Page 6 of Rise In Arms

“What the fuck did I tell you, Charity? Get rid of it, I’m not fucking being a father to a kid that I don’t want. Fuck! You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“No!” I cry, saying that word for what feels like the millionth time. “I warned you to put a condom on the last time we had sex, but you refused.”

I’m at my boyfriend Blake’s apartment. Blake and I have been going out for a year, but in the last two months he’s changed. He won an MMA fight a few months back against the champion, and it’s all just gotten to his head. We can’t go out in public anymore without women wanting an autograph. I didn’t sign up for this. I can’t compare to these women who have their tits hanging out, and skirts so short you can see their butt if they lean over.

That night, after the fight, we went out and got a little drunk. Blake had his friends with him, or what I like to call his entourage, and I had Hazel, my best friend from college. After a night of fun and drinks, we went back to Blake’s apartment and continued celebrating. Only problem was we were a little wasted, and when I asked Blake to put a condom on, it was too late; he’d already come inside of me. I didn’t really worry too much about it, I mean it was only the one time, but that’s all it took. One time without any protection to make me fall pregnant.

After a long talk with Hazel, she convinced me that I needed to tell Blake he was going be a father. I knew he didn’t want kids now, he’s just got his career going, but I took the leap of faith and told him. It saddens me to say that I did think about getting an abortion, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t kill an innocent baby just because we had one night of drunk sex. It wasn’t the baby’s fault.

Last night I stayed with Hazel’s at our dorm and cried in her arms, too scared of what this baby might do to my relationship with Blake. Would I lose him? Or would he embrace me in his arms, telling me everything was going to be okay? Now that he’s an MMA champion, he had plans for us to travel, for him to fight in many countries, and I’ve always wanted what he wanted. I mean, I’m studying to be a lawyer alongside Hazel, and I have my own dreams, but I love Blake and wanted to make him happy. So when he said he’d got a fight in LA in two months, I was thrilled for him, and we both decided I would leave college and go to LA with him. Even though I’d miss my friends and parents, I wanted to do this for him. Hazel had tried to convince me otherwise, said I should finish my studies as I’ve come so far, but I can always take it up again when we return from LA. Blake seems to think we will stay in LA for six months, so keeping up with my studies wasn’t going to work.

I knew when I broke the news to Blake he wasn’t going to be happy, but there was a little part of me that hoped he would want this baby as much as I do.

“You gotta be fucking kidding if you think you’re gonna keep this baby, babe. I’m not ready to be a father—actually, I don’t know if I will ever be ready.”

Him standing by his apartment window in nothing but sweats, reminds me of the first time I saw him fighting. Hazel and I had just finished our exams and went out to celebrate. While on our way by foot to a bar, we passed a long line of people who were queuing up to get inside a club. Well, that’s what I’d thought. When Hazel and I stopped and questioned a girl, asking what was going on, she smiled dreamily and said, “Blake Reynolds is fighting tonight, and he’s so hot.” I’d looked down at the line again and noticed the majority of the people waiting were female.

Hazel pulled me into the line and said, “Let’s go watch a fight.” I didn’t even know what MMA was, or fighting for that matter, but neither did Hazel, and that didn’t stop us from lining up to see the fight ourselves.

Hazel has mentioned her brother Kane is an MMA fighter. He tried to keep that information from her, but she knew what he was up to. I’ve never met him, but he sounds like someone who loves Hazel, and would do anything for her. Unfortunately I have no brothers or sisters, so Hazel is the closest thing I have to a sibling.

Once we had finally gotten into the club, we’d taken a seat in the crowd, and I would never forget the cheers that echoed around the room, cheering Blake on. He was magnificent—bulging muscles, cut abs, and the hottest tattoos I had ever seen covering his arms. I may have never seen a fight before, but that night was the beginning of my obsession with MMA fighting. Well, the fighters themselves, that is.

