“But, why did you have to help the customer at the counter? Why couldn’t Sage?” Kennedy asked.
I pursed my lips and cringed. “Because it was Gavin.”
Karl sat on the edge of the seat and pushed his plate aside. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Who’s Gavin?”
“He’s one of Kellan’s students. I met him twice and did the class Wednesday night with him. He asked me out, twice.”
Bess nodded her head. “It’s about time these men start seeing our Molly for the scorching hot woman she is.”
“So, he came in to ask you out while you were in the closet making out with Kellan?” Karl fanned himself. “Dear Lord, I think I’m going to have to hang out over here more often. All this time I’ve been hanging at the spa eyeing up the yoga hotties when I could have been over here with all of the karate hotties.”
Bess perked up. “There’s yoga hotties?”
Kennedy giggled. “There are three of them, although they’re all gay.”
Bess sat on the edge of her seat and clenched her hands. “Together? Like one of them books, where it's three friends who do freaky deeky shit with each other, but then they all agree that they need a woman to share their freaky deekyness with?”
Karl burst out laughing. “You really think that shit is real? Girl, I ain’t never met a gay man who had two gay men at his beck and call, then decides he needs a woman to throw into the mix. You are crazy, child,” Karl tsked. “If those three hotties are going to include anyone into their freakiness, it’s damn well going to be me.”
Bess shook her head. “Kennedy, you go on and tell this fool that he doesn't have a chance to be asked to take on the freakiness of three men. He’d probably up and have a heart attack.”
“I think we’d all have a heart attack if that was really going on,” I mused. “I can barely get one man to notice me, I couldn't imagine three.”
Bess shoved the rest of her sandwich in her mouth. “It’s out there. I swear on my life it is.”
Karl rolled his eyes so hard, I was afraid he saw the back of his head. “Believe what you want, woman. I guess when you get to be your age, you need to live off fantasy.” Karl grabbed his sandwich and stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to refill the machines and head home.”
Karl ambled out the door.
“I better be going too. I have an early class in the morning, and I still need to stop at the pharmacy.” Kennedy grabbed some of the empty plates and dumped them in the sink.
“You think you can give me a ride home, Kennedy? Gretchen drove us all here, and now I don’t have a way to get home.” Bess folded over the bag of chips and dropped them in her purse.
Kennedy wiped her hands on her pants. “Shouldn’t be a problem. Where do you live?”
Bess hitched her purse over her shoulder and beamed at Kennedy. “Over off of Anderson. Just a couple of miles from here.”
“Sounds good.” Kennedy leaned over and wrapped her arm around me. “I’ll see ya later, hon. I’m glad we were able to work everything out. We should try to do a girl’s night sometime.”
I nodded, agreeing that it'd be good to spend the night out having fun for once. “I’ll mention it to Sage. She needs to get out more.”
Bess and Kennedy left, and I was once again alone.
I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. That sucked. Like, rip my heart out suck.
Kellan seemed to be the only one who was actually pissed off. Dante had talked to me, and the other two had never actually spoken to me before, so I couldn’t really gauge if they were pissed, but it didn’t seem like it.
Was Kellan upset that Gavin had come to see me at the cafe? But, why? I hadn’t told Gavin to come see me. He had basically insisted on coming to the cafe, and he was a grown man. I couldn’t tell him what to do. I wasn’t interested in Gavin at all. When I had first met him, he had been handsome and nice to me, but after Wednesday night, I discovered we were not a good match. He was much too pushy, and to be honest, a bit full of himself.
Some would say Kellan was the same, full of himself, but that’s not how he came across to me. He was confident and knew what he wanted out of life. Not to mention, sexy as sin.
Ugh, I needed to either figure what was going on between us or stop thinking about him. I was liable to go crazy if I kept going the way we were.
I needed to talk to him and just get things straightened out. Apparently, he must have thought that something was going on with Gavin and me. From the outside looking in, I’m sure that’s what it looked like.
I stood up and headed to the kitchen and cranked on the oven. After I had the flour, sugar, and cocoa on the counter, I had a solid plan of what I was going to do.
Kellan was going to find out what exactly I wanted, and the way I was going to do it was through his stomach. Then, hopefully, he’d kiss me, and a whole lot more.
**********
Kellan
“You gonna tell me why you were such a dick to Molly, or are we just going to act like that didn’t happen?”
I fidgeted in my seat and leaned my head back. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Roman glanced at me then turned his eyes back to the road. He had insisted on driving, and I was more than okay with that. I was so much on edge that I’m pretty sure I would have driven the damn car off the road, and not even blinked.
I knew she was going to be there tonight, but seeing her after tasting her sweet lips again was more than I could take. Especially knowing Gavin was more than likely going to be tasting her too.
“I thought you liked her?”
I growled low. “And I thought you said relationships only make guys into pussies. The fact that you are questioning me why I’m not with Molly is fucking confusing to me right now. I figured you would be the one who would be happy that there is no Molly and me.”
“Well, at the time, I didn’t realize what not being with Molly would do to you. You’re acting like a goddamn bear with a stick in his paw, and refusing to let anyone help you.”
