Fight for You

by Charisse Spiers

  Haddox looks at him and smiles. "Never. If I had one, my heart would belong to her. We'll be there." If he hadn't already, he just stole my heart. He doesn't have to explain. I know who Maggie is by the comments. There is nothing sexier than a man that can interact with kids.

  Marlin starts to back away and looks at me one last time. "Something tells me that's not the case...on either count." He discretely winks at me as he turns to walk away, leaving the two of us in this moment that I never saw coming. Now, I'm not sure where to go from here, but all of a sudden karaoke sounds fun. Imagine that...

  The lights are now dim and the spotlight is pointed at the stage, ready for each one chosen to get up there and shine or become the laugh of the audience, but usually it's just a lighthearted laugh and not making fun of anyone. That's why everyone loves this place. Marlin is a fun guy and everyone that comes here just wants a good time. The alcohol is always flowing around the room, loosening everyone up a bit.

  Piper is feeling the effects of the alcohol. I can look at her and tell she isn't far from being gone. She's still coherent, but she doesn't seem to have a care in the world. Me - I've had enough that we'll be taking a taxi home. I wasn't planning to drink, but the way she's hanging all over me I already know where it's going when we get there. I'm not having sex with her drunk if I'm sober. That's unacceptable. It seems like the more I plan to avoid sex for a while to focus on learning her, the more she wants it. I'm about to give up and just enjoy them both hand in hand.

  I'm not real sure what happened earlier when Marlin was at the table. I've never been a fan of titles, but when she was about to call herself my friend it put a bad taste in my mouth, even with Marlin being happily married. I guess the term just felt right. I don't know. Hell, the girl makes me do a lot of things I never would have even considered before. I'm starting to get used to it and just going with the flow. Maybe I should have asked first instead of assuming she was. Fuck, we're adults. Do you even still ask when you're this old? Rightly, I don't know. I'm twenty-seven and I've never had a girlfriend before. Shit, whatever. That's what I wanted and I took it. I might as well stay true to character. She didn't seem to have any objections on the matter.

  Without thinking I place my arm around her, resting my hand on her outer shoulder, and pull her close to me. She moved across the table when dinner ended and late night began, turning our chairs to watch the stage. The place is packed out now, crawling with many different ages starting from eighteen and exceeding older than me, probably well into the thirties.

  Some sorority girl finishes singing a Kelly Clarkson song and starts to exit the stage, walking toward her table of friends making a big deal about how good she was. She could sing; some of them can. It's usually more fun listening to the ones that can't. "Everybody in the house, listen up," the DJ in charge of the sound system says into the microphone.

  I'm completely relaxed, enjoying the fact that I don't have to do anything but sit here with her. When I'm in town I make it a point to come hang out with Marlin. I have since I bought a house here. "We have a special request tonight, so we're going to do something a little different until close. It's time for bat-tles," he shouts into the microphone, drawing out the last word, and revving the crowd up.

  Everyone around the room starts to clap and scream out their excitement. He stands at the sound booth and places both hands in the air, waving them up and down, encouraging the crowd. He brings the microphone back to his mouth. "Alright, alright. Here's how we're going to start. It's called Marlin's battle of the sexes; men against women."

  The crowd gets louder, stomping their feet against the wood floor. This sounds like something that Marlin would concoct in his mind. Shit like this is why this place is crawling with people dropping cash left and right every weekend. "You know what comes first, though. What do we have to do," he asks into the microphone and holds it out for the crowd.

  "House rules," the crowd shouts in unison.

  "That's right. House rules. For those of you that are veterans here at Marlin's, you know how we do it here. To the newbies, here's how it works. I go over the house rules and then everyone shouts challenge accepted when I hold out the Mic. Here we go."

  He spins before he continues. "Rule number one: we have no bad sports here at Marlin's. Everyone participates if called upon. If you can't sing, take a shot and you'll loosen up. Rule number two: this is for fun only. If someone can't sing, feel free to laugh along with the song, but absolutely no bullying. I don't need to explain; you know the difference. Rule number three: if you like the chemistry between a duo, tell them. Winning couple gets five hundred dollars and free dinner for a week. Rule number four: that's the end of the rules."

  He holds out the microphone and I decide to play along. Why the fuck not. What else have I got to do? I might as well enjoy a weekend out like normal twenty-seven year olds. I lean over to the outside of Piper's ear and lowly say at the same time as the crowd voices aloud, "Challenge fucking accepted."

  Her shoulders tense up and I notice chill bumps sprouting along her arm. Her breathing picks up slightly. She looks over at me with glassy eyes and bites her bottom lip. "I'm glad you all agreed, because first up is table thirty-two. Boss gets first nomination since he's funding the payout. Let's do this. Table thirty-two, please make your way to the stage."

  The crowd starts screaming out the table number, waiting for the nominees to make their way to the front. I don't have to look at the number hanging on the wall the table rests against to know that we're table thirty-two. Of course Marlin is going to nominate me. He wouldn't have it any other way. He knows I'm not going to back down either.

  Without looking, I grab Piper's hand and stand, pulling her toward the stage and up the steps until we're both standing in front of the packed out bar. The DJ grabs another microphone and moves between us, handing each of us one. "Is everyone ready to get started?" He shouts the line as loud as he can and everyone screams loudly. He looks at each of us and says for everyone to hear. "Singers, introduce yourselves."

