1 Last Shot (The Fight Game, #4)

by Nikki Castle

Her eyes are filled with… want. And it hits me that I’m not the only one that wants this. Not by a long shot.

I want Isabella so fucking badly,

I have no sense of time, or reality, or anything that isn’t Isabella.

I want to kiss her again. I want to go inside with her. I want… more of her.

She wants this. She wants me.

I didn’t consciously realize it, but I’ve been dying for Isabella’s taste for longer than I want to admit.

with Isabella, I think I’m desperate to blow her mind in every way possible.

Because I don’t just want to fuck you, Isabella. I know exactly what you were thinking last night, and I’m telling you right now, you’re not just a convenient piece of ass to me.

“Tell me you understand that this isn’t a one-time, sex-only thing, Isabella,”

I decide then that I don't care if I'm being needy or pussy-whipped or a fucking idiot for wanting to be with a person that will undoubtedly wise up and leave me in the end. If this is all the time I get with her, I want all of it.

He looks like I’m the only thing he wants in the world right now.

Somewhere along the way, it became my favorite sight in the world.

How do I tell her the only thing I want is to be with her?

Tell me I’m the only one. Tell me this is real.

I’ve fallen head over heels in love with Kane

I'm going to stay and show him that I see him, and I want him. I'm going to show him what it's really like to be cared for.

She cares about you, Kane. More than you probably realize."

"Kane, you deserve to have someone care about you," she says firmly. "You deserve to be loved. Do

you hear me? Isabella isn't settling for you. She's been choosing you. Every day. Because you're worthy of being chosen."

I want to think I deserve her. I believed it when Hailey said it, and I wasn't lying when I told them I wanted to find out if Isabella thinks that, too. Because I really, really, more than anything, want to be deserving of Isabella. And I want to try for the rest of my life to give her everything else she deserves.

I try to be what Isabella deserves. I try to make her happy and be everything that she deserves in a partner. And I'll either fail for the millionth time in my life, or… Get everything I've ever wanted.

And it hits me that… of course I'm going to try. Of course I want more of Isabella. There isn't a version of this reality where I wouldn't.

she's the reason I haven't drank as much lately. It's definitely not a healthy coping mechanism, substituting one crutch for another, but it's the truth. Isabella makes me want to be better.

"You're not running away from me? You're not scared? Because I'm dangerous, and bad news, and I have anger issues even on good days⁠—"

"I'm not going anywhere,"

"You don't scare me,"

She wants to stay. She wants to stay with me.

"I want to deserve you,"

"I know I'm not even close to being good enough for you, but for the first time in my life, I want to be. I don't want to be a fuckup anymore, I don't want to be hated by my coach, or my teammates, or random fucking people in a bar. I'm sick of being broken. And you deserve to be with someone amazing, someone who could take over the world and leave it at your feet. Someone who⁠—"

your 1 last shot to get it right, this is us trying, every day. And some days will be good, and some will be bad, but every day, we keep fighting. Together. Because I would rather live in your world, with your arms around me and your heart against my palm, than anywhere else. I want you, Kane. Never doubt that."

“Kane, I’ve been infatuated with you since the first moment I saw you. You don’t have to trick me anywhere.”