Neutral Zone

by Amber Lynn

  Brady groaned at the thought of the castration. It was only some pills to take away his sex drive, not an actual loss of his dick, but it still sounded horrible.

  “Clearly, Nina’s been sharing with Hannah and Hannah’s been sharing with you, because I didn’t tell you about that part of the contract.”

  Curtis shrugged. There wasn’t a question or anything he really had to confirm in Brady’s statement. Short of saying there was a contract in place, Brady hadn’t said anything else about it. It made him wonder exactly how much Nina was sharing.

  “Like I said, do what you have to do, then move on. Hannah’s been alone in the kitchen for a while now, so I better go make sure we have food left in case you do get hungry. Bathroom’s right across the hall if you need it.”

  They’d probably talked for twenty minutes, and the thought of food still did nothing for Brady. He watched as Curtis headed off to find his wife, and then pushed his head deeper into the pillow behind it. He wanted nothing more than to just turn off his brain and get some sleep. If he was lucky, he’d dream of Nina meeting a pack of wolves.

  He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. Brady had heard one of the rookies talking about how yoga centered him. It seemed like hogwash. Bending your body into a pretzel sounded like the exact opposite of calming. Brady was more the kind of guy who bench pressed or boxed his problems out, but after the crap with Nina was over, maybe he could find a yoga instructor to play around with.

  Anyone who wasn’t wound as tightly as Nina would be a welcome temporary addition to his life. Or maybe he’d just take a break from women altogether. He hadn’t had sex in weeks, and he wasn’t on the verge of a meltdown, so a month or two seemed totally doable.

  If anything, that was probably Nina’s plan. Drive him crazy enough that she saved the rest of the female gender from having to deal with him. If that was the case, she was doing a great job.

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket, dreading seeing how many more missed calls or texts he had. It usually took him a while to get home after a game, but it was getting closer to one. Nina had to have figured out that coming home wasn’t the first thing on his agenda.

  There were seven new texts from Nina and two from Isabel. The ones from the latter concerned him more than anything Nina had to say. Brady had texted to say thanks for taking care of Henry since it seemed like he wasn’t going to make it home to see to it himself. Isabel didn’t generally add anything to his thank you notes.

  “Fuck,” Brady said as he opened the conversation up.

  No worries. Henry wasn’t sure about eating with an audience tonight so I left his food out for him. I might head back over to make sure he finally ate.

  The message had been sitting there for a while, and normally wouldn’t have been an issue. It was the second message that had only been sent within the last twenty minutes that was an issue.

  Hey, sorry, I got caught up at the bar, but I’m heading over now to check on the food situation.

  Shit, shit, shit. The word kept repeating over in his head. Isabel had a key, and it was no problem as far as he was concerned with her stopping by to check on Henry. The problem was that Nina didn’t know about Isabel. Their paths hadn’t crossed since Isabel tended to only be there when Brady wasn’t.

  He quickly flipped over to the message thread from Nina. His fingers were crossed that she’d figured out he wasn’t coming home and had decided to stay at her own place. The image of her snuggled up with Henry on the couch that immediately popped up on the phone told him that wasn’t the case.

  “Shit.”

  It was a good thing there weren’t kids running around the house yet, because Brady yelled the word. He knew the bar Isabel worked at was only fifteen minutes from his house. He didn’t know for sure if she was talking about working or just hanging out, but he was fairly sure that was her standard stomping grounds. She’d already be there, and if that was the case, a text or a call warning her to run away wasn’t going to help.

  Brady left his duffle on the bed and sprinted out of the room. He didn’t live next door to Curtis, but he could get there in about five minutes if he didn’t stop for any lights. As much as he didn’t want to deal with Nina, he didn’t want Isabel to have to deal with her either.

