13. Knox

Chapter Thirteen

KNOX

I squeeze Hazel’s hand as we walk through the hall, the one I’ll be walking down with my team in two weeks’ time; my entrance music blaring, the crowd roaring, my girl and my family sitting in the stands.

It feels a little bit like coming home after a long vacation. When you’re relieved and satisfied but dreading getting back to the grind.

And let me tell you, I am fucking dreading it.

It’s a good thing this is going to be my retirement fight because if it wasn’t and I was still dreading it as much as I am, I’d really have to reevaluate my career choice. And honestly, I’m too fucking old to make a drastic change.

“Cubby,” Hazel whispers and rests her hand I’m not holding on my forearm. “Everything is going to be fine.”

I take a deep breath and nod.

Believe it or not, this is the calmest I’ve been all week and I’m still ready to pop a seam. But thanks to Hazel, who is basically an organic form of Xanax for my fucked-up soul, I’m not throwing up or canceling, I still left her apartment and drove down to the arena. Well, Hazel drove my car because I probably would have crashed, but still, we’re here and we made it in one piece.

I have to give my sunshine all the credit.

Between her starting to treat me again, as her man and not a client just because she wants to, the meditation we’ve been doing and that mind numbing blowjob she gave me forty-five minutes ago, I’m as mellow as I’m gonna get.

Jesus, Hazel can suck cock.

I’ve never had a blowjob like that before, never. And I sure as fuck haven’t watched the sexiest woman I have ever met play with her pussy because she was so turned on from giving me a blowjob, either. That was almost hotter than having actual sex. Almost, not quite, because when I finally get to bury myself inside Hazel, it’s going to top all of my experience combined, but that was definitely the second-best thing.

And you bet your ass I’m hoping it becomes a regular part of my treatment.

“You’re tensing up again,” my sunshine whispers as we walk through the mouth of the tunnel and start down toward the ring. “Is it because you have to see the doctor? Are you freaking out? You were okay with that before we left, it’s not like he’s going to look inside your shoulder and see that we just barely hit 80% again. It’ll be fine. That’s a huge improvement in a short period of time, and two weeks from now it’ll be even better if you keep listening to me. Is that it? Are you worried about that? Are you freaking out? You’re freaking out.”

I squeeze her hand, my eyes trained on Allen Gateman, the CFA owner and total hardass, and shake my head.

But Sunny stops, tugs my arm and waits until I’m looking at her to speak. “Knox, I need you to talk to me. I can tell you’re stressed, tense, and it’s worrying me. Please tell me what you’re thinking.”

With a sigh and smile I can’t fight, I lean down and kiss her forehead. “I’m a little stressed, yeah. Allen and I don’t exactly see eye to eye, I fucking hate Dirk and the idea of anyone other than you poking around my shoulder makes my stomach hurt, but I’m okay.”

She frowns skeptically.

“I swear, Sunny. I’m no more anxious than I was when we left.” Then I grin and wag my eyebrows. “To be honest, I got a little tense because I was reliving that epic BJ you just gave me, hoping to get another one real soon.”

Hazel laughs, her adorable snort laugh that she thinks is terrible. “Be a good Cubby, and maybe I’ll give you one on the ride home.”

“Hell yeah.” I snatch her around the waist, pull her against me and kiss the fuck out of my girl just as a voice I never wanted to hear again interrupts.

“Well, isn’t this cute?”

I growl as I pull away from Hazel but keep her hand in mine, keep her close as I turn to face Dirk Chapman, reigning cocksucker.

He gives me a sly grin, that evil one that makes me want to punch him in the nuts, and lifts my belt higher on his shoulder. “Didn’t know you had a new girl, Riley.” Then he eyes my sunshine like a piece of meat. “Not bad.”

“Watch it, Chapman,” I growl, taking a step in front of Hazel. Fucker knows exactly how to get under my skin.

Then, for the second time in as many minutes, I hear the other voice I could have gone the rest of my life without hearing.

“Hi, Knox,” Isabell says as she flips her hair over her shoulder, sidles up to Dirk and rubs her fake tits all over his biceps. “Good to see you again.”

She gives me a smile, the one she used to give me all the time, the phony one that looks real enough to make you believe her lies. The one I thought I wanted to wake up to for the rest of my life, and funny enough, it just makes me sick.

