Ground & Pound

by Emily Minton

  I untie the sash on my robe and let it fall onto the bench of the truck. Sitting here completely naked, I can feel his eyes on me. Slipping the shirt on quickly, I don’t even glance at him, not wanting to see him watching me. Taking off my clothes on stage is one thing. This is different. I leave the stripper behind the minute I walk out of the club. Right now, I’m just Emmy, and Emmy doesn’t get naked in front of strangers.

  We sit there in silence for a minute, his stare burning a hole through me, heating my skin. I finally dare a look toward him, reminding myself of what’s important. “You forget how to drive?”

  “Nah, that shit’s ingrained in a man’s head,” he says, finally starting the truck.

  “Well, then, get us on the road. He’s at County, and we need to get there quick. At the rate you’re going, I could probably walk there faster.” I know I’m being hard on him, but I’m worried about my brother. I also feel like I need my guard up to deal with a man like Kane Travis.

  He laughs, shaking his head, as he pulls out of the parking lot and flips on the radio. “You really are a piece of work, Sunshine.”

  I don’t like him calling me by my stripper name. Is it his way of reminding me that I’m just the stripper? “My name is Emmy. Try using it.”

  “I like Sunshine. It fits you,” he claims, never taking his eyes off the road.

  Men are such dicks. It’s why I’ve stayed away from them. Working at the club has really cemented my lack of trust in the entire sex. Over the years, I’ve learned there are four types of men that come in the club.

  First off, you get the guys who come in for a good time. They like to look at the girls, but they also like letting us know we aren’t good enough for them.

  Secondly, and more often, you get the jackasses promising the girls the world. They buy them gifts and take them out to dinner, but it’s all just a game. After the girls sleep with them a few times, they brag about banging a stripper to their buddies, and then they disappear.

  Thirdly, there are the blatant cheaters, the men who come in and don’t even bother to take off their wedding rings. They chase after all the girls, grabbing at us like we’re nothing more than pieces of meat. They don’t deny being married, while they shove some money in our hands and ask for a happy ending.

  Finally, there are the guys who take their wedding rings off. You can tell by the tan line, but I guess it makes them feel better to hide their dirty little secret. They beg the girls to go to a hotel with them, while texting their wives to say they have to work late.

  Not one of them has ever done a thing for me. In fact, Kane is the first client I’ve ever even kissed. It’s a line I never planned to cross, and one that will not be crossed again. I haven’t needed a man in years, and Mr. KO isn’t gonna change that.

  “Well, I don’t like it. Sunshine works at the club. Emmy is the girl sitting beside you right now. Don’t make the mistake of thinking they are the same person.”

  “We’ll see,” he replies, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

  A second later, it is at his ear. “Hey, bro, you’re going to have to get a cab.” He’s quiet for bit, before letting out a low chuckle. “Yeah, I left with her, but I’m giving her a lift to the hospital.”

  Knowing that whoever he’s talking to thought Kane was off somewhere screwing my brains out, I quit listening and look out the window. As I watch out the window, my brother’s battered body worries my mind. I swear I’m gonna kill him if he doesn’t stop fighting.

  It takes only a few minutes before we pull up to the hospital. The truck is barely in the parking spot when I hop out and rush into the building. Heading straight for the receptionist desk, I gasp out, “I’m here for Trey Sanders. I’m his sister.”

  “Okay, miss…” she starts, before looking up at me. As soon as her eyes meet mine, she draws back.

  The judgment on her face pisses me off. Snapping my fingers in her face, I lean toward her. “Where the hell is my brother?”

  Yeah, I get the fact that I’m wearing a t-shirt as a dress, a pair of hooker heels, and nothing else. I may look like a two-dollar whore, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m here to see my brother. Still, she could treat me with a hint of respect and do her job.

  Kane walks up behind me, and her eyes grow wide. A dreamy smile spreads across her face, and her mouth drops open. “Oh my. You’re Kane Travis.”

  Instead of sucking up her attention, he gets angry. Stepping forward, he places a meaty fist on the counter. “We’re in a rush here. Can you just give her the information she needs?”

