by T L Swan
“Josh is just over–protective because I don’t sleep around.”
I frown, not understanding. “What do you mean?”
“Shit, you really do psychoanalyse, don’t you?” I raise my glass and clink it with his, raising my eyebrows as I smile. I really should stop drinking; I am feeling very inebriated. “I am not your normal gay guy, Tash. I hate camp with a passion, hate feminine men. I find most gay men sleazebags and can think of nothing worse than going to a gay bar where everyone is wearing next to nothing and eyeing up their meat for the night.”
I nod an exaggerated nod. “Hear, hear,” I yell way too loud.
“So, basically, I’m a gay man who loves everything heterosexual. All my friends are straight, I prefer straight bars, straight… everything,” he shrugs. “Except women.”
I give him a sad smile. “That must suck.”
He nods. “Totally.”
“So how did you meet Josh?” He smiles a broad warm smile and I know how much he cares for him.
“I had just finished college.”
“What did you study?”
“Politics and Economics.” I nod, impressed. “Anyway I got my dream job as an intern at his company. But I was only there for three weeks and both of my parents were killed in a plane crash, my mother immediately and then my father four weeks later from his injuries.”
I grab his leg. “Oh Adrian, I’m so sorry.”
“Me too, they were… are really missed. Anyway I had six months off to get my shit together and when I finally came back Josh kept me in the office next to him to keep an eye on me.” I smile as I imagine the scenario he is setting for me. “Anyway, I started doing more and more for him and then he offered me the position of his personal secretary and then two years later he promoted me to his Communications Manager.” I nod and raise my hands to signify more drinks and the bartender smiles and nods.
“What does a Communications Manager do exactly? I mean how do you earn so much frigging money?” I laugh and cover my mouth for being so intrusive.
He laughs out loud. “I run the company. I handle all of the staff management, the programming timetables, the equipment and of course all of the public speaking.”
I frown. “Of course meaning?”
“Well you know how shy Josh is. Public speaking is his worst enemy.”
I screw up my face. “Is Josh shy?” How do I not know this? He frowns at me.
“Are you kidding? He’s painful. Haven’t you ever seen it?” I shake my head. “Oh shit,” he smiles as he puts his hand over his mouth. “You two have always known each other—he wouldn’t be shy around you.” I pull a face and shrug. This information is weird. In fact there is a lot of things that we don’t know about each other. I would never have said he was shy but then I really haven’t seen him in the company of strangers.
“I can’t imagine big burly Josh being timid.”
“Trust me, he’s not timid. We are here watching him cage–fight remember?” I nod and screw my face up. “He comes across as arrogant but it’s just because he doesn’t really mix with people he doesn’t know.”
I nod as I process the information. “Obviously he has no trouble talking to women.” I scowl.
“Obviously.” He raises his eyebrows and we both sit in uncomfortable silence contemplating that last comment. The screen comes back on and another fight begins, the crowd going wild.
“Remind me what we are doing here?” I laugh to Adrian.
He shakes his head. “I don’t know.” Adrian is suddenly grabbed from behind in a headlock that nearly knocks him off his chair.
“What are you doing here, man?” A very happy Cameron smiles as he messes up Adrian’s hair. “Will you two stop being such boring fuckers?”
I dramatically roll my eyes “Sorry if I don’t like watching people get the shit punched out of them.” Cameron laughs and swoops me off my chair and throws me over his shoulder.
“Cameron, put me down.” I grab Adrian’s arm for stability and he laughs and walks along behind us. “Cameron you’re scaring me. You’re too drunk to carry me.” I punch him in the back. “Cameron, put me down!” He laughs and starts to run down the stairs to our seats. I am in fear for my safety here. Cam is way too drunk to pull this off.
“Do you know how dead you will be if you drop her?” Adrian smiles at Cam. He must take that warning seriously because he laughs again and slides me down, back to the safety of the ground. We get to our row. I am appalled to see Bridget, Abbie and Ben all standing on their seats with giant foam–finger puppets on their hands. Oh dear, I have embarrassing friends. Adrian grabs my hand and pulls a disgusted face at them. I nod as we walk along to our seats. The crowd goes crazy again and everyone jumps from their seats. I look at the stage to see a man get kneed to the head.
