Bucking Bear (Pounding Hearts 3)

“Max! How’s it going man?”

“Not bad, Colt, not bad at all. I just saw your email. What’s up?”

“I wanted to feel you out about something I just got an email about. You ever heard of the Give-A-Dream foundation?”

I lean back into the booth. “Sure, everyone has, haven’t they? What’s up? You need me to get Reaper to sponsor something? I know his school would love to do things with them.”

“Well, actually, this one is more of a personal thing.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Looks like a kid has been following you pretty heavily the past four years. The dad loves MMA and passed it down to the kid. Apparently you are their favorite fighter, they watch your fights religiously.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Well, fuck. That’s a new one. I haven’t heard from any fans before. I’m a name now, I know that, but not the kind of name like Reaper, or shit, even that little fucker Brett.

“Anyways, Max, the kid isn’t doing well. Been going down pretty fast due to Leukemia, and when Give-A-Dream fou

nd out that she wanted to meet you they sent an email to me.”

Glancing at the watch on my wrist, I ask, “What time? I’m eating dinner now but I can be ready in about a half—”

Colt interrupts with a laugh. “Not that fast Max, there is still some hope. I meant more like in the next couple of weeks.”

“Well, shit. Yeah, I’ll do it. Whenever, wherever. Do I need to fly anywhere?”

“Yeah, that was a concern of mine. She lives across the country in a small town outside of Cincinnati.”

“That ain’t bad, I can get a ticket off the travel sites pretty quick for that.”

“You really want to go, don’t you?” Colt asks and I can tell he is genuinely pleased with how I am acting. Though I don’t know why he would think I would do anything different. Then again he has never approached me with something like this before.

“Yeah, like I have anything that is so important I can’t put it on hold to go help out.”

“Alright, good. Let me talk to my assistant, Whitney, and get all the information together. We’ll call you back soon with the details. Sound good?”

I see Grace walking towards me and my mind is instantly back to how beautiful she is. I say into the phone, “Yeah, Colt, sounds good. If they need anything at all, no matter what, just tell me.”

“Alright, cool. Have a good night, Max.”

“You too, Colt.”

I smile as Grace sits down my plates of food, and then her one. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was a growing boy. I eat this much normally. I have to keep up my body’s need of proteins and vitamins.

We eat in a companionable silence as she takes her lunch with me. I am finishing off my second steak when I ask, “So I was wondering if you and Hope would want to go to the zoo Friday? They have a pretty cool lion exhibit going on there.”

She smiles as she asks tentatively, “Really? You want to take us both out?”

“Well yeah… Why? Don’t you want to go? Hope likes zoos from what I remember her telling me.”

“Oh yeah, she does. It’s just that… I wasn’t...” she doesn’t finish what she was saying.

“Wasn’t what, Grace?”

“I wasn’t sure it wasn’t just a night of…”