Unexpected Forfeit

by Sapphire Knight

  “Yeah, thanks. Ford was a little cocky so I had to play with him for a few before I hit him with my right.” Not to mention he’s a fucking prick outside the cage, too. I can’t stand fighters who have no honor and morals outside the cage. The fight is inside, and that’s where it should be kept. We’re all giving it our best try—no need to be a dick.

  “Well, you did good man; we were all watching. I actually met a little hottie there. I’m about to go meet her for lunch in a few.” I smirk and shake my head at him—fucking Jaxson and his women.

  “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

  He nods and heads to the locker room, “I’ll catch you later, man.”

  I give him a chin lift and keep jumping rope, “Cool, take it easy.”

  That dude lives up to his name “Adonis” with the way chicks flock to his ass. I finish up my fifteen minutes of jump roping and then I really get into my zone, turning up some “Beautiful People” by Marilyn Manson. I start with some light cardio before hitting the heavy bag and before my trainer decides it’s time to put me through an hour or two of hell.

  one week later…

  I wake to annoying beeping and it makes me want to strangle the noise. Cracking one eye open slowly, I peer over at the clock. Shit, that beeping is my damn alarm. I seriously hate getting woken up. I could sleep in late every day and stay up late every night if it was possible. I don’t know who thought it’d be a good idea to open businesses so early.

  I sit up in my little single-sized bed. Ugh! I have to get dressed for work. This sucks! I reluctantly get out of bed and make my way to the bathroom and jump in the shower. I go through the motions of washing, rinsing and drying my body—all pretty much on auto pilot.

  Once I’m finally done, I dry my long hair, put on mascara and concealer, and then get dressed in my ugly restaurant uniform. It’s not really ugly…but it’s a uniform. My phone dings so I run to my bedside table to check it out, still hoping to hear from Jace. It’s a text from Aria.

  Aria: Hi! We want to head to Corpus Christi, would you want to go with us?

  Me: When are you going?

  Aria: We’re going to leave this afternoon. We’re going down to stay the night and coming back tomorrow. Can you come with?

  Me: It’s not just you and Gavin going alone? That’s a long drive for just one night.

  Aria: I know, but it’s a group thing.

  Me: Okay. I want to, but I work for a few hours today. I have to go there first, but I can come over afterwards.

  Aria: I know, that’s why we decided to go down later.

  Me: Awesome! Are we driving together or do I need to bring my car?

  Aria: A few of us are driving already, so you don’t need to drive if you don’t want to.

  Me: Cool, I’ll text you when I’m off then.

  Aria: Okay, sounds good.

  three hours later…

  I blink five times as I hear my coworker Vivid’s voice. “So, do you always zone out like this? Because I’d be worried about your abilities when driving.”

  I sneer at her. “Real cute coming from the one with the stripper name. You sure you shouldn’t be working down the road at Expose’?” I reply with snark.

  “Oh stripper names now, huh? Yeah, because clearly Chyna couldn’t be used in a strip club, right?” She snickers and I roll my eyes. Bitch. I do love giving her shit though; she takes it and spits it right back at me.

  Okay, I tend to zone out and daydream, so what. I haven’t been in any accidents, which is pretty impressive considering I’m surrounded by idiot drivers. I swear these random people come from everywhere and expect you to drive as bad as them. Newsflash Batman, not everyone drives ten under the damn speed limit!

  “Ugh! Vivid, I’m so freaking bored. I’ve washed the front door window like fifty times today already. I can only straighten up these stupid menus so many times. I never should have become a hostess in the first place; I am way too energetic for a job like this. Maybe I should become a bike messenger or something cool like that.” I whine and puff out my lips in a cute pout. At least I hope I look cute when I pout, I probably look like a deformed fish in reality though. Hands on her hips, she smirks at me as I go through the entire spiel.

  “Hush your dramatic mouth! I seriously doubt you washed the window fifty times, and if you become a bike messenger, you will melt in this heat. Does Texas even have bike messengers? I doubt it. Why don’t you ask if you can get switched over to a server, though I’d miss being able to talk to you up here.”

