First off, I'm so sorry for being away these past months. Life in this quarantine is crazy and I felt myself getting into a slump. But I'm trying to write again and it seriously felt so good to do so, so hopefully more chapters will come, but I'm not making any promises.
I also hope everyone is still safe from the virus or any other thing that has happened over these past couple of months and are doing well.
And finally, thank you to those who continue to read, review and support my work and others. It means so much to us and we appreciate it! Much love!!
Guest: Thank you so much!
cool beans: Hi! Thank you so much and I don't have a writing schedule and I update when I can. I'll try to update more often, but I can't promise anything. And right?! They belong together! You're so sweet and omg, right?! I totally agree!
nona 0310: Thank you so much! And I hope you like this chapter!
Dancer0109: Thank you so much! That means a lot!
Isiah Flamez: Here it is!
somuchlovexoxo: Everything you said is true! Lucas and Riley have something special, but Riley definitely has her walls up. Haha, true! Maya will definitely help her if she decides to move forward with Lucas and that will be very fun!
Guest: Thank you so much! And you're welcome! Thank you for reading and Lucas pursuing Riley will be fun to write! Thank you for your suggestion and I will definitely start to work on that, but it could be a little bit.
Guest: Thank you so much and I will work on both!
Guest: Here it is!
Enjoy!
He spent his last day of 'recovery' thinking about everything Josh told him as the conversation is on constant replay in his mind. He understands what both Riley and Josh ask of him and it's really put him in an area of conflict and something he's not used to. He can't easily give up Riley, that's a given. She's been a constant in his life since the second they met, even if he was internally battling his feelings. He also can't ignore the truth Josh laid out about needing him to understand what fighting entails with someone special in your life. Could he put Riley through the pain and accept her good heart when she wants to help? Could he be emotionally stable to trust her and for her to trust him when something bad happens? And could he truly love her the way she deserves? He knows the answer to most of his questions and they all land on no. But he's not a quitter and if fighting has taught him anything, it's that with hard work and determination he can win. So, he'll try his absolute hardest to be with Riley and figure things out once they get somewhere.
OoOoOoOo
The next morning after a night of tossing and turning, he returns to the gym and is greeted by cheers, applause and a congratulatory banner.
"Thanks everyone. It means a lot to me to have your support," he waves with a grateful smile.
"You're one of us now, you're our brother," Pete screams as he, Max and Jake rush over to give him bro hugs and pats on the back.
"Brothers", Lucas agrees, feeling a sense of belonging and home.
After a few minutes of making his rounds, BT shouts, "Okay, ladies, break it up and get back to work. Per winning traditions, there's cupcakes in the conference room so enjoy, except you, Luke. You get yours after practice so follow me."
Max fake cries as Lucas flips him off and follows BT to the weights and starts their normal warm-up.
"You did good, Luke, I'm happy for you and proud. But with winning comes a whole new set of expectations. Not from us, but from the UFL. They expect you to win every time, but we know that can't always happen. We'll go at our own pace and work up. No flashy moves, no trying to do new things on your own and absolutely no letting your ego take over, deal?" BT asserts in a stern voice.
"Deal", he nods as they go straight into business and listens to everything BT tells him.
At the end of the day he feels excited to get back into the ring and he finally gets to enjoy his cupcake that will be devoured in seconds. He makes it to his truck when he hears "Lucas" being called from the front door.
"Yeah?" He replies back when he sees Josh making his way over to him.
"How'd it go today?" Josh wonders in curiosity as a small smile appears on his face.
"It went well. BT started off slower than usual and we're working our way up," he says simply.
"Good, good. You'll be ready for your next fight," Josh nods, pleased with information and then shifts to concern. "But the real reason I'm out here is because I wanted to know if you thought about what we talked about?"
"I couldn't stop thinking about it yesterday, honestly," he answers, tensing his shoulders.
"And?" Josh presses eagerly and gets a raised eyebrow in return. "Okay, Okay. I know it's your personal business, but I just need to know how prepared I need to be."
"Prepared? Prepared for what?" he inquires getting confused and irritated by the second.
"About how far you want to take things with Riley. About how much I need to protect both of you. And about how much you really know about women," Josh describes possible scenarios.
"There's nothing happening yet so you can take a step back. Also, I appreciate your help, but I think I'm good. I've got to figure this out on my own," he retorts, feeling slightly offended his friend has little faith in him.
"Okay, if you say so. Just don't come crying to me when you have trouble with the lady," Josh grumbles as he puts his hands up in surrender, but shakes his head like he can't believe someone would deal with this solo.
"Thanks for the advice. You're a good friend," he nods respectfully. "But this has to work our way and be our decision."
