His smile widened. “Good . . . but Aubry, you do realize that you only have five months left, right? A thousand a month won’t get you anywhere but six feet under.” He smiled wickedly while picking up the envelope. “You are dismissed.”
I nodded and turned to leave quickly. Happy that it was that quick. Demetri always was a decent guy, not messing with me unnecessarily.
“Oh, and Aubry? The next time you decide to hit my brother, he has full permission to cut our deal short.”
I glanced up at Daniel and the way he was smiling made a chill go down my spine.
“However, he knows not to provoke you,” he added.
I was just wondering what their definition of “provoking” was because I felt pretty damn provoked when I simply saw his stupid face. Without saying another word and avoiding Daniel, I got out of there as fast as I could. I practically had to run out of the building before I had a panic attack.
Was it really already December? Mid-December at that? The days were going by too fast, especially since mine were numbered.
The cold rain was a welcomed relief on my skin, even though it chilled me to the bone. It still brought me back down to earth.
However, bringing me back down to earth meant bringing me back down to reality. I needed to fight. I needed more money in order to live.
***
I got back to the gym, though I was a little late. It was five past one-thirty in the afternoon. I was only five minutes late but Aiden had been in a mood for the whole two weeks after my fight, so I was sure that I would be hearing about it. We were just supposed to have taken a break for lunch, but I had to make that drop to Demetri, and our lunch breaks on Saturdays seemed to be the only time that I had to do it.
I slid in through the doors silently and hoped no one would notice me.
“Oh, hi Aubry!” Sofia, the annoying girl who hated me because I was being trained by Aiden, exclaimed extremely loudly. Practically everyone in the gym turned to look at me and knew that I was late. I groaned aloud.
I put my head down instead of even dignifying the girl with a response. I then walked past everyone towards Aiden. I knew he was going to be mad, punctuality was one of his big things. I just hoped that his mood wasn’t quite as bad as it had been that morning. I was hoping that he was just hangry or something. If that was the case, join the club dude!
He was sweaty and hitting a punching bag when I got to him. He looked mad. I was only five minutes late, so I didn’t quite understand what his big issue was. He glanced at me briefly and then continued to punch the bag, albeit rougher. He looked beyond mad.
Of course, he was always mad, so what was the big difference?
After a few minutes, I got annoyed at his dismissal of me. I shed my outer layers of clothes and began hitting the other side of the bag, making it swing back to him. That was what we did for a little bit; tried to see who could make the bag swing harder to the other person. It was actually kind of funny, if you thought about it. I was sure we both looked stupid; however, we were both stubborn as hell and neither of us wanted to give in to the other.
Finally, after a while, Aiden stopped to get a drink of water. I continued assaulting the bag though. I needed to let my frustrations out. My frustrations with Daniel, with Aiden, and especially myself. I had a lot of pent-up aggression to get out, and the bag seemed like the best option rather than someone’s face.
“You need to put your thumb in the correct place, otherwise, that’s how it’s going to break. You already know that, I shouldn’t have to tell you,” Aiden said extremely roughly.
I made the correction and threw another punch. He was pissing me off that day, even more than usual. The guy knew exactly how to press my buttons, and his mean attitude over the last couple of weeks had been driving me crazy. I had done nothing bad to him, yet he was treating me like crap.
I turned a heated look to him and glared.
“What?” he asked with a harsh glare.
I glared back just as harshly.
“Was that all you got?” he asked, egging me on. “Your punches were weak, and barely even swinging the bag. I bet Cece could even do better.”
I punched the bag harder at his words, but that wasn’t satisfying me. He was being a giant jerk for absolutely no reason.
“Aw, did that hurt the little girl’s feelings?” he mocked me, making me hit even harder. He let out a humorless laugh at the violent shaking that the punching bag had taken on. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Frankly, I’m surprised that you can even beat half the people that you have. I’d say that it’s just beginner’s luck. You—”
All of my resolve snapped at that point. He was goading me on and pissing me off. I was done.
