UNDYING: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (Midwest Alphas) (Book 3) Read online

He shakes his head and bends over to grab a first aid kit from under the seat. “No, you were lucky.” He searches my hands and arms and legs. “Doesn’t look like you’re still bleeding anywhere.”

  “My foot hurts like a motherfucker…”

  “We’ll get it checked out.” His lips curl at my choice of words. I wince as he takes an alcohol-soaked towel and cleans a gash above my eye. He stares back at me for a moment, his smile never leaving his face.

  “What?” I ask.

  “All the times you nursed my wounds,” he says. “Now I’m nursing yours.”

  “First and last time, I hope.”

  “Me, too.” He leans in to kiss me, but pauses as our ears tune to the call of sirens in the distance.

  “Tobias, let’s go home—” I bite my tongue, quickly realizing that going home isn’t possible anymore.

  He takes my hand and brings it to his lips. “You are my home,” he says. “Everything is going to be okay, Claire.”

  I smile, believing every word.

  ***

  “Oh, my god!” Amy’s heels clack against the floor as she rushes into my hospital room. She glides to the bed and pushes Tobias to the side, demanding the premium spot next to me. Her eyes lock on my face, stunned and mortified by what they see. “What the hell did he do to you?”

  I roll my eyes at Tobias. “So much for, ‘Don’t worry, Claire. You look fine.’”

  “I believe my exact words were I’ve seen worse,” he recalls. “In a mirror, actually.”

  Amy rests a hand below my chin and adjusts my face to see me better in the light. “Well, I guess he’s not wrong about that…” She chews on her lip. “Still, you should have warned me or something…”

  “Sorry,” I chuckle. “I’m a little buzzed out on painkillers right now.” I point down towards my foot and Amy winces once she sees the large, white cast surrounding my right ankle.

  “Damn… I was hoping we’d go dancing this week to celebrate.”

  Tobias walks around to the other side of the bed to get close to me again and takes my hand. “Little early to do any celebrating, Amy…”

  Her lips curl to the side. “I wouldn’t say that…” She glances around. “Where’s Charlie?”

  “At the hotel,” Tobias answers. “He should be here soon though.”

  “Good. I have some news for you guys and he needs to be here for it.”

  “What kind of news?” I ask.

  Her knees twitch with excitement. “Well… the big one can wait, but…” she reaches into her purse, “I suppose I can tell you both about this.” She withdraws her hand and lays a pair of identical silver keys onto my open palm.

  “What’s this?” I ask, holding them up so they jingle together.

  “The keys to my apartment.”

  My eyes flick towards Tobias and he flashes me a confused glance. “Okay…”

  “It’s pretty short notice, but Ryan and I talked about it and we are moving to St. Louis.”

  “You are?” I gasp.

  “We think the Midwest Alphas can still be saved,” she says, glancing at Tobias. “Lillian left behind quite the legacy, plus a lot of great contacts and loyal followers and…” she pauses to shrug, “it feels like someone should step up to lead them and it’s gonna be me.”

  “You’re going to do great, Amy,” Tobias says, smiling at her. “If anyone can keep them going, it’s you.”

  “Wow…” I mutter. “I’m not sure I heard that right. Did he just compliment you?”

  Amy chuckles while he winks at me. “I always appreciate his opinion, even his criticism. Thank you, Toby.”

  “Whatever keeps you out of my hair, Amy.” He snatches the keys from my palm. “I’m assuming these are for us?”

  She smiles wide. “Well, I know you two are looking to take the next step—”

  “How does she know that?” He stares down at me with narrow eyes.

  “Oh, please,” she says. “I knew before you did. My apartment has plenty of space for you two — it’s perfect.”

  Tobias twirls the keys in his fingers. “We’ll think about it—”

  “Or—” I take them from him and squeeze them in my hand. “We say yes.”

  “Yeah?” he asks me.

  I meet his sweet, green eyes. “Yeah.” He leans in close and kisses my forehead with smiling lips. “But we’ll talk about it again when I’m lucid — just to be sure.”

  He chuckles. “Sounds reasonable.”

