Sage: A Second-Chance MMA Romance Novella (A Cocky Cage Fighter Legacy Book 2) Read online

  Sage

  A Cocky Cage Fighter Legacy Novel

  Lane Hart

  Contents

  Synopsis

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue were created from the authors’ imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual people or events is coincidental.

  The authors acknowledge the copyrighted and trademarked status of various products within this work of fiction.

  © 2021 Editor's Choice Publishing

  All Rights Reserved.

  Only Amazon has permission from the publisher to sell and distribute this title.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Editor’s Choice Publishing

  P.O. Box 10024

  Greensboro, NC 27404

  Edited by Angela Snyder

  Cover by J.M. Walker of Just Write. Creations and Services

  https://www.justwritecreations.org/shop

  WARNING: THIS BOOK IS NOT SUITABLE FOR ANYONE UNDER 18.

  Synopsis

  Sage Abrams has been training for years with one goal in mind – to win a welterweight championship title, just like his father Linc. That’s why, unlike his twin brother Talon, he keeps to a strict regimen. He doesn’t ever date, drink, or party.

  With an undefeated record, Sage is finally going to get his chance at a belt. The only thing that stands in the way of him becoming the best welterweight fighter in the world is his opponent, Cyrus Cutler, and an illegal hit that knocks him unconscious.

  When Sage wakes up in the hospital, he doesn’t remember the fight or anything else that’s happened in the last few years. The one person he wants by his side as he recovers is Eden, his ex-girlfriend.

  Eden is suddenly caught up in an unexpected love triangle. After Sage’s injury, he doesn’t remember dumping her and pushing her into his brother Tal’s arms in order to concentrate on his training.

  Will Eden pick Sage, the sweet, determined brother who has already broken her heart once, or will she stay with Tal, the tattooed, bad boy who is only looking for a good time?

  Prologue

  Eden Duncan

  Once upon a time, there were two beautiful princes, both with golden hair and piercing green eyes that could see straight into your soul. They were identical twins. One was unbelievably sweet while the other was incredibly mischievous. Tal, the troublemaker, liked to sometimes pretend he was the ‘good’ twin. That’s what everyone called the kind one, Sage. Not that the rule-breaker was bad; he was just not as perfect as his brother.

  I’ve loved them both for as long as I could remember – the prince who could always make me laugh no matter how sad I was, and the one who would pull me into hiding spots to kiss me until my heart would melt for him.

  And then we all grew up.

  I was packed up and ready to go off to college when the sweet twin broke my heart. He told me I was a distraction, and that he could never be king of the cage if he left to be with me.

  Luckily, the bad twin decided to run away with me. He’s been my best friend ever since. I know all of his secrets and he knows all of mine, even the most painful one of all – that he reminds me of his brother who I still love more than anything in this world even after he threw me away.

  Chapter One

  Eden

  “Your phone is blowing up,” Miriah says as I drive us to the event center, my phone buzzing loud enough from my purse to be heard over the radio.

  “Will you please tell Tal that we’re on our way and will be there as soon as we can?” I ask her.

  “Sure,” she replies before she bends over to rummage through my purse in the passenger floorboard. “Oh,” she mutters.

  I glance over and find her staring down at my phone in her hands, the glow of the screen lighting up her face.

  “What? Did he send another dick pic? Every time I tell him to stop doing that it only seems to encourage him to send more. Sorry! Just delete it.”

  “The messages aren’t from Tal,” Miriah finally admits.

  “Oh. Then is it my mom? Dad? They’re probably already at the arena.”

  “No, Eden, it’s Sage.”

  “Oh.” I try to swallow around the jagged knife in my throat that’s moved lower to split my heart open. No matter how much time goes by, it’s always the same agony inside of me at just the mention of his name. “What does he want?”

  “He’s looking for his brother. Sage says Tal won’t answer his phone and he was supposed to be there to help him warm up an hour ago.”

  “I’m not his brother’s keeper!” I exclaim in outrage. “Sorry,” I say after my outburst. “It’s just, Tal doesn’t tell me where he goes at all hours of the night. We may be friends with benefits but none of the benefits are knowing where he is twenty-four-seven.”

  “Right. Tal just gives you a million orgasms every night to help you sleep,” Miriah whispers to herself with a grin.

  “Orgasms are good for you. You should try them sometime,” I tease her.

  “I still think it would be weird because they’re twins.”

  “They don’t look very similar anymore. Tal’s hair is black, and he has lots of dark tats and piercings, completely different from Sage, who is clean cut and pale because he never leaves the gym.”

  “Still, doesn’t being with Tal remind you of him just a little?” she asks.

  “A little, yes, but Tal can be very…distracting,” I admit.

