Introduction
Before You Step Into the Ring...
Welcome to The Fight Between Us, where grown men willingly punch each other in the face, emotional communication is somehow considered more dangerous than a right hook, and healthy coping mechanisms occasionally go missing under mysterious circumstances.
Before we get started, I want to give you a proper warning about some of the heavier subjects in this book. While there is plenty of humor, romance, boxing, banter, and two men making increasingly questionable claims about how little they care about each other, this story also deals with trauma and other potentially triggering material.
Please be aware that this book contains or discusses:
Rape and sexual assault
Past sexual abuse and trauma
Physical violence and assault
Boxing violence, injuries, blood, and descriptions of being knocked unconscious
PTSD/trauma responses
Nightmares and night terrors
Panic attacks and anxiety
Dissociation/freezing responses
References to abuse and difficult past experiences
Strong language
Explicit sexual content between consenting adults
Discussions of sex, sexuality, and intimacy
Alcohol use
Unhealthy coping mechanisms
Emotional distress and fear surrounding intimacy and relationships
Some of these subjects, particularly rape, sexual assault, and past abuse, are connected to character backstories and may be discussed or recalled throughout the story. They are not included for shock value, and I will do my best to handle them with the seriousness they deserve.
Please take care of yourself while reading. Skip a scene, skip a chapter, take a break, or put the book down entirely if you need to. Kai and Dante will continue making terrible emotional decisions without your supervision.
Trust me. They’re remarkably self-sufficient in that department.
This is also an M/M romance with explicit sexual content, so expect men kissing, men having sex, men punching other men, and—perhaps most frightening of all—men eventually being required to discuss their feelings.
I know.
Horrifying.
As always, this is fiction. The characters are intentionally flawed, and their behavior, coping mechanisms, relationships, and boxing practices should not automatically be treated as examples of what is healthy or advisable in real life. In particular, please don’t allow someone to repeatedly punch you in the head because Kai “Mad Hatter” Holloway made it look entertaining. He is not a medical professional, and neither am I.
With all of that out of the way, gloves on.
The bell’s about to ring.
And welcome to The Fight Between Us.
