by Madi Le
So she kept pacing out outside the door, going back and forth, until finally she reminded herself that there was no use waiting around. She couldn't afford the sort of physical strain of working out, not with the baby on the way. And if she didn't go into the gym, they weren't going to stop charging her. So it only made sense to cancel the membership, and the sooner she did, the better.
She put a hand on the door, took a deep breath, and opened it up. Her eyes scrunched shut and she step inside, repeating over and over again in her head that Dane certainly wasn't in there. He was at home, or more likely, he was out screwing some bimbo.
“Can I help you?” the fact there was a woman's voice ask made her a little bit more comfortable, at least.
“Yeah, there's something you can help me with.”
“And what would that be?” The woman behind the counter smiled, as if Bardot hadn't just repeated the question back to her.
Is there some way I could put, like, a pause on my membership?
The woman's face didn't change a bit when she answered, “Of course Miss, can I have your name?”
Bardot let out slow, soft sigh. This was going better than she'd expected. Her breath caught in her chest, though, when a familiar spoke behind her. “Bardot Camden,” he said. “Major’s little sister.”
Oh, shit. Bardot screwed her eyes shut again. “Hi, Dane.”
“I need to talk to you. It's important.”
Bartow winced. She needed to talk to him too, and it was the last thing she wanted to do. Whatever they have between them, it was long gone now. The only thing she could do at this point was to make it worse.
“Maybe later, okay?”
“I mean, it's pretty important, but if you're in a rush…”
“Yeah, I've got a bunch of errands to run. I was just stopping in. One more thing to cross off my list.”
The woman behind her seem to think that was her cue. “Is there anything else, ma'am?”
Silently, Bardot thanked her for providing a distraction. “No, that should be everything. That went through?”
“Yes ma'am, Miss Camden. You're still a full member through the end of the month, if you change your mind.”
“Thank you,” Bardot said. She couldn't get out of the room fast enough. Things only got worse when she saw her brother's car pulling up.
Dane watched her go, kicking himself for not getting how angry she would be with him. He should have known, but he thought that she would understand, if he tried to be clearer with her.
The door closed behind her, and any chance of making things right with the one woman he's ever felt anything for seem to leave with her. Fane sat down on one of the chairs by the door, leaned his head in his hands, and closed his eyes.
There was nothing else to be done today, and apparently he spent his few minutes outside the house making everything in his life a little bit worse!
“What are you doing here?”
Dane tried to ignore the tone of his best friend's voice. “I was just picking up my paycheck,” he said. “Besides, I work here. What are you doing here?”
Apparently, Dane didn't sound tired enough. Apparently, Major was ready to start a fight. When it was Dane coming around to Majors apartment, it made some sense that is former friend would be prepared to kick his ass, but showing up at work?
Dane didn't say any of that. Instead, he took a deep breath, close his eyes, and when he opened them again he spoke gently, calmly, and politely. It was unusual. He wasn't particularly used to being polite, but somehow, getting his ass kicked by Major didn't feel like a great way to start the relationship with Bardot that he had hoped for. "Why don't you calm down, maybe explain things to me. I don't need to get my ass kicked in front of my coworkers."
Dean hoped that the joke would help calm Major down. Hopefully, he might be able to dissuade Major from picking a fight with him in the middle of the room with everyone watching. Apparently, that wasn't the case.
"You think you're so fucking great don't you?" Dane looked from Major's face down to the balled up fists at his sides. He had to be joking, right?.
"Calm down, man."
Major didn't seem to think he needed to respond. Instead, he let his fists do the talking for him. Admittedly, Dane couldn't blame him. Major had very good fists, when it came to doing explaining. If he wanted to win any argument, Major's fists were an excellent tool to do so.
Dane was about ready to get cream to face, fall to the ground, and look like an idiot. He might've won a fair fight, on a good day, but he wasn't looking to get into that kind of trouble. Not if he could help it, anyways. Just then, though something surprised him. The door beside them open, and someone stepped through, and Major's seem to decide that it wasn't time to do any punching anymore.
It only took one look to the side for Dane to figure out why. Bardot stood there, watching the both of them. She had a look of horror on her face that could only have been surprise. That was unexpected, since Dane was pretty sure that Bardot had put them up had put Major up to this. She's been avoiding them well enough, and Major kept insisting that it was Bardot's idea that Dane not be allowed around. This was a surprise, then.
Finally, Leo spoke. "Bardot, opened" the three of them looked at her and the room remained awkwardly silent, save the sound of weights coming down on racks in the background. "What you doing here?"
Bardot looked at her feet, then looked at Dane, then finally at Major, before she spoke. "I was just taking care of some business with the gym."
"And let me guess" Major said. "Dane was here to bother you."
"I don't know what would you be that idea," Bardot said. "We barely even saw each other. And when I saw him, I left. I only came back in here because I saw you and Leo come in."