  There’s another ding with a new text message.

  “Sage again?” I ask.

  “He says to call or text him if you hear from Tal. And quote, ‘I hope he’s not dead in a ditch somewhere.’”

  Shaking my head, I tell her, “Tal would never miss Sage’s title fight. He knows he’s been working for this since they were kids, earning a belt like his father Linc and being crowned King of the Cage. It’s too important for Tal to miss even if he is drunk or high as a kite.”

  “You’re not secretly hoping that if Sage wins tonight, he’ll want you back, are you?” Miriah asks while typing a response to Sage on my phone.

  “What? Of course not!” Okay, so that didn’t sound believable even to me. “I’m with Tal now and have been for…how long has it been? Eight years? Holy shit. We’ve been hooking up for eight years!”

  “That’s a long time to hook up with someone and not get a ring,” Miriah mutters.

  “No, Tal may not want something…permanent with me. I don’t want to marry him either, but I would never toss him aside if Sage wanted me back, which he doesn’t.”

  “Unless he wins tonight…”

  “That’s not going to happen,” I assure her. “I mean, yes, I think he’ll win. He has to or he’ll be devastated. I’m just saying even if Sage wins everything he’s been working t
oward the past fifteen years, he’s over me. And I’m over him.”

  “Sure, you are. I bet you never think of him for even a second when you’re under his identical twin brother.”

  “Does everyone think I’m still pining for Sage?” I ask, meaning everyone in our extended family of cage fighters from Havoc.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” I exclaim.

  “What’s ridiculous is that Tal puts up with it, playing runner-up to his brother, yet again. No wonder he’s never sober. It must be hard trying to live up to someone who looks just like you.”

  “That’s not why he…never mind,” I say, biting my tongue before I say too much and give away a secret that’s not mine to tell.

  I put on the right turn signal and ease into the long line of cars waiting to get into the event center for the biggest fight of the year. Hell, maybe even the biggest one in twenty-six years. Everyone has been waiting for this night, for Linc’s son to step into the cage and win the same belt his dad won so long ago.

  And Sage has given up everything in his life except for the training to get it, including me.

  Chapter Two

  Sage Abrams

  “I’m going to kill him,” I grumble while slamming my fist into the big, red pads my dad is holding up in front of him. “I’m going to kick Tal’s tattooed ass up and down the streets!”

  “He’ll be here,” Dad assures me, even though his clenched jaw says he’s not so sure. Talon is a loose cannon. Always has been. The two of us spent every second of our childhood together and even live together now, but lately he’s acted like a stranger. I don’t know what the hell is going on inside his fucked-up head, and I can’t help but somehow feel responsible.

  I’ve always been the overachiever in school and in the cage. That doesn’t mean I’m perfect. It just means that I have more drive and determination to succeed than my brother does. In fact, sometimes I look around and see all the sacrifices I’ve made in the name of being the best welterweight fighter in the world, and I’m not sure if it’s all worth it.

  Hopefully tonight, after I knock out Cyrus Cutler and finally have my belt, the pride and accomplishment will be worth the compromises.

  First and foremost afterward, I have to get laid.

  As part of most fighters’ training, they abstain a week to a few days before a big fight. Me, the overachiever that I am, I’ve been celibate for years now.

  Years!

  At least three of them, maybe more.

  It’s been nearly impossible to keep my hands to myself and off of myself, especially since Eden is always in our house, walking around in nothing but one of Tal’s t-shirts. It’s like the cage fighter gods are trying to test me every second of the day. She’s so beautiful it hurts.

  No, really, it physically hurts to see the girl I used to love with my brother and hear her moans coming from his bed.

  Years ago, when Tal gave up training, the two of them spent more time together than Eden and I ever did. And so, when he asked me if I cared if he made a move, I gave him my permission, telling myself that Eden deserved to be happy, to have a boyfriend who would take her to dinner or curl up and watch a movie with her at night.

  I never have time for those kinds of things between lifting, cardio, sparring and grappling training. Besides, my diet is too strict to maintain weight to even try and eat out.

  Not to mention the weeks or even months I would go without touching her to try and keep my edge, unable to even get her off with my fingers or tongue because I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from being with her if I touched her.

  I was a complete dick to Eden, and I doubt if she’ll ever forgive me.

  In fact, her being with Tal in the house we share since they graduated from college four years ago seems like her form of cruel and unusual torture, to rub my nose in everything I had and let go to chase my dream.

  “Calm your tits, Mom. I was a few minutes late. So what? It’s not like I’m the one fighting tonight.”

  The sound of my brother’s voice, a deeper slurred version of my own echoes around the empty training room.