  Amy crosses her arms, staring at me. “You know, I have half the mind to recruit you into the Alphas as a new fighter,” she jokes. “Claire the Unkillable has a nice ring to it.”

  “No, thanks,” I say with a smile. “I think my luck has officially run out.”

  “I agree…” Tobias says.

  “On second thought,” she laughs, “you’re probably right.”

  Charlie walks into the room carrying a small vase of flowers. “Oh, hello, Amy,” he greets.

  She quickly looks him up and down, making note of his appearance. When Tobias told me Charlie was a little burned, he was downplaying the reality of it. White bandages hide second-degree burns down his entire right side, traveling up his neck and face. If Tobias hadn’t of gotten him outside and into the snow as fast as he did, it could have been much worse.

  “Hi, Charlie,” she says, forcing a pleasant face. “How are you feeling?”

  “A bit warm,” he jokes. He sets the flowers down on the table beside me and Amy laughs, breaking the tension in the room. “But I’ll be all right.”

  “That’s good.”

  “You said something about news?” I ask her, excited to shift the subject back to something less horrific.

  “Oh!” she says, smiling wide again. She reaches into her bag again and pulls out a white envelope to hand to Charlie. “My father heard about what happened to the farmhouse and he got in touch with some old friends of yours. Apparently, there’s a lot of people out there that owe you a great kindness, Charlie.”

  He slides the envelope open and peeks inside. Tobias and I stare at him in suspense, waiting for him to say something to clue us in. “They don’t owe me anything,” he says. “I can’t accept this.”

  “Accept what?” I ask.

  “I told him you’d say that, but they refuse to take it back.” She performs an outward gesture with her hands. “They’ve all pitched in to help you rebuild the farm. And that’s just the beginning — Dad says there’s a few more angels in the wings, whatever that means.”

  I gasp and Tobias squeezes my hand. “Are you serious?”

  “Your home was their home once. The world isn’t complete without it.” She grins. “Merry Christmas, Charlie.”

  He blinks, his eyes shining with emotion. “I… don’t know what to say.”

  Tobias steps towards him with a proud smile. “Dad… you’ve earned this.”

  I hold back my own tears, overwhelmed with happiness. Charlie has saved countless lives, my own and my mother’s included, and he’s never asked for anything in return. “Take it, Charlie,” I say, my voice breaking.

  He sighs with shaking hands. “All right.”

  “The house could use a little upgrade anyway,” I add. “Maybe even a proper feminine touch.”

  Charlie laughs. “I suppose so.”

  Tobias lets go of my hand and throws his arms around his father. I wipe away the tear falling down my cheek and smile at them.

  Charlie told me once that the good Lord hasn’t been kind of them over the years, and that’s never been truer than now. It’s their turn for a fresh start; a chance for their family to have the one thing he’s provided to so many others before.

  A new beginning.

  Epilogue

  I wake up and shield my eyes as the morning sun bleeds in through the curtains. The rays keep my naked skin warm as I roll over and reach out to touch Tobias in the bed next to me. I pause, realizing that his side of the bed feels cold.

  “Tobias?” I ask the empty
room.

  There’s no answer. I sit up, clutching the bed sheet loosely about my body and swing around to plant my bare feet on the floor.

  “Tobias?” My voice echoes through our apartment. I glance at the clock. It’s just after ten in the morning.

  I breathe a sigh of annoyance. Tobias was supposed to wake me up before he left for the farm, a fact that I made him repeat several times the previous night, but he has obviously chosen not to comply.

  I climb out of bed, clean myself up, and sift through the closet for a fresh pair of clothes. While I slide a pair of jeans up my legs, I hear my phone buzzing on my bedside table. I walk over and read a new text message from my mother.

  I can’t wait to see you at dinner tonight!

  I smile and send a reply back to her before heading for the front door and grabbing my car keys.

  Winter has finally broken. It’s been weeks since I’ve seen a single flake of snow and I can honestly say I’m not the least bit bothered by that. Spring came early to Missouri this year which means that Tobias and Charlie have a head start on rebuilding our home.

