Fighting For Life

by Kylie Alyssa Forte

  “Let’s spar,” I deadpanned. I needed to know what I was up against.

  “What? No . . . I’ll just—” he began again.

  However, I cut him off again. “Let’s spar,” I said, looking at him in the eyes.

  “Aubry, if that happens, I’ll just let—” he continued.

  “Aiden!” I said, cutting him off once more. “If you say you’ll let me win, I swear I will punch you in the face.” Aiden raised his eyebrows at me. “I want to win fair and square, not because you just let me win.”

  “Aubry, I can’t fight you . . .” Aiden said to me slowly.

  “And why not exactly?” I asked angrily.

  “Just because I can’t, Aubry!”

  “Why not?” I asked again, walking towards him and getting in his face.

  “Because I can’t!”

  I pushed his left shoulder forcefully. “Why not? Huh? Why?!” I said, pushing his shoulder and making him step back slightly. He was pissing me off.

  “Aubry,” Aiden said, his tone laced with warning as he raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Come on, Aiden!” I said, pushing his shoulder again.

  “What? You don’t think I’m good enough?” I pushed his shoulder once again.

  “You think I’m too little?” I pushed him this time.

  “What is it, Aiden? Huh?” I pushed him again, trying to egg him on.

  “Aubry! Stop dammit!” he yelled at me, grabbing my wrists quickly.

  I tried to pull my hands away from him, but he had too good of a grip on me. I could feel the eyes of the people around us due to Aiden’s elevated voice, but neither one of us cared. We just continued staring each other down.

  “Aiden, I’m not asking for a knockdown drag-out, I’m just asking for a little sparring match to see what I’m up against with you,” I said to him quietly.

  Aiden glared around the gym at everyone who was watching us. Everyone diverted their attention from us.

  “I’m not going to fight you Aubry,” he said quietly.

  “Why . . . not . . . Aiden?” I asked with my teeth gritted together.

  “Aubry, I-I just can’t. I can’t because I-I . . . Because I can’t. Okay? Now stop. If we end up in the championship together, I will make sure that you win. Now drop it,” Aiden said with a finality in his voice.

  I stared at him intently. I wasn’t okay with it, but I also knew that Aiden wasn’t going to budge on it.

  He stared at me harshly as well. His hands were still around my wrists, making us very close to each other. His proximity was making me dizzy, but I didn’t want to be the first to pull away. I didn’t want to be the one to give in.

  “Aubry . . .” Brandon said as he come up and looked between the both of us. He could feel the obvious tension. “There are some people here to see you,” he said, pointing over by the door.

  Aiden and I both looked over where he pointed to see who it was.

  As soon as I saw who it was, the blood in my face drained, and my heart began beating erratically.

  Daniel and Demetri. I was frozen in place and felt like I was going to throw up.

  What the hell were they showing up here where Aiden and everyone else were?

  “Aubry . . . Do you know those guys?” Aiden asked me slowly as he looked at me with worry on his face.

  I swallowed heavily and took a deep breath. I nodded once and walked towards them slowly; Aiden began following me.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said, trying to hint that I was going alone.

  Aiden immediately stopped following me with a frown. “Okay . . .” He was obviously skeptical, not that I blamed him at all. Daniel and Demetri looked sketchy as hell.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to calm down as I made my way over to the two men.

  Daniel smirked at me. “Well, well, well . . . Look at you,” he said as he looked at me up and down. His gaze made me painfully aware that I was dressed in only sweats and a sports bra. I instantly crossed my arms over my chest.

  I led them outside of the gym into the freezing cold and grimaced when the cold touched my bare skin.

  “What do you want? I’ve paid you for this month already.”

  “Aubry, it’s very nice to see you,” Demetri stated while smiling at me. With how nice he could be, it was almost easy to forget that he was a drug lord . . . almost.

  “Demetri,” I greeted and forced out a small smile.

