The longer we were together, the less I thought about Angel. She’d cut me off so fast last year, that I wasn’t even sure where she was. She changed her number, I’m assuming because I called it ten times a day, and she moved out of the dorms. I know this because I went to campus looking for her. I talked to Cole about it, and he said he’d promised her that he wouldn’t give out her information. He looked at me like I was crazy. After all, I never told him what happened with us. It was as if being with her had been a dream, and now I was living in a totally new reality.
After several conversations about wanting to escape the city and the crowds, I’d finally convinced Vicki to come look at a house that I wanted to buy in the mountains. I’d loved camping as a kid, and I’d always dreamed of owning a cabin on a lake somewhere. I’d asked Cole to come along with me, and today we were driving up to see a house my realtor had told me about. Little did Vicki know, I had already bought it.
“Why is this thing so far away, baby?” Vicki’s voice whined from beside me. “I don’t understand why you want to be way out here.”
“You’ll love it,” I grinned as I quickly glanced back at her, and then made eye contact with Cole in the rearview mirror. He rolled his eyes and leaned against the window. “Thanks for coming, man. I appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem; I had the day off,” he shrugged before Vicki’s voice filled the air again.
“I thought we were going to have a romantic weekend?” she pouted.
“We will,” I reached over and squeezed her leg. “This place has plenty of room. Just you wait and see.” The car fell silent again, and I let my mind drift as we continued down the country highway.
Vicki had been changing lately. I didn’t notice it at first, and then I told myself that it was wedding stuff stressing her out. It was just her dad and her so she didn’t have a mom to help out. My mom had tried to help, but Vicki kept blowing her off. I guess if I’d paid better attention I would have known that this whole thing was a bad idea. I’d been hurt by Angel, and Vicki had been there. I’d forced myself to move on, and now I was blinded by the lights and fame. Vicki fit into that world, and she constantly reminded me that I was here because of her. I think if I’d been thinking clearer, I wouldn’t have confused guilt with love.
“Here we are,” I grinned as I pulled into the dirt drive.
“This is where you want to live?” her voice held contempt as she shoved open her car door and stood staring at the large house in front of us.
“Wow!” Cole gasped. “Nice, man. I might move in with you,” he teased as he too climbed out. When I stood beside him, he clapped me on the shoulder before I chanced looking at my fiancé.
“I don’t think it’s fancy enough for her,” Cole muttered under his breath.
“Wait until you see the inside,” I placed my arm around Vicki’s shoulders and began guiding her toward the front steps. When we got to the door, I produced a key to unlock it, and began guiding her inside. “It has three bedrooms upstairs, an awesome master suite, and check out this kitchen,” I waved my arm out into the room.
“It’s so rustic,” Vicki’s lips curled in disgust. “I can’t live here,” she looked up at me in her tailored Gucci suit, and tiptoed over to the couch like her poor Christians’ were going to be ruined from touching the floor. “Please tell me we’re not going to live here.”
My smile faltered for a moment as I took in the place. Maybe I’d missed something; I thought it was great, but she had to have seen something that I didn’t.
“What do you think?” I glanced at where Cole was leaning against the bar in the open kitchen. “Would you want to live here?”
“Dude, yes. This place is awesome. It’s big and in the middle of nowhere. Can you imagine the parties you could throw? Did you see the boat house down at the dock? There’s a boat down there. I wonder if they’d sell it to you?”
I watched him take in the house like a small child would, giddy with excitement. “They did,” I smirked as I watched his smile grow wider.
“Dude, you didn’t,” he paused and scanned my face as I nodded in the affirmative. “Holy shit, you did!”
“I did,” I chuckled. “This, my friend, is my house,” I crossed my arms over my chest before looking at Vicki. When I did, she scowled and the color on her cheeks darkened.
“I… I can’t… You shouldn’t… Wes, you promised,” she stood and glared at me. “Marriage means a partnership. You can’t go off making huge purchases like this with our money.”
“Whoa,” my head snapped back as her words hung in the air. “What do you mean ‘our money’? This was spent with my money. We’re not married yet. This,” I waved my hand in the air, “came out of my account. Your name isn’t on it yet. I own this house.”
She balked at me at first, but I could see her begin to deflate as she walked outside, “I’ll wait in the car.”
After she left, Cole stopped me, “What was that all about?”
“I don’t know,” I slowly shook my head. “We’ve been fighting a lot lately over things that she thinks she has control over. I mean, I know that my success is from a lot of her hard work, but she acts as if I owe her something.”
“Your success is because you’re a damn good fighter. She got your name out there. You’re the one that got you to the top, not her,” Cole pointed to where Vicki was now stewing in the car.
“Well, I guess it will be just the two of us when I come up here,” I grinned at him. “I might need the time away. I heard marriage changes things,” I let my head hang as the last few words slipped from my mouth.
“Are you ok?” Cole stepped closer and stared at me with concern-filled eyes. “You know you still have time to back out. Just because she said yes, doesn’t mean you have to go through with it. You’re not locked into anything yet.”
