The Daddy Box Set

r and support her in everything she chose do. But it was hard. I was still dealing with the emotions of my wife’s passing and not to mention the pile of bills that threatened our way of living every single day. It was the whole reason I started fighting. Paying off those medical bills and giving Margie the life she deserved was my sole focus. I wanted my daughter to have the life I didn’t have as a kid. My parents weren’t poor, but we struggled. And that wasn’t the life I wanted for my daughter.

“You get home safe and rest up. I need you fresh in the gym on Monday,” Artie said while grabbing his stuff.

“Will do, sir,” I said.

“Don’t call me sir,” he said.

He always hated when I called him sir. I told him it was a sign of respect, and he argued that it just made him feel older than he already was. So, I started calling him sir for fun.

“See ya later, old man,” I said.

“Watch your mouth, kid, or I’ll ride you so hard in the gym that you will wish you never met me,” he threatened with a wave goodbye.

I changed quickly, hoping that Anna would still be around. I at least wanted to thank her for coming before I went home.

Chapter Two

Anna

It was Saturday night, and instead of spending it alone watching Netflix, I was sitting in a noisy arena. It was my first time at a fight. My client, Justin, had invited me to watch his him. I could have said no, but I had to admit I was pretty curious to see what went on at these things.

I had made sure to get close to the cage, but not close enough that sweat and blood could get on me. I thought I’d save those seats for the hardcore fans. I didn’t like fighting. And watching Justin fight was intense. I was nervous during every second. I didn’t know how badly he could get hurt. Or even how badly he could hurt the other guy. I didn’t understand why people wanted to do this as a career or why they got off on it. I always thought it was a male thing, but then I found out females did it, too.

I didn’t want to go alone, so I had my sister, Ally, come with me. But once the fight started, I was beginning to question why I had even invited her. She didn’t hold back on her opinions. Ever.

I cheered for Justin and watched as he got into the cage. He was scanning the crowd as he put in his mouth guard. When he spotted me, he smiled around his mouth piece. It looked odd, but my stomach fluttered. He was genuinely happy to see me there. I smiled back, and Ally leaned into me.

“I can see why you wanted to come. He is fucking hot,” she said.

I rolled my eyes. Her comments didn’t get much better from there.

The fight began, and I dug my nails into my palms. I never imagined I would be so nervous, but as I watched Justin and his opponent dance around each other, my stomach was in knots. The first time Justin was hit, I cringed.

“Quit being such a baby,” Ally said.

“I’m not. I just don’t like fights,” I said, defensively.

“Why did you come then?” Ally asked.

I didn’t know how to answer that. I wasn’t really sure myself. So, I shrugged and said, “For fun?” I said it as a question, which was dumb because I knew Ally would sniff something out. She was good at that, and it drove me nuts.

“You have a crush on him,” Ally said as we watched Justin hit his opponent. I cringed for the other guy. It looked like it hurt.

“No, I don’t,” I said. I wanted to avoid this conversation with her. Justin was one of my clients, after all. It would have been completely inappropriate for me to have feelings for him.

“Then why are we here?” she asked, her arms folded across her chest.

“Justin invited me. Don’t make me regret extending the invitation,” I said with a half laugh. It was partially true. She was starting to get on my nerves. I just wanted to enjoy my night and not have to think about anything complicated… Like the fact that one of my clients was insanely hot and every time I massaged him, I got turned on.

“Don’t you remember that one guy? Flynn, I think his name was. He was like in his sixties and bald. He invited you to the ballet. How come you didn’t go to that one?”

Now I was really beginning to regret inviting her. “That’s different. I hate the ballet,” I said, trying to make it seem like it had nothing to do with the fact that he was an ugly, creepy old man. I was glad he never came back after I declined his invitation.

“You hate fights,” Ally said, repeating my words back to me.

Damn her for making me realize things that I really did not want to think about. I already knew I was attracted to Justin. He was hot. And his blue eyes were killer. His muscles left me drooling after every session. But that didn’t really mean anything. It was just physical. Purely based on a hormonal attraction. I was sure half the women in the audience that night were attracted to him too.

We stopped talking as we watched Justin hit his opponent in the chin and then in the cheek. The guy fell over and hit the mat with a loud thud. The ref ran over to him and counted to three. The guy didn’t get up, and I was wondering if that meant Justin won when the referee yelled: “KO’d!”