Love on the Mat (Powerhouse M.A.)

by Winter Travers

  He slightly shook his head and pressed a kiss to my lips. “There’s no going back, Hadley. We already started.” He leaned back, grabbed my seat belt, pulled it across me, and snapped it into place. “Better get you to work, sweetheart.” He slammed my door shut, and I watched him walk around the front of the truck.

  What in the hell was going on? Had he not heard a word I had said in the house? He slid into the driver’s seat, and I put my hand on his when he went to shift into reverse. “Tate, I don’t—”

  “Stop, Hadley. You and I need to talk, but right now, we don’t have time.”

  “But I don’t want you to do this—” He cut me off again, and I let out a growl. The damn man wasn’t letting me get a word in.

  “Later, Hadley.”

  I sat back in my seat and folded my hands in my lap. He wanted to wait until later? Oh, he was going to get an earful then. I had eight hours of mindless work ahead of me to think of all of the reasons that we weren’t going to work.

  He had no idea what he was going to get later.

  **********

  Tate

  She was pissed.

  First, because I insisted we were going to talk later.

  Then, because when we arrived at the club, she requested to bartend and was shot down due to them being a waitress short.

  I was sitting in the corner, watching Hadley instead of the stage. I wasn’t interested in any of the girls up there. None of them could hold a candle to Hadley. Even Hadley, so mad that she wanted to rip my head off, was sexy as hell.

  She hadn’t talked to me all night, even when she had limped over to my table with a glass of water and took her break. She sat on her phone the whole time playing some game, and after fifteen minutes, she headed back to the bar without a word to me.

  It was a quarter to two, and the club was starting to empty out. It had been packed since it was Saturday night, and Hadley was dragging ass.

  “Sweetheart,” I called, grabbing her hand as she moved by. “Sit down.”

  “Hey, no touching the girls,” the bouncer next to the stage yelled to me.

  Hadley smirked down at me and wrenched her arm from my hold.

  “That just gave me more to talk about later, Hadley,” I warned. I liked that she had spunk, but she wasn’t about to start thinking she could walk all over me like a doormat.

  She squinted her eyes at me, but wisely didn’t argue.

  This was going to be fun.

  **********

  Hadley

  “You wanna tell me why you’re hanging out back here with me, counting bottles, when you have tall, dark, and handsome waiting out there for you?”

  I counted the last of the vodka bottles and handed the inventory sheet back to Vanessa. “Because he’s an ass.”

  “What? You barely even know the guy. How is he already an ass? Normally, it takes at least a few dates before the assiness comes out.”

  I slipped off my heel and rubbed my aching foot. “Well, apparently Tate is a special kind of ass.”

  “Girl, I find that hard to believe.” Vanessa flipped off the lights and pushed open the door slightly. “That man can make my panties wet just by looking at him.”

  “That doesn’t change the fact he’s an ass.” I slid my shoe back and regretted not bringing along my flip flops.

  She closed the door and folded her arms over her chest. “Tell me what happened. You looked like you could have spit nails when you came in tonight.”

  I sighed and leaned against the wall. “He came over, looking fine as hell, touched me, wouldn’t listen to a word I said, kissed me, then told me we would talk later.”

  Vanessa snapped the gum in her mouth. “Did you tell him no when he touched you?”

  “Well, not exactly. He did it before I knew what was going on.”

  “What is it he wants to talk about later?”

  “The fact that we aren’t a good idea.”

  “Says who?” she asked.

  “Me, and once he listens to me, he will say the same thing.”

  Vanessa rolled her eyes and pushed open the swinging door. “Get your ass out there and talk to him. Once you talk to him, he’s going to tell you everything you say is bullshit, and he’ll be right. Then you are going to let him take you home, and then you are going to invite him in so he can clean the cobwebs out.” She pursed her lips and shoved me through the door. “Stop thinking, Haddie, and just go with it,” she murmured.

  “You’re supposed to be my friend,” I hissed.

  “And I am. Now, go.” Vanessa swung the door shut, me on the side where I didn’t want to be.

  I was mad at Tate, and I had no idea why. I mean, I knew why I was mad at him, but I knew my reasons were weak, at best.

  He was still sitting at the same table that he had been at all night, and his eyes were trained on me.

  “You all done?” he asked.

  I shuffled over to his table and collapsed into a chair. “I’m mad at you, but Vanessa said I shouldn’t be.”

  He kicked his feet out in front of him and smirked. “I think I’m starting to like Vanessa.”

  “Be careful with her. She says she’s your friend, and then she says the complete opposite of what a friend should say.” I wanted her to tell me I was right and she would help me sneak out the back door so I never had to see Tate again, because he scared the ever living shit out of me.

  He stood up and pulled his keys out of his pocket. “You think we can continue this conversation at my house? These chairs are not exactly comfortable.” He arched his back and rolled his head side to side.

  I grabbed my purse that I had left at the table with him and hitched it over my shoulder. “No, I’m going home.”

  Tate shrugged and grabbed my hand. “That works for me, sweetheart. I don’t care where we talk, and your couch looked a hell of a lot more comfortable than these chairs.”

