Page 56 of With Wine Comes War

She laughed and said, “I’m getting fat and I'm almost always hungry.”

I don’t care how pregnant a woman is, you never agree they’re fat. “You look great if you don’t mind me saying.” She blushed a bright pink.

“There’s that damn superpower coming out again.”

The guys just looked at each other while the girls laughed. I shrugged and threw my hands up like I had no idea what they were talking about.

We had lunch on the patio around two and hung out until it was time to take Alex to training. She told me she brought clothes with her to change into, so she ran inside the house and changed into her fight clothes, as she called them.

When she came out all she really had on was a pair of super tight, short black spandex shorts, a black sports bra and a lightweight zip front jacket. She was wearing flip flops now and I wasn’t sure what that meant.

When she saw me staring at her feet she said as she wiggled her toes, “I fight barefoot.”Oh.That explains that. That sounded painful, though.

We said goodbye to everyone out in the driveway because the kids followed us out there and Abby and Maggie said they would get with Alex to schedule a sleepover for the kids or just a playdate if a sleepover wasn’t possible right now.

We only had one more weekend before the court hearing and I didn’t know if Alex would be up for a kiddy sleepover right before that. It seemed like this visit was exactly what she needed today. She was happy and had a permanent smile on her face.

“Something you want to share?”

“Don’t those kids just make you so happy? They radiate so much joy and I feel so good around them.” She was beaming.

“You’re definitely more at ease around the kids than anyone else.” I reached over and held her hand and picked it up, placing a light kiss on her knuckles. Thought I’d kiss them now before they’re battered and bruised again.

She had a look of wonder on her face when she said, “They’re so carefree, not a worry in the world and nothing bothers them. It’s amazing.” When we pulled into the parking lot, she was getting ready to jump out of the car, but I put my hand on her arm. I couldn’t stop thinking about last night and what she said.

“Hold on just a minute before you go run in there. I’m a little concerned about what you said last night.”

“What did I say last night?” I didn’t know if she didn’t remember or if she was patronizing me right now.

“Well, that you’re planning to do something that I might not like.” I paid attention to her eyes to maybe see if she was hiding something from me.

She stopped smiling for a second. It looked like she was thinking. Maybe it was just a drunken speech after all. “Hmmm, I’m not sure what that might be. Could be any number of things, I guess. Like what I’m about to do in here today. I’m good at worrying you. I wouldn’t try to analyze it too much; it was probably just the alcohol talking. I say some weird stuff when I’ve been drinking and last night was one hell of a night.” I agreed.

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Chapter 14

ALEX

We headed into the gym where Bruce and Roman talked for a bit before we got started, then Roman sat on a bench in front of the ring. One of the other fighters went over to sit with him and they seemed to be hitting it off.

I was working out with Bruce today then I would finish sparring with one of the smaller guys. Every time I was taken down, I could see Roman wince and I tried not to smile because I figuredthat would upset him. When I fought back as hard as I could and held my own with both of them, I could see a look of surprise on his face. I felt strong today. I think Roman being there motivated me to show him how much I’ve learned and how strong I’ve become so he won’t be so worried about me all the time.

I wiped the sweat off with my towel and grabbed my things. I thanked everyone for helping me like I always did. Roman and Bruce shook hands, and we headed back to the penthouse.

“What were you and Felix talking about?” I asked as I wiped my face with the towel again.

He huffed out a little laugh and said, “He was telling me that I didn’t have to worry about you, because you could take a hit and give one.”

I laughed. He told him I could take a hit? I’m sure that went over great.

“How did you feel about that? I bet you weren’t too thrilled hearing those words.” I tried not to smile but it totally got the better of me.

He shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t really want anyone hitting you for any reason, but at least you seem to have a lot of friends here, so I doubt I need to worry about you in the ring. I wasn’t happy watching you take those hits. I don’t need to go back again.” He had his elbow on the door while driving with one hand.

That sucks. I was hoping he would keep coming. Shoot, maybe I can still talk him into it if he thinks it’s helping me. I glanced over at him then turned to stare out of the window letting the passing trees hypnotize me as I thought about how to fix this.

“Roman, thanks for coming, anyway. I felt a lot stronger with you there. I don’t know if I was trying to prove to you that I can take care of myself or if you just make me feel like I can do anything, but I reallyliked it that you were there.” Maybe that would help to get him to come back– if he thought I needed him there.

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