Bad Fighter Stepbrother (Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

blushed and stood up before she moved to the tub. “Yes, of course I would support you. We could even connect our businesses.”
    She glanced back at him as she turned off the water. His face was filled with hope and she felt a swell of pride knowing she had caused that. She added some oils to the water to help with his relaxation and started the whirlpool. “I thought you hated me,” he said and his voice was filled with sadness. Emma turned back to him.
    “I thought you hated me.”
    “Why?” His eyes were full of question.
    “Because it was all my fault that you got hurt. You were so angry with me when you left, and you said yourself that your head wasn’t in the ring. Then you got hurt and when you came back, you were so angry with me that you haven’t been civil to me even once.”
    Aiden shook his head as he stood up and crossed the room to her. He cupped her cheek and let his thumb trace the curve of her jaw. “You didn’t cause me to get hurt. I am a professional fighter, nothing should have distracted me from what was happening in the ring. But I let things get to me and that is my fault.”
    His thumb moved over her lips and he followed his movement with his eyes. “And I was mad. I thought that you wouldn’t want me and that I was nothing but a broken man to you. I didn’t want your pity, Em...I still don’t.”
    “I don’t pity you,” she answered. “I would never pity you, but I am here to help you.”
    “I know, but I want...” his voice trailed off, and he broke the connection between them as he withdrew his hand and turned away.
    “You want what?”
    He took in a deep breath and he turned towards her. His expression was so vulnerable that Emma felt like she had the ability to destroy his heart by how she reacted to him. “I want you,” he said simply, but it was filled with so much longing, she could feel how much he ached.
    “Aiden...” she began.
    “Stop,” he interrupted her. “Let me finish for once and just listen. I fell in love with you when you came to that first show and I fought Derek. It was when your mom decided to work with my dad as Derek’s trainer after she watched me fight, but my eyes were on nothing but you. My head was on that beauty looking horrified that I was fighting her brother.”
    He took a step back and leaned against the counter in the room. “Then, when you started coming to the gym to watch your brother, I realized how amazing you were. I started checking around at school and realized I wasn’t good enough for you. You were at the top of your class, had lots of friends, and were dating that smart kid...Jimmy...Jake...”
    “Jack,” she finished for him.
    “Yeah, Jack.” He nodded. “By the time you broke up with Jack, Alison and my dad had moved in together, dragging us all along with the ride. Then they were married. It was torture for me all those years and I acted out. I wanted to be with you so badly, but I didn’t think I could. I acted like an ass, but underneath it all, I was cheering you on. I bragged about you and everything you accomplished. Every year, I realized more and more how I wasn’t good enough.”
    He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, and she realized that he wasn’t used to having it. “I fought harder, took on more challenges, and spent every holiday trying to show you I was worth more than a scowl.”
    She shook her head. He couldn’t possibly be telling the truth. Could he? “I thought you hated me,” she said quietly.
    “God, no!” he exclaimed, “I have wanted to be with you for nine long years. How could you have not noticed?”
    She blushed. “I don’t know. The way you would snark at me, the arrogance, the cocky grin you only seemed to give me, the way you would make fun of me, the name calling...”
    “Name calling?”
    “Sprite and pixie...and little fairy...you still call me those things.”
    He laughed, “I called you those things because I thought you were so beautiful you had to be