Steamroller continued to pry at his arms, but his strength was waning and finally the man started to slap repeatedly against his own shoulders.
The ref was on top of the men immediately, pulling on Joel until he let go. Steamroller rolled off onto his stomach, breathing heavily, but Joel just lay on the mat without moving. Amber leapt to her feet and ran to the ring, moving through the blur of tear filled eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Joel
He wasn't sure what had happened exactly, but it seemed to Joel as if he had woken up suddenly amidst a group of people all looking down on him with concern. He was confused at first, especially with all of the shouting and cheering going on in the background, but when his eyes finally focused he saw Amber staring down at him. As soon as she saw him open his eyes, her face split into a huge smile even as tears were rolling down her face. Joel tried to smile back, but his head felt like it had been split in two and it hurt to even move.
He closed his eyes against the pain, and was surprised again when he opened them to see different surroundings. He was lying on a gurney now, and black curtains surrounded him. Amber still stood by him, but it was quieter. There were still cheers and yelling, but they seemed more muffled and less frantic.
"What happened," he asked. His head was still aching, but it wasn't as intense as it had been.
"Thank god you're awake," she said. Tears were still filling her green eyes, but she was smiling again. He felt her hand gripping his and he squeezed it.
"The club doctor had a look at you," she continued. "He thinks you definitely have a minor concussion now, if you didn't have one before."
"I mean with the fight," he asked.
Amber rolled her eyes. "Of course. You won, you idiot."
"Really?" Joel laughed but then stopped as his head began to feel like it was going to split open from the back.
"So... the final match... I don't suppose they want to postpone it?" The look on Amber's face told him that wasn't in the cards.
She shook her head sadly. "The doctor declared you unfit to fight on, so they already declared Carlos the winner by default. I'm so sorry Joel. I know how disappointing this is."
He closed his eyes. It was the right decision of course. There was no chance he could fight on, and in the real world they didn't put fights on hold for injuries. It was just part of the job. But it burned him just the same. He felt stupid for getting his hopes up at all. A guy like him didn't get any breaks in life.
"Sure," he just said. "It's fine." The decision made sense, but he may have felt less bad about it if the winner had been anyone but Carlos. I really wanted to get in the ring with that fuck.
He was quiet for a little while, just holding Amber's hand and dealing with his anger and disappointment silently, like he always did. Suddenly he decided he didn't want to do that anymore. "Actually, it's not fine," he finally said, letting out a long shaky breath. "It fucking sucks." Amber was still looking down at him, and her hand tightened against his in response.
"I know," she said. Her other hand touched his forehead as she lay her palm against it. The calmness he had felt from her touch earlier returned.
"Do you think maybe... I mean, it's okay if it's not cool, but do you think I could spend the night at your place tonight? I don't really want to be alone."
The smile got even wider on her face and she ran her hand through his hair softly. "Of course," she said. "I'm so happy you want to."
"Are we free to go, then?"
"Well, I actually have to go and tell the doctor you woke up again. If you didn't, we were going to have to go to the hospital. But first, there's someone who wants to talk to you."
He raised his eyebrow at her, but she just smiled mysteriously and gave his hand another squeeze. Who the hell even knew he was here?
Amber pulled her hand away and exited the curtain. Within moments, a man walked through and up to Joel. He looked vaguely familiar, but he wasn't sure from where.
"Hi Joel," the man said. "You're one hell of a fighter," he said.
Joel shrugged. "I didn't win."
"You didn't really lose, either," the man replied. "And given the injury you started with, that's worth even more in my books."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Sorry," the man said. "My name is Shawn Rock. I run the Rock House training camp. I had the benefit of sitting next to you and your girlfriend during the tournament this evening."
That's why he looked familiar, he was the one that Amber had been talking to all night. And the name was familiar as well.
"I have to say, I was impressed by your breakdown of the other fighters from simply watching them fight, and even more impressed by how you handled yourself in the ring - especially given that you have no formal training or experience."
He would need to talk to Amber about how much she spoke about him to strangers. Where was this going, anyway?
"Thanks," he said, warily, waiting for the catch or qualifier to what he was saying.
"I recognize that you are already a member of Golden Dragon Dojo as that was a requirement of participating tonight, but I was wondering if you'd be interesting in coming to train with us instead?"
"Seriously?" Joel said, raising his eyebrows in surprise and trying to ignore that just that simple movement hurt his head even more.
"Absolutely," Shawn said. "We can't offer you $1000 in prize money, like you would have won in this tournament, but we'll happily waive all fees for joining our club and training camp. And we have an excellent doctor on staff who will take care of that head of yours."
Joel couldn't believe what he was hearing. His head was spinning, and he was pretty sure it wasn't all due to the concussion. His eyes drifted over to the curtains and he saw Amber standing by them, grinning brightly at him.