  Chapter 15

  Nina had been mindlessly flipping through the channels with one hand and petting Henry with the other for at least twenty minutes. Hannah had texted to say Brady was staying at their place to cool down. He’d had hours to calm down away from her, so she didn’t understand why he needed more time. Spending time with Curtis wouldn’t help his mood, since the guy was sure to be feeding him all sorts of nasty stories from their past.

  She hadn’t done anything wrong. She kept telling herself that, but everyone else seemed to think otherwise. Hannah had been the only one to say anything to her. Everyone else let their actions tell her they didn’t like what she’d done, their glares and complete lack of communication came in loud and clear.

  The television stopped on a commercial for some shampoo when Nina saw lights from outside flood the front window. Hannah had said Brady wasn’t coming home, but maybe he’d had a change of heart. Nina’s own heart started thumping faster as she jumped up and prepared her speech. She’d gone over some of the bullet points during her text storm, but she had paperwork and could get her lawyer on the phone to back up every single one of her statements.

  She heard her phone go off from the table in front of the couch, but ignored it since she was already halfway to the door. The only person she wanted to hear from was Brady, and he was right outside.

  It was kind of weird that the sound of a key being inserted and turned happened before he tried the handle. He knew she was there and that she was a little forgetful when it came to locking the door. He made a big scene of walking around the house to make sure all the windows and doors were locked up for the night, because she had a tendency to open everything.

  Nina was about to open the door herself when it swung open, causing her to take a step back. Seeing a woman on the other side with short pixie-looking hair was not at all what she’d expected. She took a second to take in the low-cut leather bodysuit she was wearing. It was black and molded to her average frame like nobody’s business.

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  Whoever the woman was, she picked the wrong house to break into. Nina noted that she had apparently used a key to get in, but that didn’t mean Brady had given it to her. She could’ve picked his keys up at some point and a made a copy. The guy was always losing them.

  “I think I’ll ask you the same thing. I know the person who lives here, and you’re not them. I also know that they’re out tonight and aren’t planning on being home.”

  The woman’s greenish eyes squinted together as she gave Nina her perusal. Nina was in a typical bedtime outfit, a see-through baby doll, which showed her tits and abs, and a thong. She’d been hoping Brady would change his mind and come home, so she dressed for the occasion.

  “I do live here, so the question is still who the fuck are you.”

  Nina didn’t know what type Brady usually went for. The woman very well could have been someone in his regular rotation who’d come over looking for some fun, even though she did mention knowing he wouldn’t be home. That didn’t make a lot of sense from Nina’s standpoint. Why would Brady tell the woman he was going to be out for the night, and then she show up?

  She had to be there to steal from him or something. Her outfit was as close to cat burglar-chic as anything Nina had seen.

  “Unless doctor’s have gotten really good about sex change operations, you don’t live here. You’re about a foot shorter and a hundred pounds lighter than the person who does. I’m guessing by the getup you’re in you know Brady, but since he’s not here, I don’t think you should be either.”

  “Excuse me? Who the fuck are you?”

  They hadn’t moved away from the open door, so Nina could’ve slammed it in the woman’s
face and locked it. Since the woman had a key, that wouldn’t have totally solved the problem, but it would’ve gotten her out of Nina’s face.

  There was something about seeing someone Brady usually had around as a bed partner that didn’t settle right with Nina. She found herself comparing herself to the other woman, which was no comparison. Nina’s body was tighter and her breasts were at least twice as big. The bodysuit made it a little hard to verify for sure, but Nina would’ve needed a little smaller size and some adjustments so her boobs didn’t spill out the top.

  “It’s none of your business who I am. I’m here to see Henry.”

  At the mention of his name, the dog, who’d stayed on the couch, perked up enough to let out a small woof. Nina couldn’t remember a time he’d ever barked, so she looked over her shoulder to check on him. His big head hung off the edge of the couch, staring in her direction. Nina was surprised the weight of his noggin without something underneath it didn’t send him tumbling off the couch.

