Gabe’s quickly become MMA’s golden boy. He’s won a solid portion of his fights over the past few years, and he’s slowly climbing up the MMA ladder which has led him to his next match being a title fight. It probably helps that he’s mild for the tabloids and is never seen stumbling out of clubs. I could probably learn a thing or thousand from him.
The last thing I want is to disappoint any member of my family by tarnishing our name. Even though sometimes I wish I was born into a different last name based solely off the pressure it brings.
I try to ignore the expectations that threaten to swallow me whole on a daily basis. I brush them off but never forget.
How could I when everyone thinks I’m a dud. The underwear shot my grandfather was referring to is from my dad’s charity event a little over a year ago. I was so excited to go and rub elbows with the elite. I’ve loved MMA since I can remember and grew up watching all the fighters that would be there in support. My attitude changed really fast when reporter after reporter asked if MMA was in my future. Asking if I could live up to the name, make my dad proud, if I’d ruin the family reputation. I ended up taking one too many shots of tequila and in a moment of embarrassment, tripped over nothing on the dance floor. Right at the precise moment, I was going down, someone got a picture of me spread eagle with a dress on, I’m sure you can piece the rest together. That’s the night I had been dubbed the little rebel of the family even though my behavior since I was a teen warranted the name.
I’ve never wanted to walk in my father’s footsteps; I’m ready to make my own. Earn my keep and pave the way for future women in the process. If you aren’t working toward the bigger picture, what’s the point?
“What are you thinking about honey?” Mom asks, and I’m surprised I didn’t hear her come up to me.
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t look like nothing. Listen, I just got off the phone with your father. They ran the story.”
“Thank God he’s on a business trip.” I groan. “The last thing I need right now is for him to scold me for my life choices.”
“He only does it because he loves you. He’s also waiting for his plane to be ready to head home. He’s worried about you.”
“I know.” I sigh. “Hold him off, at least until I leave.”
“Emmy…”
I pull out my phone and show her the headline that just popped up on my phone. I have a Google alert on if my name’s mentioned on the internet. “No one thinks I’m good enough. I can’t deal with hearing dad say the same.”
“He doesn’t think that. He’d never doubt you.”
“I know, but he still doesn’t want me to fight. I’ll talk to him when I’m ready when I can handle it. He has the power to make me back down, and that’s the last thing I want to happen.”
“Fine. I’ll do my best.”
I hear Grampy scoff and look in his direction.
“Savannah, you’ll crack like an eggshell. Mark my words, you have until his plane lands on the tarmac.”
“Crap.” I look at the clock. “Time to leave.” I cheer and grab my purse from under the bar.
Mom pulls me into her arms. “Be careful baby. Call me whenever you can.”
“You know it. Love you.”
“Love you too, baby.”
“See ya, Gramps.” I kiss his cheek then fly through the door ready to start this adventure and get the hell out of dodge.
Chapter 4
Emerson
“I can’t believe we can only bring one backpack.” I huff looking at the contents inside my bag, wishing there was a way to squeeze more in.
“We can only bring what we can fit in our saddlebags and on our bodies, hence a backpack. We can stop at laundromats and use the hotel's toiletries.”
I whip my head his way in disbelief. “You? Mister, I have four steps to hair perfection are going to use hotel shampoo?”
“God no, I brought my own. I forwent my second favorite pair of shoes to take body wash, shampoo, and my scalp exfoliator.”
“I’m repacking.” I try to dump the contents of my bag out, but Leo stops me.
“You can use my pre-shampoo treatment if we can leave right now. We’ve already dillydallied far too long, and if Dillon calls me one more time, I may give in. My willpower is shit, and you know that. Plus, we don’t want to lose daylight and have to find a place to stay earlier than we want.”
I eye him appraisingly wondering if he’s telling the truth. He doesn’t like to share his things, and one night when I was drunk, I sneakily used the damn exfoliator, and it was eye-opening. Not eye-opening enough to pay $200 for a tub of the shit, but it was heavenly.
