She squeezes my hand back. “That sounds good to me.” I can hear the smile in her voice.

With a secure bridge built between us, the knot in my chest eases up. She’s almost seventeen, and with her life experiences, she’s a lot older than that. I’ve always tried to protect her like I would a child. But it’s clear she’s blossomed into a woman.

“What did you need to talk to me about?” she says, still holding my hand.

I retrace our morning and the afternoon before. We’d spent Sunday afternoon cleaning the apartment, grocery shopping, and doing laundry for the week. I’d mentioned that I had to talk to her about something. More like someone.

“Yeah, I uh… what do you think about Blake?” I try to keep my voice casual.

“I like him. He’s super cool, funny, cooks really good food.” She shrugs. “He’s good looking. I mean, what’s not to like?”

“What would you say if I told you that I agree?”

“I’d say that’s good, because if you didn’t I’d think something was seriously wrong with you.” She giggles.

“Okay, and what would you say if I told you I like him? A lot. And he likes me too?”

She cocks her eyebrow at me and smiles. “I’d say, no shit, Sherlock. Welcome to the party.”

“What?”

“Oh please, Mom. It’s so obvious. You guys are both all goo-goo eyed when you’re together.”

“We are not.”

“You so are.”

I laugh and think this is the longest conversation we’ve had in a long time. “We’re kind of…”

“Dating?” She smiles big, and her eyes sparkle.

“Yeah, er… if you’re okay with that.”

“You’re dating Blake “The Snake” Daniels, and you want to know if I’m okay with it?” Her high-pitched squeal fills the truck’s cab.

“Is that a yes?” I laugh.

“Hell yeah, it’s a yes! Killian is going to freak out when I tell him.”

I shake my head and wrestle against a grin.

Who knew a little honesty and communication could change our future outlook? It doesn’t mean that we’re fixed. But healing is ahead, and we’ve just taken one step closer to it.

Blake

“Take him down.”

“Get his leg, slam him.”

“There it is. Down, down, down.”

The shouted instruction from my camp pushes me on. Rex attempts to lock my legs. I’ve got half-guard and side control. He wants me off. Good luck.

Constricting my legs, I elbow his headgear. “Tap, bitch.”

The fucker laughs. “In your dreams.” He tries to land a punch to my head.

I tighten my hold. “If this was a dream, you’d be a lot prettier and have bigger tits.”

He pushes off the mat, forcing my arm to let go. I rear up, slam him back, and get full-guard. I can’t believe how strong I feel. My muscles are pulled taut, with energy to burn. The fight with “The Fade” is setting up to be the best of my life. I’ve never been so ready. As prepared mentally as I am physically. And Layla there cheering me on is going to push me past the point of excellence.

“All right, boys. Back to your feet. Let’s work on take downs,” Owen calls out from across the octagon.

We jump up and fist bump before we take our fighting stance. The shouts from Jonah and Caleb beyond the chain link resume. I’m focused on Rex, waiting for him to lunge or attempt to sweep my legs.

Sparring is my favorite part of training. It’s my chance to get in the octagon and put all the pieces together. To use the different fighting skills as an integrated weapon. And with my fight around the corner, spars like this are a dress rehearsal.

Seeing my opening, I lunge. My shoulder hits his thigh, and he buckles. Dropping to my knees, I flip him to his back and get the full-mount.

“Way to go, Blake.” The female voice, shouting encouragement, robs my attention. I look up to see Layla standing with the guys, her fingers curled around the fence, a wide smile on her face. Fuck, I’ve missed—my head slams to the side. The powerful punch to my headgear makes my brain sing. Damn.

“Who’s dreaming now, lover boy?” Rex throws me to my back, grinning.

“Ha ha, assface. Now get the fuck off me.” I shove him back, and he rolls to his feet. I pull my headgear off and move toward my now worried-looking girlfriend.

Girlfriend.

Owen throws his hands in the air. “Looks like Blake’s callin’ a time out. Five minutes and we’re back at it.”

I ignore him. I haven’t seen my Mouse since Sunday morning when she left after we had breakfast and a seriously hot naked clean-up session in my kitchen. No way I’m rushing through this. I step up to her from the opposite side of the dividing fence. She grips at it impatiently.

“Mouse.” I hook my fingers over hers.

“Hi.” Her whispered greeting comes with a smile.