  She looks from him to me, then back to the screen of her computer. It only takes me a second to figure out her problem; the stupid bitch has forgotten my brother’s name already. “Trey Sanders. He was brought in earlier tonight.”

  She presses a few keys, her hands shaking from nervousness. Finally, she looks up to me. “Your brother is in room 806.”

  Not willing to waste any more time, I walk toward the elevators, listening to his footsteps following close behind me. I press the up button before turning to Kane. “Thanks for the ride, but you can go now. There’s no reason for you to waste your night at the hospital.”

  “I’m gonna stick around for a bit,” he says as we step into the elevator and the doors close. I want to protest, want to force him to leave, but getting to Trey is more important right now. The elevator ride is quick as I bounce from one foot to the other, my need to see Trey only building with each minute.

  Ignoring Kane, I head down the hall to my brother’s room. When I open the door, Trey is lying in the bed, looking beaten to a pulp. Monitors are hooked up to him, and his arm is in a sling. I rush to the side of the bed, wrapping my arms around my little brother. “What the hell did you do this time? I told you to quit those damn fights.”

  I hear a sharp intake of breath behind me and realize that my shirt has just completely lifted up, showing my naked ass. Quickly standing up straight, it falls back down, and I do my best to pretend it didn’t happen.

  Focusing back on my brother, I smack his uninjured arm. “I could kill you, you know. You don’t have to do this.”

  “Em, calm down,” he says, rubbing the spot I hit. “You know the next tuition payment is due at the end of the month. If you can strip to put me through school, I can take a beating to help you.”

  “What the hell?” Kane asks from over my shoulder.

  Before I can respond to him, Trey looks behind me and lets out a gasp that has him sounding like a kid again. “Oh my God.”

  His eyes move back to me and finally land on my shirt, then he looks to Kane again. His head bobs between us, making him look like one of the Chihuahua dogs people put in the back window of their car. Finally, he settles on staring at his hero. “You’re Kane “Knock Out” Travis.”

  With that smile on his face, he looks like a little kid on Christmas. “I’ve watched every one of your fights, even before you signed on with the UFC. You’re bad ass, man.”

  “Hey, kid.” Kane nods his head at him. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Yeah, this is epic,” Trey says, trying to push himself up on the bed.

  Tired of this hero worship, I step back and cross my arms over my chest. “Never mind him. You need to be worried about me. I told you to quit fighting, told you I would take care of everything.”

  Trey’s eyes grow bright with anger. “I’m eighteen years old now, sis. I don’t need you to take care of everything anymore. It’s your turn to get what you want now. There’s no damn way you want to be stripping.”

  Ignoring his words, not wanting to dwell on all the things I want, I fire right back at him. “You need to quit fighting, Trey. You’re going to end up in jail or dead. What the hell am I supposed to do without you?”

  Trey has been illegally fighting for a couple of months now. Every weekend, I worry about him, waiting for the call to tell me he’s been locked up. Worse yet, that I need to plan another funeral. He’s all I have left in this world, and I
refuse to lose him.

  “Em, this isn’t a big deal. I told them to not even call you,” he replies, not quite meeting my eyes.

  “Not a big deal? You have a concussion, bruised ribs, and a sprained wrist,” I scream, frustration filling my body.

  “How the hell did you even know I was here?” he asks, looking past me to Kane.

  Placing my hand lightly on his chin, I move his face back to mine. “The doctor called me, and you should be happy he told me what was wrong with you. If not, I’d have smacked you upside the head as soon as I walked in.”

  I can feel Kane come closer to me, but I don’t know why he’s even still here. Turning to him, I say, “You really can go home. I got it from here.”

  He ignores me, looking down at my brother. “What the fuck are you doing messing around with street fights?”

  Trey looks at him, his face reddening in embarrassment. “They pay, even if I don’t win. Every little bit helps.”

  It’s true; every penny he brings home goes straight to his tuition. It does help, but the beatings he takes aren’t worth it. “Your school will be paid. Don’t worry about that.”