“Oh shit.” I cover my eyes. The crowd roars again. I really don’t want Josh to do this. It was bad enough last time and we weren’t even together then. I start to freak out at the violence of the situation. How can my beautiful Josh be so brutal? Why does he like this? I mean if he’s so bloody bored he needs to do this. What in the hell is going through that pea–brain of his. The crowd is really getting animated and I hate to admit it but my two friends are right in the thick of things. Abbie is jumping up and down screaming and Bridget is pointing her foam finger into Cam’s face trying her hardest to annoy him. Ben has his hands in a funnel around his mouth yelling at the stage. This place is barbaric. The fight ends and my heart is in my throat. Oh no, I see him. Joshua is on the side of the ring in a cape. A fake name is called by the announcer and I see his opponent enter the ring, and the crowd all scream. I can hear my pulse in my ears as I am gripped with anxiety. Adrian pulls me next to him as he puts his arm around me. Josh enters the ring and the crowd roar. I can see his trainers talking to him as he jumps around, trying to keep warm. The bell rings and I sit down and put my head in my hands. I don’t know if I can take this. I feel sick to my stomach. Cameron shuffles along the row of chairs until he gets beside me. He gives me a sympathetic smile as he pulls me from Adrian’s grip and puts his arm around me.
“Calm down. It’s ok,” he whispers into my temple. I look up at the ring as Josh connects a massive kick to his opponent’s torso and he doubles over in pain. I scream and put my head back down to try and block out the visual of my boyfriend taking such pleasure in beating someone to a pulp. Cameron suddenly stands and the crowd goes crazy. Shit, what’s happening? Ben starts to yell, “Get up…get up.” I stand and peer at the ring to see Josh on the ground and the other guy laying into him. Oh my god. I go to run down there to stop this craziness and Cam and Ben both grab me to hold me back.
“Stop it,” I yell. “Let me go.”
Cameron shakes his head. “Just give him a minute.” I sit back down and put my head in my hands with my heart–rate thumping in my ears. How can they watch him get hurt like this?
“What if that maniac kills him?” I scream at Ben. “Aren’t you his frigging bodyguard?” He smiles and shakes his head and Adrian is now standing on his seat yelling at the ring.
“Finish him off, finish him off.” Good grief—finish him off. Now I have heard it all. I grab Adrian’s shirt and yank him off the chair so fast he nearly falls over.
“Shut up,” I yell. The crowd screams again and my eyes flick back to the ring. To my horror Josh has a bleeding nose and is going berserk on this guy. He punches him, his head snaps back at the contact and then follows through with another knee. Blood is on both of their faces and I don’t know whose blood is whose. The blond guy seems to be losing it and they start to really let loose on each other and the ref steps in and grabs the blonde guy to stop the fight, obviously because of the blood. Blondie pushes the poor ref and he falls down. The crowd all stand and go wild. He then turns his attention back to Joshua as he kicks him hard in the stomach.
I stand. “Oh my god, get down there,” I scream at Ben and Cameron. This isn’t entertainment anymore. They are actually
fighting for real. Ben and Cameron stand and start to run down the stairs toward the ring. An abundance of people are now down there, trying to break them up. I see Josh’s trainers in the ring. I can’t see or hear a thing because everyone in the arena is going ballistic, jumping up and down. Is this place a sick frigging joke? Abbie now has her hands over her eyes and Bridget is trying her best to calm me down before I start to hyperventilate. Josh runs and tackles the blond guy to the ground and starts to repeatedly punch him in the head. Suddenly there is a crowd rush in the corner of the audience to the left of the ring and everybody screams again. Holy shit, there is a fight in the crowd.