  I nod at her and give her a small smile. That’s actually a good idea. Maybe I could switch to server or bartender. Something else, because being a hostess is beyond boring.

  “I can’t help but be dramatic! Do you know what’s happening after this?”

  She shakes her head and crinkles her brow. “No, I don’t. Should I? Is there like a festival or something going on at UT? I haven’t seen any flyers.”

  I grab both of her arms and reply loudly, “Screw a festival, crazy! My ass is going to Corpus Christi to swim and have fun when I get off. My friends are waiting on my lame ass. I have the next three days off to go and have some fun at the beach. Then I’m going to catch up on all my crap at home. Thank God this horribly long shift is almost done.” Okay, so I do tend to be dramatic, but I blame that on boredom, too. It could also partially be because of the way I grew up. My mother was a very dramatic person. My grandmother—my father’s mother—was funny and always scheming. And my father was always at work.

  “Well, Chyna doll, why don’t you go ahead and leave early since its dead? Michelle said I could tell a few people to go home if it wasn’t busy. I’ll just tell the servers to come take turns seating in their sections. You can go and have tons of fun for me,” she chortles, grinning. Yes! Being friends with a shift leader has definitely paid off.

  I lean over and smooch her on her cheek and squeal. “Yaaay! You’re freaking the best ever! I will totally have lots of fun for you!” I say and bounce a few times clapping my hands. I need this mini vacation ridiculously bad. I’ve been working my butt off at everything lately.

  She laughs at me and swats me away with her hands. Vivid is used to my antics though, so she puts up with me. I know I make work more interesting for her. Even the manager will occasionally come listen to our conversations.

  I quickly make my way through the kitchen, then the hallway and get to the back of the restaurant to clock out. I punch my card, placing it next to the others hanging in the cardholder on the wall.

  I grab my purse out of the office and get a Dr. Pepper in a to-go cup on my way out to take home with me. I head back up front to the dining and hostess areas. This place never seems very big until I’m trying to leave. Vivid is still at the front hostess station, looking as bored as I’m sure I did.

  “Thanks, Vivid. I mean it. You totally made my day better!”

  She puts down the dry erase marker that she was using to draw with on the seating chart. I swear that should be in our job descriptions: “Good at art, because you’ll be bored and will have to draw for hours. Must also roll silverware.”

  She smiles and scrunches up her nose all bunny like. “Yeah, yeah, get going cutie. You’re lucky I like you so much.”

  I smile huge and wave as I make my way out of the main door of the restaurant. Kind of ironic that you’ll be so excited to get a job, but once you have one, you can’t wait to be off and leave it.

  As soon as I get to my little car, I throw my purse in the passenger seat, digging through it until I find my phone. I immediately check for messages and then pull up Aria’s number to text her the good news.

  Me: Hey, I got off early! My bag’s in my trunk, ready when you are.

  Aria: Yaaay! Get your booty to Gavin’s and I’ll let everyone know we can leave sooner.

  Me: Woohoo on my way!

  Aria: Yaay!

  So off I go to Gavin’s little apartment. I’ve been there many times before, usually to drink wine and hang out on t
heir couch while Aria’s planning birthday gifts or whatever. Thankfully, he doesn’t live too far from where I work, so it doesn’t take me long to get there.

  Austin is fairly large so it can take an hour to get somewhere, depending on where your destination is. Some days the traffic is just plain miserable. It’s times like that, that I kind of wish I lived in a smaller area, but the shopping and food selections here are great.

  I arrive and park a few spaces down from their walkway. I hop out, making my way to my trunk so I can get a change of clothes. I need to get out of my stinky work shirt at least. I hate smelling like the restaurant after I leave work. I wore my bathing suit under my top in case I was rushing to leave. Looks like it was the right idea after all.

  Corpus Christi is a four-hour drive south, and I’m not going to waste time searching for the right outfit to change into. I open the trunk lid and pull my shirt off, stuffing it into my bag. I hear some male voices behind the trucks parked next to me.

  “Seriously, dude, just relax and come with us.”