“I love her, and she loves me, at least I think she does,” I mumbled before remembering the best feature of this house. “I have to show you the downstairs.”
“We are downstairs,” Cole’s forehead crinkled.
“No, follow me,” I motioned for the backdoor. We jogged down the steps until I stopped at a red steel door. I pushed it open, and turned on a light switch illuminating the room. The previous owner had it set up as a workshop, but I was planning to turn it into a home gym. “This is going to be where the magic happens,” I smiled at Cole.
“I don’t think Vicki’s gonna want to make magic in here,” he snickered. “She didn’t even want to make magic where there was already a bed. What makes you think she’ll come in here?”
“Very funny, asshole.” I shook my head as I moved into the center of the room. “I already checked when I came up here to look at the place the first time. I’m gonna hang a bag here, put free weights over there, and turn that corner into a sparring ring. I can place mirrors along that wall, a scale over there, even install a sound system. This place will be a mecca for me. I’d be happy living in here, and forgetting the house,” I shrugged as I turned in a giant circle.
“This is pretty awesome,” Cole nodded as he leaned against the door. “So you gonna come up here alone since Princess doesn’t seem to be too interested?”
“She’ll come around, I’m sure. If not, then yes. She can stay in my place in the city. It’s small, but I don’t really need more. Maybe later on I’ll buy a nicer place, but I like this for home base right now.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Cole nodded as I cut the lights and began locking up.
When I climbed back in the car, Vicki turned away from me and spent the drive back to Boston staring silently out the window. I couldn’t understand why she was so mad. The house was great, and it didn’t change anything between us. I bought it with the funds I’d made from the Power Aid print ads I’d done. It didn’t cost her anything, and I was trying to give us a place to get away from it all.
“I thought you’d think coming here would be romantic,” I tried to capture her attention, but she wasn’t havin
g it. “You don’t have to come with me when I’m up here, but I’m not sorry I bought the place.”
“You have an image to uphold. You can’t live like a mountain man,” she scowled as she narrowed her eyes on me. “I can’t say what the press will do when they find out about this place.”
“They better not find out about this place. The only people that know are you two and the person that sold it to me. The previous owner signed a contract saying he wouldn’t disclose who the new owner is. That means,” I glared at her “the only way this would get out would be from one of you. I trust Cole with my life. He’s my best friend and would never betray me.”
“What are you saying,” she gasped as her hand flew to her face. “You don’t think you can trust me?”
“I never said that,” I blew out a breath as I stared straight ahead at the road. “Things about me have a way of getting out though when you’re involved. People seem to know where to find me. They follow me around when we’re together. When it’s just me, I’m able to get away. Why is that?” I glanced in her direction just in time to see her slink deeper into her seat.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she murmured as she looked away from me.
“I’m sure you don’t,” I rolled my eyes.
“We’re getting married, Weston. You have to trust me,” her voice climbed to a high pitch screech, and I watched Cole cringe in the backseat. “Don’t you love me?”
“Of course, I do, but you’re making a big deal out of this. I did this out of love. I wanted us to be able to get away, be alone, work on adding to our family without reporters documenting every second of it. I’d like to be able to be outside, and not be in a tabloid this next day.”
“You’re upset about that now? Wait until you fight for the title. Your life as you know it will be over. There will be no more hiding out. Your name is going to be splashed all over everything in a matter of a few months. I’ve got news for you,” her voice began to drip with the venom I’d only seen a handful of times. “This life doesn’t come without sacrifice.”
Cole’s eyes widened in the backseat and I felt the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I’d seen Vicki like this with others when she was trying to set something up for me. She’d spun stories that would amaze the normal person. Things that seemed minor would become newsworthy, and suddenly, everyone wanted to know the trivial things about me. Where I ate, the brand of clothes I wore, where I’d gone school, the type of supplements I used. That last one still stung. I’d never used a supplement in my life, and I wasn’t about to start, but Vicki was trying to nail down an ad for one of those, too.
She’d been telling me for weeks that I needed to use the product. Her exact words had been, “How can you endorse something that you’ve never used?” I agreed with that, and began using Max Builder. I didn’t know it at the time, but drinking those shakes each day was slowly ending my career. Vicki was setting me up for the fight of my life, one that I was going lose, and it would take me years to recover from. Victoria Stephens had been planning my demise from the moment she saw herself losing control of me. She didn’t like the fact that I didn’t defer to her, and she’d begun plotting how to show me who was boss almost immediately.
I thought I had it all, but I was a house of cards and Vicki was the wind that would blow me down.
Chapter 12
Wes- Age 24
Over the last two months things seemed to improve between Vicki and I. She was spending more and more time working, and we were only seeing each other at night or in between events. My trainer, Jimi teased me constantly saying I must be damn good in bed to keep her around. I usually brushed him off, and went a few rounds in the ring to work out my frustrations. Vicki didn’t seem worried that we were drifting apart, but I wanted things to work out for us. I loved her, at least I thought I did.