  “Looking more and more beautiful each time I see you, Aubry. You look just like your mother,” Demetri said, brushing my cheek with the back of his hand.

  “Thanks,” I said, forcing myself not to back away from him. “Might I ask what you are here for?”

  “To check up on you. Letting you know that we still know exactly where you are,” Daniel said, coming within inches of my face.

  I held my breath until he finally backed away and stayed silent at his taunts.

  “You and him look close,” he said, making me inhale sharply. “Does he know, Aubry? Does the Clark boy know?” he asked, egging me on.

  “That’s enough, brother,” Demetri said, shutting Daniel up quickly.

  “So that really is Jeremy Clark’s son then?” Demetri addressed me, directly nodding towards Aiden’s general direction.

  I nodded silently, trying to keep a blank look on my face.

  “Interesting . . . ” There was a moment of silence that passed which I’m sure consisted of them judging me. “Anyways, Daniel just came to annoy you. I, however, came to wish you an early happy birthday, so happy birthday, Aubry!” he said, properly coming closer to me.

  I could tell he was trying to intimidate me, so I stood my ground by still looking him in the face and standing tall.

  “Eighteen, what a great age. Let’s just hope that you make it to nineteen.”

  Just as those words left his mouth, a chill went up my spine, making me shiver.

  “So, have an excellent day and a good birthday tomorrow. I sure do hope that it’s not the last.” Demetri paused momentarily and shook his head. “But you and Jeremy Clark’s son huh? Very interesting. Come along, Daniel,” Demetri said and then began walking away, but not without giving me a once-over and rubbing my cheek again.

  “We’ll be watching Aubry,” Daniel said, coming close to me again. This time, he rubbed his hand from the top of my neck to my butt, squeezing it and smirking at me sadistically.

  I gritted my teeth together and sneered at him, having to stop myself from punching him in the face.

  “Daniel, come along,” Demetri stated in a commanding voice.

  Daniel looked at me up and down one more time.

  “Soon,” I heard him mutter to himself as he turned around to leave.

  I watched them walk all the way to their car. When they finally drove off, I let out a deep breath of relief. They were ruining my life, with what little bit I had left at least.

  I finally walked back inside after calming myself down a bit. The comforting warmth wrapped me up as soon as I entered the building. I went and stuck a long sleeve shirt on immediately, still feeling too exposed from the two men’s roaming eyes.

  I entered the training area and scanned the space, trying to find Aiden. My eyebrows furrowed when I couldn’t see him. He was nowhere to be found.

  “He’s in the training room with Sofia,” Tommy said skeptically when he stopped beside me.

  My eyebrows shot up in surprise, and I whirled around in shock.

  Why would he be in there with her? The door was closed, and my stomach immediately had an uneasy feeling.

  “He can be in there with whoever he wants,” I said slowly, more to myself than anything.

  “You’re the one that he’s training. You can go in there if you want to,” Tom said with a shrug.

  “No, its fine. He’s allowed to do whatever with whoever . . .” I gritted my teeth and sighed.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Do you want to spar?” I asked abruptly.

  “You’re s
o on,” Tom answered with a smirk.

  ***

  Aiden

  Aubry’s birthday was the next day, and I was having a lot of problems figuring out what to give her. Everything I thought of wasn’t good enough for her. However, I thought that I finally had a decent idea after the story about her scar that morning.

  I was going to find her sister’s new phone number.

  It was a risky move. I wasn’t sure if she’d truly like it or not, but the conversation that we had about the scar and her sister made me know that she needed to hear from her. She wanted to know that she was alive and okay.

  So, I skipped my classes at school that day and researched on the computer instead. It took a long time before I even came across anything about her. It was like she was a ghost. However, I finally found a Kelsey Hill and Mark Richards marriage record in Orange County California from the year before.

  I did a quick Facebook search for a Kelsey Richards in California. The first person to come up was a girl with dirty-blonde hair. I wouldn’t have even clicked on the picture because the girl didn’t hold that much of a resemblance to Aubry. However, it was the deep green eyes that made me click on the profile.