  As I turn off the highway I immediately see the red barn down the long driveway. It brings a smile to my face and even bigger one crawls across my lips as I see the progress that has already been made on the house. Charlie has hired a team of builders to take over the project and their promise of a fast, efficient process is clearly paying off in spades.

  I slow the car to stop in front of the barn next to Tobias’ motorbike and climb out to get a better view of the foundation. They’ve began the construction of the outer walls. I fill in the blanks in my head, imagining what it looked like before the fire destroyed it, but I force myself to stop. Looking ahead is far more productive and I can’t wait to see what’s to come.

  Charlie’s voice travels to my ears and I turn to see him talking to the foreman near his truck, each one of them hunched over a set of blueprints. He looks up at me and smiles before waving a quick hello and turning his attentions back to the foreman. I step away, not wanting to bother him too much, as I catch sight of Tobias.

  A smile creeps to my lips. I watch him move on the platform. He holds a hammer in one hand with several long nails clutched in his other palm, chatting back and forth with two other builders as they work on constructing a wall. I bite my lip, enjoying the sight of his tight jeans and sweat-covered shirt clinging to his body.

  “You know,” I say, admiring his glistening skin. He notices me and pauses his words mid-sentence. “Carpenter is not a bad look for you…”

  His lips curl. “Is that so?” he chuckles.

  “Yeah, I could definitely get used to this.” I gesture with my hand, tracing up and down his form with my fingertips.

  “Excuse me,” he says to the others. They wave him away as he jumps down off the platform to stand by me. He leans down for a kiss, but I take a quick step back to stop him.

  “So, you ditched me this morning,” I say.

  He shakes his head, smiling. “I didn’t ditch you…” He lowers his voice to soft volume. “I let you sleep in. The doctor says you need plenty of rest.”

  I roll my eyes. “You weren’t all that concerned about me getting plenty of rest last night.”

  He smirks with a raised brow. “Why do you think I let you sleep in?”

  I glare back at him with amused eyes. “I told you I wanted to be here today.”

  “You haven’t missed anything, believe me. Just Dad and the foreman arguing about who knows what— can I kiss you yet?”

  I fight my smile. “I don’t think you’ve groveled enough for that.”

  “Please?” he begs, licking his lips in anticipation. “I’m really sorry.”

  “You gonna make it up to me?”

  “Don’t I always?”

  I grin. “I suppose you do…”

  Tobias leans in slowly, inching towards me until his lips just barely graze my own. I push in the rest of the way, unable to resist his charms. “Feeling okay?”

  “I feel fine,” I answer.

  “Good.” He smiles and leans in for another kiss.

  “Tobias…”

  He pulls back and clears his throat. “Coming, Dad!” He shouts across the drive, only to lean in for another quick peck. “Duty calls.”

  “Go.” I nod him away. “I’ll sit here and watch.”

  Tobias winks at me and I turn back to lean against my car door. As I look down the driveway, a white cloud catches my eye, traveling quickly towards the house. The car comes into view and a rush of adrenaline strikes me.

  Amy’s sports car rolls in and comes to a stop behind my sedan. I gasp in happiness and rush over to her as she steps out and slides her pink sunglasses onto her head.

  “Amy!” I throw my arms around her and she returns my tight embrace. We laugh like hyenas, finally reunited after months of separation.

  Ryan steps out of the passenger’s side, grinning widely, his eyes obscured by a pair of black sunglasses.

  “Not that I’m not psyched to see you, but what are you doing here?” I ask, pulling away to take another look at her. “Dinner isn’t for another ten hours.”

  “I know, I know,” she says, brushing a stray hair off her eyes. “But I didn’t want to risk missing out on your little announcement—”

  “Shh!” I warn, peeking over my shoulder. “He doesn’t know I already told you.”

  “Ohh, okay…” She nods. “I will act surprised.”

  Ryan rounds the car to join us. “Act surprised about what?”

  “Nothing, dear.”

  “Hey, Ryan!” Charlie shouts. “Give us an extra pair of hands over here, will ya?”

