Blade's Botched Bump
About this book
Blade: Ring name of professional wrestler Brandon Braddock. Derived from the call sign he earned in BUD/S for always carrying a pocketknife.
Botched: When a wrestler makes a mistake and the move they’re attempting doesn’t go as planned. Often leading to injuries to either themselves or their opponents.
Bump: When a wrestler falls, or is thrown by their opponent, and lands on the mat, ground, or any object in or around the arena while performing. Used in this case to simply mean “falling,” as in falling in love.
Brandon “Blade” Braddock loved his job as a wrestler for the GWA, living the gimmick as a former special warfare operator who now wore civilian camo and reproduction dog tags while carrying a decorative dagger or ceremonial sword to the ring to keep from showing the terrorists of the world what his brothers in the SEALs actually wore for their missions. While he worked as a heel and was a little gruffer than most of the guys on the roster, he didn’t think of himself as a bad guy most of the time. Since the ring rats seemed to be drawn to his broody attitude, he was perfectly happy not really fitting in with all his married coworkers. Considering the trauma he’d endured as a child at the hands of the man who supposedly provided half his DNA, he was fine with remaining single and fulfilling his sexual needs with one-night stands, so he never risked hurting a woman the way he’d seen his mom suffer because he believed evil was an inherited trait. At least, he was until he met Caitlyn Sullivan at the beginning of the GWA’s 2020 European tour, when he metaphorically bumped hard for the petite strawberry blonde.
Caitlyn Sullivan couldn’t believe her cousin had gifted the entire family with a trip to Dublin, Ireland to attend the GWA’s No Remorse show and reconnect with their distant relatives, whom most of the family hadn’t ever spoken to in person since their grandparents emigrated from Ireland to the United States. Having spent her entire life in New York City, she thoroughly enjoyed getting to see the country where her ancestors lived. Even though she also wished she could travel to all the exciting places her cousin and the rest of the GWA visited regularly while on tour, she knew that wasn’t in the cards for her. At least, not while she still worked in her entry-level public relations assistant job. She would be stuck in New York, writing press releases for her boss, who actually traveled the world to meet with their celebrity clients, probably for several years until her boss finally retired for her to be able to promote to a full publicist position.
Caitlyn’s prospects for romance weren’t much better than her potential to move up in her current company. Yeah, there were millions of men in the city she could theoretically date, as her mother was fond of pointing out. But still, it seemed like trying to find the one man she was meant to spend the rest of her life with was like trying to find a real, live unicorn. She was starting to wonder if her soulmate was just as mythical as the horse with the spiraling horn. No matter how often she went out with her friends looking for The One, she kept meeting guys who were only after one thing. And that one thing wasn’t a long-term relationship. The single men her cousin worked with were no exception, no matter how much just looking at Blade made her insides tingle. Even if she wanted to believe he wasn’t just like all the other guys, they couldn’t actually pursue a relationship when he was traveling all the time and she was stuck in New York.
Or could they? Was she willing to get to know him via texts and calls to let him prove he wasn’t the player she thought he was? What if she took the job with the GWA that her cousin mentioned to help set up endorsement deals and appearances to help raise funds at non-profits for all the wrestlers? Could that lead to actually traveling the way she wanted and also getting to know Blade well enough to decide if he was safe to fall for?
Blade certainly hoped so. Being around Caitlyn made him want to be a better man, one who could actually see himself committed to only her for the rest of his life. But that would only happen if he could convince her that he’d changed dramatically on the day they met. Otherwise, falling for Caitlyn could be the worst botched bump of his wrestling career, causing him to end up with a severely broken heart.
And even if fate stepped in, allowing these two the time to explore what could happen between them, would they be able to withstand having Blade’s past endanger both their lives to find out if they could have a happily ever after together?
DISCLAIMER: This opposites attract, grumpy sunshine, unconventional workplace, he falls first, suspenseful sports romance contains references to past abuse, childhood loss of a parent, a former abuser seeking revenge for serving prison time, a hostage situation, DNA test revelations, profanity, and graphic sex scenes. It is intended for adult readers (18+) who are not easily offended.