Fighting Love (Love to the Extreme) (9 page)

usually felt arousal at such a blatant display of femininity, but it generally took a little friction for his

cock to get involved. Not with Julie. He’d wanted to come out and play immediately.

And that freaked him out even more.

He stalked to the kitchen and whipped open the fridge, searching for something to eat, then

slammed the door again. He so wasn’t hungry. What he needed was a stiff drink.

He dropped his forehead against the freezer door and bounced it against the cold metal a few

times, trying to knock some sense into his head.

Julie wasn’t some woman he could just fuck and move on. This was Julie. His best friend! The

crying little girl he’d comforted twenty-some years ago, the one who’d changed his life forever.

He’d made a vow to protect her that day.

Which meant she needed protection from men who thought a relationship was the equivalent

of being handed the death sentence. Men like himself.

But she wasn’t out with a Tommy, was she? She was out with a Brody—one of the good guys.

The kind of man a woman would be proud to take home to her daddy, a man who had a list of

accomplishments a mile long, who dedicated his time to the needy, who fed starving children,

helped old ladies cross the road, and saved animals from burning buildings.

A real fucking superhero.

The kind of guy who, two days ago, Tommy would’ve been thrilled to see with Julie.

But when she’d opened that door and he’d seen Brody—all he’d seen was red.

It was one thing for Julie to date—Tommy encouraged that; he wanted her to go out and have

fun. But not with another fighter.

In all the years he’d been in MMA, she had never gone out with anyone from the industry. Not

once. If anything, she’d seemed determined to stay far away from the whole scene, unless an

event involved him or he asked her to come with him.

He’d liked that. He did not like the thought of her cheering for another fighter the same way

she did for him.

She was his cheerleader; she stood on his side of the cage, not someone else’s. And he didn’t

give a flying fuck if Brody was in a different weight division. He’d take on Brody in the cage any old

day, and he’d show the asshat who Julie would always cheer for.

Except…he wouldn’t be able to issue a challenge like that, would he?

No, he wouldn’t, because he wasn’t a Brody. He was a Tommy, and Tommys made rash fucking

decisions that got them banned from MMA.

Julie was dating a fighter while he was no longer a fighter, and that thought drove him mad.

Time to fix that.

He’d made the decision to start righting his wrongs, and he’d started with Julie. He’d enjoyed

the hell out of planning his Valentine surprise for her. The second wrong on his list to right had

been Mike…but he’d gotten a little distracted from his goal when he’d seen Julie’s naked body and

realized how very much he liked it.

Hell. He needed to get refocused. Forget about Julie.

Find a way to make amends with Mike. Yeah. That’s what he would do.

The twitter of Julie’s laughter suddenly sounded from just outside. Muffled voices came through

the front door. Tommy stiffened and glanced at the clock. Before he could stop himself, he rushed

over to the window and peered out.

Good thing he did, too. They were just in that awkward first-date moment of kiss-or-don’t-kiss.

Standing in front of each other. Close, but not too close. A bit of weird tension buzzing between

them. Brody had his hands shoved in his pockets. Julie had her fingers twisted together in front of

her.

There was no way in hell that man was going to kiss her.

Tommy flung the door open, causing them to jump apart.

Fighting a satisfied smirk, Tommy leaned a shoulder against the doorframe, crossing his ankles.

“Hey guys, have fun?”

Brody’s brows drew together then arched up. “Uh. Yeah.”

“Good.” Tommy sent him a tight smile. “Glad to hear it.”

Both of them stared at him, but he just cocked his head to the side and stared back, not

moving.

“Brody,” Julie said. “I had a great time tonight. Thank you.”

“I did, too. I’d like to do it again.”

Tommy really had to work to keep a scowl from forming on his face, especially as Julie looked at

him with an expression that clearly said, Get lost.

Not fucking happening.

When she saw he wasn’t going anywhere, she blew out a breath and glanced at Brody. “I’d

really like that. Call me?”

“You can count on it.”

As she brushed by Tommy, she pursed her lips at him in a very Julie way of showing

annoyance. He almost chuckled, but thought it best not to. Once she was safely inside, he stepped

back, preparing to close the door as he held the other man’s gaze. “Later, Brody.”

The amusement in the man’s eyes took him aback. “Sure, Tommy.”

As Brody turned and headed back to his car, Tommy frowned. He really didn’t care for this guy.

Closing the door, he turned to find Julie with her hands on her hips. “What was that all about?”

“What?” he asked innocently, trying to keep his eyes on her face and not on the breasts the

blue fabric was hugging, the way he wanted to.

She waved her hand toward the door. “That! You were the one who said you wanted me to

continue with my social life as if you didn’t live here. That was not letting me continue like you

didn’t live here.”

“Considering it’s only ten o’clock and you’re already home, I assumed the date didn’t go well.

Thought I’d help end it a little more smoothly.”

At least that sounded plausible enough. Right?

“The date did go well. I like him. We have a lot in common. And not that it’s any of your damn

business, but I’m home early because I have to work in the morning. I can’t stay up all night and

be able to do my job the next day. So the next time you decide to play big brother…just…don’t.”

Spinning, she marched down the hallway to her room, leaving Tommy with two very different

emotions warring for dominance from her parting words.

First was her offhand comment that she couldn’t stay out all night. A direct slam at his

tendency to do just that, and how he’d messed up because of it. He doubted she was even aware

of how it had hit him. But damn, the difference between him and Julie couldn’t be clearer. And it

seriously bothered him.

Which led to the second thing.

