Bucking Bear (Pounding Hearts #3) (12 page)

Kid is awesome.

Brett even looked chastised by the yell. Fucker kicked me pretty hard after she left but it was worth it.

But now… Now I am hurting, barely able to breathe, and wondering if I would be able to tap out. Probably not.

Dale has been running us as hard as he can. He says Chase is getting fat in retirement and that I have been going too easy on myself. I won’t say it to his face, but yeah I can feel my endurance going even higher. But damn this shit is hard.

“Really, ladies? You want to stay on the mat longer? Wow, you really do like my six inches. Well, take it all ladies, take it all. On your backs!”

“Fuck that! I am gonna punch him!” I say as I let my body fall back to the mat.

Lifting our legs into the air six inches off the mat, we count out to thirty then drop ‘em back down.

“One!” we shout in unison.

“Gotta build those abs up, wouldn’t want your girls thinking you are pansies now, would we…. Up!”

This is his way of making sure we don’t walk right. He is fucking us so hard right now and he didn’t even have to take his pants off.

We do this for another twenty reps. Thank god, twenty-one might kill me.

“First one up wins!”

Shit, I am standing and pushing Chase back down as fast as I can and he is trying to do the same to me. I don’t know what we win, but I sure as hell don’t want to lose.

“Aw, would you look at that. You guys are winners now. I am proud.”

Looking over at Chase, he grins at me. “I tap, I gotta get going. Need to get ready for the next class coming in.”

Patting my shoulder as he walks out of the cage, my mouth falls open.

Fuck, I am all alone with Dale.

Jumping down off the box that he stands on to lean into the ring, Dale walks past Chase. His grin is back.

“Sauna time. Then shower up. I promised your girl I wouldn’t beat you up too bad today.”

My face is smiling as I walk towards the exit, then he remarks to my back. “Had to run to mommy. Ain’t that sad.”

I would say something back, but I can’t do another six inches. Shit is for the birds.

K
rissy
: Did you have fun in the kick suit?

M
y god
, can I not get away from this madman?

Krissy and I are talking to each other pretty often now, mostly through text. Though she calls when she needs to talk about the stuff that is too long to type.

Lots of things go through her mind. I’ve never been in the mind of a teenage girl. It’s bizarre how her mind works but it is amazing at the same time. She is so capable of deep insights then she calls me a failsauce for getting thrown around the ring.

The guys at the ring have been told about the Give-A-Dream foundation and have all shown me a startling change in attitude towards me texting Tom’s kid. She is getting flooded with texts from Chase and Brett. Each with pictures of me getting my butt kicked while I am in the ring. But then they are also sending her words of hope and thoughts of how strong she is. They have taken up trying to give her encouragement. It’s pretty awesome.

I have been having my own warring thoughts on what to do. I have ideas, but most of them are dreams. I mean I can’t punch my way through leukemia any more than she can. That sucks.

M
ax’s fight
is coming up soon and he’s putting in extra time in the gym which means less time with Hope and me. I understand, I’m not bitter about it or anything, it’s his job. I’ll never begrudge him the time he spends working out and bettering himself as a fighter.

I guess I’m just missing him a bit because I was getting used to having him around. These past couple of weeks have been a total whirlwind for sure, and it’s only been three days since our long weekend together, but despite all the hot, crazy sex we had my body is needing him already.

Two days wasn’t nearly enough. I need more, much more.

I need more of his scratchy kisses. More of his teeth scraping against my throat.

More of his giant hands pawing my breasts. More of his calloused fingers pinching my nipples.

And especially more of his thick cock pounding into my soaked core.

But I know he’s been under a lot of stress lately so I need to bide my time and behave myself.

The fight coming up is not just another fight, if he loses it means he loses a shot at the heavyweight title, something he’s been working his entire career towards.

So I’m giving him his space, but I’m there every time he reaches out to me, waiting anxiously by my phone.

I want him to win that title, I want everyone to know what I already know—that’s he’s the best heavyweight fighter in the world.

And I want to be his support, I want to be something in his life that lifts him up, not brings him down. More than anything I want him to look at me as a partner, not as a burden or an extra worry.

I’m doing my best to be a good girl knowing that when all of this is said and done I can be a very bad girl.

A very, very bad girl.

A girl who needs to be spanked and licked and fucked a lot.

I’m at home, putting away the last of the laundry before I head out the door to pick up Hope when he texts me.

M
ax
: Dale hates me.

I
giggle
after reading the message. Poor guy. I got the pleasure of witnessing Dale working Max and Chase pretty hard at the gym the other day. It seemed kind of intense to me but at the time I just assumed it was normal.

M
e
: He doesn’t hate you lol

I
n fact
, after talking to Dale for a bit at the gym, I got the feeling he was just bummed out because he’s missing his girl. She’s the doctor that works most of the fights, I think he said her name was Miranda. She flew back home for a couple of weeks and it was pretty obvious to me that Dale has been kind of down without her.

M
ax
: He does. He’s gleefully torturing me, the sick fuck.

G
race
:
What did he do?

M
ax
: He put me in the kick suit for the women’s self-defense class.

G
race
: Why would he do that?

M
ax
: He said I need to build up my testicular fortitude.

G
race
: OMG, I’m so going to have a talk with him. Those are MY balls.

M
ax
: Don’t you dare! You’ll only make it worse.

C
huckling to myself
, I walk into the kitchen and grab my purse off the table.

M
e
: Fine, I won’t.

M
ax
: Thank you. My balls are really sore.

I
don’t
text Max back until I’ve locked the front door and hopped in my car.