  “Watch your mouth when you speak to your mother, Tal!” my dad narrows his eyes over my shoulder to warn him.

  “Finally!” I exclaim as I spin around to face him. Marching up to him, I give his chest a shove. “Where the fuck have you been?”

  “Sorry, bro. I overslept,” he replies.

  “It’s nine o’clock at night!” I exclaim.

  “I took a late nap,” Tal says with a smirk. With one sniff, I can smell the stench of booze and weed on him.

  “You’re baked,” I tell him.

  “It was an occasion for a celebration!” he shouts.

  “There’s nothing to celebrate until I win,” I say, giving his chest another shove.

  For the past few months, hell, maybe even years, my brother has been drinking and smoking more and more. Whenever I call him out on it, he always tells me that he has it under control.

  And I believed him, because there’s no way he could lie to me about anything. We’ve always been close. How could we not when we’re identical? But lately, I’m starting to think he’s growing more and more out of control, to the point that he could end up crashing his car or land himself in the hospital with alcohol poisoning from going too far.

  “We’ll worry about your brother later,” Dad says when he grabs my shoulders to make me look at him. Somehow Tal and I ended up two inches taller than our father, so I sort of have to look down at him. “Right now, you need to focus on what you’ve been working on for the past few months – getting ready for the biggest fight of your life against the most explosive opponent you’ve ever had to face. Cyrus fights dirty. Everyone knows it, but it’s never enough to get him disqualified. We have to be prepared for whatever he throws at you. Don’t lose your cool. No matter what, you try and keep him on his feet. He’s going to try and take the fight to the mat to avoid your fists. Make him pay on the ground, okay?”

  “Yeah, okay,” I reply, having heard this same speech from my dad a million times.

  Cyrus is different from the other fighters I’ve fought in the cage. He has less training but more drive. He never loses under any circumstances. He once lost a massive amount of blood from a head wound and broken nose and still knocked his opponent out with only ten seconds left in the fifth round to win the belt.

  I’m hoping his luck changes tonight. My record is almost as good as Cyrus’s. I had two losses in my early years before I came into the IFC where I’m undefeated. Those first losses were from veteran fighters who were more prepared than I was in grappling. Needless to say, that’s what I’ve been spending more time training on than anything ever since.

  I inherited my dad’s strength, determination, and heavy fists. Now it’s up to me to use all three.

  Chapter Three

  Eden

  The arena is rowdy with anxious spectators. The event sold out in person and is estimated to make millions on pay-per-view. Thanks to our families’ connections to Havoc, the training facility where all the guys have trained for two generations now, we’re close to the front of the arena. My father, Senn, and Miriah’s dad, Mace, were both fighters back in their youth, so the two of us have great seats just a few rows behind Sage’s corner.

  There are three preliminary fights up first before the main event, with two of them ending in a split decision after three rounds and the other a tap out in between.

  Finally, after what feels like forever, the lights dim and the colorful strobes come on, dancing from one side of the arena to the other as “Centuries” by Fall Out Boy blasts over the sound system. It’s an older song but serves as a tribute to Sage’s father Linc. Everyone looks back at the tunnel, waiting for him to walk out. An announcer’s voice comes over the music first, giving Sage’s height and weight and reminding the crowd that he’s undefeated in the IFC.

  I’m on my feet with the rest of the group from Havoc, cheerin
g and yelling for Sage before we can even see him make his way down to the cage. His father and Tal are right behind him, along with some of the coaches from the gym.

  “Guess he finally showed up after all,” Miriah says to me over the ruckus, referring to Tal, but I can’t seem to tear my eyes away from Sage. He removes his shirt for the final referee checkpoint, leaving him in nothing but his tight, black spandex shorts. His flawless ivory skin is slick, his body so lean and muscular he looks like he was carved from stone.

  Once Sage is inside the cage, he doesn’t pace around or showboat like his opponent, Cyrus. Sage simply stares down his opponent as Cyrus circles his side of the octagon, waving his arms in the air, trying to elicit cheers from the crowd. When the referee steps to the middle of the ring to begin the fight, Sage advances calmly to the center, while Cyrus rushes forward like a rabid dog.

  I can’t help but let out a gasp as the two men come together, Sage easily checking a kick from Cyrus before wading in with his fists swinging, driving the larger man back. Cyrus made weight somehow, but he looks twenty pounds heavier than Sage after rehydrating. It quickly becomes apparent that Cyrus’s plan must be to use his extra bulk to take Sage to the ground, as he repeatedly shoots for his legs, only to be denied again and again as Sage shoves him to the mat, then backs away so Cyrus can get back to his feet. Sage is a natural striker, so while he has a wrestling background, he still prefers to fight standing up like his father Linc.