“I also don’t think you’ll make fun of me.”
I straighten. Who the hell has been giving Malik a hard time? I’ll kick their ass. “Of course not.”
“You see, I really need to talk to a girl about this,” he whispers.
Clearly the girlfriend isn’t the right girl or he wouldn’t be sitting here. Unless it’s about Monique. “What’s going on?”
“Monique is pressuring me.”
“About what?” I can’t imagine what she wants. I don’t think she’s into drugs or shit like that.
Malik leans in. “Sex,” he whispers.
I just blink at him. They’ve been together for like three years, at least. I figured they’d already been doing that on a regular basis. “Isn’t it usually the guy doing the pressuring?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to.” His face gets even darker. “But I promised Mom I wouldn’t.”
“Ever?” I know some moms could be controlling, but that’s a little extreme.
“No.” He laughs. “Just not now. Not in high school and not in college.”
“So you’re a virgin?” He’s like a senior in high school and I just assumed all guys had lost it by then. To hear guys talk in the school, they were getting laid nightly.
“Shhhh.” He looks around, but nobody is paying any attention to us. “She had me when she was fifteen and my dad disappeared not long after that. She told me the quickest way to fuck up my life and my future is to be going around sticking my dick in pussy.”
Wow! “That’s kind of harsh,” I finally say. Is that how she felt about her own son? That he fucked up her life?
“Mom doesn’t regret having me. She regrets the choices and wished she would have been smarter, gone to school and had me at a time when she could give me things, like a dad that isn’t a deadbeat.”
I get that.
“She told me that if I got some girl knocked up that it would be my responsibility no matter how old I was and that I could kiss college goodbye and get a minimum wage job. Then I’d never get out of where we are.”
“Well, the kid would be yours.” I finally say. There are a lot of baby daddies at the high school that play at being a dad, when they have the inclination to spend time with their kids. Malik wouldn’t be that way with this kid. The one thing he wished he had was a dad. “There are ways to prevent pregnancy, you know that right?” Malik isn’t stupid.
“Condoms break,” he says. “The rest is up to the girl.”
“You don’t trust Monique to make sure nothing happens?”
He grimaces. “I’m not sure. She doesn’t have any plans for college and I’m not sure what she’s going to do when she graduates except keep on working at the dry cleaner.”
I lean forward. “Do you think she’d, like, get pregnant on purpose?”
“I don’t think so.” He shrugs.
“If you have any doubts, don’t let your cock get anywhere near her.”
“There are some places it can go,” he smiles. “We’ve been together a long time and have done everything but that.”
“It’s not enough for her?”
“She said if I loved her that I would.”
“Are you sure she isn’t the guy in this? Isn’t that a line a guy would use?”
He chuckles. “Sometimes I wonder.”
“So, what will she do if you don’t?” I ask seriously. If Monique really loved him she’d understand.
“She’ll break up with me.”
And there is the answer I was looking for. “End it.”
“What?” he asks in surprise. “She’s my girl.”
“She’s not respecting you. You have your reasons, which I’m sure you told her. If your relationship can only go forward if you fuck her, then it’s not worth having.”
Malik slouches down in his seat. “Yeah. That’s what I’ve been telling myself. I just needed to hear it said to me.”
“There are plenty of girls out there who are into you who would get it.”
He snorts.
“You don’t believe me?” Then I start listing off the names of the girls I heard comments from just in the last semester at that high school.
“Really?” he asks in surprise.
“Have you been fucking living under a rock?”
“Monique’s kind of convinced me that I’m lucky to have her.”
I snort. “She’s the lucky one, trust me.”
Malik looks at me sheepishly. “Did Dee Dee really say those things? About me being hot and cool and nice?”
“Yes! I don’t make shit up.” That question also tells me that Malik isn’t in love with Monique like he thinks or he wouldn’t be so anxious to know more about Dee Dee. “You know what I think?”
“What?”
“You and Monique are more of a habit than an in love couple.”
He drinks his coffee and sits silently for a moment and then looks up. “You know, you’re right. A habit I need to break.”
At least he is being smarter than I was. When I was fourteen, I was so hungry for love and affection that I believed the guy I was seeing, that by proving my love to him I’d give it up for him. What a tool. We lasted a month until he could find another innocent and gullible girl. Two more guys followed after him. I believed their sweet words, accepted their affection, only to be dumped soon after. It took me a fucking year but I learned that if a guy didn’t want to stick around without also getting a piece of ass then they weren’t worth my time. I haven’t fucked anyone in three years and don’t plan on fucking anyone in the foreseeable future. Like Malik’s mom, I’m not going to risk screwing up my entire future so some asswipe can get off. I may be on the pill, and have been since I first started having sex, but now it’s because I want regular and normal periods. Not to prevent pregnancy.
However, if Tex decided to look at me differently, and not in the kid sister kind of way, I could totally change my mind about celibacy. But that sure as hell isn’t going to happen and no other guy on this planet is worth the effort of getting naked for.
“Where’s Nina?” Miguel asks as he comes from the back. He’s kind of all panicked. “She left when the sun was coming up to go run and hasn’t come back.”