  By the time Nina turned around, the cat burglar had her phone up to her ear and was clearly making a call. Thinking it was the police on the other side of the phone, Nina instinctively reached up and batted it out of her hand. It was too close to the woman’s face, so part of the motion slapped her.

  A quick look of surprised crossed her face before she took both hands, the phone still in one since Nina hadn’t been successful at knocking it to the ground, and pushed Nina hard in the chest. The woman was bigger than Nina, probably just a few inches in height, but at least thirty pounds heavier. The extra weight was most likely what caused Nina to slide three feet back across the wood floor.

  Her eyes narrowed as she flexed her fists. If little miss cat burglar wanted to play, she’d come to the right house. Nina let out a banshee scream as she ran forward and pushed the woman with as much force as she could muster. A little more room to run would’ve had a better impact, but the woman still stumbled back a few steps.

  It’d been a while since Nina had been in an altercation. Most other people let her have her way, but every once in a while someone would try to take the last pair of shoes in a store or grab the last muffin at work that Nina wanted and not give them up. Nina wasn’t a skilled fighter, but she was scrappy and always got her way.

  “You bitch,” the woman said as she darted forward to come after Nina again.

  With her well and truly on the outside of the door, Nina just grabbed it and shut it in her face, flipping the lock quickly so she couldn’t just reopen it. The woman’s fists started immediately beating on the door.

  Nina smiled as she turned around and rested her back on the door. Her right hand remained on the lock, so she could turn it if the key got involved again.

  “I’m calling the cops and then Brady. Even if you’re supposed to be here, which I know you’re not, I still want it on record that you’re a psycho.”

  Scoffing, Nina just smiled wider. There was no question that the law would be on her side. She had a piece of paper that said she could be there. The cops would roll up and see someone dressed like a cat burglar and laugh their asses off.

  “Good luck with that, slut. Just so you know, I’m Brady’s girlfriend, so whatever services you’ve provided him in the past, aren’t going to be needed anymore.”

  It was definitely overstepping the bounds of their agreement, but for another week, for better or worse, Nina was basically Brady’s girlfriend. They weren’t supposed to use that label, but the cat burglar didn’t know that.

  Things on the other side of the door were quiet. Too quiet. Maybe the woman had walked away to use the phone. If she was trying to convince the police Nina was a psycho, she could’ve used Nina’s yelling to sell the tale, but Nina wouldn’t complain about not having to fight to keep the door closed.

  She was exhausted and running at the woman had taken most of her energy reserves. Spending all day worrying about Brady’s reaction and then dealing with his actual reaction had depleted almost everything. She’d been lucky to even get the one run in.

  A firm knock on the door after a few seconds startled Nina. The police couldn’t have shown up in less than a minute, and Nina was fairly sure it was a male knock. There was just something solid about it that she related to the male gender.

  “It’s me, Nina. Let me in.”

  Nina took a deep breath when she heard Brady’s voice. Even if the woman had called him first, he couldn’t have gotten from Hannah’s to his place that quickly. That meant he had to have decided on his own to come home and make up.

  For a second, Nina let her mind wander to what make-up sex could be like between them. She’d been imagining the impending explosion from their months of taunting each other and the weeks of hardcore taunting that had happened since she moved in. Would make-up sex be even better? She wasn’t expecting him to come in and show her, but it was a fantasy that she’d hopefully dream about.

  Stepping away from the door, she turned the knob and opened it. She spun around to see Brady was thankfully alone on the other side. If the cat burglar had been curled up to his side, there would’ve been hell to pay.

  Brady didn’t look happy. His usual smile was missing, replaced with a straight face that looked like he’d just bitten into a lemon. He marched in and went straight to the bottle of scotch he kept in the display case Nina had added to the dining room. She hadn’t included the bottle, but Brady had.

  “Isabel is Henry’s dog sitter. She’s not a slut and she wasn’t here trying to hook up with me.”