With no words, I turned around and punched him right in the jaw. He stumbled backwards with wide eyes, though I made sure that it wasn’t full force because I didn’t seriously want to hurt him. I did want him to shut up and knock some sense into him.
The whole gym stopped what they were doing and stared at us in silence. We both stayed silent as Aiden stared at me in complete shock.
No one said a word until finally, Brandon started laughing. He was laughing so hard that he was wheezing. In turn, that made Tommy start laughing hysterically too.
“God damn, it’s about time that someone did that!” Brandon said when he came up to us and put his arm around me.
“For real bro, love you, but you deserved that. You’ve been a dick to everyone for the past two weeks,” Tom added. He then looked at me and bowed. “All hail queen Aubry!”
Finally, the look of shock was wiped off Aiden’s face. I couldn’t read the look that replaced it, but it did scare me slightly. He took a step forward towards me, and I quickly took a few steps back. I was still surprised at myself for doing that. I was even more surprised that I was still standing and not knocked out by him.
Aiden’s face softened, and he broke out into a small smile. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered.
I relaxed at his words and let him step forward to me. He grabbed my hand and examined it. It had never been taped up after lunch, and I was hitting the bag bare-handed, so it was cut up and bruised. I finally realized that his jaw had blood over the forming bruise that was there.
“I’m sorry . . .” I finally whispered.
He shook his head. “I was trying to piss you off,” he spoke softly as he led me into the training room.
Both of the other guys were following us too. I think they were a little afraid that Aiden was going crazy.
“What?”
“Yeah . . . You know you hit harder when mad.” He shrugged. “I did that on purpose. I just never imagined that you’d turn around and hit me in the face because of it . . .”
“I-I . . . I am so sorry!” I exclaimed, feeling even worse about the situation. I ripped my hand out of his grasp and grabbed his face, making him show me the bloody bruise up close.
“Aiden . . .” I sighed.
I honestly felt so bad for hitting him. He was only trying to train me, and I let my anger take control. That wasn’t me. I never do things like that.
I silently wiped my own blood off of his face and winced at the dark bruise that was already there. I almost whimpered at the sight. I couldn’t believe that I had done that to him.
“Sorry, I am so sorry.”
He grabbed my hand from his face and looked at me with soft eyes. He pushed me back gently into the chair and started cleaning my bloody hand.
“Don’t worry about it. Like Tommy said, I’ve been a dick. I’ve been especially bad to you. So really, it was justified.” He shrugged and then laughed to himself. “Hey, this is a whole lot better than the last time you punched me in the face . . . you remember? You didn’t even leave a mark last time. You definitely did this time!”
I giggled as I remembered that day. “True . . . see? And you thought that you couldn’t train me.”
“Wait—” someone interrupted us.
“You’re
not mad at her?”
“You’ve hit him in the face before?”
“Honestly, I’m proud of her. I know it sounds weird, but I don’t know. It’s just kind of funny to me,” Aiden said with a shrug and left the other for me to answer.
“He kissed me, and it hurt,” I gave my brilliant answer.
Aiden snorted at me and Brandon looked even more confused.
“The first day we met . . . when I went up to him at lunch, remember?” I continued when B nodded. “He thought that I wanted to hook up and kissed me before we discussed anything. Well, y’all remember how messed up I was. Let’s just say that it didn’t feel good.”
“So, you punched him in the face?” Tommy asked incredulously.
I shrugged.
All three of the guys started laughing at that.
“You are the best!” Brandon said with an amused smile.
After a few more minutes, both B and Tom walked out of the room, leaving Aiden and I in there alone.
“Aiden, I . . .”
“If you say you’re sorry one more time . . .” He rolled his eyes at me.
I bit my tongue and swallowed my apology.
“Okay . . . I think we’re done for today,” Aiden said when he put the last band-aid on my hand.