  He tugged me out the door, and I followed him to his car because I didn’t want to stay at the club any longer than I needed to. “I didn’t say you could come in,” I mumbled.

  He shook his head and slammed my door shut.

  “You know,” he mumbled as he started the truck. “I didn’t think you would be as feisty as you are.”

  I rolled my eyes and fastened my seat belt. “You didn’t think you needed to buckle me in this time?” I was back to being annoyed and not listening to a word that Vanessa had said to me.

  “I figured it was probably safer for me not to.”

  “Wise choice.”

  He headed back toward Falls City and turned on the radio. “You care what we listen to, sweetheart?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t care, as long as it isn’t any screamy emo shit.”

  Tate chuckled. “Screamy emo shit, huh?”

  “Yes.” That really was the only kind of music I didn’t listen to. Most of the time, I had the classic rock radio station playing if I was in the mood for music.

  “Well, you’re in luck, because as far as I know, I don’t listen to that either.”

  I listened to what he turned on and shook my head. “Yeah, you don’t.” Ozzy Osbourne was definitely not screamy.

  “So, you have the ride back to your house to convince me why you think that we shouldn’t date.”

  I turned to look at him. “And are you going to listen?”

  “If you make any valid points, I will take them into consideration.”

  “You know you are assy, right?”

  He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “Assy?”

  “You have tendencies to say assy things. It makes you assy.”

  “And this is part of the reason why you don’t want to see me anymore? I thought it had to do with Ryker.”

  “It did. I mean, it does, but now it also has to do with your assiness.”

  “You’re gonna have to choose the best argument you’ve got, Hadley, and I can tell you right now, assiness is not the way to go.”

  I sighed and sat back in my seat.
“Fucking shit meringue,” I mumbled. “Why can’t I use both of them?”

  “Hadley, I’ve barely known you two days, and I already want to put you over my knee.”

  I gasped and turned to look at him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means, I think you need a good spanking to get your head straight. Probably a couple orgasms would do you good too.”

  My jaw dropped, and all I could do was gape at him. “You are certifiable.”

  “No, sweetheart, I just know you need a firm hand sometimes.”

  “I do not need a firm hand. Are you sure you don’t have split personalities?” He still looked like Tate, but he was talking like some caveman. “Do you talk to every woman that way?”

  “No, just the ones who need a firm hand.”

  “So there have been others before me.” Well, that was fine and dandy. I knew Tate probably had an extensive past, but I really didn’t need to know about it.

  “Again, no.”

  “But you just said—”

  He cut me off and put his hand on my leg. “Is this part of your argument for why I can’t date you?”

  “Well, no, but your tendency to want to put me over your knee is making me a bit wary.”

  He squeezed my knee. “It won’t be anything you won’t like, sweetheart.”

  I bit my lip and looked at his profile. I should be demanding to be let out of the truck, outraged by what he was saying. Instead, I was sitting here trying to understand what he was getting at. “Are you like Christian Grey?”

  “Who?” he asked. “He an ex of yours or something?”

  “You’ve never seen Fifty Shades of Grey?”

  He laughed and turned into my driveway. “Heard of it, but I’ve never seen it.”

  “Well, he was into spanking and all sorts of crazy shit.” I unbuckled as he came to a stop and turned in my seat to look at him. “Do you have a red room of pain?” I loved that series. I never had much time to read, but for Fifty, I made time.

  “I think you might be boarding the certifiable line now, Hadley.” He shifted the truck into park and opened his door.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded. He slid out of the truck and slammed his door shut. I scrambled to get my seatbelt off, but he had my door open before I even had my hand on the door handle. “Tate, what are you doing?”

  He offered his hand to me. “Taking this conversation inside.”

  “That would be great if I had actually invited you to come inside.”

  He shook his head and threaded his fingers through mine. “Invite me in,” he prodded.

  I rolled my eyes. “Assy.”

  “Maybe.”

  I had to admire his honesty. “No.”

  “Please,” he pleaded.

  “Give me one reason why I should.”

  “Because as much as your brain is yelling at you to push me away, you don’t want to.” He squeezed my hand. “Invite me in, sweetheart. I promise nothing will happen that you don’t want to.”

  “I call the shots,” I insisted.

  He reached up and brushed my hair behind my ear. “You’re the boss.”

  Humph, I liked the sound of that. “When I tell you to leave, you leave. No arguing with me.”

  He nodded, and I let him pull me out of the truck. “Deal, sweetheart.”

  I fished my keys out of my purse and hobbled up the stairs. Tate was right behind me with a hand on the small of my back. “Don’t look up my skirt,” I mumbled.

  “I can see plenty without having to look up it,” he replied, amused.

  Damn short skirt. I could feel his eyes on my ass. I jogged up the last two steps, breaking away from Tate’s hand, but realized my mistake when I heard Tate’s quick intake of breath. I totally just flashed him my ass.

  I jammed my key into the lock, turned my back to the door, and stepped in backwards. “It’s not nice to look, creeper.”

