Bad Fighter Stepbrother (Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

use.”
    He stopped and turned towards her, and she felt her stomach clench at the sight of him. Even in recovery, he looked amazing. She sighed at the hard lines of his body and the perfect six-pack that edged down to his hip. Surprisingly, unlike most fighters, he didn’t have a single tattoo and it was almost shocking seeing a man’s form without ink. She loved tattoos, but something about his clean skin made him seem more dangerous...and made her want to lick every inch of unmarred skin.
    She did notice several scars on his chest and other parts of his body from his fights, but most of them were old. The angriest one was the surgery site near his pectoral muscle, but even it was mostly healed. “I didn’t think it would matter,” he said quietly in response.
    “That what wouldn’t matter?” she asked.
    “If I was naked in front of you.” He sounded hurt and Emma looked into his eyes. They were filled with an angry sorrow that she couldn’t explain. “You made it clear that there was nothing between us.”
    She flinched at his tone, but she picked up a towel and threw it towards Aiden. “Stop being an ass,” she snapped as she crossed her arms. “It matters because you shouldn’t be getting naked in front of me. And besides, you said that you wanted to talk when you got back.”
    “Yeah, and...”
    “And you have been back for six weeks and you haven’t talked to me once, outside of meals and working through your physio plan. Even then, I mostly get one-word responses. This is actually the most you have spoken to me in the last six weeks.”
    He opened his mouth to reply and then closed it before he sighed. “You’re right, Em. I’m just so angry right now. It was stupid. The guy got the arm bar, and I tore the muscle trying to get out of it. Really, the injury was stupid and I didn’t have my head in the ring...I had it elsewhere.”
    Wrapping the towel around himself, he sat down on the chair in the room and threaded his fingers through his hair. For the first time since he got back, she realized that he was growing his hair out. The thought of why he would tore at her heart...he expected to never go back in the ring again. It was only a few inches long, but the thick black hair would have been a disadvantage during a fight.
    She knew what he was saying, but she ignored the guilt that had blossomed inside her. She walked towards him and crouched down in front of him. She took his hands in hers and forced him to look up at her. “Hey, it’s not your fault...things happen in the ring.” She cupped his cheek and he shuddered under her touch. “This isn’t the end, you know. You can still train and get back in the ring.”
    He shook his head and closed his eyes as she rubbed her thumb over his cheek.
    “No, I am getting older. Let’s face it. I have ten years left...maybe less if I am stupid in the ring. The more injuries I get, the shorter my career will be. And what will I have left after I retire? If I let the injuries add up, I’m going to be really messed up at the end. I have been in the ring since I was eighteen...even longer if you count all the amateur and competitions I went to as a child and teen. I’ve been extremely lucky not being injured too badly yet.”
    Opening his eyes, he gazed into hers. “But I have no idea what I’m going to do. All I have ever been is a fighter.”
    She shook her head and felt her anger slip away a small amount at a time. “You are more than a fighter. What about the therapy center you wanted to start?”
    He shook his head. “It was just an idea; I have no idea how to start it or what to do to run it.”
    She rubbed his hands between hers and said, “You will have everyone’s support if you decide to do it. Mom would be happy to let you set it up on the ranch, and you know Tony will be here to support you.”
    He stared into her eyes for an eternity as the room echoed with the sound of the tub filling, “And you...would you support me?”
    Emma