“Every time I wash my hair?”
“Every third rinse.”
“And the scalp exfoliator?”
“I’ll think about it.”
I stick out my hand. “Deal.”
“I don’t know why you don’t just buy it for yourself. Lord knows you have the money.” Leo’s comment makes me roll my eyes when I start to grab the items for my saddle bags. They always assume my dad gives me some phenomenal chunk of change as an allowance. I’m twenty-two, who the hell gets an allowance at my age?
“Reb, I don’t know why you’re complaining. If we were forced to leave last week, I would’ve had what Leo packed for me. For a gay guy, he packed me stuff that would not come in handy. All I had were club dresses I haven’t worn in three years,” Penny whines.
I stifle a laugh. It’s funny because Leo knows she needs to loosen up and now I know what he plans to do on our little trip. We won’t be roasting marshmallows or sleeping under the stars. He’s way too bougie for that anyway.
“If you walk around during the day in club clothes, everyone will mistake you for Julia Roberts.” I hold back my laughter.
“Party pooper.” Leo sticks his tongue out at me, and I mouth play nice.
“Let’s get going. I’m not too keen on driving at night. We’ll have to stop somewhere before the sun sets.”
“All the fucking rules,” Leo mutters in a huff.
We head out the door after suiting up in our leathers. That’s what bikers call them, right? Leathers? I didn’t really do my due diligence on my biker slang.
I squeeze what I can into my saddlebags and admire my new bike from up close. I’ve been trying to drive it everywhere I go. Even parking a couple of blocks from the bar so my family wouldn’t see me riding it. I’ve gotten a little better, but not enough to feel confident having this as my only means of transportation for a week.
I turn and pull Leo into a tight hug, Penny’s obviously on the same page and doing the same.
“Thanks, Leo,” we say in unison.
“You’re my girls, now my biker bitches. How else were we going to form our lady gang and travel around the country?”
“Lady gang?” I ask on a laugh.
“Yes. We need to come up with a name, and I’m taking suggestions. Although I’m partial to the Hellish Hydrangeas.” The stare we give him must let him know we are not on board to be called that. “Like I said, I’m open to suggestions.”
“We’ll work on it.” I sling my leg over my bike and sit, marveling at how comfortable the seat is.
Before Penny jumps on hers, she makes a couple demands in a Penny-like fashion. “Listen, we can ride two hours max before permanent damage is done to my vagina. Remember that you have a dick and have been riding forever. Take some pity on us. And don’t go fast on the highway. We can stay in the right lane and cruise at forty.”
“Fifty,” Leo counters.
“Thirty. Then as we get comfortable, we’ll signal to go faster. We aren’t ready for high speeds yet, give us a break. We’re already dropping our lives to go on this trip with you. We were supposed to have seven months to prepare. You know what Emerson has going on right now.”
He takes a deep breath. “That’s fair. Just know I’ll die a little more inside with every second we go thirty on the highway.”
“Deal with
it, otherwise you’ll be dead before we hit Connecticut.”
They jump on their bikes, and we start the engines. My baby purrs. Sportsters are a great bike choice for first time riders. I’ve been comparing bikes for my first purchase, and Leo’s been chiming in on all my options since I got my license. He knew exactly what I wanted and got it. I love him for not getting me some crazy beast I’d never be able to ride.
My foot shifts into gear and a second later we’re merging onto the road, and I’m praying there’s no traffic.
***
Penny couldn’t have spoken truer words. After about an hour, not just my vagina, but my whole body feels the strain from riding. It could be the fact that every muscle tensed up from nerves, or that my legs have been spread open for a while. I’m in the best shape of my life and still aches my muscles, so I can’t imagine how Penny feels.