It used to kill me to even hear Isabell’s name, used to gut me and send me spiraling over what I thought we had, what I thought I lost. But now, now that I know what true love is, understand what it is to have the strongest and most pure form of love to exist, it just grosses me out that I ever had anything to do with her. Aside from that, I feel absolutely nothing for the shallow bitch standing in front of me.

I’m not hurt, not jealous.

I’m not even angry or spiteful.

I’m just relatively grossed out and a touch sad, but not about what happened between us. I’m sad for Isabell because she has no idea who she is or how to be a good person, doesn’t value anything except what she can take from someone else until she sucks them dry. She’s the worst kind of person and totally unaware of herself, and that’s just fucking sad.

So, I nod, tighten my hold on the girl I am actually going to spend the rest of my life waking up to because she’s the best person, my person, and try to walk toward Allen.

“Who’s this?” Isabell asks, her unnaturally blue eyes landing on Sunny.

Her eyes are really a murky blueish brown, but she wears contacts because most everything on Isabell is fake, and most likely paid for with my money.

And just when I open my mouth to make a brief introduction, my girl beats me to it.

“I’m Hazel.” She beams a devious smile at them. Uh oh. I know that look. “Dr. Hazel Hollis.”

Isabell frowns, then tilts her head like a confused and stupid dog. “Doctor?”

“Yep.” She pops the P. “You know, like a person who goes to school for a really long time and studies people and their bodies so they can make them better?”

Isabell huffs, I barely stifle my laugh and Dirk just blinks.

Oh, this is going to be good.

Kinda wish I could sit in the stands and watch Sunny go a round or two with my ex.

“You’re a doctor?”

“I am. Two different kinds of doctors actually.”

“Aren’t you a little young to be a doctor?”

Hazel pretends to be flattered. “Thank you! I’m not, though, probably only a year or two younger than you.” Then she squints. “Although, it’s kind of hard to tell with all the work you’ve had done.”

Shit, Sunny isn’t holding back.

Not that it’s surprising, she was royally pissed when I finally told her what went down between us, and my girl has been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to meet her since.

Isabell gasps. “I haven’t had any work done. I’m all natural.” She smooths down her bad dye job, then pushes her tits out further. “Go on, tell me how old you are, or guess my age, and I’ll tell you if you’re right about me.”

Sunny lifts a finger to her lips and taps those cherry red petals that I can’t stop picturing around my dick. “Well, I’m thirty-five, so I’m gonna guess you’re...” God, she’s a great actress. “You’re what? Forty-three or forty-four? If you’re older than that, you’re going to have to give me your surgeon's card because his work is phenomenal.”

Isabell is almost forty.

As in, turning forty at the end of the year.

She’s been fighting her age for a long fucking time, and it didn’t help that I’m a couple years younger than her and could pass for late twenties, early thirties if I tried hard enough. Not to brag or anything.

But Isabell is as vain as they come and what Hazel just said is going to drive her right up the wall.

“ Forty-four ?” Yep, Isabell is pissed. “Forty-four!” She shrieks. “At least I don’t look like a little boy in drag! At least I actually look like a woman who should be on the arm of someone like Knox!”

“Oh my gosh, you really think my makeup looks good enough to pass as drag?” Hazel once again fakes being flattered. “Lady Antoinette Dubois lent me the pallet I used this morning, I’ll let her know you like it. Thank you!”

Isabell screeches a bunch of nonsense at Dirk, then turns to me. “I can’t believe you’d go from someone like me to someone as horrible as her!” Then Isabell narrows her eyes and smirks. “Her tits are what, A-cups? You’re a boob man, Knox, always have been, so I’m sure that’s been rather disappointing. Amongst other things.”

Hazel falters at that because it’s one of her biggest insecurities.

Her body, her impending sexual performance.

Neither of which my girl needs to worry about because I can’t keep my hands off of her tight little body, the beautiful and delicate curves of her lean muscles and willowy frame. And after that blowjob, Hazel shouldn’t question anything about how she’ll be in bed. Hell, all she’ll need to do is get naked and look at my cock the way she did earlier for me to explode in my shorts, so there’s no question that sex with her will be the best sex I’ve ever had.

But still, Hazel doesn’t feel like she’s up to snuff because she’s petite and nothing at all like the cookie cutter women I was stupid enough to date before her, and I know her scars make it worse.

And while Isabell isn’t wrong about my love for boobies, it’s not the size of them I enjoy. Big ones, little ones, perky ones, saggy ones, ones with big nipples, ones with tiny nipples. I’ve never been picky, but Hazel’s boobies? My god, they are immaculate. She thinks they’re too small but Thelma and Louise—yes, I named her tits—fill out my palms perfectly, have a nice solid weight to them with the prettiest little nipples I’ve ever had the privilege of sucking on, and they are just the right size for me to eventually tittie fuck my future wife.