“I don’t need fucking help. I wasn’t looking for a damn relationship, so it’s probably for the best that she found someone else.”
Roman flipped on his blinker and exited the highway. “Well, from the way she was looking at you tonight, I think you’re the only one thinking it’s for the best.”
“So, is this all you’re going to talk about all weekend, or can we just move on?”
Roman shook his head. “Hey, if what you want is for me to move on, fine. Moving on.”
I slouched down in my seat and watched the trees whirl by. We were half an hour away from the tournament, and I was ready to get out of the car. Roman was in an exceptionally good mood, and it was clashing with my shitty one.
“You think Jim is going to be here?” Roman asked,
“I would expect so. He’s always lurking around at the tournaments.” Jim always seemed to be around.
“You ever miss it?”
I looked at Roman. “The endless practices, never knowing where you were going to be sleeping, or Jim always yelling at us. Which one of those do you think I would miss?”
“It wasn’t all that bad. When we first started out, it was fucking awesome.”
I scoffed and turned back to the window. “That’s because we didn’t know any better.” The first couple of years were pretty awesome. We were treated like rock stars, and we even had the occasional groupie who wanted to show us her appreciation behind closed doors. But then it had all changed when the competition started getting tougher. Jim telling us if we weren’t competing, then we better be in the dojo practicing our asses off. I loved karate, but Jim made me hate it for a while. “It was, Roman, but that was because we were young, and didn’t know how we should be treated.”
Roman tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “I can’t wait for the day that we get kids from the school competing in tournaments. Kicking ass and taking names, hopefully.”
I nodded. “We�
�ll get there someday. Right now, we’ve got a good three years before we have any original black belts come up in the school.”
“Are we transferring over the red and blue belts that applied?”
“Yeah. I was planning on letting them know on Monday. They are going to have to go through each belt level to prove they know everything, but I don’t see that as being a problem.” Malaki and Titus were going to fit in just right with Powerhouse. We had given them one month of classes free to see if they were going to make it at Powerhouse, and after the first two classes, Dante and I decided that they were perfect. Titus was one hell of a sparrer, and Malaki’s forms were solid. We would be going to under-belt tournaments in no time.
“You need to talk to Molly.”
I slammed my hand on the dash. “Mother fucker. I thought we had moved on from this!”
“We did. I just needed to get that in there.”
I pulled my hood over my eyes and leaned back into the seat. Molly was the one thing I didn’t want to think or talk about. There was no way what I had heard was wrong. Who tells someone they would love to go out with them and then not go out with them? Did she look upset when we had walked into the cafe tonight? Yes. But she also had looked hot as fuck. Probably dressed up for her date with Gavin. I had never seen her out of her normal work attire, and it had been a kick to the gut when she had stood up.
Her curves were perfectly outlined in her tight jeans and white shirt that begged for me to touch and taste. I could tell she had been nervous and scared when we had walked in, but I had tried to keep my eyes off her. When she had stood, I had nowhere to look but at her.
Roman turned into the hotel where the tournament was being held, and drove up and down the aisles looking for a parking spot. “Jesus, was it always this packed when we competed?” I asked.
“Yeah, but we didn’t notice, because we were always the first ones here, and the last ones to leave.” Roman found a spot in the way back and shifted the car into park. “And Jim barely ever let us out of the hotel.”
I opened my door and headed around to the trunk. “How did we have him as our coach for over six years?”
“We liked the fame, man. And the chicks.” Roman winked and opened the trunk.
We grabbed our bags, and I was thankful I had packed light. The trek to the front desk was going to be a hike.
Roman shut the trunk, and we swung our bags onto our backs. “If you had the chance, and Jim wasn’t there, would you go back?” I pondered.
“Yes, in a fucking heartbeat.” Roman instantly replied. “Jim was the reason I quit. I love this shit, man. The fucking rush you get when you make it to grands, and step out on that big stage with the lights pounding down on you? Fucking amazing.”
Roman always had been the show boat out of all of us. Not that any of us were shy, but it had always been Roman who had shown the brightest and excelled under pressure. “You could go back now. Use Powerhouse as your sponsor. You know we’ve got your back.”
We were halfway to the front door before he answered. “It’s not the same. I mean,” he looked around and shook his head, “I am pumped to be here tonight, but it doesn’t feel the same without Dante and Tate here. We were a fucking team that dominated. I come back, and I’ll be known as the washed up kid that couldn’t seem to cut it in the real world.”
I laughed. “Washed up? You are fucking far from that. You’re twenty-seven years old, not ninety. And, you can still spin that bo faster than a fucking airplane propeller, man. You know you still fucking got it.”
“I talked to Sue about it.”
“Damn, you must really be serious if you spoke to Sue about.” Roman’s parents weren’t alive, and Sue had stepped in to fill the void his parents dying left.
“Just thinking,” Roman mumbled.
We made it to the front doors, and the lobby was crowded with people milling around. “Shit man, are you sure we’re going to be able to get a room?”
He smirked. “I booked a suite three months ago.”
I grabbed his shoulder. “Hold on. Are you admitting to the fact that you actually planned something?”