“What in the hell is going on?” Bridget screams. My eyes go back to the ring and I see Josh and the blond guy surrounded by about fifteen men trying to break them away from each other. They manage the task and I look down to see Joshua being held back by two arms, the look on his face murderous as he glares at his opponent. A cold chill runs down my spine—he looks evil. Completely evil. He is covered in blood and is still trying to get free to try and continue killing this other man with his bare hands, who I might add looks more than happy to repay the favour. He spits blood onto the ground. Who is this man? Definitely not the polished rich boy I know. Do I even know him at all? This is the part of his personality that I cannot reconcile. The fight in the crowd continues and I see Ben climb beneath the ropes into the ring. Joshua looks at him and starts yelling. I see Ben nod, he then turns and sprints back up the stairs toward us. Joshua and blond idiot are led out of the ring and backstage, both being held tightly with their arms behind their backs to prevent them from attacking each other again. I sit down and cover my face with my hands.
“Holy shit,” I whisper.
“Fuck. That was intense,” Adrian murmurs.
“You think,” Bridget yells back.
“See why I hate this,” I snap. “Over my dead body is he doing this again.” Adrian, Abbie and Bridget all nod. This is not a sport. This is thuggery at its lowest point. Ben walks along the row of seats and back to us.
“What did Joshua say to you down there?” I ask. He doesn’t answer and looks at Adrian and shrugs his shoulders.
“What did he say?” I repeat. He looks annoyed at my question.
“He went off at me for leaving you alone.” What. This man is unfreaking believable. He’s covered in blood and fighting a suspected psychopath in front of twenty thousand people but is worried about me sitting in the frigging grandstand without protection.
“Now I’ve heard it all,” I snap.
Adrian raises his eyebrows and shakes his head. “Me too.”
An hour and three cocktails later we are waiting outside the exit door of the fighter’s locker rooms. Cameron never came back from the ring so I suspect that he stayed with Joshua. Ben is hanging with us but is not drinking at all, obviously on duty. Adrian and the girls are far beyond tipsy; they are downright drunk. I, however, have sobered up considerably since witnessing Rocky Balboa on the rampage. Adrian has a giggling girl on either side of him and he has his arms around both of them. They are finding everything hilarious as they rock from side to side. Abbie is raving on about looking for the father of her children, still infatuated with that Italian stallion we saw fighting here last time, and Bridget is talking it up how some guy at the bar asked her for a quickie. Adrian is laughing out loud at the shenanigans of my crazy friends. I smile as I realise this would be new for him. I take my friends’ sense of humour for granted. They are funny and you don’t have to be friends with them to have fun around them as they make everyone feel comfortable. The door opens and the blond guy that Josh had the fight with exits with two security guards. Oh shit, my mouth drops open. I know him, he’s the prison warden from my visits in jail—the hot one. He smiles at me and walks past to short and slutty Barbie on my left. Honestly, doesn’t she own a mirror? My eyes follow him as I try to remember his name. What is it? Japer? J something. He looks like he has a broken nose with two oncoming black eyes. He will be a mess tomorrow. His eyes also stay on me and I know he is trying to think where he has seen me before. Shit. I hope he doesn’t remember me—this looks so unprofessional for me to be here. The door opens again and Joshua exits, flanked by two security guards and Cameron. He walks over to me and bends to give me a peck on the cheek. I would really like to punch him in the face for putting me through such stress but I don’t think now is the time or place. He nods at Ben and takes my hand and turns toward the car park. Abbie and Bridget start shuffling on their feet with their hands in fists up to each other, play–fighting. They start to wrestle Adrian into a headlock as he giggles out loud.
“Hey, Natasha,” a voice calls out from behind us. Oh shit, it’s the prison warden guy. We all turn together and he winks at me.
“Think of me tonight when you’re having sex. It will get you over the line quicker.”
Chapter 21
My eyes bulge from their sockets. Oh, tell me he did not just say that. Everybody collectively takes a breath and Cameron and Ben quickly grab me and put me behind them. Josh drops his bag. “You really want to die tonight, fucker, don’t you?” He walks over and punches him straight in the face. They grab each other and slam into the wall behind them, and security starts to run from everywhere to separate the two. Adrian and the girls are all in silent shock, as am I.
Cameron turns to Ben. “Get Natasha to the car.”
Ben nods and grabs my arm. “Let me go.” I yank my arm out of his grip. “Joshua,” I yell. They continue fighting.
