Update: June 15th, 2022
You can find a physical copy of 'INKED' on Amazon!! Link in my bio :)
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[this chapter is not edited]
◊Dylan◊
I love having Emma all to myself. Winter break, which mean, no school, no work and no responsibilities. She could just spend her days off, with me; cozied up under the duvet in my warm bed where we could cuddle and whisper to one another for hours on end. These moments are ones I enjoy the most. Yeah, sex is amazing but just getting that affection, that love and gentle touches from someone you care about so much, is better than anything else. All I want is to live in it for as long as I can.
Presently holding Emma close to my chest, cuddled up under my blanket, I lazily open my eyes. Snow begins to fall outside, the white flakes starting to stick to the window. My eyes flicker to the sleeping beauty next to me; her hair a curly mess, sprawled along the pillow. Her eyes are close, quick snores coming from her barely parted lips. Slowly, I tighten my grip around her. A smile forms on her face as she nuzzles her head into my chest, fingers gripping at my shirt.
"Is it snowing?" she grumbles against my chest.
I nod, rubbing my hand in small circles on her back. "Yeah," I mumble back. "Are you sure you'll feel comfortable driving home in this later?"
Her back arches and she extends her arms outwards, stretching. "Of course." She smirks.
Pressing my lips to her neck, I give her a gentle kiss before burying my face in the crook. "Okay." I mumble. "But you can't leave yet."
"I do need to leave soon though," she whispers softly, her hands falling on my back. She begins to trace random designs between my shoulder blades. "My parents want me home before its dark out."
"But—"
"You're phones going off Dylan." She giggles, patting my back. I groan, pushing off of the bed. She sits up, crossing her legs and watching me attentively, pouting. Giving her a quick peck, I grab my phone.
"I'll be a minute." I call over my shoulder, my eyes glues to the bold name on the screen. AARON. "Yo." I say into the phone, walking down the hall towards the kitchen. "Aaron, what's up?"
"Do you have a minute to talk?" a nervous voice responses. I could barely make it out as Aaron's voice.
"Yeah, for sure." My brow furrows. Walking over to the kitchen window, I pull the blinds open to get some kind of light in the room.
"I have good and bad news," Aaron starts, his voice uneven. "I got you a fight."
"Great!" I exclaim, slamming my hand down on the kitchen counter. Another fight means more money to pay for my bills and expenses. "How much?"
He chuckles lightly. "Enough to pay for you to go back to university mate."
University isn't cheap. An average undergrad student's four years can cost around twenty grand. If this fight can get me back in university, get me through those four years without struggling, it'll take it!
"What could possibly be bad about that?" I let out a loud cackle.
"I...I think you should back down...form it." Aaron speaks slowly, his voice suddenly steady and firm. "I don't think you should follow through with it."
What? My body physically cringes at his comment, taken aback by him having not faith in me. Does he suddenly believe I can't win, I question. Aaron's always understood where I've come from and how much I've had to give up. Getting the chance to finally go back to school. To finish what I started. Why won't he help me with that?
"Why?" I finally ask after a long pause.
"Because you'll be facing Derek's brother," his voice is hushed and slightly muffled, like he's cover his mouth as he speaks. "Dean. You'll be facing Dean, Dylan. I don't think it's a safe fight. You know I wouldn't be telling you this if I truly did not feel right about it. You know how those two are."
"Of course I do—"
"Your last fight wasn't supposed to happen Dylan. Derek made it so, so that you and Dean can fight and he can get his revenge." Aaron cuts me off, pointing out the truth behind the fight with Juan. Juan was from the West District and I'm from North York. These two areas aren't supposed to fight. But somehow Derek made it so all the districts intertwine...just to have control and power. "You know that he's changing the game for the underground fight clubs. He's putting property down and business deals...he wants control of my gym, Dylan, my gym. If you decline, he can't do anything about it. He'll move onto a different district and leave ours alone—"
"I'm tired of his bullshit!" I bark, cutting Aaron off. "I'm tired of Derek," I spat. "Acting like he can just walk into every district in the city and take over. What's his wager?"
"You lose, he gets ownership over my gym." Aaron's voice is shaky. His gym was his life. He worked hard to get to where he is today. Almost losing it two years ago, to finally getting it in proper shape. "If Dean loses, we claim ownership over his club downtown. You'd get the twenty grand too...the club makes three times the money my gym does."
"I'll do it." I say firmly, nodding my head. "I'll do it man."
"No." I could tell he was shaking his head, probably pacing in his office. "I can't let you. Consequences will come from this Dylan."
"I can beat him, Aaron. I've done it before, I can do it again." I run a hand through my hair, pausing for a moment before saying what Aaron deserves to hear. "I'll win it for you, man. All that debt from starting the gym, that club can help you out. It can put you back on your feet. You won't have to worry about anything anymore."
"Dylan—"
"Call Derek. Tell him I'll do it."
"But—"
"Call him." I say firmly. "Tell him I'll fight."
There was a long pause and for a moment, I thought Aaron had hung up. Sniffles come from the other end and I call out for Aaron a couple of times. He doesn't respond but the sniffles turn into quiet sobs.
"Thank you." He croaks. "Dylan, mate, really. Thank you."
