Hammer's Fall (The Breakers' Bad Boys)(3)

For the next few years Hammer fought for the CFL and got a chance at the big title, becoming the CFL’s heavy-weight champion. He had also landed a lucrative sponsorship with the well-known Rough and Tough sports apparel company, and still remained one of their spokesmen. He’d known it was only a matter of time before he was unseated as the champion, but the challengers didn’t have a chance. His life changed drastically when he re-injured his knee during a training session, and he’d ended up needing ACL reconstructive surgery.

The months of painful rehab after his surgery allowed him to think about what he wanted to do now that his career as a professional fighter was over. He’d always known he would move back to Breakers when he was ready to retire from the ring and start a business with the money he had saved over the years. With the help of his friend Rever, who seemed to have the magic touch when it came to investing, Hammer had been able to triple the money he won fighting.

Financial freedom allowed him to make the choice to create the training and rehab facility, but Rever and their other friend, Daryk Nyght, had insisted on partnering with him on the new business venture. Hammer had allowed both of his friends to buy in a quarter share of the business. No matter what they said, the gym wasn’t their dream. They wanted to do it for him, and to be honest, Hammer wanted them tied to Fight Hard to give the other men a home base for whenever they were ready to settle down.

There was a tight bond between the three of them. They had all served together overseas, and when they came home, Rever had helped Hammer train as well as taking care of all of his finances. Nyght had also been in the Army with them, only he was a trauma surgeon. Now their friend was off doing some sort of clandestine work with a special task-force he couldn’t talk about. Hammer knew that was code for something dangerous as fuck, but he knew better than to ask questions. He just hoped that his friend was okay. He was familiar with that sort of life, even had the occasional nightmare to prove it, but that part of his life was over now. Now at thirty-three, he could simply focus on his gym and enjoy his life in peace.

Aw hell, who was he kidding…what he really wanted Kali.

Now, if only the woman that haunted his dreams would cooperate with him.

“Hello, Kali.”

He smiled down at her and watched as she shivered a little. Brows creasing in concern, he wanted to pick up his sweatshirt and wrap her up in it. He usually kept the gym cooler since most of the guys working out sweat a lot, but he hated seeing her uncomfortable. He silently cursed as images of how he could keep her warm with his own body flashed in his head.

Fuck! Get it together, asshole.

“Hi, Jared. I’m sorry to bother you—”

“Honey, you could never bother me.” Hammer noticed the way her eyes widened as she looked up at him and wondered what she was thinking to put that dreamy look on her face.

Studying her, he was distracted by the way her soft lips parted, and he wanted to curse again. Just imagining her looking up at him like that as she sucked on his cock had all the blood draining down to his throbbing dick, making him so hard he could probably crack stone with it. He had to move his hand still holding the towel in front of himself to try and hide his straining erection from her view.

Fucking hell, he had absolutely no self control when it came to her. He commanded himself to stop thinking about her mouth anywhere near his cock and…son of a bitch. That did it. Just telling himself to stop thinking about it had the damn thing jerking in his shorts as if trying to get closer to her.

Forcing himself to relax, he smiled at her again. “What can I do for you, Kali?”

“Oh,” she said after blinking rapidly, as if she had forgotten why she had sought him out. “Yes, I…well, I was wondering if you maybe offer self-defense training or something.”

His body stiffened. What the fuck? Was some asshole bothering her? His eyes narrowed on her, and he noticed she was breathing rapidly now. Fuck! He was scaring her, but he couldn’t help it. If someone was bothering her they would be dealing with him. No one fucked with his fairy and got away with it.

“Why do you need self-defense training?” he asked slowly, trying to sound calmer than he felt.

“Well, I don’t really…I mean, every woman should know something, right?” Kali let out a light laugh that didn’t fool him for a minute.

“Kali, why do you need self-defense training?” he asked again, taking a step closer to her. “Is someone bothering you?”

“What? No!”

Her gaze fluttered back to his face, then trailed down over his bare chest. He wanted to shout with glee when his saw her pupils dilate as she took in his muscular form. He fought the urge to do something stupid like flex just to see her reaction. She looked away and a faint blush turned her cheeks a light-pink color that made his hands fist so he wouldn’t grab her.