We make it as far as Hartford before Penny’s gesturing for us to pull off the highway. Her gesturing makes me fight back a laugh because it’s more like sporadic jazz hands seeing as she refuses to let go of the handlebar for more than a second. The drive normally would have taken us just around an hour and a half, but with going slow and all, we got here in just over two. I cut the engine on the bike and hear Penny and Leo do the same. We make no move to get off but assess the damage. Leo’s feet are already on the pavement as his narrowed eyes take us in.
“Who needs help first?” he questions as we both raise our hands.
He walks to Penny and lifts her off. When he places her on the ground, her legs are in the same stance as when she was on the bike. I can’t help but laugh, and Leo does the same. Then he comes to me, and I tell him not to lift me. I reach for his hand as an aid. A minute later using his support, I swing my leg off my bike and do a couple of squats to stretch out my legs.
“That was no joke,” I state shaking out my hair that’s been trapped beneath my helmet. When I take a deep breath, my muscles seem to get the hint we’re not riding any longer and finally relax.
“Vag pain aside, how was it? Are you guys doing okay?” He looks nervous waiting for our response.
I lock eyes with Penny and a smile quirks at the side of her mouth. “I love it!” We yell together and maul Leo into a hug.
“It can only get better from here biker bitches. You even made it all the way up to forty on that one straight away. I’m so proud,” he praises.
We walk inside the restaurant and wait at the hostess stand. We’re seated in a booth, and after sitting down, we start talking about what we’ll order. We’re foodies. Leo won’t even plan a trip unless he has the food thoroughly researched and mapped out. I’m surprised he let us stop here and not a place he handpicked with the help of a plethora of reviews on Yelp.
We order a few appetizers and waters. No way am I drinking and getting back on my bike.
“By the time we leave, we’ll still have another few hours or so of daylight. Are we going to drive until we find a motel?” Penny asks.
“Motel?” Leo places his hand over his heart in outrage. “Oh, no, no, no. Honey, you know I don’t do motels. I don’t do poor.”
“Listen, that might be our only option. I’ll do it if you do.” I stare at him and cross my arms over my chest in challenge.
“Oh my god, I’m going to die in the same room a prostitute gave a five-dollar blow job with the added finger for an additional two-fifty,” he says in hysterics.
The waitress comes to our table breaking up his thoughts of death and blow jobs long enough for him to steal one of the apps to himself and start stress eating. I reach over to try and save him from himself, but he slaps my hand away and growls mineeeeee.
“Listen, you don’t want to outgrow the little clothes you actually brought. Say it with me Leo, proportion.”
“And a good gym,” Penny adds.
“I’ve already mapped out every gym from here to California. We’re good. There’s no way I’m going to let you slack Reb, especially since all your dreams are about to come true.”
Ugh, going to the gym on vacation is like eating garden salad at a BBQ joint. It’s unnecessary, and out of place even though I know, it is crucial.
“I see that look, Emerson Lanora Cage. I didn’t mold you into the perfection of an MMA fighter to lose it on this trip. You still have your fight, and we will not lose.”
“How could I forget?” I laugh. “The fight’s still three months out, we’re good.”
“Daddy still doesn’t know?”
“Dad,” I emphasize because I hate that daddy bullshit. “Found out today when the news of my fight was released. I have yet to talk to him even though he’s been calling. Do you blame me? The one time he caught me sparring, he nearly kicked poor Jeff’s ass.”
“It’s a wonder Gabe hasn’t told the world. That guy’s a motormouth if I ever saw one,” Leo says with stars in his eyes.
“You know he’s not gay.” Penny laughs.
“In my dreams, he is, along with some of the other men in your family.”