  I skimmed through the profile pictures, and there was not a question in my mind that it was her sister. Her eyes were the almost same shade as hers and held the same haunted look deep in their depths.

  Granted, Kelsey’s were a tiny bit brighter and lighter than Aubry’s. They also didn’t hold the gold flecks throughout their depths, but the shade was close enough to make me know the similarities, and their noses were the exact same too.

  Luckily, I didn’t have to search too hard for her number because it was listed under her contact info on the profile.

  I was unsure about the whole idea, but something in my gut made me know that it was a good idea. She needed to contact her, to hear her voice, and to know that she was still alive. She still cared so much about her sister, even though the girl just up and left her.

  Aubry cared about everyone so much. Even when they hurt her and screwed her over. She always cared.

  ***

  Aubry wouldn’t be Aubry, without being annoyingly stubborn. However, she was honestly so infuriating sometimes. It was ridiculous and annoying, but it was also just her.

  I just couldn’t believe my almost slip-up. The words that I almost said to her, scared me.

  Were they true? Did I really love the girl?

  It all seemed sudden, but I honestly couldn’t picture my life without her in it anymore. Everything about her was beautiful. I enjoyed her company, and I missed her when she was away. I wasn’t sure what love was. I had never felt that way before, but I had also never felt the way that I felt about Aubry before either.

  Did I love Aubry?

  It was all running through my mind quickly as we stared each other down. We were trying to out stubborn each other. I wasn’t going to back down though. I couldn’t fight her!

  When Brandon came up, we both looked away. I was sure that we weren’t done with the conversation, but the two men waiting by the door cut our argument short.

  The men were both big and tall. One was a little bit older than the other, but the younger one was by far the creepiest. The way his eyes drank in Aubry made my instinctive possessive side flare. He was far too old and weird to be looking at her like that.

  That was why I instantly went to follow her as she went to them. I had no idea who they were, but I also didn’t care. They gave me bad vibes, and Aubry’s darkened face told me that they were no good. I wanted to protect her.

  I couldn’t though. She told me, “no”. How was I supposed to protect her if she wouldn’t let me?

  I couldn’t even explain the anger I felt when she walked outside with them. She was no longer in my sight, and those guys seemed dangerous. It pissed me off. I felt crazy with the way she was making me feel. I was being irrational and too protective, but I couldn’t figure out any other way to be.

  I began hitting the bag again, making it swing heavily with each hit. Each moment she was out there with those men made me hit harder and harder. I was getting angrier and angrier as my eyes were trained on the door that Aubry had yet to come back through.

  I tore my eyes away from the door when I heard a voice from behind me, calling my name. I didn’t want to respond, but I knew that I was letting myself get too wrapped up in my possessive anger. I needed to distract myself before I went out there and did something stupid.

  “Aiden . . .” Sofia whined annoyingly.

  I rolled my eyes as I turned around to look at her.

  “I hurt my back. It hurts really bad.”

  “Where exactly does it hurt?” I asked while glancing at the door.

  “All over,” Sofia answered, making me sigh at the obviously made-up answer. She wasn’t hunched over or anything, and her facial expression wasn’t very convincing either.

  I couldn’t exactly just flat out call her a liar. We were supposed to be nice to our patrons, after all.

  “Okay . . . I suppose I can take a look at it. It’s most likely a strain or something, though. Just follow me.”

  I led her to the training room with one last worried look at the gym door. I just wanted to ditch Sofia and march out the door to demand that Aubry stay away from the creepy men, but I knew that was idiotic and stupid. So instead, I simply just walked to the training room stiffly.

  As soon as I walked through the door, Sofia rushed in behind me and closed the door with a smirk. I glanced sideways at her but said nothing. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and assumed that she closed it to keep her privacy intact. However, I also knew how the girl was. Privacy was not a priority of hers.