I just assumed that she was up in her room since she’s not on the desk this morning. That was like a couple of hours ago. My heart starts pounding. “I’ll go find her.” And hope to hell nothing happened. Nobody really worries about Horns around here, but she’s still a girl who runs in the park alone and there are some dangerous people out there.
“Is Nina dating Malik?” Barrett asks as he comes in the door and I’m heading out.
My racing pulse starts to slow. “What do you mean?”
“The two of them are back at the diner, drinking coffee, talking all quiet like, leaning across the table at each other. I expected them to start holding hands.”
My heart sinks. Is that what last night was about? She has a thing for Malik but didn’t think he had one for her? They’ve been friends for a long time but I thought he was dating another girl whose name started with an M.
Unless those two broke up and Malik is now interested in Horns.
Is she interested in him?
Damn! “Don’t think so.” I look at Miguel. He’d know more than me. Maybe something happened while I was in Texas.
“She’s not said anything to me, but Nina doesn’t talk about things personal.”
Well, at least we know where she’s at so I don’t have to worry. Or do I. “Do you want me to go check on her?” But do I really want to walk in the diner and see her holding hands with Malik?
“Nah.” Miguel dismisses it with a wave of his hand. “Malik’s a good kid. I kind of hope he likes her. Nina should have a boyfriend. It’s normal.”
It is normal, but I’m not sure how I feel about it.
No, I know exactly how I feel about it. I hate the idea. Not that I have anything against Malik, he is a great kid, but I don’t want anyone else dating Horns.
I’m just surprised he got up the balls to ask her out since he stays in the shadow of his mama’s apron. Now there is one bossy woman, and I only met his girlfriend once and it was clear who was calling the shots in that relationship. I just hope Horns goes easy on the poor kid.
Of course she will, and he ain’t a kid either. He’s a senior in high school, same age as Horns and they’d be going back to school together if she hadn’t graduated early. They have that in common, and this place, and Malik has known her a lot longer than I have.
Damn, even though there is nothing wrong with them together, and it’s probably fitting that they are, I still don’t like it.
9
“Horns has a boyfriend,” someone calls in a singsong voice when I go into the boxing area.
I just roll my eyes and walk past the boxers who are training. Two are in the ring, a couple are jump roping, a few others are working out on the bag and Barrett is doing some curls with the weights. I shoot him a pissed off look and he just laughs at me. He didn’t waste any time running off his mouth once he got here.
Ricky steps in front of me, a cocky grin on his face. Revulsion clogs my throat and I try to go around him. He and his best friend, Tim, give me the creeps. They always have and I wished they’d find another gym or at least leave me alone. I almost clocked him the other day. The jerk was about to touch me and very few people are allowed to touch me. Well, unless I’m playing rugby or soccer but that’s totally different.
“Why you wasting yourself on a kid like Malik when you can have me?” he asks with a lecherous gleam in his blue eyes. I cringe. He’s just like the kid who couldn’t wait for me to get my period. Both waiting for me to be old enough to fuck and not get in trouble for it. To hear him and Tim talk around the gym, they are God’s gift to women, or women are just a gift to them. They can’t comprehend that a woman, and I’m at the top of that list, doesn’t want them.
I push past Ricky to go get the dirty towels so I can throw them in the laundry.
“Miguel warned us away from you before, but you’re not a kid anymore.” He steps back, looks me up and down then licks his lips.
All I want to do is hit the shower after that. Gross!
“We’d be great together, Horns. Why hang with a high school boy when you can have me?”
“Leave me alone, Ricky. I’m not interested.”
“But I could show you things you’ve never even dreamed about,” he says as he follows me to the big cloth laundry bags sitting outside of the guys’ locker room.
I reach in, grab the towels, and don’t comment.
“You know, babe, a totally different sport we haven’t experienced together.”
“I’ve already got my favorite sports, don’t need to add another to the list.” I brush by him to head out and he comes after me, grabbing my elbow.
Did he really just touch me? I glance around and the other guys stop what they are doing. They are watching me, waiting to see if I need them to interfere.
It’s nice to know they have my back, but I can handle this asshole. “I think you should let go.” My voice is cold and steady. Ricky wouldn’t be doing this if Miguel was around, but Miguel’s at morning Mass, like he is every day at this time.
“Don’t limit yourself, Horns. We could have a good time.” His hand drops away. “I’ve been dreaming about that fine ass of yours and the games we could play,” he says only loud enough for me to hear.
“Games? I could do games.” I walk away from him, then call back, “You know how much I like kicking balls. Yours are a little small for me, but I’m sure I wouldn’t miss.”
A few of the guys laugh.
“Better back off, Ricky,” Nate’s voice is hard with warning, as he puts down a dumbbell.
“Don’t you know better than to mess with Horns?” Barrett stands.
“She’ll eat you up and spit you out,” George says. “And not the eating you were hoping for.”
Ricky’s face is getting redder now that all of the focus is on him.
“Ignore him,” Tim says as he pushes Ricky out of the way. “He’s a dick, but you and me, well, you know.”
I prop a ball of towels on my hip and stare at him. “No, I don’t know.”
“Babe, come on.” He reaches out like he’s going to touch my face.
