of a vicious bunch.”
“I know my mom’s done it, but taking the books to the next level, possibly selling them to a streaming service or production studio sort of feels like selling your soul to the devil.” She smiles. “And you’re the only devil I know I want in my life, Beneventi.”
“I certainly love the sound of that.”
Dillan
Badass Book Club
Jamie
Holy shit. Where’s the rest of the book?
Kaleigh
What do you mean?
Jamie
The rest of it. What happens now? I feel like I just watched Avengers Infinity War for the first time and don’t know how the story ends.
Lilah
Haven’t you ever heard of a cliff-hanger before?
Jamie
Well yeah, but I’ve never spent two fucking months reading a book, expecting to find out who fucking lived and which brother she ends up with, and then it just . . . it fucking ended without telling me either. What the actual fuck?
Dillan
Having a hard time trying to decide if you liked it or not?
Jamie
It was fantastic. And I swear to God, if you tell anyone I said that, I will post that picture of you with your bikini top down around your waist at the bottom of the water slide from high school on my social media.
Rome
Go ahead and try, Murphy, and we’ll finally settle who hits harder. Me or you. Newsflash, it’s not fucking you.
Lilah
Now, children. No need to resort to violence.
Rome
He posts her naked and he’s a dead man.
Jamie
It was a fucking joke, asshole.
Killian
Might not want to screw with a fighter the day before a title fight.
Lilah
They get kind of amped up.
Jamie
Whatever. When does the next book come out?
Dillan
About that . . .
I look over at Rome as we get into his car, nervous energy rolling off me in heavy waves. I swear he just smiles, and it puts me at ease and gives me the strength to pull the trigger and do what I’d been thinking about doing for months.
I’m tired of being lonely.
Tired of hiding the truth from my friends and my family.
Yes, this town is nosey as hell and all sorts of up in each other’s business, but I’m not talking about spilling my secrets to the town.
I’m talking about telling my family. The people I trust most in the world.
And when Rome covers my hand with his and pulls out of the driveway, I think I’ve found the strength I need to do just that.
Dillan
The book isn’t coming out for at least another six months because I haven’t finish writing the third act yet.
I toss my phone in my purse, knowing it’s blowing the fuck up from the chiming notifications blaring from my cell and Rome’s, and lace my fingers through his. “It’s done. I told them. I’ll leave them a voice memo explaining everything when we get to your parents’ house.”
“I’m proud of you, Dillan.”
I lean my head back against the headrest and watch the stars in the sky fly by. “You know what? I’m proud of me too.”