  “When you’re wagging it in my face, sweetheart, it’s hard not to look.” He strutted in the door and closed it behind him. He flipped the lock and hit the light switch by the door. “Sit,” he ordered.

  I continued to walk backward until my calves hit the couch. “I’m only sitting because then I can’t flash you, not because you told me to.” I was, after all, the boss.

  “It’s been duly noted.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Damn spunky,” he mumbled under his breath.

  I sat down, slipped off my heels, folded my hands in my lap, and waited.

  **********

  Tate

  She plopped down on the couch and finally stopped talking.

  “You ready to discuss us?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head.

  “Fine, I can do the talking, and then we can move on to the rest of the night.”

  Her eyes bugged out, but she refused to talk. It was a battle of wits with this woman. One minute, I couldn’t get her to stop talking, and the next, when I wanted her to talk, I couldn’t drag a word out of her.

  I sat down in the recliner next to the couch and popped open the foot rest. Might as well get comfortable. I had no plans of leaving tonight.

  “So, let’s start with Ryker. Not that I truly understand why you’re concerned about him, but I’m willing to hear your reasoning.”

  She sat back on the couch and crossed her legs. I tried my best to not stare at all the smooth skin, but it was damn hard not to. “Are you going to let me talk without cutting me off?”

  “My lips are sealed until you tell me I can talk, sweetheart.” Another thing that was going to be damn hard. I knew everything she was about to say was pure bullshit.

  She looked around the living room and tapped her foot. “Now I don’t know where to start,” she mumbled.

  “Well, you think on it, and I’m going to go raid your fridge. I’m damn hungry.” I wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

  “What exactly are you hungry for?” she asked, following me into the kitchen.

  “You, but we’ll get to that in a bit.” I opened the freezer and pulled out a frozen pizza. “Have you thought about acquiring stock in frozen pizza? You have enough in there to feed an army.”

  She sat down at the table and crossed her legs again. Lord have mercy, she was pushing me closer to the edge every time she crossed them.

  “Am I supposed to ignore the first thing you said?”

  I turned on the oven and took the wrapper off the pizza. “Up to you, sweetheart. It doesn't matter if you acknowledge it or not, it’s going to happen.”

  “Right,” she stood up and put her hands on her hips. “I think I’ve got my thoughts in order.”

  “Hadley, just—”

  She held her hand up and shook her head. “I talk now.”

  I held up my hands in surrender and leaned against the counter. “You got it, sweetheart.”

  She paced the length of the small kitchen and finally stopped in front of me. “I like you.”

  Well, that was a different path than the one I thought she was going to go down. “I like you, too.”

  “But that doesn’t matter.” She gathered her hair off of her neck, twisted the hair tie she had around her wrist, and piled her hair on top of her head. I fucking loved when she had her hair like that. “I can’t date you because that would mess everything up with Ryker. I’m already shitty at this whole guardian thing, and adding you to the mix would really get me in trouble with Pye.”

  “Pie?” What in the hell was she talking about? Now I wanted a piece of pie to go with my pizza.

  She waved her hand around. “He’s an ass, and not really part of this. I don’t even know why I brought him up other than the fact he’s another man in my life that is making everything harder.” She sighed and hung her head. “Back to you and me.”

  “Okay.”

  She took a deep breath and looked me in the eye. “Ryker looks up to you and loves spending time at Powerhouse. If you and I start dating, then Ryker is go
ing to get even more attached to you. Plus, Ryker isn’t going to go away. He’s my responsibility, and that’s never going to change, even when he turns eighteen. I have a whole lot of baggage in my trunk, and I don’t think you understand what you are getting into with me.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded. “That it?”

  She shook her head and started pacing again. “I really don’t think you hear what I’m saying. Ryker finds out about us and everything changes.”

  “But what if he doesn’t find out about us?” I knew I wanted Hadley, but she was right when she said that we had only known each other for two days. “How about we pump the breaks on letting anyone know about us and just keep it between the two of us?”

  She spun around and gnawed on her bottom lip. “But how would that even work?”

  I took a step towards her. “You let me take you to work every night, I hang out while you work, and then I get to spend your breaks and time after work with you.”

  “That’s twenty minutes to and from work and a fifteen-minute break. How are we going to get to know each other in that short amount of time?”

  I closed the space between us and pulled her into my arms. She stiffened up, but didn’t move away. “This isn’t a race, Hadley. I hear what you’re saying and most of it makes sense.”

  She leaned back and looked up at me. “Where did I lose you at?”

  “The whole pie thing, but I’ll have you explain that to me later.”

  She sighed and closed her eyes. “He’s Ryker’s principal who makes me feel like even more of a failure.”

  “Jesus, Hadley. I really doubt you’re a failure.” I rubbed her back and tugged her with me as I stepped backward to the chair. “So what do you think of my idea?”

  “I think you aren’t going to let me say no, and to be honest, I don’t want to say no.”

  “Then say yes.” I nuzzled her neck, burying my face in her hair.

  “This isn’t fair,” she whispered.

  “I say it is.”