A Fighter's Desire - Part One

Chapter 19 - Ashleigh

RYLEY HELD UP his end of the bargain and cooked dinner completely naked. I chose to get dressed in a little pink cami and jeans, but I was starting to think it wasn't a good idea. Sitting there watching Ryley move around the kitchen with his cock hard and ready between his legs wasn't an easy task.

"Are you sure you can't take a break?" I asked.

He chuckled and pulled the parmesan crusted rolls out of the oven. "Sorry, angel, but reheated salmon isn't going to taste very good. Besides, didn't you say just an hour ago that you were starved?"

My stomach growled in reply.

"And that's what I thought," he remarked slyly.

Ryley fixed me a plate, setting it and a glass of wine down on the table in front of me. Not only did it smell heavenly, it was also my favorite meal: grilled salmon, a black bean cake, and fried zucchini. "So ... can you basically cook anything someone asks you for?" I asked.

After wrapping a towel around his waist, he brought over a plate of food and sat down. "Yeah, pretty much. It's not hard to find recipes and just do it."

"I wish I was like that." I could cook, but I typically stuck to the simple things, like baked chicken. "Well, since you know my favorite meal, what's yours?"

He took a bite of salmon and pursed his lips, thinking. "Hmm ... it's not that hard to please me when it comes to food, but I think I'd have to say a filet mignon cooked rare and a loaded baked potato."

"That sounds pretty good to me."

Sitting across from him reminded me of being with Camden; when I'd tried to talk to him, and he told me he had no interest in getting to know me. Ryley noticed me staring and lifted his brows, a smirk on his face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.

"Sorry," I replied quickly, taking a bite of my food. "I was just thinking about last night when I tried to talk to your brother. He got really agitated with me when I asked him questions. I guess I thought you were probably going to be the same way."

"What did you try to talk to him about?"

I shrugged. "I started off with asking him what he liked to do for fun, and all he said was surfing."

"Surfing was what he and my dad did together when he was still alive. He doesn't do it as much now. What else did you ask him?"

"I asked him how he got into fighting, and that's when he kind of lost it with me."

Sighing, Ryley closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking at me with a weary gaze. "There's a reason for that, angel. My father was our coach, and the one who got us into fighting. Camden took it really hard when he was killed. Our mother was devastated, and instead of dealing with the loss, Camden kind of retreated into himself for a while. It took me kicking his ass a few times for him to start opening up."

I gasped. "Killed? How?" When all he did was look down at his plate in silence, my heart hurt for him. I knew it couldn't be easy to talk about a tragedy. Luckily, I hadn't lost anyone close to me to know what it felt like. "You don't have to talk about it, Ryley. I shouldn't have even asked."

"No, it's okay. I don't mind telling you, it's just not fun reliving it," he admitted sadly. I held my breath, waiting on him to speak, and my eyes burned with unshed tears. His pain was so clearly written on his face and it was the first time I'd seen him so raw ... so vulnerable.

"It was the night of my brother's first fight. I didn't have one that night, so I stayed in the corner with my father, tending to Camden during the round changes. My father had trained us for a long time, getting us into prime shape before he allowed us to compete in the UFC. We were so happy that night after Camden won. He was on air ... well, we all were, actually. Especially my father. Afterwards, we went out to celebrate. On the way home, the accident happened."