by Shey Stahl
Immediately I was fuming as I started throwing clothes on. Destry pulled his shirt over his shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
For a short time, I’d forgotten all about Marcus. Now just the thought made me angry, my cheeks flushed as my blood started to boil. “Jared is coming over with Marcus.”
His body tensed immediately. “Marcus Hadley?”
Oh God, I forgot… they knew one another. Well, if Destry didn’t kill him, I would.
“Yes.”
“Why the fuck would he do that?” His anger was menacing.
“Well, they’re friends… and Marcus was probably worried I found out about his lie.”
“What lie?”
I drew in a deep breath and reached for a pair of Destry’s sweatpants. “He called Silas and convinced him to meet me. I’ve known Marcus since high school, he knew Silas too, and I had told him one night how I wished I could see Silas again. Silas never called because he wanted to see me. He thought I wanted to see him.”
There was a knock at the door and I couldn’t explain much before I was flying at Marcus like a spider monkey. “You motherfucker!”
Marcus tried to shield me, his hands defending himself as we crashed against the wall outside Destry’s apartment. “I’m sorry.”
Destry grabbed me and hauled me back inside his apartment, Jared and Marcus followed.
“I’m really sorry, Tallan.” He glanced at Destry, his eyes wide and panicked. “I’m sorry to both of you.”
“Not good enough!” I twisted from Destry’s embrace and made sure my footing was correct and I drew my right fist back and practiced that right hook I was taught.
Nailed it. Fucking nailed it. And might have broken my hand. Destry had forgot to tell me how bad that hurt.
Jared looked at Marcus and then me. Destry who was standing there smiling now, was still moments away from hitting Marcus himself. “Nicely done, tough girl.”
“I think I broke my hand.” I curled myself into Destry, whimpering like a baby. He wrapped his arm around me
“What’s going on?” Jared asked, helping Marcus. I barely did any damage but his nose was bleeding so I was satisfied with that.
I twisted slightly from Destry’s embrace to stare at Jared. “That fucking douche bag used me! He called Silas and gave him my number. Told him to call me.”
“Okay…” Jared scratched the side of his head. It was hard for him to follow along sometimes.
“You’re a bad cop.” I shoved him. “Who told you about Destry, Jared?” I glared at Marcus who hung his head.
“Well, Marcus did at poker the night after Silas called you.”
“Exactly! He knew I would do anything to look good for Silas! Who he called, and told to get in touch with me because he knew I wanted to see him. And then he knew I wanted to lose weight, and he wanted his story he couldn’t get so he used me to get it.”
It took Jared another minute before it dawned on him.
Destry growled behind me, his patience gone. “You better get out of my fucking apartment right now.” He said to Marcus stepping towards him.
Marcus scrambled knowing Destry’s punches were a hell of a lot stronger than mine.
“Oh my God!” Jared shook his head as Marcus stepped past him and out the door. Jared followed him, no doubt ready to kick his friend’s ass. “Why the fuck would you do that to her? Get back here!” Marcus started to run from him. “I’m going to arrest you!”
I would have stood there for hours fighting with Marcus trying to get every detail out of him about why he did it. Marcus was a reporter. He’d do anything for a story and when he couldn’t get it, he used his resources. In reality, was I any different?
I was about to follow Marcus, because that didn’t stop me from feeling pissed, when Destry caught me and slammed the door shut. “I’m pissed right now. And I want to kill that guy but I need to do something. Right now. I can’t wait any longer and let the chance slip away.” He leaned down and took my swollen red hand in his kissing my knuckles softly.
“What?” he backed me up against the door pressing his body against mine, so strong, so firm and exactly what I needed.
“Will you go on a date with me? As my girlfriend? None of this fucking around shit anymore. I’m yours. And you’re mine.”
“Are you asking me out?” Internally all that anger was suddenly gone. I no longer felt that pain in my hand.
“Yes. I am.” He smiled leaning in to kiss me once, and then pulling back. “Jared said I could.”
“You asked him?” I shook my head knowing what Jared said. Or at least what he would have said.
He nodded. “I did.”
“And he said?”
“He said you two have an arranged marriage but that I could borrow you for a while.”
I shook my head pulling his lips to mine. “He’s lying.”
“I’m sure.” He grinned leaning in to kiss me.
“I was granted a re-match for December twenty-fourth.”
My hands immediately covered my mouth, not only did I have a mouthful of quite possibly the best steak in the world, but I couldn’t believe what Destry had just told me. “Are you serious?”
He nodded lifting his wine glass to his lips. “I am.”
I stared at him. This was our first official date. He’d taken me to Metropolitan Grill and it was the first time we’d ever been dressed up together too. He was wearing a dark gray dress shirt, black tie and slacks. I was wearing a dark gray dress that clung to my every curve. It didn’t matter that I never ended up losing the entire twenty pounds. What mattered was that I was comfortable and I had closure. Destry had opened my eyes to so much more than I ever could have imagined in just six weeks.
Since last night, Destry and I hadn’t left his bed. Until now. When he decided he was taking me on that date. We were both ignoring reality. I had a handful of messages from Jared, as did Destry. Neither one of us wanted to face the real world. We wanted right now. A moment where it was just us, for just one night. I knew eventually I would need to sort out so much but it didn’t matter right then. Finally I was living for right now and that made perfect sense to me.
“So you start training then?” I set my wine glass down on the table and cut another small chunk off my steak.
