Controlling Tempo II (eBook)

Birth of a Champion

Jaxson Reed (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
256 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-7496-6 (ISBN)

Infos

You can never run from your destiny... Nick Ford had reached the pinnacle of his profession...champion of the world. Bobbie Page held a secret that would change his life forever. Controlling Tempo II is a powerful successor to Controlling Tempo; a touching tale of success, failure, and love.

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Textauszug

CH 1

 

Bobbie hugged Nick with all her might. He was cautious, nervous, he wanted to lift her off her feet and swing her around, but she was pregnant, very pregnant. He didn’t know the rules as they pertained to affection with a pregnant woman.

 

“I can’t believe you’re here,” she cried. Tears of joy streamed down her face

 

“I can’t believe you never told me about our daughter!”

His tone was direct, yet loving, he was incredulous to her keeping it a secret from him.

 

“I know, I know, I’m sorry, I tried…I wanted to, but when I learned about your fight, I didn’t want us,” she looked down and patted her stomach, “to be a distraction. I’m sooooo sorry.”

 

Bobbie eyed the bruising and swelling on his face, it was nothing like she saw after Seattle, but it still bothered her. Her maternal instincts made her reach up to caress the damaged areas. Nick stood stoically as she gently touched his skin. Her touch was warm, soothing. He closed his eyes.

 

“I was afraid you moved on,” she whispered.

 

Nick opened his eyes abruptly and stared at her with a sour face, shaking his head back and forth.

 

“I know, I know” she said again. “I’m sorry.”

 

They kissed passionately. Holding on to her anonymous mass of grey was more fulfilling than she remembered. She was immersed within his embrace. At that moment, no one else in the club existed.

 

“This young man told all the talk shows and sports channels thanks but no thanks,” Debra Page beamed. “He made your father book the first flight out of Vegas after he told him the news. He wanted to be here with you, and said nothing else mattered but you right now!”

 

“Daddy told him?” The surprised look on her face rendered her speechless. She gently clenched her lower lip in her teeth as she glanced at her father.

 

Debra nodded and smiled lovingly at her daughter who was still wrapped in Nick’s arms. She brushed her daughter‘s shoulder, enamored by the couple standing in front of her.

 

“Yes he did. He told him after the big victory party they had.” Bobbie’s eyes stayed fixated on her father.

 

She moved to her father and hugged him with an intensity that had been lacking for quite some time.

 

“Thank you daddy. Thank you. I’m sorry for fighting with you.”

 

“I’m sorry too Bobbie. I just wanted to protect you… be there for you.”

 

Martin Page swayed back and forth with his daughter in his arms. Debra and Nick smiled at the heartwarming scene in front of them. Debra placed her hand on Nick’s back.

 

“You were daddy, you were,” she whispered, “you’ve always been there for me.”

Bobbie wiped the last remaining tears from her eyes and laughed to herself. Her eyes closed as she hugged her father again. The absurdity of it all was too much to bear.

 

 

Bobbie and Nick sat in the back of the black town car as it headed towards her brownstone. She cuddled next to him like a feline and laid her weary head against his hardened chest. It was like laying her head upon granite, yet she nestled her way into a comfortable state. Nick’s hand rested upon her stomach as he watched the hustle and bustle of the city pass by. Bobbie traced his hand with hers, outlining the hard-earned callouses and scars, as they quietly traveled.

 

“Where are your bags, did you bring any stuff with you,” she asked softly, never lifting her eyes from his hand.

 

“In the trunk, your dad reserved the car and Jimmy,” Nick pointed to the driver who waved back to the couple, “for the whole night. I can buy whatever I need, or don’t have…I’ve got a big shiny bucket now lady!!”

 

“You know I didn’t say that!” she giggled.

 

“It doesn’t matter. You and the baby will be taken care of for life now.” Nick began gently massaging Bobbie’s stomach. She absorbed his words and his touch, basking in his commitment to her and their unborn child.

 

“Did you miss me?” she asked coyly, shyly. Never looking up from his hand. Finally, she peeked innocently up at him to gauge his reaction.