  Again, Kane doesn’t even look at me. “Are you a member of a gym, getting any kind of real training?”

  My brother shakes his head. “We’ve looked into some gyms, but there’s just no way we could afford it. It takes every penny Em makes to pay our bills and keep me in school. I told her I’d quit and get a full time job, but she won’t let me.” I can’t help but be embarrassed as Trey admits my shortcomings.

  “You’re not quitting school,” I shout, tired of being ignored.

  My outburst doesn’t help; Kane keeps right on, as if I didn’t say a word. “Tell you what. I just became partner in a gym over on Red Oak Street. Top Cut. Do you know the place?”

  Trey nods, and a flash of pain cross his face. “Sure, I do. Everyone is talking about how great it is.”

  “You show up there once you’re healed, and I’ll help train you myself. But, only if you cut this illegal shit. Your sister’s right; nothing good can come of it. You get better then call me. We’ll work it out.”

  A huge smile crosses Trey’s face, just before it fades into a look of pure misery. “I’d love it, man, but it wouldn’t pay the bills. We need the money from the fights.”

  I look back at him in shock. He’s giving up his dream to earn money? No way. “No, we don’t. I make enough for us to get by.”

  Kane is staring at me; I can feel the heat of his gaze burning into me. Turning to look at him, I can tell by the look on his face that he’s trying to figure me out. Ignoring it, I answer for Trey. “He would love to come to your gym.”

  Moving his eyes from me to my brother, he says, “I might have another solution, too. We need someone to help take care of the place. It’d just be cleaning toilets, taking care of equipment, stuff like that. It won’t be a fun job, but it’ll put some cash in your pocket. I figure we can swing five-hundred a week.”

  Five-hundred a week is more than Trey makes on most of his fights; it’s also a hell of a lot more than any other part time job he could get. No way. No way is he giving us his charity. I start to tell Kane no, when I notice the huge smile is back on my brother’s face.

  Trey is buzzing with excitement when he responds. “That would be great! The doctor said I have two weeks until I’m healed. Gonna be the longest two weeks ever, but after it’s over, I’ll be there.”

  “You can drop by anyway, to just watch the boys train,” Kane says, shrugging as if he didn’t just offer my brother his dream on a silver platter.

  Trey’s smile grows impossibly bigger. “I’ll be there as soon as I get out of here. When I get better, I’ll clean as many toilets as you tell me to.”

  Kane chuckles, reaching out to shake my brother’s uninjured hand. “Don’t worry, Trey. I’ll keep your ass busy.”

  I’m speechless as my eyes take in the instant friendship between Kane and Trey. It’s like they’ve known each other forever, and Kane would do anything to help my brother out. Either the man wants in my panties really bad, or maybe he is just a genuinely good guy. If so, he’s the first one I’ve met since my dad died.

  I can’t seem to help but feel like he has some sort of ulterior motive for doing all this. People don’t do anything for free. I’ve learned this in life; you have to work for every little scrap you get. Maybe I just have trouble trusting people. I know it’s one of my faults, so only time will tell.

  I look back to Trey, who is still beaming, and I’m ready for this confusing conversation to end. “I’m gonna go home and change, grab you some stuff. Then, I’ll come back and stay the night with you.”

  “No, go home and sleep. I’ll probably be asleep before you walk out the door. The doctor gave me some good drugs,” he tells me, yawning.

  Shaking my head, I shoot him a glare. “I don’t want you here alone.”

  “Go home. When I wake up, I plan on getting some numbers. Hell, maybe I’ll be lucky and get a sponge bath. Some of these nurses are smoking hot.” He follows that statement with another yawn.

  Kane laughs as I shake my head at my idiot brother. Leaning down, I give him a hug and a kiss on the forehead. “Okay, I’ll be back first thing in the morning. You call me if you need anything.”

  “Feel better, kid,” Kane says before grabbing my hand and leading me out of the room.

  He leads me straight to the elevator, and we head back downstairs. He does all of this without saying a word. Something about the silence is driving me crazy. “Thanks for what you did for my brother.”