“I’ve been training since the day I lost. I never stopped.”
I watched his features as he chewed slowly, the dim lighting over the restaurant casting shadows over his eyes but I still saw the intensity behind them. With a man like Destry, it just didn’t make sense to me that he threw that fight.
“Why did you throw that fight, I know it wasn’t just about Stella, what really happened?”
Destry stopped chewing mid bite, his eyes snapped to mine like he wasn’t expecting that question from me. I never thought I’d ask it. That was his business. If he wanted to tell me, he would. Drawing in a deep breath, he leaned back in his chair. “Stella and I had been fighting non-stop. About everything too. Didn’t matter what. I was in the middle of training for the fight and it’s hard to give your attention to anything but training. You have to stay focused. Usually she understood but this time… she didn’t. She said she was leaving two weeks before the fight. I begged her to stay. I couldn’t have her leave. It was right after my dad had his stroke. I thought for sure if she left too, I’d have no one.” Raising his right hand, he ran it over his jaw. “She said, if I loved her, I’d throw the fight and prove it. Prove to her that she meant more than boxing did to me.” He shrugged. “So I did. And it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done because she left me anyway. With Ray. She had been seeing him all along. Now knowing that she’d been with Ray the entire time, I swear that I think that bitch must have bet a shitload of money against me. No doubt in my mind.”
My heart hurt for him. Tears rolled down my face and he leaned forward to wipe them away.
“I didn’t tell you any of that to make you feel bad for me. I did that. It’s on me and no one else.”
> “What happened after that?” I wanted to understand Destry and everything he had been through. I wanted to understand where all that hate came from. The problem was that it was never hate that Destry had. It was too much passion. It was too strong for anyone to see.
Pulling his hand back, he paused and took another drink of his wine. Slowly his eyes met mine. “Well, she left and the next day Danny told me he’d bet on that fight for me to win. He bet the bar. So I got it back for him and started doing some training around town to make some money. Everything I had went into getting the bar back and taking care of my dad.”
“How did you… so you thought you’d train some fat girl to get into shape?” I laughed at the irony of how this all happened.
“You were never fat. You were unbelievably sexy.” He said, his stare intent on mine. I believed him too. “Danny had said he had a friend who needed some help. He never told me it was a woman so when you showed up, I was a little confused but went with it because you were hot. Then I stared at you the entire time, hormones got in the way and then I had sex with you. I was done after that.” He laughed, that laugh that was so cute.
“Well, I thought you were the world’s biggest asshole,” I leaned in giving him a nice view down the front of my dress. Naturally his eyes lowered. “But I’m glad we got drunk that night.”
“We weren’t that drunk.”
I winked for a change. “No. We weren’t.”
We continued to eat our meals, flirting, touching under the table like all first dates might when Destry got a confused look on his face. “I still don’t understand why Marcus would have called Silas. Why did that matter if he wanted the story on me?”
“Marcus and I had talked about Silas many times since high school. I said I wanted to see him and he knew I had concerns about my weight. Somehow he knew that you were a personal trainer and worked up his plan from there.”
Destry seemed deep in thought and then shook his head. “I… I’m not the easiest person to get along with… and I make a lot of mistakes on the boyfriend front.”
“Are you trying to scare me?” I laughed as I slipped off my shoes and ran my foot along the inside of his thigh seductively.
“Yes. I just want you to be prepared for being with a fighter.”
My foot reached his lap and traced the outline of the hardness that had formed from me running my foot up his thigh. “I think I’m prepared for anything. I had a good trainer.”
Quirking an eyebrow at me, amused maybe, Destry grabbed my foot under the table and then slid his hips forward pressing his erection into my foot. “Have you ever been fucked, baby?”
Shivering under the heat of his eyes, I leaned forward again, my breath blowing over his face. “Show me what you got, fighter.”
We were just about to leave, Destry was paying for our meals, when Jared came into the restaurant wearing his uniform with another officer to his left. He looked all business, which seemed unusual for him.
Shuffling through the tables and many stares, they both stopped at our table.
Destry finished signing the credit card receipt and gave me a nod, as if he was silently telling me everything was fine.
“Jared…” I looked up at him. “What’s going on?”
He blinked slowly, but said nothing, only spared me with a brief glance.
The officer beside him turned to Destry with handcuffs in hand. “Destry Stone?”
Destry nodded, his apprehensive stare moving from Jared to the officer that spoke to him. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Silas Cade.”
Coming February 2015
The Fighter
Thank you to everyone who continues to support me and my dream of writing. For the past year I’ve done nothing but write Racing on the Edge. And then I ventured out of my comfort for the first time with All I Have Left. That got my motivation back to write outside of the family I know so well. Now I’ve gone a step further with The Trainer.
The bloggers who give me shout-outs, and the authors for being there for me. I would name all of you but that always seems to give them unwanted attention. They know who they are.
The Boy and Honey Girl, my world is you two. And I know you know that already but please never forget that.
I do have to thank the Gearheads and Shey’s Shit Show. You’re there for me no matter what. Elaine, Shanna, Erin, Megan, Marisa, Linda, Barb, and Janet, you girls keep me going every day. Love you!
Shey Stahl is the author of the Racing on the Edge Series, Waiting for You, Everything Changes, Delayed Penalty, All I have Left and The Trainer. She enjoys spending time with her family at the local dirt tracks of the Northwest. You can follow her on the links below.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shey.stahl.9
Website: www.sheystahl.com