Fighter

Ch.17

Maddox POV:
Finally, it's almost time to get Hadley. I hate not seeing her for so long. I need to man up. She won't like someone falling at her feet like all the other guys. I take out my contacts and put my glasses on, grab a beanie and I'm out the door.

I pull up to the Parkers and walk to the door and ring the bell.

J.J. lets me in and asks for a ride to the house and I tell him sure and he walks away to tell Mary that he and Hadley are leaving.

I watch her come out of the hall. Damn, I'm a lucky prick; she looks so edible in pink. Then I see her eyes heat and I know I'll never wear my contacts around her ever again. I tell her hello and that she looks beautiful, when she says, "Hello, Maddox," I take the opportunity to tease her about the Clark Kent comment the night before. She doesn't say anything but her cheeks say it all. Laughing at her attempt to escape, I follow behind her out the door and can't help myself. Grabbing her tiny waist, I stop her and take her hair from the right side of her neck kissing all the way down and across her collarbone. I turn her around to kiss her and a few seconds later I hear J.J. come out the door.

"Hey! Not in front of me! Let's go, we're going to be late." He laughs.

"You can still walk." I tell him.

"Or you can have mercy on my poor eyes." J.J. says smirking.

"Sorry, some things you can't unsee, bro." I say making my Hadley laugh, I love her laugh.

At the party, I see James standing on the porch. I know he's going to say something about the fight but when he points to Hadley and calls her trouble, I ignored him. I know what he's going to say and I didn't want to talk about it here with Hadley. I all ready came to the same conclusion; I never want her at another fight. So, when he says she can't come to any more fights, I tell him she won't be and walk away going to the kitchen.

Hadley seems off, I don't know what it's about so I say, "Sorry about James."

"What do you mean? What are you sorry about?" She asks.

"Well, he should've spoken to me in private and not brought you into it." I reply.

"The fight involved me, why wouldn't he say something to me? Especially if he wants me to stay away from the fights?" She says getting mad.

Why is she that mad? I don't know what to say, then she starts to walk away, I grab her arm and ask, "Where are you going?

"To the bathroom, or do I need your permission to do that, too?"

I can't believe how she sounded when she said it and she just walks away. Still stunned, I snap out of it a few seconds later and follow after her. Fuck, I messed up; I have some explaining to do. She's not even mine and I all ready fucked it up.

I wait for her to come out of the bathroom and when she does, I'll explain everything, no way in hell am I losing her before I even get her.

When she walks out I ask. "What did you mean when you said, 'do I need your permission for that, too'?"

"You're a smart guy, I'm sure you all ready know." She says.

Getting mad myself I say, "This is because I don't want you at the fights?"

"And that's your decision to make?" She questioned me.

"I don't want you to get hurt." I say going to touch her but she steps back into the bathroom away from me, which irritates me.

Then I hear her say, "I just think this isn't going to work."

"What?" I say, I am beyond mad.

"I don't think..."

She starts saying but I can't hear her say it again. I stop her and say, "I heard what you said. What I meant was why? Because of this? You've got to be kidding, I told you at the fight I didn't want you going again!" I can't help but yell.

"So I have to do everything you want me to do, you can't be serious? I don't want you to fight, that doesn't mean I would tell you to stop. Look, we don't know each other very well and I think it's a good thing we had something like this come up, that way we can still be friends."

"Friends." I repeat. Did she really just say that?

"Yeah."

"That's never going to happen." I say pushing all the way into the bathroom. Shutting the door and locking it, I turn to her picking her up by her ass and setting her on the sink counter top.

I pull her dress up to her thighs then spreading her legs I step between them, bringing my mouth to hers, I lose all my control. I thought she was about to push me away but her fingers slide under my shirt, tracing my abs it felt so good, she's mine.

Before I can't stop myself, I explain everything. "I can't stomach the fact that you've seen me fight even once. I never want that part of my life to touch you. I don't need you to understand, I just want you to accept it. Who I am in the fights is not who I want to be with you. I do it because there are times I can't calm down and there are times I want to feel something. Fighting gets all my angst out and the promise of feeling something, whether its excitement, pain or pride lets me know I'm alive. It takes away the numbness, even if it's fleeting. I need it."

She kisses my lips. "I'll try, but I don't know if I can do it." I can tell she's being upfront and honest.