 

“Eh…” he teased, shrugging his shoulders and grimacing, “only every minute of every day.”

 

Excitement erupted from within her. “YOU have no idea babe, no idea how much I missed you.”

 

Her mind was intoxicated by the man sitting next to her. Her thoughts ran the gamut of the last six months of her life. Nick chuckled at her exuberance and laid his head against the headrest.

 

A few minutes passed before he brought his head and eyes down and looked at Bobbie, “Hey, I need to go back to Oregon for a few days, maybe even a week or two. I was thinking I’d go back on Wednesday, maybe Thursday. I need to take care of a few things - move out of my apartment, say my goodbyes to Ed and a few other people, and I have a thing that I do after every fight. It’s kind of a tradition.”

 

“What’s that?” she asked. She tried to adjust herself in the seat, sitting more upright than before.

 

“You’ll think it’s dumb,” he said sheepishly.

 

“No I won’t, I would never think that. Nothing you do is dumb.”

 

He waited a few beats before answering. “There’s this place my parents always took me as a child, it’s called Pacific City, it‘s over on the coast. I go there after every fight and walk the beach - rain or shine. I talk to them,” he stopped to see how Bobbie reacted.

 

Jimmy peeked into the rearview mirror, he was listening to Nick too, enamored by the maturity of the young champion. His commitment to his past, his family. It was a refreshing change from the normal chatter he had to listen to while driving.

 

“I talk to them about life, the fight, anything that’s on my mind. Then I stop in and eat, have a beer or two at the pub right on the beach. I stay at the same little motel we always stayed at as a family. I guess some of the locals have started to notice that I come around every few months.”

 

“How could they not, you’re kinda like that Bigfoot creature, tough to miss.” Bobbie maneuvered her bulging stomach and her shoulders to get a better look at Nick.

 

“Babe I don’t think that’s dumb at all. I think it’s endearing. Charming how you keep the connection to your parents. I think it’s cool and you need to keep doing it. Maybe you can take me there, take us,” as she looked at her stomach and rubbed it gently. “I’d love to see it someday.”

 

Nick winced, “aww the Surf and Sand is not exactly the Carlyle. It’s pretty small, not sure it’s up to your standards,” he laughed. “It’s a little rustic.”

 

“As long as we’re with you, that’s all that matters. Maybe next time though, I’m not sitting on a plane for six hours like this, no thank you, you think I’m bitchy now……”

 

The startled look on Nick’s face led to a brief smirk. Jimmy’s eyes glanced in the rearview mirror as well, wondering where the conversation was headed.

 

“I’ve never said you were bitchy.”

 

“Not yet, you just wait until I wake up in the middle of the night to pee and I can’t get back to sleep because I’m uncomfortable and my boobs hurt, my feet are swollen, I’m hungry, I hate you for getting me pregnant, and you didn’t put your smelly socks in the hamper….”

 

“Wow,” Nick began to laugh, “is it ok if I book my return flight for the morning?” Nick edged over and reached for the redhead beside him. Even Jimmy laughed to himself from behind the wheel.

 

“You’ve been waiting to say that to me for like six months haven‘t you?”

 

“Yep, I’ve been rehearsing,” she laughed. The smile quickly left her face. “I was prepared to be a single mom. I figured it was somehow my destiny.”

 

Her tone quieted, she was barely audible. “Now you’re here…we’ve got a lot to talk about and work through when you get back. Make sure this is something you really want to do.”

 

“I’m sure, I don’t need to wait until I get back to tell you that.”

 

 

The stairway up to the front door of the brownstone seemed steeper than before. The soft light of the outside bulb cast a warm glow over the front porch. The black cast iron railing glistened.

 

One of the neighbors was escorting his dog to a grassy area next to the street, otherwise the street was void of commotion and sound. Nick kept a watchful eye on the neighbor then followed Bobbie slowly up the stairs with his bags in hand. He pushed the heavy wooden door open wide after she...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 20.9.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-7496-6 / 9798350974966