Cole, on the other hand, seemed to be falling in love weekly. He’d stopped by the gym the last two Saturdays to invite me out with him and his flavor of the week. It seemed strange seeing him that way. Growing up, it had been me with the weekly girlfriend, and now it was Cole. At some point in our lives, we’d switched places.
Today was a particularly brutal day for me. Vicki and I were supposed to go to some club opening together. She’d set it up, but I wasn’t really feeling it. I’d invited Cole to come along and bring a date. He’d told me he would try, but wasn’t promising anything. I think the fact that Vicki was going to be there is what turned him off. He didn’t like her, and made sure that I knew that. I wasn’t sure what would happen once we got married. Cole and I had been best friends since we were in second grade. We’d never let anything come between us.
“What are you still doing here?” her voice sounded from behind me, and I stepped back from where I was hammering away on a speed bag.
“What does it look like?” I teased as I wiped the sweat from my forehead and slowly turned to face her. She looked so hot standing there in her tailored navy suit. I couldn’t help letting my eyes drift down her body as I took her in. Her hair was pinned up in some fancy up do, and her arms were crossed over her chest puffing her breasts up. She was scowling as she watched me, and I couldn’t help but smirk.
“Stop eye fucking me,” she tried to sound stern, but failed when the corner of her mouth started to tip up. “You need to shower or we’re going to be late.”
“We won’t be late,” I rolled my eyes. “You’re the one that usually makes us late.”
“That’s not true,” she giggled as she rolled her eyes. “There are a lot of people I want to introduce you to tonight, and you need to look nice.”
“Do you worry about me,” I began loosening my gloves, and tossed them with my other equipment as I moved closer to her.
“Don’t you dare,” she warned.
“What?” I smirked. “You afraid of a little sweat?”
“I wasn’t planning on showering before we left. I just need to change clothes,” she was backing away from me, and the farther she moved, the faster I advanced. Before I could get close enough, her heel caught on the edge of a mat and she fell backward crashing into a medicine ball.
“Shit!” I hissed. “Are you ok?” I reached for her, but she slapped my hand away.
“Don’t touch me!” she scrambled to her feet. “Why do you always have to act like a five year old? Grow up!” she began storming toward the door. “Tell Jimi he better have your ass ready on time.” And with that, she left.
“What the hell was that all about?” I grumbled as I made my way to the showers. As much I was looking forward to burying myself in her tonight, I was more taken aback by her reaction to my taunting. We’d flirted like this before, but recently, she seemed to be pulling away. It was strange. The closer I tried to get, the harder she resisted. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around?”
I grabbed my sports bottle, finished off the protein shake she’d sent me with that morning, which tasted awful by the way, and turned on the shower. I wanted to make sure I’d be back to my place in plenty of time to put on something nice, and be the arm candy she needed me to be.
ooooooooo
When we pulled up to Club Titan, it was like a total transformation had occurred since the afternoon’s argument. Vicki went from scowling to smiling almost immediately. I stared in disbelief as she pasted on the fake smile, ran her nails down my thigh, and purred seductively in my ear.
“I’ve got big plans for tonight,” she whispered as she kissed the side of my neck. “Play nice, and we can get out of here early.” She pulled back just in time for the back door of the town car we were sitting in to be opened, and cameras flashed as we were ushered inside.
When I exited the car, I tried to discreetly adjust myself, as the crowd shouted questions in my general direction. You would have thought I was famous or something. I didn’t want the attention, and when I refused to look toward the area filled with cameras, I caught the frown on Vicki’s face. She loved this life, and I silently wo
ndered what our future would be like when I told her I didn’t want this.
“We need to talk,” I whispered in her ear as soon as we stepped into the club. It was dark, and the lights flashed as they bounced off the mirrored wall near the front. There were plush circular booths that surrounded the outer edge of the room, and a set of stairs that led to a VIP section.
“We’ll talk later,” she called over her shoulder as she led me toward a group of men standing off to our right. They were immersed in conversation, and must be important based on the way they were dressed. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
“No, now!” I stopped moving forward and she turned to growl at me. “I’m working,” she hissed as she fully faced me and poked my chest. “Don’t do this now.” She released my hand, and strutted up to the group. As she began the introductions, I zoned out. I made sure to shake hands when they were offered, but all I wanted to do at the moment was escape. This was not what I thought I’d signed on for. I wanted to fight, not be someone’s puppet. I didn’t like being led around and told when to smile. I didn’t like telling people how great this product or that product was. I didn’t need the money, but it seemed like the more Vicki and I were together, the more she saw dollar signs. I was beginning to wonder if she even saw me at all.
“Excuse us,” I politely nodded at the group as I led Vicki away. “I want to talk to you, and I’d like some privacy to do it.” I shuffled us over to a corner and glanced around, hoping that I hadn’t garnered an audience.
“What’s so important that you couldn’t be nice to the Maxx guys,” she flipped her hand in the air and acted as if me wanting to talk to her was the most inconvenient thing ever.
My Broken Angel Page 9