"Anyway, if you want to think about it some, that's fine. I can leave you my card-"
"Yes," Joel said. "I mean, I'll take your card as well but yes, I would definitely love to come and train with you guys."
"Excellent," Shawn said. He pulled a card from his wallet and Amber stepped forward. "Maybe I should hang on to that for now," she said.
"Please give me a call tomorrow and we'll set everything up." Shawn shook both of their hands and left the two of them alone again.
Amber walked forward towards Joel as he reached his hand out towards her. She gripped him firmly as soon as she was within reach and they both smiled at each other, no more words were necessary. He was happier than he could ever remember being, and it felt like there was a chance that maybe his life wasn't a complete waste of time after all.
He suspected this was yet another thing he would need to add to the list to thank Amber for. His level of debt to her was growing, and it seemed like it was going to take him a long time to make it up to her. Time that he'd have to spend in her company if he was ever going to even things out. But for some reason, that particular notion made him even happier. This was one debt he was actually looking forward to servicing.
Amber squeezed his hand one more time and looked down on him with her wide and beautiful smile. Her green eyes seemed to continue to sparkle even though the light in the back was dim, being absorbed by the thick black curtains surrounding them. "The doctor will be here in a minute. Once he's done, we can get out of here and head home."
Home. Joel knew that she just meant her home, not their home, but it still had a nice ring to it. He hadn't called a place home in years. "I'd like that," he replied, managing another smile of his own. He actually had a lot to smile about today, despite his injuries.
Amber bent forward until their noses touched lightly. Her breath filled his nostrils with sweetness until her lips met his gently. Their kiss was light and soft, and when she pulled away it left him wanting more.
"I'd like it very much," he said again. An unfamiliar feeling filled his chest as he looked up at this girl who had pushed her way into his life. Hope. For the first time in as long as he could remember, Joel had a fee
ling that the days ahead of him might actually be better than the days he'd left behind. Especially if Amber was a part of them.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Joel
"If I had only just fucking jerked off into a tissue one more time you'd have been flushed down the toilet." Joel's dad growled, making an obscene gesture with his hands to illustrate his point. His face seemed to grow larger as he raised his fist over his head. He brought it crashing down as Joel reached up to block, closing his eyes, but he didn't feel anything.
"You think you've made a difference in this life, boy? You haven't and you never will. I wish we'd never even had you." He looked past his arms and his father was still there, his face still menacing, towering over him. He was unbelievably tall. There was no way Joel could defend against him now. He was too big. "You think you're big enough to stop me now, you little shit? I'll always be stronger than you."
"Never fucking listen to me, a day in your life. Like your bitch of a mother." His mouth grew larger, his voice roaring in Joel's ears, impossible to ignore. "You'll listen to me now though, won't you?"
"Mommy!" Joel screamed, covering his head and cowering down in the corner.
His mother appeared, her face an unreadable mask. She looked down at him and said nothing. Surely she would be on his side? He'd spent his life trying to protect her. She was his mother. She'll say something to stop him.
"Get the fuck out!" his father screamed. "We've both been waiting for this day. Get the fuck out!"
The door behind Joel flew open, wind and rain blowing against his back. And it was cold. Unbearably cold. "Mom?"
His mother looked up at him with eyes that matched the chill he felt from the darkness behind him.
"Get out." she said, staring through him blankly. She was looking into his eyes, but he could see no feelings behind them.
"But mom..." he cried now, his breathing coming in gasps. "Where will I go? Who will stop dad from hitting you?"
"I didn't ask for you to protect me!" she screamed at him. "Just go!"
Joel reached forward to try to grab his mother, hug her, beg her to reconsider - but the wind was pulling him now, like a vacuum sucking him out the door. His fingers sought to grab the door frame but they were wet with rain and he couldn't grab on. His feet lifted from the ground and he was sucked out into the darkness, his house disappearing instantly and nothing around him but the night. He screamed.
"Joel, oh my god, what's wrong?"
Joel was sitting up in bed, his mouth open and sweat covering his body. Amber had pushed up next to him and put her arms around his broad shoulders. The images were just a dream, but the scream had been real.
"Nothing," he muttered. "Just a nightmare." If only that was all it was.
"What about? I woke up and it sound like you were crying, and then you screamed."
"I don't remember," he lied. He'd had that dream before, or a similar one. Memories plucked out of his head and strung together to terrorize him in the night. It usually came when he was stressed or something new was happening, a change to his routine.
"Okay," she said. Amber's fingers squeezed the muscles between his shoulder and neck to relax him. "Do you think you can go back to sleep? Big day tomorrow."
