Fiery Fighter Daddy by Scott Wylder

CHAPTER EIGHT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott

The press conference was exhausting and by the time I got out, I was itching for a fight.

“Great job,” Jack said. “I think maybe half of them believed you weren’t sleeping with Hazel and that she wasn’t sent to sabotage you.”

I gritted my teeth. One of the tabloid writers had the gall to ask me if she was a sex worker hired to distract me from the fights. Another speculated she was a gold-digger looking for an easy mark. It had taken all my restraint to keep my temper under control in there.

“They’re ridiculous,” I said. “The entire thing is ridiculous.”“It would have been easier to clear up if you didn’t keep skirting around why she was with you the other night.”

“I’m not going to violate her privacy just to save my reputation,” I said as I made my way to my car. “They can think what they want about me being an easy mark or a sap easily sabotaged by a pretty woman. But they have no fucking right to say those things about her.”

I gritted my teeth. She had already been through enough. This didn’t need to follow her for the rest of her life.

Jack sighed. “I’m already talking to a lawyer about libel suits. There’s a pretty good case for them, especially when she lost her job over this. Keep your head down and keep winning your bouts. Eventually they’ll lose interest and find the next shiny scandal.”

I knew he was right, but that didn’t make me feel better. Not when Hazel was being attacked just by being associated with me.

“Thanks, Jack. I have to go. I need a good sparring session to clear my head after that.”“Don’t push yourself too hard. You still need to recover from the other night.”“I won’t. I just need to blow off some steam. I’ll see you later, okay?”

Jack nodded. “Take care of yourself.”I drove for a while until I ended up on my friend Jesse’s ranch. Jesse was a former MMA fighter. A couple of years ago he decided to retire and bought a ranch only a few minutes down the street from my house. Now he spent his days tending to his small herd of cattle and teaching horseback riding lessons to local kids. But he had converted part of his barn into a makeshift gym, and we sparred now and then together.

Jesse came out to greet me when I pulled up. “You look like you’re ready for a fight,” he said.

“You could say that again,” I said.

He nodded and jerked his head towards the house. “Come on in. I can spare an hour or so for a good sparring session.”

I followed him to his room. He opened one of his drawers and tossed me a pair of sweatpants to change into.

“I’ve been hearing some interesting rumors about you,” he said. “Something about a femme fatale going after your money or something?”A small growl escaped my throat before I could stop it.

He smirked as he changed out of his flannel shirt and jeans into his own workout clothes. “I’m guessing that’s why you need the fight.”

“The whole thing is absurd,” I said. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

“You want to tell me what’s really going on?”I explained everything to him as we got ready to work out, from seeing her with Todd to saving her later that night.

“I’m just helping her out,” I said as we went into the barn for our sparring session. “That’s all. Anyone would have done the same. And now the press is painting her as a villain just because I decided to meddle in her life.”

“The tabloids can be annoying sometimes,” Jesse said. “Trust me, I remember getting caught in a few fake scandals of my own. How does Hazel feel about the rumors?”“She’s not thrilled about them,” I said. “She got fired because of them. But more than anything she just seems grateful to me. And nervous.”Jesse raised an eyebrow. “Nervous?”

I sighed. “I think I scare her a little. She’s gone through a lot already and it doesn’t help that I beat Todd’s face in.”

“Can’t blame you there,” Jesse said. “The guy sounds like a piece of work.”

“He really was.” I grimaced. “But at least she’s safe now.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you care about her as a Daddy.”

Jesse and I had been friends for a long time. One reason is because we share similar interests when it comes to what we wanted in a relationship. It was nice having another person to talk to who was a Daddy. It also meant he was really perceptive when I liked someone, which was a double-edged sword.

“Yeah,” I said. “It’s hard not to see her as a Little. She’s so vulnerable, but also so sweet. I want to take care of her and make her feel safe and happy.” I had started smiling a little the more I talked about her. I cleared my throat. “But it doesn’t matter. She wouldn’t want me as a Daddy.”

“How do you know? Have you talked to her about it?”“Of course not. But Jesse, you didn’t see how scared she was. I woke her up the other night because she was screaming in her sleep, and she was trembling and apologizing and--” My chest tightened at the memory. “It wouldn’t work. Why would she trust any man to be her Daddy? Let alone me?”

Sure, she was grateful to me. But she was also nervous around me, and I didn’t blame her. I could be terrifying. My entire job was beating the shit out of other people. I knew I would never hurt her. Just the thought of it made me sick. But why would she ever believe that?

“I don’t know,” Jesse said. “Obviously, I’ve never met her, so I can’t say for sure, but from the sounds of it, she needs a Daddy to take care of her and keep her safe. And she obviously trusted you enough to come with you to Knoxville. Trying to keep your Daddy instincts hidden seems to be killing you. Maybe you can just talk with her. You don’t have to tell her everything at once if you don’t want to. But maybe just talk to her a little. She might be more open to the idea than you think. And she will definitely know if you’re hiding something from her.”

That was true. She already knew I was hiding something after my slip-up this morning. I grimaced.

“Fine,” I said. “You’re right.”

Jesse grinned. “I know. I’m always right. Just like I know I’m going to kick your ass during the sparring session.”I smirked. “You wish.”