After that first kick of desire he’d felt for her days back, he’d reached over and ruffled her hair

as he’d done countless times when they were kids. Then he’d made sure to throw around the word

“sister” a lot. So he was the one who’d set this up. He did get that. But three times today she’d

tossed “like a brother” at him—three times!—and each time his body had rebelled at the words

coming out of her mouth.

If she said it again, he feared he was going to show her just exactly how much of a brother to

her he wasn’t.

…

Staring at the ceiling, Julie lay in bed as she absently stroked Lucy, who’d started scratching at

her door the moment she’d slammed it shut. When she had opened it back up, the dog

immediately sprang forward and jumped on the bed. She welcomed the company.

She hadn’t lied to Tommy. The date with Brody had been nice, and they did have a lot in

common. But there hadn’t been any kind of spark.

And that sucked, because Brody was perfect. They liked the same shows—sans Real

Housewives, to which he’d had the same reaction as Tommy, which of course she’d immediately

thought of as soon as Brody had scowled. He loved animals and did volunteer work at a local no-kill

shelter. Even though he did on occasion go out to the local country bar, The Boot Scoot, after

training with the guys, he wasn’t into the club scene like Tommy was, and he never stayed long.

The man was completely opposite of Tommy.

And yet Tommy refused to leave her mind.

The walkie-talkie screeched to life. “Julie?”

Turning her head on the pillow, she stared at the yellow-and-black device. Why had she left it

on? Ignore it. Pretend you’re asleep. But she reached for it anyway, cursing her weakness for this

man. Pressing the side button, she said grumpily, “What?”

“Do you remember the day we met?”

Her heart caught. She stilled for a moment, her annoyance notching down a fraction. “Of

course. Could never forget it. What brought that up?”

“I was thinking about it earlier today.”

He was thinking about it? That was so…sweet. Though it didn’t make up for him being such a

butthead today. “Wishing we hadn’t met? That why you’ve been so obnoxious lately?”

“Very funny. No, I’m serious. Remember?”

She couldn’t stop a small smile as she recalled the ten-year-old boy with shaggy blond hair and

green eyes, a wooden sword hanging from his belt, who hadn’t even introduced himself to her,

he’d just put his arm around her and placed a kiss on top of her head—just as he still did. “You

were so gallant that day.”

“A fair maiden weeping for her lost puppy. What was a young knight to do?”

She chuckled. “You were so into knights and dragons back then.”

“I found your puppy, though. Do you remember me bringing him to you?”

“Posey was trying so hard to get free.”

She’d been sitting on her front steps, sniffling over losing Posey. She’d only had the pup a week

—a present from her parents because they’d had to move to a different state due to her dad’s job

transfer. Tommy had come walking up the path, carrying a wiggling, excited puppy in his arms.

When he reached the bottom of the steps, he bowed, held out the dog, and said, “For you,

m’lady.” And she’d fallen head over heels in love at that very moment.

Unfortunately, she’d never fallen out again.

Tears burned the backs of her eyes.

“Sometimes I wish we could go back to being kids,” he said wistfully. “It was so much easier

then. So straightforward. Why do things have to change?”

She had to take a moment to speak. “Adulthood sucks.”

“Yeah. Messes everything up.” There was a sigh, then, “Good night, Lady J.”

She had to swallow the lump in her throat. “Good night, Green Knight.”

As she placed the walkie-talkie back on her nightstand, she brushed away a tear that slid down

her cheek. It had been a long time since she’d cried over Tommy. When she was in her teens,

crying had been a constant as Tommy had started dating, never once looking at her the same way

he had other girls. She’d been desperately hurt when he asked other girls to the prom or

homecoming. Then she’d gone off to college and he’d gotten started in fighting.

The separation had done her good. She’d dated and come into her own as a person, separate

from him. They still talked and hung out together when she was in town, but she’d realized her life

wasn’t over just because he didn’t return her feelings.

When she moved back to Atlanta four years ago and opened her clinic, she had hoped enough

time had passed that any childhood feelings she’d had for her best friend had only been a

childhood crush. They hadn’t been.

If anything, those feelings had blossomed into an adult yearning that left her feeling

overwhelmed at times, angry at others. But she’d kept her mouth shut about how she felt,

believing that somewhere she would find the actual man who was meant for her alone. Because it

wasn’t Tommy. It couldn’t be Tommy.

They were too different. She was wine and a quiet night home. He was shots of tequila and

thumping music in a club. She was planning. He was chaos. She wanted a future. He was firmly

planted in the right-here-right-now.

But he was also the boy who’d found her puppy. The teenager who’d bloodied Bruce Coleman’s

nose for refusing to respect her “no” and taking a kiss anyway. The man who’d held her after her

dad had died from a heart attack. Who’d dropped everything every time her car broke down.

Worked tirelessly to help her demo the clinic and renovate it. Then helped her move in and paint

her new house. He had always been there. No matter what.

He had always been her hero.

And that was the man her heart firmly refused to let go.

Chapter 5

When Tommy walked into the kitchen the next morning, Julie was standing in front of the

counter. A gray long-sleeve workout shirt clung to her breasts while a pair of black Capri running

pants hugged her thighs and butt. When she shifted to scoop a spoonful of protein powder from

the container, one toned ass cheek bounced up.

He fisted his hands to keep from going up behind her and taking both cheeks in his palms,

while he buried his head in her neck. The desire to do it was so strong he barely kept himself in

check, that devilish side of him wanting desperately to know what she would do if he brushed up

against her. He’d done it so many times in the past and never thought a thing about it, but now…

Damn it, he had to know.

He stepped forward. As he slid behind her, he put one hand around her hip, a little farther than

was appropriate for just a friend. When she stiffened, a smug smile tried to emerge. He brushed