Chapter One-Hundred and Ninety-Three
John yawned, rolling out of his bed as his alarm blared in his ear. "Shut the fuck up." He slammed his hand down on the clock, stretching his hands above his head to get the kinks out of his ribs and sides. "Damn…" He sighed, rubbing his eyes.
"John! Come on! Your match is in twenty minutes!" Thomas knocked on John's door, nearly making the kid jump out of his skin.
"I'm up Dad!" He called, pulling on some basketball shorts and a tank top that had the Huntington High mascot on the front. "Why the hell are we the fucking Dolphins?" He muttered, combing his fingers into his hair and tying the longer bits back with a hairband he'd stolen from Claire's nightstand. "Why can't we be sharks or some shit?"
Claire gave a little laugh, shaking her head as she looked at her boyfriend. "You're just a shark in a sea of dolphins, Babe." She kissed his jaw, able to feel his morning scruff on his face.
He smirked, wrapping his arm around her hips and pulling her tight against his body. "I'm a wolf and you know it." He pressed a kiss to her lips, jumping back as Amelia gagged. "Go get dressed, Squirt!" He laughed, placing his fingers under Claire's chin as he looked into her eyes.
"Gross!" Amelia squealed, running to her room with Chance bounding after her.
Claire smiled, her lips locking with John's as he leaned into her. "You are a genuine ass."
"Sweets, you love my ass." He breathed, his eyes opening just enough that she could see the chocolate and whiskey tones of love.
Claire hid her face behind her hands as she watched John take a hard hit to the side, grimacing as the sound of leather gloves making contact reached her ears. She peeked through her fingers a John started his defensive, watching as he started to lay into the kid, his fists bounded into the boy's body, and Claire knew that there would be bruises tomorrow. "Dad… he's gonna get disqualified." She whispered, shocked when John actually started to back off a little. "What's he doing?"
Dominic grinned, knowing that move that John was pulling. "He's faking an injury."
Claire's head snapped up, knowing that move would be an automatic disqualification. "He can't do that."
John dodged as his opponent swung at him, biting down on his mouthguard as his other fist collided with his cheek. His head snapped up as he heard Amelia give a little cry, distracting him just enough to take a hard hit to his stomach. He glared at the kid, his eyes turning pitch-black as his mind registered the pain. He lifted his gloves, faking one hit and catching the kid as he moved to dodge.
The kid fell with a thud, and John pulled his gloves off as the ref announced that he'd won. He pulled his mouth piece out, trying to keep from getting spit all over his chest as the plastic separated from his teeth. "Once a fighter always a fighter." He took a drink of water, ducking as a loud cry from Johanna reached his ringing ears. He stepped out of the ring, pulling his wraps off of his hands and taking the baby from her mother. "Hey, Cupcake, it's okay." He wrapped a hand around Amelia's back as she crawled onto his lap. "No tears." He whispered, wiping her tears from her cheeks. "I'm not hurt."
"He was hitting you." She cried, looking at a reddened patch of skin on John's arm.
"It didn't hurt." He bounced Johanna in his other arm, kissing the baby's head. "I've felt a lot worse."
Clarissa turned her head as a sound reached her ears, glaring at the Abby's as they shot disdainful looks at John and the little ones. "Is there a problem?" She asked, handing a bottle to John as he started trying to find Johanna's lunch.
The Abby's huffed, watching as John rocked the children in his lap until they'd calmed down. "We would never let a devil worshiper around our children like that." Mrs. Abby stuck her nose in the air, not seeing how Amelia used one of her new John Bender moves to tell her off.
Claire growled, touching a bruising spot on John's cheek as he bounced the children on his lap. "I agree with Amelia."
John turned his head to look at her, biting her shirt collar until she let him kiss her. "Let it go." He whispered, locking his lips with hers as she used her body language to ask for another one.
"I hate when people look at you like that." She sighed, letting him kiss a trail over her jaw and around her throat.
"I don't mind anymore." He smiled, stopping his kisses at the hollow behind her ear. "I just care about what you think."