"I get it, I truly do. I'll be here if you need anything,"Josh smiles and waves before turning around and returning to the gym.
He lets out a sigh of relief when Josh gives in. He and Riley don't need the added pressure or outside influences to tell them what they should do. He's going to take baby steps and see what happens. Which is crazy for him because he's always been one to go full force.
OoOoOoOo
Over the next few days with training amping up, he thinks of multiple ways to approach the situation. He could call her, but he'd rather see her in person. Dinner is definitely too forward so he's leaning towards lunch, or maybe just coffee. Maybe no food at all and they just meet up. But where though? The gym? Her school? A park? Damn. Who knew trying to talk to a woman would be this hard? Well, Josh obviously knew, but there's no way he would be admitting that. But on his drive home and passing a small café, he knew that's the safest bet and calls her when he gets home.
"Hello, Lucas," her sweet voice greets.
"Hi, Riley. How are you?" he asks, taking a seat on his sofa so he won't pace around like a crazy person.
"I'm good, busy with work, besides that, good. How about you?" she questions back as it feels so natural to be having a conversation about their day.
"My day was good as well. Training has been intense, but I enjoy it," he replies honestly as he's relaxing more by the second.
"That's good to hear. You must be getting ready for another fight soon, right?" she inquired and it's her interest that makes her so amazing.
"I haven't heard anything yet. But I have a feeling it's soon," he grins, excitement flowing through his body.
"How awesome," she says happily. "So, what's up?"
"What do you mean?" he asks lamely.
"Well, I know we are kind of friends and all, but we don't talk on the phone and shoot the breeze," she giggles.
"Okay, you got a point. So, I want to suggest something but before you answer, please hear me out," he explains, taking a deep breath.
"All right, I'm open to whatever you have to say,"she agrees softly.
"I'd like for us to grab coffee and talk. I talked to Josh about what happened with him and what happened between him and Maya. I understand where you're coming from, but I like to talk about it more. And in person," he requests, almost begging her for this chance.
"Lucas," she sighs and instantly he knows he's not going to like what comes next. "I'm surprised and glad you talked to Josh, but it doesn't change how I feel and how I choose to live my life."
"I know that. And I don't want you to change. I just want an opportunity to be something more in your life. I just need one day to tell you how I feel and where I'm coming from. After that, it's all up to you. If you want to remain friends, great. If you want to have some space, okay, done. And if you want me to leave you completely alone, it'll hurt, but I will," he declares, laying everything out.
Silence fills the conversation for a few minutes, the seconds going by making his heart beat faster and hands clammy. "Okay. Coffee is good. Does Friday afternoon work? I can meet you when I'm off work," she suddenly gives in and he can practically see the small smile she's probably trying to hide right now.
"Friday works. Thank you, Riley. It means a lot to me," he confesses as he starts forming a new game plan in his mind.
"Of course. I'll see Friday," she concludes. "Bye."
"Bye," he calls out quickly before the line goes dead.
OoOoOoOo
The next morning, Josh directs him to the conference room the second he enters the gym as he's greeted by BT and Dr. Asher.
"Good morning Lucas," the doctor welcomes happily.
"Morning Dr. Asher," he nods in return. "What's going on?"
"You have another fight in six weeks. Dr. Asher is here to start your physical assessment," Josh explain as Dr. Asher hands him a stack of paper.
"Look these over, fill them out and get them back to my office ASAP so we can schedule an appointment," the doctor orders as he checks his heart rate, blood pressure and weight.
"I am free whenever," he replies, focusing on Dr. Asher.
"Let me call Gina and see what she has open," Josh says as he pulls out his phone and leaves the room.
"We can't fully start training until you're cleared from a doctor, so in the mean time, we'll work on your speed and agility and I'll send you home with a flash drive that has some footages and clips of who you could be up against so you can learn what to expect," BT grumbles, not pleased they can't workout like usual.
After Dr. Asher asks him a handful of questions, Josh walks back in and announces, "You have an appointment Friday morning at 9."
"Awesome, I'm surprised you could get him in so early, but I always knew your connection would come in handy one day," BT grins, his mood quickly changing.
"I didn't do anything. There was a last minute cancellation," Josh informs BT with an eye roll and then focuses on Lucas. "So, you now have Friday off, but you you'll still have to work. Watch those videos from BT and be ready to work hard on Saturday."
"No problem," he agrees and has to fight from smiling as things couldn't have worked out any better.
OoOoOoOo
Since he was missing Friday, BT thought it was only fair to push him to his limit, so when he walked into the doctor office that morning and sat in the waiting area, he could have fallen asleep within seconds. But the peacefulness didn't last long as he was swiftly called back, ushered into a room and told to change into the gown on the table.