Blake’s eyes made contact with mine in the crowd that night, and he’d smiled. Out of all the beautiful women who surrounded him, it was me he chose that night. The fact I’m not ugly, and have been told before that I’m quite beautiful, with brown long hair, bright blue eyes, and plump lips, didn’t mean a thing. I still had to look around me to make sure the smile was aimed at me. And it was.

Throughout the whole fight, my gaze was fixed on him; the way he moved so swiftly on his feet, how he jabbed forcefully, like lightning striking, at the other competitor was hypnotic. His feet glided on the floor, and he was very skilled at ducking from each of the opponent’s punches. The way his leg muscles flexed and his arms bulged when he took a punch or a kick had me on the edge of my seat. Blake would look over to me now and then, and Hazel kept teasing me about it. I tried to assure her he didn’t mean anything by it, but when the fight was over, and Hazel and I were downstairs having a drink, he had sought me out, and ended up buying me a drink. Blake may have looked hot in the ring, but Blake, showered and dressed, with his hair still wet, was way hotter.

“Do you think I did this on purpose, Blake? You know it takes two, don’t you?” I scream at him. Tears stream down my face, and I fall onto the couch, bringing my knees up to my chin and hugging them into me.

Blake’s phone rings and he looks at the screen, answering it immediately. “Hey, Zeek. Yeah, I’ll be there. In an hour, okay? Okay, see you then.”

Hanging up, he places his phone on the nearby kitchen bench, and then walks toward me. He leans down, gently kissing me. “We’ll talk about this later,” he says, though it’s more an order than a question. He then gets up and walks toward his bedroom. His back is glistening with sweat from his recent workout.

“Where are you going?” I ask, swiping away my tears.

Yelling from his bedroom, he replies, “Going to the club. Zeek and some of the boys will be there.” Zeek is his manager, and head man in the entourage.

Dropping my knees down from my chest, I get up from the couch and storm to the bedroom, pissed that he’s going out after I just broke the news to him. He’s naked and heading into the shower, but I stall him, shouting, “You’re going out for drinks? I’ve just told you I’m pregnant, I’m crying, Blake, and you are going out for drinks?”

Rage fills me, and I watch as Blake gets a fresh towel from the cupboard just outside the bathroom and places it on the hook beside the shower, then turns the faucet on, completely ignoring my outburst.

“Blake,” I say, feeling so defeated. He stops, finally, his back tensing, and turns his fully naked frame toward me. His body is magnificent, I don’t think I’ll ever get over how perfect it is, but I’m pissed that he’s leaving me when I need him the most.

“You’re so dramatic, babe. I’m just going out,” he says casually, shrugging his shoulders.

“But…. But….” Covering my face with my hands, I start crying again. God, being pregnant is really messing with my emotions. I hear the patter of his feet approaching and remove my hands from my face when his arms wrap around me. I look up at him. God, he’s gorgeous. I always thought that I was one of the luckiest girls on this planet because he chose me, but now I feel empty, lost. He leans in and kisses me deeply; his bare cock hard against my belly has me moaning into his mouth. I want him. I always want him. I move my hands up to run them through his messy blond hair and open up to him even more, allowing his mouth to seek out mine.

Suddenly, a loud smack echoes in the room and heat builds on my left buttcheek. “Gotta go, babe, the boys are waiting for me.”

Shocked that he’s still going out, despite my obvious distress, I watch him saunter back to the bathroom and step into the shower. He turns to face me, smiling. “You can join me if you want, but it’s gotta be quick.”

I’m feeling so damn frustrated—one, that he’s leaving, two, that he’s totally ignoring the fact we are having a baby, and three, that he thinks a quick fuck is going to fix this. I don’t think so.

Standing to my full height, I reply, “No thanks, I’m leaving, Blake.”

He ignores me. The bathroom is an open-plan room with no door and is connected to the bedroom. There’s also no glass or walls surrounding the shower, just tiles and a glass splash back.

He turns to face me, the water now cascading down his back and dripping over his shoulders down to his abs, then into his light blond pubic hair, which is trimmed and frames his cock. “You’re not going anywhere, Charity. When I get home, I want you here.”

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