M
ax
: I think the left one is a little loose

M
e
: Aww, you poor baby. Want to meet up tonight and let me kiss it better?

M
ax
: What time do you get off work?

L
aughing
, I start my car up and tell him I’ll text him later, I gotta pick up Hope. I’m happy the entire drive to her preschool, thinking about kissing Max’s balls better, until I notice Carson’s black Audi parked in the lot.

Shit. What’s he doing here?

I double check my phone, making sure there’s no missed calls or texts from the school. I don’t think anything is wrong but every time Carson shows up my stomach clenches into a tight knot of worry.

He’s never, ever been to her school before. I hope he’s not trying to pick her up. Jumping out of my car, I rush up the front steps to find him lingering in the doorway, holding Hope’s hand and talking to her teacher.

Was he planning on leaving with her?

“Carson?” I pant, a little breathless.

“Mommy!” Hope calls out and tries to yank out of his grip.

His eyes flick towards me and then he smiles at the teacher, nodding goodbye to her before he leads Hope down the steps.

“Grace,” he smiles at me but it’s a cold smile, all for show.

“What are you doing here?” I ask as he just leads Hope past me.

“Not here,” he says simply and I follow closely on his heels, not sure if I should make a scene and demand he hand her over or not. It’s not his day, he has no right to take her.

Thankfully he leads Hope to my car.

He pulls on the handle and then looks at me expectantly when it doesn’t open.

“Mommy,” Hope whines and I hit my clicker, unlocking the door for him.

“It’s okay, honey,” I smile at Hope. “I’m going to talk to your father and then we’re going to go to the park, okay?”

Hope looks unsure, torn between frowning at her father and my offer of the park. Carson is oblivious though, he pulls open the door and ushers her inside. He doesn’t even help her with her seatbelt before shutting the door.

“What the hell, Carson?” I hiss under my breath low enough she can’t hear. Through the window I can see her wiggling into her seat and doing up her seatbelt herself.

He turns towards me but ignores my question. Looking off at the school building, his lips twist with distaste. “Couldn’t you do a little better, Grace?”

I cross my arms over my chest defensively. “What do you mean?”

He waves his hand dismissively at the school. “This place is a dump.”

I know the outside of the building is a little worn down, and some of the classroom stuff is a bit old, but, “It’s actually a very nice school, the best I can afford. They focus on building self-confidence and use positive reinforcement.”

“I observed the class, Grace. There was no focus on academics. The children were allowed to roam as they pleased. All they did was have story time and play. Oh, and one little boy ate paint.”

I let out a long sigh. “They learn through play, they’re only four…”

“And they should be teaching them to sit still, not letting them run around as they please,” he snaps. “Hope is constantly bouncing around. It’s irritating.”

I bite my lip. He just doesn’t get it.

Then he tells me, “I want to enroll her in Lakeside Country Day.”

Ugh, I’ve looked into that place. It’s a ritzy private academy that costs like eight grand a year. But it’s not even the cost that bothers me. They’re very focused on academics and discipline. They train the children to sit behind desks and the school work is very rigid.

I shake my head.

“If it’s the cost you’re worried about, I’m willing to pay for it.”

“It’s not the cost…”

“Then what is it?” he asks impatiently.

I narrow my eyes at him. “It’s not what I want for her.”

“Don’t you want the best for her?”

Where does he get off? I really don’t want to start a fight with him here in the parking lot, in front of the other parents, but I have to say it. “You haven’t been around at all, until the past couple of months, and now you’re finally taking an interest in her education?”

We have a stare off.

“Mommy,” Hope whines from inside the car.

I break first, looking towards her.

“Just a couple more minutes, honey, I promise,” I try to reassure her. She pouts, crossing her arms over her chest but nods her head.

She’s definitely getting ice cream after this.

“Grace,” Carson says, drawing my attention back to him.

I shake my head. “You can’t just come barging back into our lives, Carson, and start changing the important decisions I made for her. If you wanted a say you should have been around in the first place.”

“I’m here now,” he argues. “And I’ve already apologized…”

I shake my head. “I’m sorry but I’m not changing her school. And it’s my choice.”

“That can be changed,” he snaps angrily, and there it is, the threat that’s been lurking beneath the surface. I’ve just been waiting for it to come out.

I pull open my door and murmur, “I gotta go.”

This is neither the time nor the place to discuss this, and we’re already starting to draw curious attention from the other parents. I know the gossip mommies are just eating this up.

“Grace,” he says angrily as I slip behind my wheel.

“I guess I’ll see you in court,” I say and shut my door.

Fuck.

Carson curses and I watch him stalk angrily to his car before I back out. I put on a good show but my hands are shaking as I grip the steering wheel. I flip on the radio, cranking up a bouncy pop song to calm my nerves.

Carson peels out of the parking lot before I’m even pulled out. I take a turn, pointing us towards the park.

Beside me my phone dings and vibrates. I pick it up at a red light to see I have a new message from Max.

M
ax
: “Everything all right?”

I
swear
the man has a sixth sense when it comes to stuff bothering me. I chew my lip and debate telling him what happened until we pull into the park.

Springing Hope free from her booster seat, I watch her run off to have fun before I respond.

M
e
: Everything’s great. Decided to bring Hope to the park.

I
just can’t bring
myself to tell him what happened. He’s already got enough on his plate and it will just piss him off.

M
ax
: Ah, okay. She having fun?

I
smile
and take a seat on a bench, settling in to watch her run around for the next hour.

M
e
: Oh, didn’t I tell you? Tonight I’m off.