Fighting Love (Love to the Extreme) Read Free

the blackened skeleton of Tommy’s cherry-red Corvette. She grimaced.
    “Oh, Tommy. Your car.”
    “It’s insured,” he said, shrugging.
    “What about rental insurance?”
    “Have it.” He sent her a lopsided smile. “Maybe I’m growing up after all.”
    At those words, she flinched. He was trying to be humorous, bring a little lightness into the
    moment—she got that—but she didn’t like him using the words she’d yelled at him four months
    ago to go about it, especially after something like this. Losing his home to a fire was something he
    had no control over. The night she’d told him he needed to grow up, well…she’d meant it.
    Having to bail Tommy out of jail for brawling at a bar had been the lowest point of their
    friendship, and she’d been furious. Not to mention the fallout from the MMA scandal of the century
    —Tommy being banned from his coach’s training facility hadn’t been the only consequence. Ethan
    Porter, the president of Cage Match Championship, had banned him from the cage, too.
    Thankfully, the brawling charges had been dropped, so one night was all he’d spent in jail.
    “You know I said that because I was pissed, right?” she said softly.
    He shrugged. “There was some truth to it.”
    Yeah, more than some, actually. She let her silence speak for itself. Tommy knew what it
    meant.
    One of the EMTs came over and had Tommy breathe into some contraption. After the woman
    looked at the reading, she nodded. “You’re good. If you start having any nausea, lightheadedness,
    or any other symptoms, go straight to the ER, but you should be fine.”
    After that, a firefighter came over to speak to him for a few minutes, then told Tommy he was
    free to go. He stood and stretched his six foot three inch frame then ruffled Warrior’s head. “Let’s
    find us a place to crash. What do you say, buddy?”
    “You can stay with me.” At the suggestion, his nose curled in distaste and she swatted at him.
    “Hey! What’s the problem with staying at my place?”
    A chuckle came out of him as he slung his arm around her shoulder and dropped a kiss on top
    of her head. Even in three-inch heels her, she fit easily under his arm. “It’s not you, doofus.” When
    she raised a doubtful brow, he laughed outright. “Okay…maybe it is you. Julie, you’re my best
    friend. But we haven’t done close living quarters since we used to sneak in and out of each other’s
    bedrooms when we were kids. What if we end up killing each other?”
    The memory made her smile. “Well, if all else fails, I guess we can make up over walkie-talkies.”
    “Ah, shit, I forgot we used to do that.” He sighed, hugging her closer to his side as they walked
    toward her car. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t like imposing on you. I’ll find something.”
    “Have it your way.”
    He always did.
    When they reached the car, Tommy let Warrior in the backseat, then climbed in himself. As she
    started the engine, he said, “I really need to feed Warrior. I always give him a big bowl of food
    after we run. Can we stop at a store?”
    “I have some food at my house.”
    Again with the nose curl. God, that drove her nuts.
    “My dog will not eat that foo-foo shit you feed Lucy. He eats manly dog food, isn’t that right,
    buddy?” He scratched the dog behind the ear and earned a lick across the cheek.
    “You do know your face is covered in soot and you smell like a campfire, right?”
    “I could give a rat’s ass what I look like right now, Julie. Besides, I don’t have anything to
    change into anyway.” When she glanced over at him, he had the oddest look on his face, a
    mixture of disbelief, amusement, and confusion. “Jeez, I don’t even have a toothbrush.”
    When he turned and stared at her with the same strange expression, she worried the reality of
    what had happened was about to truly hit him. The man had just lost everything he owned.
    “You okay?” she asked.
    “Yeah. The unimportant shit is