  I gestured to the chair. “Go ahead and have a seat. Lift your shirt so I can see your back.” I turned to wash my hands as I spoke without glancing at her.

  I dried my hands and then turned back to her and took a sharp breath in as I stared at the girl. Her shirt was completely shed from her body as she looked at me with a sultry look.

  It would have been fine, except that the bra she had on was certainly not a sports bra as it was lacy and almost see through. I swallowed harshly as I averted my gaze.

  “Like what you see?” Sofia said while smiling seductively at me.

  I swallowed hard and shifted uncomfortably. It wasn’t that I didn’t like what I saw. Sofia was incredibly hot and had a nice body. The issue was, she wasn’t Aubry. Aubry was the only person I found myself wanting. She took over my whole mind and made it hard to see anyone else.

  Even with the half-naked girl before me, Aubry was the only one I was worried about. I couldn’t imagine what she’d say if she walked in at that moment.

  “Sofia . . . I’m sorry, but I’m not interested,” I said as politely as I could muster.

  “Why? Is it because of that charity case that you’ve been working with?” Sofia sneered. “She’s probably out in the parking lot, getting double teamed by those men right now as we speak.”

  “Don’t you dare—” I caught myself before I could lose my temper and took a deep breath. “Look, if you’re not in here for an injury, then you need to leave. I am not interested in you in that way, so if that is why you are here, goodbye. Otherwise, you may lay in the chair, and I’ll take a look at your back for you,” I said in a professional tone of voice.

  She pouted and whined for a moment, but laid face down in the lowered chair. “My back really does actually hurt.”

  I still didn’t really believe her, but I said nothing about it as I approached her. There was nothing visibly wrong with her back, so I began assessing it by gently touching it and pressing.

  “Tell me if it hurts,” I said in a bored tone. I was over the whole situation, and I really wanted to know if Aubry was okay and back inside or not.

  I touched a few more spots around her back and she jumped and squealed when I touched one particular area.

  “Right there!” she squealed loudly.

  I w
as sure that people on the other side of the door heard the squeal. I rolled my eyes at how it probably sounded out of context. Once again, Aubry popped into my head. I just hoped that she was nowhere near the door to question what was going on because I knew that it sounded bad.

  “Yes! Right there, Aiden!” she said, way too loudly again.

  “Okay you are a tiny bit tense in that area. You have a few knots right there that is probably causing a tiny bit of soreness.” I sighed and shook my head. I couldn’t believe that the girl was making such a big deal about being a tiny bit tense. I knew that it barely even hurt.

  “I am going to try to rub it to get the few knots out of the tense muscles. Stay still.”

  I rubbed her back slowly while focusing on the tightened area. Her moans of pain and relief were loud and unnecessary. I glared at the back of her head as she overdramatically continued.

  “Oh Aiden, that feels so good!” she said loudly.

  I gritted my teeth. I didn’t even want to know how sexual she was sounding on the other side of the door. I knew it sounded absolutely ridiculous.

  “Sofia, please lower your voice . . .” I tried, but the girl didn’t listen.

  A few moments later, when the knots in her back were almost gone and I was almost free of the girl and her drama, the door swung open.

  I held my breath as I turned to the door, praying that it was anyone but Aubry. The situation looked so bad, and I didn’t want to have to explain why I had my hands on a half-naked girl to Aubry. I wasn’t sure if she’d truly believe me. With my track record, I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t.

  Of course, it was Aubry, though.

  Aubry was supporting Tom as best as she could with one of his arms around her shoulders as they stood at the door. Both of their faces had bruises and cuts on them as she looked at the scene in front of them.

  Aubry’s expression was hard and annoyed as she looked between Sofia and me. Tom looked at me with an angry face, even though it was bleeding and shook his head in disappointment.

  “Well okay, I guess this room is occupied,” she said sarcastically with anger laced in her voice.

  “It’s not what you think!” I said hastily as I moved away from Sofia as if she burned me.