“How was the appointment at…” My skin prickles with the weight of my training team’s stares. They’re standing around with their eyes plastered to our hands, eyes huge, smiles too fucking knowing. “You guys mind?”

“Nah, we’re good.” Rex rolls his gloved hand. “Continue.”

I swing my gaze back to find a red-faced Layla. She tucks her chin and giggles.

“They’re worse than women,” I say, earning me a glare from Jonah. “I’ll take a break. I want to hear about your morning.”

Pushing back from the fence, I move to exit the octagon. “I’ll be back in fifteen.” My eyes rake over her body. She’s wearing skin-tight leggings and a draped shirt that hangs off one tan shoulder. “Make that forty-five.”

The guys grumble something that I’m sure is filled with all kinds of pussy-whipped implications. And I don’t give a fuck.

I grab her hand and lead her to an empty conference room. Shutting the door behind her, I drag her to me. “Missed you.”

My arms burn to wrap around her, but after three hours of training, I’m a sweaty mess. Instead, I lean down and drop a soft kiss against her lips, waiting for her permission.

“Yes.” Her gentle consent is followed by the pressure of her mouth against mine. She glides her tongue along the seam of my lips and slips her hands up my shirt.

“Mmm, I want that, Mouse. But I’m all sweaty.”

She smiles against me. “I like you sweaty.”

Her wet mouth muffles my answering groan as I sink into the kiss. Vanilla and sugar, sweet and tempting, fills my senses. The large conference table that sits a few feet away calls to me. But that’s not why we’re here. Dammit.

“Tell me about the meeting.” I’m still holding her hand. I pull out a chair for her to sit in, and drop my ass on the table.

Without giving details, she tells me that it was difficult going into the horrors of the past, bringing up the old hurts and discovering new ones, but that they’re moving forward together and will be stronger because of it. My chest warms with pride. To think of the impossible obstacles this woman has faced, and yet she holds on, walks through her fears, and makes it to the other side unscathed.

“In the car on the way home, I told Axelle about us.” Her expression is solid, unreadable.

“Yeah? How’d that go?” My stomach rolls, and I lock down my leg to keep my knee from bouncing.

I need Axelle’s approval if I’m going to be hanging out with Layla on a regular basis. And needing someone’s approval is not something I’m used to.

She picks at a piece of nothing on her shirt and peeks up from beneath her eyelashes. “She’s cool.”

A waterfall of relief washes over my shoulders. “No shit?”

Her eyes sparkle, and a big smile pushes her lips wide. “No shit.” She jumps up and throws herself into my arms.

I put back a hand to keep from going horizontal on the table. “Careful, Mouse. Sweat, remember?”

“I don’t care.” She wraps her arms around my waist and nuzzles in.

The sound of her deep breathing against my neck has me reaching for her ass. “All good news, sweetheart. I’m happy for you girls.” I grab a handful of her bottom and squeeze. “How’re we gonna play this? I don’t want to freak her out, but I’m not stoked on the idea of sleeping without you in my bed.”

She pulls back and meets my gaze, her eyes tempered with lust. “How about you in my bed?”

“Bed’s a bed, Mouse. As long as you’re in it, I’m there.” It’s not the first time that I’ve been hit with a big fat fucking reality check. I’m dating a woman. She has a kid and a ton of baggage.

And none of that means anything.

“Blake? I want—”

“Layla, thank God you’re here.” Gibbs pushes through the door. “We need to go over the schematics for UFL 94.” He flips through papers, pulling out a few and shoving the rest aside. He doesn’t seem to notice or care that we’re wrapped up together in a room alone. “Oh, and we need to go over…”—he flips a few more pages— “the promo party at Flesh. Went well, and looks like you managed to stir up some gossip.” He finally looks up and notices what’s going on. He studies us for a moment, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Yes, this is good.” He motions between Layla and me. “This is very, very good.”

Gibbs thinking the two of us together is good is most likely bad. All my protective instincts flare, shining bright with warning. I hop off the table and pull Layla behind me.

He chuckles and steps farther into the room, tossing a folder to the table. “I wanted to talk to you two. Guess this is as good a time as any.” Pulling a paper clipped stack of papers from the folder, he flips through them with a smirk on his face.

“You mind making this quick? I’ve got your paycheck to train for.”

He tosses a stack of online printouts on the table in front of us. “This is the story circulating.”