“Alright then. I’ll see you tonight,” I said as I began to stalk off.
“Aubry wait . . .” he said, making me pause. I turned to him expectantly and prompted him to talk.
“I um . . . I wanted to invite you to my grandpa’s birthday party, it’s today. My family has been asking about you and wanting you to come back over, especially Pawpaw. He was happy that he finally found a worthy opponent to play . . .” Aiden said awkwardly.
I was taken aback; I was confused because we weren’t supposed to be friends anymore.
“I don’t know. I thought we weren’t friends anymore, so why would you want me to come?” I asked skeptically.
“My grandpa seems to really like you, and I just want to make him happy on his birthday. Come on Aubry, my mom is making all of my grandpa’s favorite food and cake! Just come, and if you don’t like it, then you can leave.”
“Is Brandon and Tommy going to be there?” I asked. I didn’t want to be the odd one out at not knowing anyone.
“Tommy, yes. Brandon, no. He had to do something with his family.”
I sighed, I mean who turns down free food, right? Especially in my case.
Finally I spoke, “Okay, just let me shower.”
He nodded with a smile and I returned it. I was so excited for all that food!
Chapter Nineteen
Every Scar Has a Story
We pulled up to the house, and I was fidgeting like crazy. I had already been to his house and met his family, but I was still so nervous. I mean, he said they liked me so I shouldn’t be anxious anymore, right?
Obviously, my mind didn’t think like that.
We stepped out of the truck, and I took a deep breath. I couldn’t explain why I was so scared, but there were so many scenarios that were playing out in my mind. None of them were good.
Aiden gently put his hand on my lower back, abruptly making my mind hush and guided me into the house. He opened the door for us and the aroma that I smelled was quite possibly the best scent ever. It was amazing.
“Oh my goodness, what is that smell?” I asked, walking towards the scent unconsciously.
He smiled a big smile. “That would be the double chocolate death cake.”
My mouth watered just at the words. I couldn’t remember the last time I had anything chocolate. I just hoped that it tasted as good as it smelled.
Aiden led us into the kitchen, and I saw what looked like enough food to feed a hundred people. There were all sorts of food, even more than most people’s Thanksgiving times two. It was definitely the most food I had ever seen in my life.
Finally, my eyes pried away from the food and over to Dana, Aiden’s mom. She had on a black dress with heels and her hair was in a nice updo as she was putting the finishing touches on all the food.
I suddenly became conscious of my attire. I had on my only pair of jeans and a black long sleeve shirt. I didn’t know we were supposed to dress up. I wouldn’t have come if that were the case.
“Aiden! Finally, I thought you—” She turned around, and her eyes landed on me. “A-Aubry! I didn’t know that you were coming,” she said, looking at Aiden very pointedly.
“Um . . . I can . . . um, go. I didn’t know this was going to be a formal thing. I mean, obviously I’m not dressed correctly,” I said, shrugging and pointing down to my clothes.
“Aiden just told me that it was going to be a family gathering, not some formal party thing. I just came because I heard you were cooking, and Aiden said that it would make Robert happy, so it’s not that big of a deal if I’m not here.”
Dana’s face visibly softened at me. “No! Aubry, don’t get me wrong or think I’m being rude. I want you to be here! It was just a surprise to see you. It will certainly make Dad happy. He’s been asking when you were coming back ever since you left.” She sighed and shook her head. “It’s just that my family . . . My family is a little critical . . .”
“She means bitchy, especially Tommy’s step-mom and step-sister,” Aiden clarified, earning a hard look from his mom. “What? It’s true!”
“Anyways, if you think you can handle my family, then I would love for you to stay. Pawpaw would love to play you in chess again after dinner,” she said, patting my arm.
It was weird being touched for comfort, not for someone to use me or to hit me. It was weird, but nice.
I smiled, thinking about the food that smelled so amazing. “Yes, I would like to stay.”