  After he had the bottle in hand, Brady disappeared into the kitchen. Nina stayed glued in her spot by the door. His tone was flat and harsh. Bringing up the slut comment made it clear he’d heard at least the end of their conversation.

  When he came out from the kitchen, the bottle had been joined by a glass that was half full. Brady quickly erased that as he slammed the scotch and poured some more.

  “Women often show up at your place dressed like that? It’s kind of hard to believe she wasn’t looking for something more than Henry. Or maybe she was and you really should keep her away from Henry.”

  Brady’s response was a grunt as he made it over to his chair and slumped into it. He was still in the suit he’d worn to the arena, so chances were he hadn’t gotten too comfortable at Curtis and Hannah’s before deciding to come home.

  “She works at a bar called the Pussy Club. She just came over from work.”

  “The Pussy Club?”

  Nina had never heard of it. It sounded like some kind of sex club. Nina had been to a couple of those when she was bored, but the Pussy Club didn’t spark any memories.

  “It’s a lesbian bar. Isabel swings for your team, so I’m sure you got her more hot answering the door like that than I ever have.”

  There hadn’t been a spark of interest or appreciation as far as she’d seen in the cat burglar’s eyes, so she didn’t know whether to buy Brady’s claim. Even if the woman was a lesbian, Brady had a body that was meant to be appreciated.

  “Really? You don’t think she was coming over here at one o’clock thinking she’d find you?”

  The woman could’ve claimed to be a lesbian, but maybe she wanted to play on the wild side. If Nina wanted to play around with her sexuality after only sleeping with women for a while, Brady would be her pick to test drive things.

  “She was worried that Henry hadn’t eaten his food earlier, and when I told her I wasn’t coming home tonight, she decided to come check on him again.”

  Not a single ounce of emotion could be heard in Brady’s words. It was like he was a robot of some sort. The same couldn’t be said as Nina narrowed her eyes and growled softly.

  “You told her you weren’t coming home but didn’t think it was important to tell the woman you’re living with you weren’t?”

  Nina already had decided she hated the woman, and Brady wasn’t helping change that. He clearly hadn’t told his little friend Isabel that he had someone living with him, which seemed odd if she show
ed up to feed Henry. It should’ve been at the top of his list to mention to both women.

  “Look, I got your texts and know where you stand as far as your newest acquisition, but I don’t have the energy to talk about it tonight, which is why I went to Curtis’. I’m going to take this bottle and Henry and shut my door for the night. Maybe I’ll feel like talking in the morning.”

  Even though he said the words, he didn’t make a move to get up. If anything, it looked like he was fine falling asleep in the chair.

  “Fine, but I want to make sure that you hear it from me so hopefully it will sink in while you sleep. Buying your team had nothing to do with you. I wanted my game experience to be better, so I bought it to make sure I could see things changed. It’s the same thing as when I buy a restaurant so my favorite dishes don’t leave if a chef decides to move on. I buy things to make me happy, and since I’m planning on spending a lot of time at the arena watching you play, I did what I had to do.”

  Nina wasn’t going to stand around and grovel until Brady quit being moody and wanted to talk, so she took the high road and left before he could. He wanted some space. She could give him that. It was more level-headed than she usually was, but she felt she had to prove her decisions were right. Hitting Brady over the head with her side of things wasn’t going to change anything with his already despondent mood.

  Chapter 16

  Brady had an early morning meeting scheduled, so it was easy for him to be up and out of the house before Nina stirred. At least he was pretty sure she wasn’t up. He didn’t really check. One of the reasons he hadn’t found her the night before at the game, other than the fact he was trying to keep from strangling her, was that he busied himself trying to get all the powers that be in one room together to talk about what the deal meant to him.

  Nina obviously wasn’t included in those powers that be, since she’d made it clear she had nothing to do with whether he played or not. Brady wasn’t about to miss another game because of their agreement, and he wanted to make sure his coach and the lawyers were on the same page.