Roman laughed and shrugged off my hand. “Yeah, but don’t get used to it.” He sauntered off to the front desk, and I wandered into the small cafe next to the gift shop.
The intoxicating smell of fresh roasted coffee hit my nose, and I looked behind the counter, expecting to see Molly standing there.
“What can I get you?”
I looked at the barely out of high school teenage boy in a dark green apron and shook my head. The Java Spot is not where I was. “Um, a latte?” I had no idea what the drink was called that Molly made me. Normally, when I ordered coffee, it was black.
The kid rolled his eyes. “What flavor? Regular or Skinny?”
I scratched my head and looked at the board behind him. “How about you just make me something that tastes good?”
He huffed and pressed a couple of buttons on the register. “I at least need to know what size you want.”
It was after eight, but I knew the tournament would still be going on until well after ten. “Give me the biggest you got.”
The kid took my money, acting like I was a complete bother, then turned around to make my coffee.
Roman sauntered into the coffee shop and leaned against the counter. “Should have known that you were in here.”
“I need something to keep me awake.”
Roman shook his head and laughed. “You don’t find it ironic that you never would have stepped foot in this coffee shop before you met Molly? Now I leave you alone for five minutes, and this is where you go? I thought for sure you would have wandered over to the tournament.”
“I didn’t come in here because of Molly.” I grabbed my cup from the barista and walked into the hotel. “I went in there because I wanted a coffee.”
Roman punched the button for the elevator. “Keep telling yourself that, man. But the sooner you realize that Molly is affecting you even when she isn’t here, the better off you’ll be.”
I flipped him off, took a drink of my coffee, and abruptly spat it out on the wall of the elevator. “What the fuck is this shit?” I sputtered, trying to get the awful taste out of my mouth.
Roman was bent over laughing, holding onto the wall. “Holy fuck…your face…” he gasped as he continued to laugh like a jackass.
“Is it too much to ask for a guy to get a decent cup of coffee?” I wiped my off my mouth and set the rancid coffee on the floor.
Roman stood up and put a hand on his stomach. “I do know of a place where you can get a good one.”
The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. I grabbed the cup of coffee, flipped off Roman, and stepped onto our floor. I dropped the cup into the trash can by the elevator and waited for Roman to pull it together and haul his ass off the elevator.
All I wanted to do was drop my bag in the room, figure out where the tournament was, and not think of Molly anymore. The first two weren’t going to be a problem. The forgetting Molly was going to be a lot harder than I thought.
**********
Molly
I was having a major case of déjà vu.
It was Saturday morning, and I was standing at the door of Powerhouse with a box full of brownies, and a large cup of coffee. The lights were on inside, but I couldn’t see anyone moving around.
I had left Bess manning the counter at the cafe, so I could come over here and beg Kellan to tell me what I did to upset him. Then, I planned to fix it and hoped he’d kissed me. A lot. I was especially looking forward to the kissing part.
With the cup in the crook of my arm, I managed to pull the door open and stumble in. I always seemed to stumble into Powerhouse. One day, I’d like to not make a fool of myself here. That day was obviously not today.
“Molly!” Tate walked out of the back office and leaned against the front desk. “You taking class again today?”
I set the coffee down and wiped my hand on my pants.
I hadn’t calculated Tate being here. “Oh, um, no.”
“She brought me cookies, didn’t she?” Dante called. I peeked around Tate and saw Dante sitting behind the desk in the office. “Molly has the best cookies.”
“Cookies?” Tate asked.
I clenched the box to my chest and shook my head. These guys were savages when it came to sweets of any kind. “No cookies today. I was actually hoping to talk to Kellan for a second.”
Tate turned around and looked at Dante. Dante pushed back from the desk. “He’s not here right now, Molly.”
Well, that blew my plan out of the water. I had thought for sure that Powerhouse opened at nine on Saturdays. “Oh, well I guess I can wait for him to come in.”
Tate shook his head. “He’s not going to be in today, Molly.”
Dante stood next to Tate and look down at me. “He went to a tournament with Roman. They left after the meeting last night.”
My shoulders sagged. Of course. I had finally gotten the courage up to talk to Kellan, and he had left. “Oh, well, then I guess I’ll just leave these for you guys. I’m sure Kellan would have shared them with you anyway.” I thrust the box into Tate’s hands.
Tate opened the box and licked his lips. “Holy fuck, brownies.”
Dante grabbed one, took a huge bite, and moaned. “There’s no way Kellan would have shared these with us. Every time Ma makes brownies, he gets the whole pan, and we get shit. Serves him right not to be here.”
Tate took a brownie out and shut the box. “Yeah, he definitely isn’t getting any of these. We will tell him you stopped by, though.”
I nodded my head. “Thanks,” I whispered. There were four different kinds of brownies in the box, and I had slaved over them all night. Now, Dante and Tate were going to eat them all, and I had no chance of talking to Kellan. Mission: fail. “I’ll see you guys around.”
They both waved, their mouths full of brownies, and I headed back to the cafe. At least they seemed to be enjoying them.
Dropkick My Heart: Powerhouse M.A. Series Page 16