"Yeah," he said, laying back down on the bed. Amber's arm still lay under his neck and she curled up to him, draping her other arm across his chest. She nuzzled her face into his neck and gave him a little kiss. Within a few minutes she was asleep again.
Joel stared at the ceiling in the darkness. It had been almost two weeks since he had even thought about his parents and his past. Things had begun to look up for him, and he was able to ignore the demons of his past while he settled in to this new relationship with Amber. But the dream was a reminder that no matter how good things got for him, his past would always be lurking in the shadows.
It was a while before unconsciousness took him again, but it continued to be devoid of peace or restfulness. The heat of the apartment didn't make matters any better, and he finally gave up trying to sleep completely when the light of dawn began to stream along the edges of their blinds.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Amber
When Amber opened her sleep-filled eyes the next morning, a thrill of fear stabbed her as she realized the other side of the bed was empty. Her chest felt tight as she reached across the mattress, in an effort to validate what her other senses were telling her. She relaxed slightly as she grazed along the indentation that had been Joel - it was still warm, so he couldn't have left very long ago.
When a sudden banging of pipes against her bedroom started, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He must have just gotten up to shower. Ever since that first night when she had woken alone the next morning only to find a goodbye note calling their time together "nice", she was waiting for him to disappear again. True, it had been a couple of weeks since then, with no repeat of his vanishing act, but Joel was a hard man to read. Amber wondered, sometimes, what thoughts were behind those deep blues of his. What pain was he hiding from his past that made him so wary of any display of altruism or friendliness?
The red LED on her nightstand told her it was just past six in the morning, although the sunlight streaming in from behind her blinds seemed bright enough for noon. Joel was up early. He didn't have to be at Rock House for almost three hours. She thought he'd want to sleep in a bit more this morning to keep his energy up for his first day of training.
She slipped out from under the thin sheet that they had slept under, the weak air conditioning in her unit not strong enough to keep the warmth and humidity out of the air. A shower was a good idea. Summer mornings in this shit hole apartment always left her feeling sweaty and gross. She couldn't wait until she could afford a better place. Until we can afford a better place, she amended. She had been meaning to float the idea of Joel moving in with her. He had been staying over every night since the tournament anyway. But she knew he would balk at the idea, if only because he wouldn't be able to pay his own way. Not that she cared about that.
The door to her bedroom was closed, likely Joel's attempt to keep the noise from his shower from waking her. When she approached it, she saw herself in the mirror she had hung on its back.
Her red hair was tussled, as usual after a sweaty summer night of sleeping on it. Her green eyes were still half closed as well. She needed coffee. And both her thin white cotton sleep shirt and the powder blue panties she wore underneath were creased from the same issue that messed her hair. The top felt damp. She hated the humidity much more than the heat.
She grabbed the bottom of the fabric and pulled it up and over her head, freeing her small breasts with barely any bounce. The pale freckles from her face extended down her neck and across her chest, adding a bit of color to her alabaster skin. Her parents had named her Amber because she had come out with a full head of orange hair when she was born, but she always thought it was unfortunate that her skin was so pale in contrast. It was typical of redheads, but any time she tried to darken it by the sun she just ended up with a burn.
She left her reflection behind and walked over to the bathroom where that door was already wide open, as usual. Joel didn't seem to have any sort of privacy boundaries after years of living in shelters and showering in community stalls at the YMCA. It was one of the more shocking things Amber had noticed about him that first night they met, but now she was use to it. In fact, it suited her purpose just this morning.
She walked in and dropped her panties on the floor, kicking them over to join Joel's boxers in the corner. She then grabbed the shower curtain and yanked it aside. Joel was just rubbing shampoo into his hair with his eyes closed, standing just outside of the stream.
"Fancy some company?" she asked with a little grin.
Joel's soapy hands paused on top of his head as he opened his eyes. He smiled as he saw her. "I feel like I'm in no position to disagree."
"Good," she said, stepping into the tub in front of him. The water behind was bou
ncing off of the bottom of the tub and she could feel the cool spray on her calves. "Oh good, it's not too warm." She always liked a cooler shower when it was so hot and humid in the apartment.
She looked over at the fighter's hard body, admiring his chiseled abs and well defined biceps that bulged in his current position. But the muscle between his legs interested her even more at the moment. She reached forward, taking it into her hand. It was slippery and wet, but began to stiffen in her hand giving her more to hold on to. "But it's getting warmer," she giggled.
"Let me just wash my hair out," Joel said, taking a small step back so that the spray of the shower hit his shoulders. She knew he didn't want to lower his lathered hands onto her or let the soap drip down into her face, but she liked the fact that he was sort of stuck until he cleaned it off.
Silver and Chrome: A Bad Boy MC Romance Page 51