Path To Redemption (Fighter's Den, #1)

Chapter 22 - Emily

"Okay, dad. Love you too. Bye."

I hang up the phone on an exhale that's a mixture of relief and dread. Relief because my dad informed me that him and the team have landed safely and dread because I don't know what I'll be facing next from Jaxon. These last two something weeks have been hell, trying to dodge around him and restraining myself from giving into things first. Not to mention the little episode with Lizzie and how she's started looking at me in a light that may never have the opportunity to turn on. It was easier to battle against myself when he wasn't physically around but now that I know he's back in Boston, I've grown a paranoia that I'll encounter him at every turn when I really don't want to. At least, as long as he's being an ass. But, I mean, it should be fine. I'll do my thing and he'll do his and other than at Fighter's Den, there's no guarantee we'll be seeing each other without warning.

Deciding that I don't need my mind to be going to Jaxon town when he's only landed an hour ago, I cuddle up on the couch with a blanket and the novel I've been trying to read for the better part of three days. That's like ten years in nerd-world, especially when it's a really good one but you just can't get the time to read it consistently. I'm distracted soon enough because the book is absolutely cracking me up. Something about hot hockey players with a dirty sense of humor makes me think life is the best thing ever. The two main characters have just decided on a no-strings attached sex agreement and it makes me cringe. That's not going to go well. But their ending will be a happy one because all books have happy endings and maybe that's why I read them like I'm on constant book crack. Still, I find myself chuckling non-stop as the book progresses and the next thing I know, three hours have passed and I'm basically howling when the main girl steps into the boys locker and is confronted with penis-land.

My nirvana state bought on by the pleasure of all things New Adult books is interrupted when I hear a knock on my door. Frowning, I check my phone to see if my dad had texted earlier about stopping by. He rarely shows up unannounced, courtesy of the verbal ass-kicking I gave him when I first moved in and he'd find every excuse in the book just to come by. So I'm surprised when there's no texts and am immediately put into a sour mood. What did the world want? I was sort of occupied!

Book in hand, I march to the door and open it up without checking who it is first. A dumbass mistake on my part but I just really wanted to get back to reading. I swing the door open and my fake smile slides right off when a pair of intense green eyes meet mine. Cue mini heart attack.

"Jaxon." I try not to sound as incredulous as I feel but seriously, I thought he'd be leaping to the other side of the states if I got even 20 meters of the same distance as him.

"Em." The barest of smiles creeps onto his face and I'm overwhelmed with the need to both kiss him and break his nose.

"What are you doing here?" I state the obvious. I'm still shocked by his presence. And did he have to look so good, even when jetlagged?

He has on a fitted checkered shirt that hugs his wide chest and biceps, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and showing off his heavily muscled forearms. Jeans that are slightly ripped from both knees mold around his strong legs which are currently parted from his wide stance. His hair is mussed up, like he'd been running his fingers through them the entire day, and a slight shadowing on his jaw indicates he probably didn't have time to shave. I try not to stare at his biceps that seem to bulge in size when he crosses his arms, arms that had held me up when I'd been pinned against the wall or arms that tightened around my waist as I nearly collapsed from climaxing or-

Jaxon's deep chuckle sparks heat in my cheeks and, at this point, it's really no surprise that I'd been caught checking him out. I clear my throat and mentally strangle myself through my embarrassment.