She smiled at me and nodded. “Okay . . . but how about we find you something else to wear,” she told me sweetly. “Briana!” she yelled.
I instantly got nervous again. I mean, I don’t dress up . . . ever. I’ve never even owned nice clothes.
Briana came into the kitchen and looked at me blankly; not a single emotion seemed to cross her face. She was wearing a dark green long dress with a dark jacket over it while her hair was in pretty curls.
“Aubry is going to stay for the party. Can you please try to find something that’s at the back of your closet in the things that no longer fit you for her to wear?” Dana requested in a firm tone.
Briana scoffed. “Shouldn’t I look in Cece’s closet instead? She’s so small and none of my stuff will fit her.”
Well, to be fair, it was kind of true. Briana was tall and had a nice and healthy voluptuous body. I, on the other hand, was tiny and pretty scrawny. I wasn’t quite small enough to fit into Cece’s clothes, but it was a fair insult.
“Briana, stop. Just be nice,” Dana said abruptly.
“I’m going to get dressed. Bri will help you. I’ll see you in a bit,” Aiden said as Briana led me to her room.
We walked into her room which was painted a mint color. The room wasn’t too big, and it was homey with two beds.
As soon as I walked in with Bri, Cece jumped up to greet me.
“Aubry!” she squealed. “I knew you’d come back! You aren’t rude like the other lady that Aiden brought to spaghetti night!” She hugged me around my hips with a big smile.
“Alright Ce, that’s enough. Why don’t you go help mom while I help Aubry get ready?” Briana said in a bland emotionless voice.
The lack of emotion from the girl was a little alarming. She was just blank, like she didn’t feel anything at all. It was like she was numb.
“I’ll see you in a little bit, okay Cece?” I said, trying to help Briana with what she wanted.
“Okay!” The little girl bounced out of the door with a bright smile.
“Look, I don’t know why Aiden keeps bringing you here, but don’t get your hopes up. Aiden doesn’t care about anyone but himself. Hell, he even hates me, his own sister, so don’t expect much from the dick,” she said suddenly while opening the closest
.
“We’re just friends, actually not even that . . . so, I don’t expect much,” I said, shrugging and sat down on her bed as she went through her clothes.
She pulled out a few clothes and rolled her eyes. “I really don’t have anything that will fit you very well, but we can try.”
She laid several articles of clothing on the bed and scanned them all with a face of distaste. She finally picked up a dress with spaghetti straps and shrugged.
“Honestly, this will be the best for you. We’ll just put a belt on the waist to cinch it in and make it look not so big. Go try it on,” she told me.
My eyes went wide when I took in the spaghetti straps. I mean, at the gym it was one thing. No one really ever looked at my clothes or scarred body, but with a room full of new judgy people, they were definitely going to notice and definitely going to stare.
I stared widely at the dress as I thought of all the painful memories that were marked across my body. It was frightening to think about everyone seeing all of my secrets.
“Aubry . . . just try it on.” She shoved the dress at me. I began to speak, but she cut me off. “Just go try on the damn dress! I don’t have much else for you!” she yelled and pushed me towards the closet, though it wasn’t rough; just abrupt.
Defeatedly, I sighed and walked into the closet. I took off my clothes and shoved the dress on. I had to admit, the dress was nice and comfortable. It even went down to my knees, so I didn’t have to worry about modesty or my scarred-up thighs. It was too big, but I wasn’t completely drowning in it.
I sighed and walked out reluctantly.
I heard Briana gasp; I was sure that it was about my scars. I looked up and she blinked. Instead of saying anything, she just simply put the belt around me. It completed the look nicely, and she smiled at me with a nod.
“Okay, now for your hair.”
I sat down in front of her mirror and let her do her thing with no complaints. I really didn’t care what she did to my hair. It didn’t really bother me. She simply just took it out of the wet messy bun that I had thrown it in before we left the gym, and smoothed out with a wet brush. She then left it down and let it stay in its natural wave.
Fighting For Life Page 17