"Aaron, you know I'd do anything for you." I rub my eye, feeling the sting from holding back tears. "You've helped me so much. Put me on the right path. I just want to do the same for you."
"We have a lot of training to do," Aaron announces, the sobs turning back into sniffles. "Dean fights dirty, so I need to get you ready for anything."
"When's the fight?" I ask, walking over to the calendar.
"February 14th." Aaron sighs, and I gulp. Valentine's Day. "That's part of the bad news."
"Damn." I mutter, biting at my nail as I stare at the calendar. Emma and I haven't planned anything yet, but it was Valentine's Day...couples day. Hated the day, but she might want to do something. "What time?"
"Around midnight. You'll have time to do stuff with Emma during the day." Aaron's voice sounds further away, as if he's dropped his phone on the table and put me on speaker. "I need to go Dyl. I have a lot of things to prep. When you're not a work, I expect to see you here, got it?"
"Got it," I nod. "Later."
The phone line goes dead and I pull my cell from my ear, staring at the thing in my hand. Fighting Dean...it's not something I haven't done before. He's the guy that taught me all I know. I should respect him but I have no respect for men who act like cowards. They think they're invisible because they can swing a few good ones but at the end of the day, they take the cowardly way out. This fight, it's going to be different than the others. I'm going to show them who the real man is here.
Shaking my head, I pull myself from my thoughts and turn to the hallway leading back to my room. My chest suddenly felt heavy, the weight of this fight already beginning to pull me down. It's going to be a rough couple of weeks, I stare at my door as I approach it.
Walking in, I see Emma curled up on the far side of the bed. She's snuggled up in one of my red flannels that she's become particularly attached too. It was her go-to shirt to put on whenever she was over. I never complained. I love seeing her in my clothes. Licking my lips, I bite down on my bottom one, my eyes wandering down her bare legs. That was usually how it was; me in boxers and her in her panties and a shirt. And that's exactly how I like it. Exactly how it's supposed to be.
"Dylan." She grumbles, her back still to me. "Stop staring."
I laugh, walking over to the bed and crawl towards her. She protests slightly as I try to turn her over to face me. "I'm sorry love," I say, pressing kisses all over her face and neck. "You're just too damn beautiful. I can't help but stare."
"Oh shush." She squeals as I pinch her sides, her body jerking as a response and I finally get a hold of her and turn her to face me. Her face is a deep crimson colour and I can't help but laugh.
"You're so cute."
"Shut up."
"Make me." I challenge. Her eyes widen for a split second before narrowing. In a blink of an eye, she pushes me onto my back, crawling on top of me and pins my arms above my head. A devilish smirk is playing on her lips as she stares down at me before letting her soft lips fall against mine. I try to move my hands in attempts to reach for her hips, but she's got an iron grip on my wrist. I moan in response, thoroughly enjoying her taking control.
"Made ya." She giggles, pulling away and sitting back on my stomach. She releases my wrist, allowing my arms to fall to my sides and she brings her hands to rest flat on my chest.
"Damn," I smirk. "I fcking love it when you take control. So hot."
She smiles, shying away at my comment. "Shut up."
"No really. You're so fcking hot right now." I bite my lips, my eyes wandering down her body. Jesus, I groan aloud, my hands gliding up her bare legs and slip under the flannel to rest on her soft hips.
"Are you turned on right now?!" she gasps, beginning to laugh.
"Fck yeah!" I exclaim, rubbing small circles over her hipbones. "You know, we still have a couple of hours before you need to go..."
"Shut up Dylan." She giggles, beginning to crawl off of me. I frown.
She sits cross-legged next to me, grabbing my hand and beginning to examine it. She traces the lines on my palms, gentle sliding her the tip of her finger up along each of my own. She soft digits glide down my hand, brushing over my wrist where old scars lay. I gulp, feeling my chest tighten.
"I love you Dylan." She says softly.
"I have something to tell you." I sit up suddenly, startling her a bit as I cross my legs, mimicking her. She smiles at me, staring down at our hands as I intertwine our fingers.
"And what's that?"
I wanted to tell her how much she means to me. How, moments just like this mean so much to me. I wanted to tell her how she's given me peace in my life and how she saves me more and more each day. I want her to understand but I wasn't sure of how to do that. "You know," I start. "I love you a lot right."
She bursts out laughing, her hands pulling away from mine to cover her mouth. "Yes Dylan," she says between gasps. "I know you love me. I love you too."
"No, but you mean so much more to me, Emma." I try to pull a serious face, but her goofy smile, rosy cheeks and contagious laugh are making it very difficult. "Emma, Emma," I chuckle lightly, grabbing onto her wrists and pull her hands away from her mouth. "I'm trying to be serious."
"Ok, Mr. Serious Pants." She bites down on her lip, muffling her giggle. "Go on."
"I-I don't know how to put this into words..." I trail off, biting my lip as I try to word this properly. "Like, you know, when you're driving in the rain. And this rain, it's just coming down so hard. It's being merciless and you find it difficult to see, even thought the window wipers are going?" she looks at me curiously, nodding. "But then, you enter under a bridge and everything stops. Everything goes silent and it's...it's peaceful? And you feel safe?" she nods again, those wide, curiously eyes peering into mine.
"You are my bridge, Emma."