  Ryan waves across the driveway in his direction. “Be right there!” He looks down at me. “Good to see you, Claire.”

  “Good to see you,” I say in return before he walks off.

  “Also,” Amy begins, “I have something I need to run by you.”

  “Ahh…” I nod. “The real reason you came early emerges…”

  She loops her arm around mine. “Come on.” She tugs me towards the barn. I pull the door open and we walk inside together. “First of all… how are you feeling?”

  I take a deep breath and push the door closed, barely blocking out the sound of hammering nails and drills. “Better,” I say. “Charlie’s been helping me through… well, everything that happened. I’ve actually started to feel normal again.”

  “That’s nice— but I meant, how are you feeling?” she asks again, this time pointing down my body.

  I chuckle with rolling eyes. “Fine.”

  She scoffs. “You always say fine. Give me the gory details, woman.”

  “It’s too early for gory details,” I argue. “But when they happen, you’ll be the first to know.”

  “Excellent.” She taps her fingers together like a maniacal madman.

  I reach for the ladder and climb up to the loft to get a better view of the build site. Amy follows behind me, moving slowly to keep her heels from slipping off the wooden rungs. I sit down on the hay bale near the window and she joins me.

  “Ooo lala…” She grins, her eyes darting around the sweat-covered workers. “This is quite the view.”

  “I know, right?” I scan the skyline, smiling as I catch sight of the horses — one black, the other brown and spotted white — running in the field behind the new foundation.

  She tilts her head to the side. “I might just have to extend my stay this week… and volunteer Ryan as helper.”

  “I wouldn’t complain. So—” I clear my throat, “what’s on your mind?”

  Amy pulls her eyes away from the boys to look at me. “I have some news.”

  “Good or bad news?”

  “Cool news,” she answers. “Ryan and I are forming a new league.”

  I blink. “A new league?”

  “Yep.”

  “What happened to saving the Alphas?”

  “Well, we realized that the Kings — as misguided as they
are — were in need of a little saving, too. Ryan doesn’t want to abandon them completely and honestly, neither do I. It’s not their fault Thomas and Rick were psychotic assholes. Most of them just want to compete and they deserve a fair shot at underground fame and glory with the rest of the fighters.”

  “You rehearsed this, didn’t you?” I joke.

  “Multiple times,” she says, smiling back at me. “What do you say? Good idea? Bad idea?”

  “Cool idea.” I nudge her leg. “You two are natural leaders.”

  “My Alphas and his Kings. Should make quite the league.”

  “What are you going to call yourselves?” I ask. “Midwest Kings? Double Ex Alphas?”

  She wrinkles her nose. “I think we can come up with something a little more creative than that. No offense…”

  “None taken,” I chuckle. “Creativity has never been my strongest suite. I leave the name change in your capable hands.”

  “Speaking of your capable hands…” She pivots around to face me head-on. “How would you like to take over my old district?”

  My brow twitches. “Me? Really?”

  “Of course!” She slaps my hands. “Who else? Ryan and I are setting up home base in St. Louis. I need trustworthy ladies to be my eyes, ears, and brains around the state and, naturally, I thought of my old protege.”

  I bite my lip and turn back to the view outside. Tobias catches my attention, as easily as he always has, and I can’t hide my smile. He senses it and his eyes shift in my direction, warming me to the core. “I’m sorry, Amy… but I’m going to decline.”

  “Are you sure?” she asks, leaning in with a raised brow.

  “Yes,” I answer. “I appreciate the offer, but…” I look at the life around me. “I think I’m good.”

  “I expected you to say that. I figured I’d give you first dibs though before I started sifting through resumes.”

  “Thank you.”

  “If you change your mind…” She reaches into her bra and pulls out a fresh, new business card. “You know where to find me.” I take the black card from her and scan the shiny, red lettering. “So… since you’re not going to be a Dame anymore, what do you plan on doing with yourself now?”

  I stuff the card into my back pocket. “Well, it’s still very much in the idea phase, but Charlie and I are thinking of opening a shelter in town. Someplace safe for anyone that needs it where we can provide counseling and support and—”