Gross. Like I’ve said before, fighting has been in the Cage bloodline since before I was born. My dad was the best MMA fighter of his time. My uncle Josh fought at the same time, but they were in a different weight class and ruled the MMA circuit. Uncle Jay is a teacher, but he’s still fully immersed in training up-and-comers including Gabe who’s been fighting for the past few years. Normally he would have moved on to another trainer, but him and Uncle Jay gel well together. Uncle Kyle has long since retired, but he was the longest running champ in MMA history. He even beat my dad for the belt in my dad’s last fight of his career before he retired. Some say he was better than dad, but I may be biased when I say screw that. My dad was the best of all time. He was at the end of his career and Uncle Kyle was just beginning his.
My family’s pretty hardcore. It’s hard to be a Cage and not get recognized. I’ve been hounded my whole life by the media which made high school pretty challenging. Everyone had something to say or felt the need to tip off the paparazzi at every turn.
It’s been harder training on the sly for my first official MMA fight without my dad catching a whiff. I know he’ll be mad, he wants me to be a nurse or social worker like my sisters. Something safe and reliable. I told him once when I was twelve that I wanted to fight after hiding behind the couch and watching my dad and uncles watch a slew of their fights, one after the other. I can’t help it that the MMA bug bit me any more than each of them could help it.
It’s in my blood.
I was born to fight.
“Thinking about your dad?” Penny asks.
“Yeah. Maybe I should call him? I’ve never gone this long without talking to him. Maybe tomorrow.” I finally settle on.
“Chicken shit,” Leo says into his drink.
“Yes, I am. I love my dad, and he still thinks I’m working at the bar until I figure out what to do with my life.”
“If he knew how good you were, there wouldn’t be an argument. You have natural, raw talent. How many times have you given Gabe a run for his money in the ring? Hell, any of the guys you’ve sparred with for that matter. Not to mention Joss wouldn’t waste his time helping you out either. Everything that man does has a purpose. You should show your dad how important this is to you.” I shrug my shoulders. “We’ll see. Did you even tell your dad you were leaving? I’m finding it hard to believe that Zander Cage hasn’t figured all this out yet. He watches you like a hawk on his mild days.”
“No, I made mom swear to give me twenty-four hours after I left. She understood when I explained your breakup being the reason for this impromptu trip. She’s all about taking chances and making memories.”
“Your mom is my spirit animal. Savvy Cage is who I want to be when I grow up.” Leo gets stars in his eyes for other reasons. Luckily not the same as when he mentions the men in my family.
“Let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s freaking me out.” And it honestly does. I wish I could have my dad in my corner for the fight and deep d
own I know he’ll be there. He has to be.
My phone pings, alerting me that Gabe sent me a text. It’s the cover of a newspaper that has a picture of me with the headline, CAN SHE LIVE UP TO THE NAME? As if I need that pressure. Geesh. I don’t remember ever seeing a negative headline about Gabe, ever. He’s such a good boy, the total opposite of me. I know he thinks this will fuel me leading up to my fight rather than have the pressure inducing effect it’s actually causing.
“I still can’t believe he hasn’t called in the National Guard yet.”
“You kid now, just wait until they show up.” I chuckle. “He’s called a lot. Most likely stewing and my mom more than likely stole his phone since he hasn’t called in the last half-hour. Telling him about this trip and confirming that the newest female on the roster doesn’t sound like my idea of a good Saturday.”
“This trip was fate. That’s it, plain and simple. The gods knew you needed to get away.”
“Amen,” I say between bites of my salad knowing how true that statement is.
After another few hours on our bikes, we make it just outside of New York. We begged Leo to go around it, but he said the only way we’ll learn is with real-life experiences. If I make it through this trip, my fight should be a piece of cake.
I pull my phone out of my jacket and see several notifications on my screen — several missed calls from Dad and a text from Joss.
I’m hot on your heels.
Chapter 5
Joss
The sweat drips down my face as I push myself to do another rep. What’s the point of hitting the gym if you don’t push yourself? That’s always been my mantra anyway.
“Easy man, you’re going to overdo it.” My buddy Dan states, helping me ease the bar up in its perch.
Rebel: A Brother's Best Friend Standalone Romance Page 3