I take a step back. “If it involves you touching me, I’m so not interested.”
Both guys are players and I have no interest in being played. “And, don’t call me babe. Either of you.” I turn and head out.
“You wouldn’t be so uptight if you and I did a little horizontal dancing.”
“Guys,” Jake warns from the ring where he’s sparring with Ben. “Leave her alone.”
We have the attention of every guy in the gym now, and they’ve stopped working and are slowly walking in our direction. I so do not want a fight in the gym because of these two assholes.
Of course they piss me off and I wonder where the hell they get off treating me like this. Like I’m just a piece of ass. They would have never said anything like this before, but now that I’m an adult, I’m a target to be hit on. Not that other guys who come here would do that, just these two and they’ve been at it since the first of the year.
I haven’t said anything to Miguel because they really can’t hurt me, but they’ve never had the balls to say something to me in front of anyone else either. It was always when it was just me around and I shut them down instantly. This time, every single boxer in this room heard them and if I don’t handle this right, they may think they can get away with the same shit, or worse, feel like they need to protect me.
“Come on, let’s have a little fun,” Tim says.
I glance back in the general area of Tim’s cock. “Well, I’ve heard it is pretty little.”
“Look at these hands. Nice long fingers.” He winks at me. “You know what they say.”
“Good for pulling one off because nobody else will do it?”
A couple of guys in the back snigger.
Ricky pushes Tim out of the way. “Why take second rate when you could have me?”
I snort. “If you guys are so needy for attention, why don’t you do each other and leave me out of this.”
“Come on, Horns, don’t waste yourself with a high school boy when you’ve got a man right here,” Tim says.
“Really?” I look around. “A Man? Point him out to me.”
He puts his hand over his heart. “That hurt.”
“Want me and the guys to escort them out?” Bull asks. He’s one of our heavyweights--huge and could grind Tim and Ricky up with his thumb.
I want to say yes, but if I don’t take care of this myself, others might think I need protecting. I never needed a guy to protect me before and I don’t need it now. Most of the guys in the gym get that, which is why they are watching with caution. Maybe waiting to see what I do or deciding when they should finally step in.
But, I am so fucking tired of Ricky and Tim, I want to deal with them myself. “I’ve got this,” I tell Bull and then look at Tim and Ricky. “That isn’t going to be the only thing hurting if you don’t leave me the fuck alone.”
Barrett sets the dumbbell aside. The guys working the bag start moving toward us.
“We’re just having a little fun,” Ricky walks toward me.
Really? Is he so fucking clueless? “Leave me alone, Ricky.” I look past him. “You too, Tim. This is harassment and I’m fucking tired of it. Stop the shit and stay away from me.”
“You don’t mean it, Horns,” Ricky says.
Has he been hit so many times in the ring that he doesn’t have a brain left, or maybe it really is in his tiny dick?
“Cut it out, guys,” Ben says from inside the ring where he’s sparring with another boxer.
“Ain’t that something, the homo is defending a girl.”
That pisses me off more and I look over at Ben.
He just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. If it’s not wor
th it to him, then it isn’t to me.
“Can’t understand why you were with that guy at the diner anyway,” Tim says. “Isn’t he a little dark for you?”
That’s it. First me, then comments about Ben’s sexual orientation, and now a racist comment about Malik. I’m done and my blood pressure hits the roof. “Who the hell do you think you are?” Dropping the towels I lunge for Ricky because he’s the closest. I don’t care if he’s a boxer, I can take his sorry ass and bring him down a few notches.
An arm wraps around my waist and lifts me from the ground. It’s a vise grip and I look down, noting the tat on his right forearm and wrist which is frayed skin over a fractured ulna, radius and scaphoid. When people ask him why he doesn’t play football anymore, he just holds up his arm.
“Hey, Ian.”
“I can’t let you go hurting our boxers, Horns.”
“Some boxers need to be hurt,” I grind out.
“Well, those two are out.” He hasn’t let go of me and is carrying me around like I’m no more than a blanket he’s thrown over his arm. “You two, Ricky and Tim, get your stuff and get the hell out.”
They smirk. “You can’t kick us out.”
“Pretty sure I can. If not me, then it will be Miguel as soon as he hears all the shit you’ve been saying.”
“Or, they can get in the ring with me.” Ben grins. “I’ll keep my swishing to a minimum boys.” He winks at them. Ben is one of the best middleweight boxers we have at the club. Nobody cares that he’s gay except those two asswipes who think women are for fucking, gays should go back in the closet or be reprogrammed, and blacks should be servants. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a swastika mixed in with their other tattoos.
“I’ll take them on,” Bull says as he pushes off the bag he was holding for Jake. Besides being huge, Bull is also black and probably didn’t appreciate the comment about Malik.
Ricky and Tim share a worried look. “We’ll go, for now,” Tim finally says.
I snort. Chickenshits. They both know that they’d be in a world of hurt within five minutes of being in the ring with Ben and they wouldn’t last a minute with Bull.
Ian turns and carries me out of the boxing area and deposits me by the front desk.
All Horns and Rattles: The Baxter Boys #5 (The Baxter Boys ~ Rattled) Page 7