Fight for Her #4: MMA New Adult Contemporary Romantic Suspense by JJ Knight Page A

“I’ll go let Maddie and Lily know you’re coming.”
    “Thanks,” I say.
    Doc stands back. “You’ll pass,” he says. “Shower and then I’ll do one more cleanup.”
    So I head back to the bathroom, heart heavy, hoping Maddie will be all right with my career.
    Hoping everything will be all right.

    * * *
    Lily is the first to see me when I make it to the green room. She jumps from the sofa and runs straight for me.
    “Daddy!”
    I lean down and pick her up. She puts the boxing gloves on either side of my face and looks at me with concern. “Did you forget your helmet again?”
    “Sometimes the rules say I don’t get to wear it.”
    “Really?”
    “They try to see how tough I am.”
    She tilts her head. “You must be really tough.”
    “I am.”
    Maddie watches us from the sofa. I can’t read her expression. I don’t know what she’s thinking. Jo stands behind her. She seems happy, so nothing too bad must have happened after the win. If Maddie were going to immediately fly back to New York and not come back, Jo would probably be more concerned.
    I carry Lily over to her.
    “Tough fight,” Maddie says.
    “You’ve had worse,” I say.
    She laughs. “And no ref to call it then.”
    “Yeah, I had it easy this time.”
    She stands up. “So, you going to train here in LA or in New York? Jo says you were looking at a facility there.”
    I shift Lily to one side. She’s got her head on my shoulder. I think she’s wearing out.
    “I will go wherever you are.”
    She swallows hard. I can see the lump in her throat. “Okay,” she says. “Maybe we can tour the facility in Queens, see if it’s good enough for a big-time MMA fighter. If not, I guess Anton will have to live without me.”
    My jaw tightens to control the emotion flooding through me. She’s got this. She’s going to stay the course.
    “I’m sure glad I’m not Anton,” I manage to say.
    She moves in closer and lays her hand on Lily’s back. Her voice drops to a whisper, and I realize Lily has fallen asleep on my shoulder.
    “You’re never going to have to be,” Maddie says.
    I lean forward, carefully, so as not to disturb our sleeping daughter. When my lips hit Maddie’s, it’s different than before. It’s not a passionate kiss, or a punishing one. It’s not uncertain, or full of doubt, or trying to convey anything at all. It’s just us, doing what we do, because we’re together, not thousands of miles apart. Not separated by misunderstanding, ego, or fear.
    But as a team. The most important team there is. Our family.

Epilogue: Parker  

    It was all Colt’s idea.
    The music is subtle. Two guitars, picking out a harmony. A small crowd of very famous people. Actors, musicians, the producer of a hit movie, and a program director for MTV.
    Maddie sits next to me with Lily on her lap. We’re at a small table near the front. The singer is Dylan Wolf, some rock-star friend of Colt’s. His wife, Jessie, is at the table next to us, sitting with Colt and Jo.
    The event is a fund-raiser for a domestic-violence group. Jo’s gotten involved in it. She’s glowing and happy, watching Dylan sing.
    I tap my jacket pocket for the hundredth time. The ring box is still there. I’ve taken to carrying it around full-time in the three months since the match with Viper. I keep waiting for the right moment. But there is always something.
    Next week is my first official league match. I’ve been in intense training. Right now we’re in New York, but Maddie is already making noise about a brother or sister for Lily, and being near grandparents. I know she’s right. Lily will go to kindergarten in a year, and it’s time.
    Colt glances over at me and nods.
    Speaking of it being time.
    Dylan ends the song and the crowd claps.
    He speaks into a microphone angled in front of him. He and the other guitarist are sitting on stools. There’s no stage, just a space for them. The room is small, maybe fifty people. No cameras. No press. Just some