  “I would, bro, but I gotta train. This fight is really important to me and you know how much work I’ve been putting into it. I need to stay on track; Vegas is everything to me right now.” Fuck is that Jace?

  “You’ll have some fun, I promise and you can do your morning workout on the beach. The sand will be great to add to your cardio and endurance. I’m pretty sure Aria had said that Chyna is planning on coming, too. I know you wanted to see her again and now’s your chance. You’ll even get to have some time alone with her if you want.” And that sounds just like Gavin.

  I leave my trunk wide open and wander towards the voices. Sure enough I was right. The guys are over here talking in between some vehicles. I glance over at Gavin and he has an exasperated expression on his face, trying to convince Jace to come with us from what I heard. His eyebrows perk up, waiting for an answer.

  I sneak a glance over to Jace and he looks beyond amazing. He’s got on a pair of black basketball shorts hanging perfectly off his hips and a fitted white tank top molding to his impressive tan physique. He doesn’t have the spray tan or tanning bed look, just a natural color like he runs outside or something. God he’s so buff and hot, I swear I must be drooling. Hopefully, I get to stare at that the whole trip.

  I lean against the truck next to me to take in the gorgeous man some more, but the truck makes a loud pop sound. Shit! I must have leaned on the wrong spot. I check over the truck where I had my body against it and thankfully there’s no damage done to it. That bill would have sucked, that’s for sure. I glance back up at the guys, and I’m met with amused blue eyes watching me curiously.

  “Umm… Hi?” It comes out more like a question rather a statement, and I follow it up with a smile.

  I feel my cheeks heat up. I’m sure they’re a nice shade of crimson from my embarrassment. Gavin smirks when he sees me blush and Jace grins, then openly stares at my chest.

  I huff, getting angry at him from being a jerk, staring at me so openly and I glance down. Shit! I’m just standing here sporting some major cleavage in the middle of a parking lot. I had completely spaced that I’m in my bikini top from the stupid truck giving away my location. I look back up from my boobs and grin.

  “Hey, guys!” Hopefully that came out smoothly and didn’t sound like a frog croak.

  I put my hands on my hips and push my chest out a little. I’m already standing here like a giant dork, attempting to dent up vehicles it seems, so might as well own that shit. Jace blinks, meeting my gaze and then automatically glances back at my boobs.

  “See dude, told you Chyna doll would be going, too,” Gavin says joyfully.

  I roll my eyes at him, everybody and their brother calls me freaking Chyna doll. Where is the originality these days? Gavin should be thanking me; my boobs basically just talked Jace into going to Corpus with us. I don’t know if that’s a good thing that Jace got so distracted, but my eyes will benefit having his shirtless self along.

  “Hey, Chyna. You, umm…you normally chill in your bikini top?” Jace gestures with his hand, “Not that it looks bad or anything, just curious is all,” Jace stammers out, still staring at my chest, and Gavin busts out laughing. Jace shoots a quick glare at Gavin then looks back at me sheepishly.

  “Actually I got off work early and had my bikini on under my work clothes. I was just leaving my work shirt in my trunk then planning to head up to Gavin’s apartment. What about you? Are you going to the beach with us?” Jace glances at Gavin and receives a huge smile from Gavin, rubbing it in.

  “Well, I was thinking about it. I’ll go with y’all, if you ride with me in my vehicle,” he declares like it will put me out or something. He doesn’t realize I have a massive crush on his fine ass and would love to have some man candy to stare at our whole trip. Put me out? Shit, I feel like I just got a DQ milkshake and they paid me for it.

  “Okay, no problem. Let me finish changing first, though.”

  “You have to keep the bikini top on and wear it the whole trip.” Jace tries to be smooth and I chuckle.

  I find this hilarious. He clearly thinks I won’t do it. Well, I’ve got news for him; I love wearing my bathing suit top and shorts. It’s more comfortable, and I’m the type of person who prefers to be naked if I can be. Maybe I should throw in that I sleep naked and see how he feels about that.