”Joshua,” I yell again. He seems to remember I’m here and backs off from the kamikaze who is obviously on a deathwish. He shakes his head. The guy is still being held by security. Joshua turns and takes my hand and starts to storm towards the car. Abbie and Bridget and Adrian are practically running to catch up.
“Oohh! Smell that adrenaline. It’s frigging hot,” Abbie slurs. “Your vagina must be on fire, Natasha.” Abbie giggles. “All these hot guys fighting over you”. Everybody bursts out laughing and Cameron laughs but turns and puts his finger up to his lips to signify silence. I turn around as Joshua drags me forward by the hand like a naughty child. I do wide eyes at the girls, signifying for them to shut the hell up.
Bridget nods. “Yes, from now on you will be called Dr Flaming Vagina.” Everybody burst out laughing again.
Joshua stops and turns. “Enough,” he yells. Even I am having trouble stifling my giggles and the three stooges drop behind us to laugh out loud at their stupid flaming vagina joke. Cameron wisely stays straight–faced and with us.
“How the fuck do you know him, Natasha?” Joshua snaps.
“Um, he’s a prison warden at the jail I visit through work.” He stops still and Cameron and Ben both turn to see what he’s doing.
“You go to the fucking male prison?” I swallow and nod. “You will be handing in your resignation on Monday!” he screams. His order to leave work is like waving a red flag in front of a bull to me, but he is way too mad to even think about fighting with him now. Cameron must sense my agitation and steps in.
“Josh, mate, let’s just get home in one piece, huh.” I am grateful I have Cameron here to calm him down.
Cameron turns to Ben. “You go to the Ivy with them and I will go with Tash and Josh. I will meet you there in about an hour.” Ben nods and then pulls out his phone and texts someone and in a few seconds the two Audis come around the corner. The four others pile into the first car and Josh, Cam and I get into the second. Cam squeezes my hand reassuringly as I get into the car. We sit in silence on the way to my apartment and I come to the realisation that Cam has come with us to make sure Josh isn’t so mad he starts to fight with me. He’s making sure I’m safe or maybe making sure Josh doesn’t go out and continue fighting, either way I’m impressed with his loyalty. We get back to my apartment and Josh bales straight out of the car and storms towards the door. Cam looks at me and smiles as we both slowly climb out of the car.
“I would ask you to com
e out with us but we both know he won’t let you come without him and if he goes out tonight he will definitely get into trouble.” Cam raises his eyebrows and gives me a sympathetic smile.
I blow out a breath and nod. “Is he going to try and fight with me now?”
“I don’t think so. He hates fighting with you.”
“How do you know that?” I’m puzzled to find out how much Joshua tells Cam, how deep their friendship is.
“Because he doesn’t eat or sleep when you’re fighting with him and he follows me around, stressing me out.”
I smile, oh crap. Cameron does know everything. “How much does he tell you Cam?”
He smiles. “Probably more than you would like.” I nod again as we enter the lift. Josh has obviously stormed up without us. I suddenly feel uncertain about the info he has on me and Cameron must be able to sense my apprehension.
“Don’t worry, Tash, you’ve got him by the short and curlies.”
I smile and link my arm through Cam’s and roll my eyes. “Really. Short and curlies. I’m honoured. Here I was thinking that maybe I had him by the heart.”
He laughs. “That too,” he winks as we enter my level and approach my wide–open door. I look at the door and frown at Cameron.
He shakes his head. “It’s just the adrenaline, Tash. He would still be full of it. He will be back to normal in the morning.” I nod. This is ridiculous—I am dealing with a tantrum–throwing two–year–old here. I can hear him in the shower and I flick the jug on.
“White and one,” Cam says as he bites into an apple out of my fruit bowl.
“So—Dr Stanton? Hey,” I tease.
He smiles. “Yep, three months to go.”
“What are your plans when you finish?” I pass him his tea.
“I’m moving to LA as soon as university finishes in November.” My eyes go wide. This is news. He laughs. “Don’t worry I’m not moving in with you and Josh.” My eyes drop to my tea. Shit, if I was a better person I would tell him it’s ok to move in with us but the reality is I want Josh to myself. “I got offered a job six months ago in LA Public Hospital and as Josh has been trying to get me to move over for years, I thought it was now or never.”