Page 2 of King

“I’ve always got a choice,” he replied and closed his eyes again. I turned on my heel just as he called my name.

“Nix.” The pain was clear in his voice, and as much as I tried to block it out, I couldn’t. My head turned to the side, and as I glanced back our eyes locked. “Will you stay with me?”

“God’s sake, Jay.” I sighed, moving my fingers to my forehead as I dipped my head, massaging lightly as I tried to ease the building tension. “I’ll be here until we know if you’re being admitted or not.”

“And after?”

“I don’t know, Jay.” I studied the curtain separating the cubicles so I didn’t have to look at him. “I have other patients, Jacob.” I didn’t want him to distract me from my work. I’d spent the best part of our time apart wondering what he was doing and how he was. “I just don’t think I can do this again.” I said quietly, more to myself than to Jacob. Tears I’d managed to hold back so far slowly ran down my cheeks. “I can’t do this again, Jacob.” I reiterated as I moved to his side and took his hand, I lifted it up and stared at the cuts and bruises that littered his bloodied knuckles and gently brushed my fingers over them. “It’s me or the fighting.” My voice wavered. “I told you this years ago. That hasn’t changed.” I couldn’t look at him as I dealt the blow. I turned my back to him and took a shuddering breath as I moved to leave again.

“But Nix…” he hesitated. “I miss you so much.” His voice almost a whisper, but I couldn’t let him get to me. “I need you. I’ve been lost without you.” I had to be strong. I’d lasted this long. I could do it for a little longer, even if everything inside of me was telling me to kiss him, to promise I’d ride the rest of this adventure with him, to ease his pain and be there to heal his injuries - I couldn’t.

“It’s not enough.” My voice was low as I tensed my jaw and shut down my tears. I opened the curtain to Danny and Ethan. “Someone will be through to collect him soon. You can go in now.” I instructed before making my way to the desk and paging the doctor. I gave the nurse at the desk a confident grin and found the next patient on the list and went about my job. I couldn’t handle the heartache again; I wouldn’t put myself through this. It’s a pity my heart wasn’t as tough as my head when I said these things to myself, but I knew if I was going to gain any equilibrium, I had to listen. Me and Jacob King were over, and it had to stay that way, as much as my heart silently ached for him.

Right now, I’d be more worried if he found out my secret.

CHAPTER TWO

JACOB

THE PAST

Aged 20

Phoenix’s big blue eyes glinted and locked on mine as she pleaded. “Please don’t do this, Jacob. What if you get hurt?” I could hear the fear in her voice and her eyes saddened with a frown.It was my first fight. I’d waited a long time for this day to come.

“Babe,” I soothed softly and ran my hands over her beautiful face. As I held her cheeks, I pressed my forehead to hers. “I’ll be fine, please don’t worry.” She pressed against me and let her body mould to mine, we fitted together so perfectly, like jigsaw pieces. “I won't get hurt. I promise.”

“Jay,” her body sagged as her breath warmed my face with an exhale, flattening her palms on my chest. “You can’t make that kind of promise.” As her lips tightened with a flat grin, I pressed a soft kiss to them, moving my hands to wrap her up in my arms and holding her tight in my embrace. She wriggled against my hold and leant back to break our kiss. I held her tighter still, knowing she wouldn’t be able to move, and made her look at me. Her heavy sigh told me I’d won, and I gave her an accomplished smile while we stared at one another for a long minute.

A heavy sigh left her body. I knew she wanted me to let her go but I didn’t want to. Instead, I hooked my arm around her back and gripped her side, while my other hand threaded into her hair and held her against me. It wasn’t just the fighting, I wanted prestige. I wanted the respect that came along with it. “What if someone spots me, Nix?” I stated. “What if a big trainer is there and sees how good I am? This is all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

“Then go to a proper boxing gym. How good can a trainer be at a place like that anyway?”

“You’d be surprised, baby.” She’s never understood how the fighting world worked; sometimes, you had to delve into the dark pits of society just to get noticed. Even the best fighters start somewhere unknown and maybe a little seedy. “I need to do this, Nix.” God, I loved her so much, but I needed her to understand why I had to do this.

Phoenix had been my girlfriend since college. We shared mutual friends but had absolutely nothing in common with each other. We didn’t even share classes; I was studying sports and she studied health and social care because she wanted to go to uni to be a nurse. We were total opposites. But that didn’t matter, because as soon as I held her in my arms I melted. The moment her lips met mine I knew I’d found my future. Her eyes were the darkest shade of brown I’d ever seen and were complimented by the prettiest, shy smile and her dark hair hung down her back in waves. I fell for her right away. Phoenix Clarke was all I thought about, well, her and fighting. I had to have her in my life. She totally floored me. I tried my best chat-up lines, even gave her my best smile. You know, the one that’s full of cockiness and could usually charm the birds from the trees, but she didn’t fall for any of it. Her big eyes rolled as she told me to stop trying so hard. So, I took her lead and acted cool and before I knew it, she was putty in my hands.

Being a fighter was my dream. I never wanted anything else. I grew up watching boxing. My uncle was a boxer, and had competed in the Olympics, where he won gold medals before turning professional. He was my hero.

As I got older, I added UFC to the mix. I wanted to be the fighter who held titles, that stood in the middle of the ring, and held a belt above my head. Be the best there was…that was my dream. Only it wasn't going that way. Every week I was getting further and further away from making it. Everyone knew that when you hit thirty in this game, you were ready to retire. Your body decided when you retired, so I strived to be as fit as I could. My uncle always said if your body is physically fit, your mind will stay alert. Ironic really that he died from cancer, he was riddled with it. He became a shadow of his former self. It hit me hard when he died.

I might only be twenty now, but the longer it took for someone to find me, the less chance I had to be somebody.

I didn’t want to be a nobody.

I was just fourteen when I first hit a bag, and straight away I was hooked. I’d never been the most well-behaved kid. I got into fights all the time, spent so much time in detention after school the teachers had got sick of seeing me. The first time I was brought home by the police my uncle pulled me aside and ripped shreds off me; it was then he took me to a gym. I was told I needed focus. To focus on what made me angry, what frustrated me and to just hit. So that’s what I did. My arm swung at the bag, and punch after punch, my body felt lighter as the tension and the anger spilled out of me. It was then I knew; I knew this was my destiny.

My hands closed around Phoenix’s face again and I caressed her silky, soft skin with my thumbs as I smoothed across her cheekbones. I held her head in place and made her look at me. Finally, her gaze softened. “Fine,” She sighed and settled her mouth softly on mine. I pressed a little firmer as I kissed her, enjoying the softness of her lips until she pulled away, she threaded her arms around my middle and squeezed. “I just worry, that’s all.” Her head dipped and she settled her cheek on my chest. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know, babe, but they scoped me out. They must think I’m good enough.”

“Hmm…” She lifted her head again, the worry still deep set in her eyes.“I’m scared, Jacob.”

“Don’t be. I love you, Nix.” I declared. “Everything I’m doing, I’m doing for us. For our future.”

She nodded and I pressed my lips to her forehead. “I love you, too.” she whispered. With my fingers cupping her jaw, I lifted her head back and captured her lips. Her softness had me craving for more, as it always did. I pressed firmer, parted her lips with my tongue and slid it into the warmth of her mouth. She fisted my t-shirt as we kissed, groaning as I devoured her, enjoying every push and stroke of my tongue against hers.

It was over all too quickly for my liking though as she pulled away slightly and sighed. “You better go then, you don’t want to be late.”

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