  “Cool. I was going to put on some jean shorts, too, but if you prefer me to stay in my work pants…” I trail off and he jumps on the bone I threw like I knew he would.

  “Oh! No, no, no. I mean, sure. No, I mean feel free to put your shorts on; I want you to be comfortable and everything.”

  Jace’s bashfulness is adorable. He’s so handsome, but clearly gets tongue-tied. I think it makes me want him even more. Most men are always trying way too hard around me. I like it that Jace doesn’t seem like he’s attempting to be someone he’s really not.

  I smirk at Gavin and he smirks back. He saw what just happened here. His friend is Mr. Cool Fighter, but throw on a bikini top and suddenly he gets owned, not even able to throw a full sentence together for me. At least I know what to do if Jace and I are ever in a wrestling match. Throw in a bikini top or a bra, and he doesn’t have a chance.

  Aria comes bouncing down the stairs from the apartment toward us. I wave calling out, “Hey, boo bear!” She waves back with a bright smile.

  I give her a big hug when she finally makes it to us. She clutches me back tightly and kisses my cheek. We have a close friendship and are pretty affectionate towards each other; luckily, Gavin doesn’t seem to mind.

  She glances at each of us. “Hey, Chi. Hey, guys. So I just talked to Apollo. Him and your brother aren’t coming anymore. He didn’t give me any specifics, so I don’t know what happened. Sorry, Gav.”

  Gavin’s expression turns from happy to stormy immediately. “What a dick. I swear my brother’s so fucking flaky. I bet it’s that bitch Jayden again, stirring up shit.” Gavin grumbles, irritated. Aria squeezes his arm affectionately, gazing at him tenderly.

  Poor guy. He and Aria had this crazy love triangle drama fest going on for a while. I guess since it all played out and Aria chose Gavin, things have been strained between the brothers.

  I cut in, “So, who all are we waiting for then?” Aria looks at me and smiles an evil little smile. She’s up to something.

  “Well since they aren’t coming with their floozies anymore, it’s going to be the four of us.”

  I actually don’t mind this outcome. I would be more than happy to get a sample of this man hunk here beside me. With Jace so focused on fighting I don’t have to worry about him becoming hooked on me or anything either.

  I send Aria a grin and nod. At this point all I’m worried about is getting on the road so I can finally go swimming. Texas has steadily been getting hotter with spring moving in full force, and anytime it gets warmer I feel the need to swim my little heart out. I may or may not have been a mermaid in my previous life. I’m okay with th
is and embrace it fully.

  Gavin tugs Aria towards his truck. “Come on let’s get all loaded up so we can make it down there at a decent time and get checked into the rooms.”

  “Shit! No one said anything about rooms! I didn’t reserve one!” I say quickly starting to freak out inside, I guess I could sleep in the truck. No way am I sleeping in Aria’s room. She and Gavin will be having a love-a-thon all night and while they’re both hot, I can’t see my friends like that and not want to partake in the activities. I’m sure that would end up being too weird afterward.

  “It’s cool, Chyna doll. I put a few on hold and they only charge my card for the ones we need. If we check in soon enough I can cancel two rooms and leave two rooms rented.” Gavin pipes out and I just want to pinch his cute, manly cheeks for being so darn awesome.

  “Great! But what about Jace? Shouldn’t you reserve three rooms?” I question like a dumbass. Insert foot here. I have a chance to sleep with Jace and yet my dumb ass tries to put him in a separate room. Just stop talking, Chyna!

  “No, only two rooms because each room has two beds in it.”

  “Oh, I see. Well perfect. Sounds, good. Are we going or standing in the parking area all day?”

  Aria giggles and Gavin rolls his eyes at me. She knows I love swimming, that it’s my favorite thing to do when the weather warms up. I’m constantly calling her when I have time off to go to the lake with me or to let me come and swim at their apartment complex. The apartments are pretty standard, nothing really fancy, but it has a pretty decent gated pool that I’m fond of.

  Aria hands her loaded backpack to Gavin, gesturing to his truck, “Yes, let’s get everyone’s stuff loaded up and go. Hey Jace, do you need to get anything before we go?”