  “Not a problem.”

  As the elevator starts to move, I realize what song is playing on the sound system: Boyz II Men’s I’ll Make Love to You. Not able to hold it back, I laugh at the irony. Could my night get any worse?

  “Just say the word,” rumbles close to me. I look behind me to see that he’s right there, with a dirty smirk on his face.

  “Ass.” I shake my head, but can’t keep the smile off my face. For the first time, I realize I could like this guy.

  “I do love your ass.” His deep voice is even closer to my ear this time, causing me to shiver.

  Not wanting him to have the last word, I twist my body around, plaster myself to his front, and slide my hand into his back pocket to give him a squeeze. “Your ass isn’t so bad, either.”

  The ding of the elevator doors opening brings my attention back to what’s important, and I pull away from him. I’m just about to step into the hallway, when he gives my butt a quick smack. “Don’t you know better than to play with fire, Sunshine? You’ll get burnt.”

  Shaking my head as we exit the elevator, we head out to the parking lot. I stop when we reach the truck, not making any move to get inside. “Why are you doing all this? People don’t just do these kinds of things. What’s your motive?”

  He releases my hand but takes a step closer to me. My confidence slips as he towers over me, but I force myself not to step back. “You don’t even know us, but you promised to train Trey. You even gave him a job.”

  “I see something in that kid. He’s got passion, just needs to learn how to tap into it,” he answers with a shrug. “I have friends who messed themselves up with underground fighting. One of my trainers nearly died during an illegal bout, just to earn money to put food on his table. I don’t want to see that happen to your brother.”

  “Is that the only reason you’re doing all this?” I ask, needing to know the truth, but dreading his answer. A part of me wants him to say yes, that he’s just a good guy wanting to help Trey. Another part wants him to say he still wants me, even after seeing what a mess my life is.

  “If you’re asking if I still want in your panties, yes, I do. But, I don’t need to train your brother to do that.” He gives a smug grin. “When my cock is inside you, it will be there because you want it, not because I took your brother on.”

  Feeling my face flush with heat, I lower my eyes to the ground. “Yeah
, right.”

  Opening the passenger door of the truck, he motions for me to climb in. “Right now, I’m really hungry. Up to you if we go get some food, or I feast on that delicious pussy of yours. Either way, get your ass in the truck.”

  Doing as he says, I realize I’m screwed either way.

  Chapter Six

  Kane

  Pulling the truck into the drive-thru, I look over at Emmy to see her mouth has formed into a thin line. “You got a problem with Burger King? I’ve been training, so I haven’t had it in months. It sounds delicious to me.”

  “I know the fights pay well, so I assumed you’d take me to some swanky ass restaurant,” she answers with a smirk, leaning her head against the passenger side window. “Since I’m a stripper, you think I'm a cheap date. Just great. I was starting to have hopes for you, but you just blew that shit right out of the water.”

  Smiling at her bitchy attitude, I figure it’s just best to ignore it. "Whatcha want, Sunshine?"

  "Should I stick to the dollar menu? Maybe order a kiddie meal?" she asks, arching a cocky brow at me.

  "Order the whole menu, if you want,” I reply, still holding back my laughter. She’s got her bitch attitude on again, but it’s only making me want her more. “You can even super-size, or you can just wait ‘til later and I can handle that for you.” I wink at her then laugh when she scowls at me.

  “Wow, what a big spender.” She bats her eyelashes like some beauty queen.

  Realizing I need to put a stop to her mouth, or she’ll never quit, I lay it out for her. “It’s the middle of the night. Unless you were wanting to hit a buffet at one of the casinos, drive-thru is our only option.”

  A slight blush covers her face as she mumbles a nearly silent, “Oh.”

  Reaching over to run a hand up her naked leg, I tell her something she should already know. “It's not like I could take you inside a restaurant the way you’re dressed, anyway. The Maitre'd would toss us out on our asses, if you walked in with just my shirt and no panties on. Not that I mind the last part."