My future wife, who is now staring down at her feet while this bitch tries to insult her.

Not on my watch.

“Let me make myself perfectly clear, Isabell.” I square my shoulders and adopt a sardonic grin. “If I ever hear you’re even thinking about insulting my fiancé like that ever again, I will make sure to finally do one of those little tell all interviews ESPN has been hounding me to do since we split.” The color drains from her face and my grin grows. “Hazel is easily the kindest, most passionate and caring person I have ever met, and she loves me for all the parts no one knows exist as well as the ones I couldn’t hide if I wanted to. She has a heart of fucking gold and I’m the luckiest bastard on the planet because she chose to give it to me freely without ever wondering what I could give her in return. Hazel is everything I could have asked for in a partner, everything I’ve ever wanted and more, and it’s a bonus that she happens to be fucking gorgeous without even trying.”

I grip my girl's hand and take one step toward Isabell. “Hazel means more to me than anything or anyone else ever has, and she makes me a better man by simply being who she is and loving me the way she does. She is my world and if you don’t want all your dirty laundry aired out on a national platform, I would suggest you stay the fuck away from both of us for as long as you’re still breathing.”

“Are you gonna let him talk to me like that?” Isabell shrieks as she tugs Dirk’s arm. “Defend me! Knock him out or something!”

He narrows his eyes. “Bitch, you’re lucky I let you come with me to this shit. If I had to hear you beg one more goddamn time to come here so you could flaunt your fake ass in front of Knox TKO Riley , I was gonna lose my fucking mind. Obviously he doesn’t give a shit about you and hasn’t for years. Get the hell over yourself.” Then he turns to us, Hazel specifically. “If you ever decide Riley isn’t man enough to get the job done, you call me. I’ll be more than happy to show you what it’s like to fuck a real champ.”

Hazel’s jaw drops wide open as Isabell practically screams and storms off, and I’m about two seconds out from putting my fist right through Dirk Chapman’s face.

Something my girl obviously senses because her hold on me turns into a death grip.

“What did you just say?” I’m legit going to kill him. I don’t give a flying fuck about the title dig, but this motherfucker is going to get the beating of a lifetime for saying he’d fuck my Sunny right to my face.

“You heard me.” He juts his chin out and smirks. “I’m sure she’d rather get it good from an actual reigning champ than some washed up old has-been like you.”

I’m in his face before his next breath.

And just when I’m about to knock him the fuck out and show him what an old has-been can do, Allen barks, “Riley. Chapman. Let’s go.”

“See ya in the gon, Riley.” Dirk grins and turns, then walks toward the ring.

I go to follow but Hazel jerks my arm. “Knox.”

I take a cleansing breath so I can avoid taking out my frustration on Sunny. “Yeah, baby?”

“Did we just get engaged?”

Of all the shit she could have said to me right now, that was not what I was expecting. At all.

And thank God for that, because it has me smiling. “You got a problem with that?”

“No.” Hazel smiles at me so big, her eyes a little glassy. “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t just say that because you were mad.”

“Never, Sunny. I would never say something like that because I was pissed or to make a point. I meant what I said about you, including calling you my fiancé. Can’t have our fur babies,”—the now seven fur babies—“coming from a broken home. Gotta make it legal, make you all Riley’s so we can find a house big enough for all of us.”

A tear rolls down Hazel’s cheek, but her smile is blinding as she grabs the front of my t-shirt and yanks me down to her. “You are definitely getting a blowjob on the ride home.”

“ Aw shit.” I smile into our kiss while I contemplate asking Allen for ten more minutes so I can have one now.

She kisses me hard and bites my lip as I meet her eyes. “You know what else you get tonight?”

I lift a brow. “Chinese? That shit sounds good.”

She giggles but shakes her head.

“What else do I get tonight, fiancé ?”

Another kiss. “You get to destroy my pussy too.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Hot damn, woman. I gotta get that contract signed so we can get the fuck outta here.”

Hazel laughs her amazing laugh, kisses me one more time, then sits front row in the stands while I strut my mostly erect self into the octagon to take care of business.

Ma was right.

The love of a good woman is hard to find, but it is a fucking beautiful thing when you do.

And I can’t believe I was lucky enough to find it.