Dane thought he saw an opportunity to get out of there. But then, a little voice in the back of his mind spoke up and stopped him dead. He should leave, he thought, but all he could think about was the fact that now he could talk to Bardot. She was back, and he was there, and there was no way he could get more beat up and he was about to if he tried to talk to her. After all, this was the closest they'd been outside of the past five minutes, that he managed to get to her in almost 20 days. "Bardot, I thought you were busy. I really need to talk to you. Are you sure this isn't a good time?"
Bardot shot him a dirty look. That being said, she didn't seem like she was running away again. So that, at least, was a bit of progress. On the other hand, there was more progress to be made on Major's part as well. A fist came moving out of the peripheral vision and very nearly connected with Dane's cheek. The only thing that stopped it was somebody throwing their weight behind Major's elbow and throwing it his aim off.
Major turn to Leo with a scowl, his fists balled up again and the new target set in his eyes. "Dude, what the fuck?"
"I don't want to get kicked out of his gym, man," Leo said. "the got the best plates in the whole city."
Major's eyes burned and Dane thought that he was about to witness a fistfight that was going to completely distract Major from his beef with Dane. Then, Major's seem to remember who was standing in front of him, and that Bardot was right next to all three of them. The two people he been trying to prevent from meeting seemed to be have met after all. And Major couldn't have that.
"I told you to leave her alone, Dane."
"And I think she can make your own decisions." Dean's jaw tightened. Something about the words coming out of his mouth made it easier to envision himself getting into a fight with Major. Sure, it might lose him his job, but some things were worth standing up for. He wasn't sure what it was this time, but he knew one thing for damn sure: he wasn't going to let himself be pushed around. Not when it was important. Not when it could define his relationship with a woman he cared about a great deal.
Leo wrapped an arm around Major's shoulder and pulled. Only by the way the Major tried not to move was it obvious how hard Leo was pulling. "come on man," Leo said. "I want to get a pump in before I head back
to work."
Major's eyes fixed on Dane's face, burning with a hatred that Dane almost couldn't have imagined before that night. Major was a nice guy. Maybe a little protective, but he wasn't crazy or anything. All of this had convinced Dane that maybe he didn't know his friend that well after all. Then again, maybe Major didn't know him that well, either. His jaw tightened again, and then he forced it to loosen up.
"Yeah," Dane said. "Don't let me distract you from your work out."
Bardot's eyes met with Major's, as she continued to ignore any questions that Dane tried to ask her. "Don't do anything crazy, Major."
Major scowled, but in the end he shrugged, then he turned. "whatever," he called over his shoulder as he walked away.
Dane watched them go for a long minute, and as Bardot turned to leave, he said to her what was on his mind. "If you're avoiding me, I get it. But I really want to talk to you. It's important. I'm not to force you to stay here quote, and I'm not to force you to listen to me. So if you want to go, then go. But I need to talk to you, there's a lot I need to say, and the sooner that you hear it, the better. So whenever you're ready, you know where to find me."
Dane hope that Bardot would hear the sincerity in his words, and hoped that she would be able to accept them. He hoped, in vain, that maybe she would actually let him just walk her home. It would take long enough that he could get most of it out without them needing to awkwardly stand around. He could keep his eyes on the road, rather than keeping his eyes on her face. That way, if she didn't believe them, or she didn't care, he didn't have to see it. Instead, Bardot turned. She opened the door, looked over her shoulder at him as if she wanted to say something, then turned away and stepped back outside.
Dane's jaw tightened their time. Something flared in his chest, and he realized that he was angrier than he thought he be. He tried to tell himself that he wasn't angry with Bardot. After all, if she was angry with him, she had every right to be. He was really angry that she had been taken away from him. Not by her choice, not really... But by her brother.
Dane couldn't get over the thought that, if anything was the cause of her running away, it was that she didn't want to upset Major anymore than they already had. Dane's fists balled up. He stood from the chair, looked at the girl behind the counter, who was studiously avoiding watching the fight. Then he made his way past the counter, past the weights, and into the changing room.
It was a bad idea, and Dane knew it. That didn't actually stop him, though. There were a lot of things that he'd done wrong. If he was gonna let his past indiscretions define him, then he was already long past any sort of redemption. It didn't matter what he did with Bardot, or with anyone. Something in his chest told him that it mattered. So he made one more bad decision, in the hopes that he could fix it. Bardot deserved that much, at least.
Leo saw them first. Dane made it two steps into the changing room before Leo stopped him, pressing a hand against his chest.
"Dude, seriously. You need to know when to quit."
"I'm not looking to fight," Dane said. "I need to talk to Major. I need him to listen to me."
Leo spoke softly. "Look, he ain't no mood to listen right now, okay?"
"I'll make him listen."
"Make me listen to what?"
Major had his shirt off. It was a good look on him, and it didn't make Dane weird to think to think so. Most girls they knew would go crazy for look like that. Many of them had. After all, the only person who Dane knew who looked nearly as good as himself, was Major.
"Major," Dane said, unsure whether he was just recognizing Major's presence, or trying to begin a new sentence.
Now that he was looking at his friend in the face, Dane wasn't so sure what he was going to say. He had to convince Major to stop this petty feud. He had to start talking sense to somebody. They couldn't keep going on like this. His entire life, Dane felt adrift; now that he thought he had some sort of direction in his life, he wasn't going to let Major take that away from him.
