Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
These bizarre videos have poisoned my woman’s mind. She’s even more naïve than I thought, even more inexperienced. Does it make me even guiltier? But even with that, I would’ve stayed with her and held her, even with her brother next door. I hid like a rat.
The backstage gets less busy as they announce the other fighters. There are small cheers from the crowd, but people erupt when they say my name. People love the stone-faced, don’t-give-a-damn Rust Hadley. They don’t know that it’s a façade now. I’ll never be dead inside again, not after the baby news.
I left the mother of my child to cry alone because she yelled at me. I’m supposed to be the man of the house. The provider. The leader.
Cain Cruz, as the reigning champion, is announced last. He gets a fair amount of attention from the crowd, too, but not as loud as me. He grins over and talks into the mic. “Nice to see you, No Rust. A real pleasure and congratulations.”
For a crazy second, I wonder if he knows about the baby somehow. Maybe, after I left, Mary was pissed and called the media, but she’d never do that. What am I even thinking?
When I say nothing, he continues, “You’ve got the chance to fight the biggest draw in all combat sports.”
“Your last pay-per-view was the worst ranked of the year,” I tell him.
The crowd cheers and claps like I said this to “burn” him, but it’s true.
“Look at you, eh? Still a sore loser after all these years?”
I don’t react. I never respond to these things. I don’t care what the other fighter says. I do my talking in the cage. Don’t get me wrong. I’ll make comments like I just did, but I cut off once I can tell they’re trying to drag me into a back-and-forth. It’s easy for me. I make myself cold.
I don’t even care about the arena packed with a thousand people and celebrities I recognize in the front row. Mary and Brad are standing with Marquis. Mary’s wearing a hot-as-fuck plaid skirt that cuts off just above her knees and tights made for unwrapping. She raises her hands and offers a small wave. Brad grins. They look awkward around each other, no surprise after yesterday, but they’re still family. The only person who could change that is me.
Mary glows with the pregnancy. My baby. My purpose.
The press conference goes on, the media asking run-of-the-mill questions, until Maddie goddamn Maddox appears in the spotlight, mic in hand. A gasp goes through the arena. Several people start to jeer and boo, and she eats it up, doing a curtsey and grinning.
“Uh, yeah, my question is for Rust.”
“What moron allowed this?” I growl, looking at my manager. She’s shrugging. She doesn’t know, apparently. “You get her in here, Cain?”
“She’s just one of my surprises, my friend,” Cain sneers.
“Theatrical prick.”
The crowd erupts at that, everybody clapping and hollering. Maddie clears her throat into the mic, and more people jeer. Finally, she’s able to speak. “My question is, why did you leave me?”
Mary flinches in the crowd, a ripple moving through her, but not like yesterday, not when I was owning her perfect throat, and ripples of pleasure were moving through her body. Or the way she trembled when I cheered and swept her around the room.
“I never saw you before the other night,” I say matter-of-factly.
“We were in love,” Maddie whines.
I scan the edge of the crowd, finding exactly what I was expecting. Another woman in a bright dress is holding a small camera, not the type the company uses, aiming it at Maddie, not the stage.
“This is all for your blog. Well done for getting in here, Maddie. I’m sure it’ll do wonders for your social media career.”
“This isn’t about—”
“Next fucking question,” I snap, hating the idea of even talking to this liar. It’s disrespectful to Mary, to the mother of my unborn child, to have this discussion. To even put the thought into her head that there could ever be anybody else. It’s just wrong.
A member of the crew appears, taking the mic from Maddie.
“Look, ladies and gents, No Rust is a human after all. Don’t think I’ve ever seen you that riled, kid.”
I grind my teeth, saying nothing. That’s because I’ve never fucked my best friend’s sister, got her pregnant, and learned she’s been twisting her mind for years with videos from her mentally ill mother. I always assumed she knew, on some level, that her mom had had problems. Or that Brad had told her. It wasn’t right, me being there for that moment, hiding like a goddamn coward. I almost lean into the mic and tell Brad right now.
Only the sight of Mary, a smile on her lips, looking up, stops me. She looks proud. I feel the rift between us healing, just in a look. I have no frame of reference or way to know if that’s normal with other women, but I highly doubt it. I feel uniquely fused to her.