After changing into the awkward gown thing, Dr. Asher knocks on the door and then enters as he just stands in the center of the room, not sure what to do.
"Good morning, Lucas. Nervous?" Dr. Asher smiles as he washes his hands and then grabs a pair of gloves.
"Morning, doctor. And no, not really," he replies with a weird half smile in return.
"If you say so," Dr. Asher chuckles. "Take a seat on the table and we'll get started."
He follows the instructions and once they get done with the basics, he hands Dr. Asher his paperwork and the two go over everything in detail.
An hour later, he's sent down to the street for blood work, and then he's free to go about his day.
He grabs an early lunch and heads back to his apartment to watch the videos BT gave him since he still has a few hours before meeting with Riley. He gets comfortable at his kitchen table and then plugs in the flash drive to see more than twenty videos on the file. He knew BT would be prepared, but not this intense with it only being his second fight. Well, he's got a good team behind him and he's going to do whatever he has to do to make them proud and to win it all at the end. He jots down what he likes, what he thinks is important and wonders if they can incorporate some things into his fight.
OoOoOoOo
A couple hours later, it's close to two-thirty as he quickly shuts down his laptop and quickly changes into something a little nicer instead of his normal faded jeans and plain T-shirt and heads out the door to meet Riley.
She chose a coffee shop away from the gym and her school and when he finds an empty parking spot, he sees her walking towards him and the only thought running through his mind is that she's gorgeous and he can't believe how a girl he doesn't really know can make his heart feel like it's going to be right out of his chest and mean so much to him.
"Hi, Riley. Thanks for meeting me," he greets with a small smile.
"Hello, Lucas and of course. I know this is important to you," Riley replies with her own smile and then gestures for them to enter the building.
He follows her without question and once they order, him, a black coffee and her, a blended chocolate somethings, they sit at the furthest table from the counter and slowly ease into conversation. He asks her about her day and work and she questions him about his upcoming flight.
They both like the comfortableness between them and once they hit a crucial part in the conversation about why he fights, he lays everything out in the open. "I fight because it's the only thing I'm good at right now. I had lots of hurt and pain in my life and fighting was an outlet and savior for me. My mom died of cancer when I was eight and my dad didn't handle it well. He drank a lot and forgot he had a son to raise. I left my house when I was sixteen and found a new home with a friend of mine. I passed a gym one day and the rest, well you know what happens next. One of the trainers introduced me to the sport, I fought a few matches and then got to come train with Josh. It was a blessing to find something I was good at when the rest of my life sucked," he shares without holding anything back and finally catching his breath.
"I'm so sorry to hear about everything. You didn't deserve to be dealt that hand, but I'm glad you found the silver lining in it," Riley murmurs, trying to hide her sadness because she knows that he wouldn't want to see it as she reaches over to lay her hand on top of his.
"Thank you for saying that. I always hated that part of my life but looking back at it, it made me who I am today. I know I am far from perfect, but I want to be a better person. I want to be someone who's good enough to be with you," he confesses, looking Riley right in the eyes.
"Oh, Lucas," she sighs, pulling her hand back and placing them in her lap. "That's very sweet of you to say. And don't get me wrong, you're a great guy, but I'm not going to change my mind just because you like me and I like hanging out with you."
"I'm not asking you to change, all I'm asking for is a chance. A chance to be in your life as maybe more than a friend in the future because we both know there's something between us. I also know you have good and valid reservations. What happened to Josh is terrible and could happen to any of us. I know you don't deserve to go through any of that and I'll try damnedest to make sure you don't. But like you, I can't change who I am or what I believe in. You have such an incredible heart, Riley, and that's why I need you and why you can't be with me. I can't make promises because they never last, but what I can say is that every day I will treat you right. I will grow as a person and man to be who you need and who I know I can be. I will care for you with everything I have and I will never give up on us. Your smile and happy spirit brighten my day and your presence makes me fight harder to prove I deserve a spot with the league. You're my cheerleader and my light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not asking for anything serious just yet, but I would like to take you out on a date. So now, all I ask again Riley is that you give me a chance," he finishes with such conviction and seriousness.
Riley blinks at the man in front of her and can't believe what she just heard. She's held on strong for a long time, but no other guys have pushed as hard as he has to persuade her that they want her, but also understands her. She's been a stick in the mud when it came to dating, especially dating fighters, but right now she's following her heart and hopes she's not making a huge mistake.
"Okay, Lucas, you win. A date sounds nice," she beams nervously.
"Really?" he questions back in shock and happiness.
"Yes, really. One date and then we're back to friends," she states with a firm nod.
"Of course. I'll pick you up tomorrow at seven," he agrees and then smirks to himself as he knows one date won't be enough for either of them.
And there you go folks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Until next time,
Missy xx