But at the same time, it wasn't as if Major didn't have some sort of stake in his sister's life, either. So it was only fair that they had a serious discussion about things. And that was why Dane was here. Major was too angry to see that, and Dean knew it. So he had to figure it out fast.
"You want to tell me what's so important you want to get your ass kicked over it?"
"You want to kick my ass, you go right ahead and try." Dane looked Major right in the eyes and tried to bury whatever angry felt inside of him. There were other things on his mind, and he had to make sure that he kept those in the forefront. Getting angry was only a distraction that was going to cause heart ache for everyone. "I won't stop you."
"Yeah, well, you deserve it."
Leo looked at Dane, curious. He looked over his shoulder at Major for he spoke. "At least hear him out. I'd say you probably owe him that much, at least."
"You have two minutes."
"Major, I have to talk to you about Bardot."
"I said I was listening," Major growled. "I didn't say that you could give me a bunch of shit about my sister. After all, you already fucked her enough to you?"
"Major… I think I'm in love with her."
Chapter Six ♥
*
Dane looked for any sign on Major’s face, one that might indicate that he might be pleased or angry. For a long time, there was nothing there at all. Then, Majors face twisted into a smile. There was nothing happy about it, and nothing nice. It was a sort of smile that a wolf might give to the sheep.
"Is that supposed to be some sort of joke?"
Dane grit his teeth together and tried to convince himself that he should stay calm. After all, he'd already decided how important this was. Then, he debated it some more than delete that, then convince himself again. This is been going on for days. He wasn't going to suddenly change his mind now. Not unless he didn't think about it at all.
"I'm serious."
"Like you are serious about all the other horrors you been sucking?"
Dane opened his mouth to respond. Then, he closed it again. There was nothing he could do to convince Major. Not if he didn't want to be convinced. The guy was impossible to deal with sometimes.
Leo spoke up. Quote looked, man, I'm not trying to give you any ship here. But, it's just that, you don't exactly have a will good history with women."
"Leo, no offense, but I didn't really ask you."
"But he's right," Major said. It seemed to take him a great deal of effort not to jump right through his friend and start pounding Dane's face in. Somehow, he seemed to be managing it, though. For that, at least, Dane was thankful. "You're not to convince me that you've changed, just because you want to tell me you have. I'm not that gullible."
Why wouldn't he listen? Sure, Dane had a bad history. But he never lied to anyone about it, either. Every woman who had been with Dane knew exactly what they were getting themselves into from the very beginning. Everyone who he'd actually let into his life, and it was bedroom, anyways. Every one of them, that is, except… Except, maybe, for Bardot. He hadn't really realized what she might have taken it for. And at the time, if he had, that would’ve stopped him.
Knowing what he knew now, though, he would've gone back and made the same decision again. Sleeping with Bardot might’ve ruined his relationship with Major, might've ruined his relationship with Leo, and might have ruined any chance he had a real relationship with Bardot.
It was the first time in a long time that he actually had some reason not to go around fucking every attractive woman he found. If someone told him that would happen if he slept with Bardot, even as little as a month and a half ago, Dane probably wouldn't have believed it for a second. But the Dane that was around now…
Well, he could always go back to fucking whores if he wanted to. The fact that he didn't, that he didn't even want to, that was all he needed to convince himself that there had been a change. Major, on the other hand, apparently needed something more.
"Fi
ne, then. Why don't you tell me what I need to do to convince you?"
Major tightened up his jaw. It was an intimidatingly furious look on anyone, but a guy Major’s size made it look particularly worrying. Dane stood his ground. "There's nothing you can do to convince me. I've known you your whole life, and you've never changed one time."
"Just hear me out. I don't know what I have to say, but I'll say whatever I have to."
"That's exactly what I mean, though," Major growled.
Leo, who had, up until then, been silent between them, trying to mediate, but more than anything trying to referee the fistfight that was going to start any moment, decided it was time to speak up. "Major, maybe you should listen to them. After all, he's done plenty for us over the years. For example, what exactly were you going to do if we got if Dane wasn't around when you got arrested right before you graduated from high school?"
Major scowled, not wanting to hear that maybe he owed his friend something more than a punch in the face. Dane kept quiet. If Leo was talking sense, there was nothing Dane could do but make Major so angry that he couldn't hear sense.
Major spoke through gritted teeth. "What's your point?"
"Or what about that time you were screwing around with that football coach’s daughter? And then he wanted to send the entire football team against you? You’d have gotten your ass kicked if someone hadn’t calmed Coach down? Who was it that got you out of that mess?"
"That's exactly my point," Major growled. "Dane’s a guy who knows how to get out of trouble. But he's not a guy who knows how to actually deal with problems."
"Are you trying to suggest you can't teach an old dog new tricks?" Leo stepped a little bit out of the way, and Dane watched carefully to make sure that Major didn't come flying out of. "I mean, hell, you barely learn to change a carburetor before you were out of before you dropped out of high school."