  I look at Piper, now clenching both hands on the handle of the microphone. Her knuckles are white as she stares at the audience. I think it's safe to assume by the way she looks that she has stage fright. Seems conflicting with someone that wants to be in the spotlight of the fashion industry. I'll go first to give her a few more seconds, because I just don't give a shit. "What's up, I'm Haddox."

  I hear more female voices than males. Imagine that. No surprise there. I look over and Piper is slightly shaking. I know how to calm her down. "This beautiful girl is Piper. She's new here at Marlin's. Why don't you guys make her feel more comfortable...for me."

  The crowd starts chanting her name and immediately some of the tension drains from her body. Her hold on the microphone loosens a little. I scan the room until I find Marlin standing against the bar, watching with a mischievous grin smeared across his face. I hold the microphone to my mouth. "Marlin, get your wallet ready. It's about to be a good bit lighter."

  The crowd goes wild and the television screens hanging from the ceiling turn on, preparing to scroll the lyrics across the screen. "Ladies first," the DJ says and makes his way back to his soundboard as the twang of country music starts to play. I look over at my city girl and can't help but to smile at the look on her face as she recognizes the genre that she's about to have to sing to. The title and artist shows on screen first: Girl in Your Truck Song by Maggie Rose. Even the name is ironic to Marlin.

  I need her to relax and loosen up or this is going to be painful to watch. I remember some of those chats Alyvia used to make me listen to. "Show 'em what you got, baby. Win us that money and it's all yours to spend on designer things. I might even throw in something extra," I say into the mic in a much lower tone with the last sentence.

  She looks over at me, and our eyes lock. I've got her where I want her. She's no longer looking at the crowd and there's another screen behind my head to hold her attention. The tune starts to change, signaling the start.
She finally brings the microphone to her mouth as the first line scrolls up the screen. She sings along as the words light up in red, showing the rhythm in which to follow.

  It's a rough start. Her voice is a little off pitch and broken as she familiarizes herself with the beat, but I've heard worse. Either way, I'm holding a blank face, hoping she gets a little more into it. She glances over my shoulder to where Marlin was standing, and like a light switch being flipped her personality sparks, mixed with alcohol of course.

  She starts to sway her hips as the first set of lyrics come to an end, hitting the bridge. She walks toward me, bringing a confidence that was just absent. "I wanna be the girl in your truck song, the one that makes you sing along." I watch heatedly, holding her stare with mine, twirling the mic in my hand as she runs her hand down her thigh, dancing along as she gets into the chorus.

  She's one of those girls that once she's comfortable, she lights up a room without even knowing anyone is watching. There aren't many like her. The ability to take control of an entire room and become the center focus with no effort at all is a rare skill, one that is natural and not learned.

  She stops in front of me, grabbing the front of my button down in her small fist, pulling me closer to her. I smile, succumbing to the beauty before me as she loses herself in the song. Her voice isn't that great; actually it's pretty bad, but seeing her like this I'd listen to her over and over again, sitting front row waving a lighter as she makes her own show. I have no idea what Marlin mouthed to her, but I intend to thank him later.

  She runs the tips of her fingers up my front, wrapping her hand around my neck as she dances against me. She's now one with the beat, singing along perfectly even though her voice is not bred for country music, or any music for that matter. Regardless I find myself listening, as if she's singing the lyrics to me, wanting to do everything in them. She dances against me, turning as the song wraps up and skims her ass down my body, ending in a squatting position with the last note.

  She stands and bows as everyone in the crowd claps and yells at her performance, guys whistling. She's smiling from ear to ear. Usually they'd be laughing, but she became irresistible to pull away from once she let her soul be free.

  I just realized that my subconscious knew what she was before my brain caught up, because it's the only answer there is when I fit her into my fucked up world. I knew it in anger, I knew it in jealousy, and I know it as I stand here, watching our inner beings get to know each other as they move from simple curiosity to confusion and now into a state of desire. She's my girl. She's all mine in every way there is...and I'll fight anyone that attempts to take that from me.

  I feel completely free and uninhibited. The alcohol is making it a little easier, but when Marlin smiled and winked at me, giving me a nod, it was like a needed approval. Nothing but a small gesture, but he knows Haddox better than I do. He acted as if he knew exactly what he was doing by putting us on that stage. I wish I could read his mind right now. I've never done anything like this before. Tonight, I feel like I'm living.

  I look at Haddox, staring at me, as he has been most of the night. He smiles and right now he's the only one I notice. I press my lips to the mic. "It's your turn, sexy."

  Marlin walks to the sound booth and starts talking in the DJ's ear. He nods and makes a change on the computer. "Haddox," he shouts, and throws a baseball cap with New York Giants' logo on the front: my favorite team. Haddox catches it in his free hand and places it on backwards. Hot damn. Looking at him like that is hard on my heart, causing shortness of breath. I feel like I just ran a marathon. I'm so glad I went first.

  We look at the screen together as a slower melody starts to play, introducing the song: Stay with me by Sam Smith. Is Marlin choosing the songs too? That's a strange choice for a guy like Haddox if he is. Haddox hangs his head and shakes from side to side. I agree with him there, but it can't be worse than mine. I'll never forget this... I can feel it.

  He looks up at the screen and nods his head with the beat, familiarizing himself with the tune I'm sure, but only briefly and then looks back at me. He brings the mic to his mouth and starts to sing the first few lines. Oh damn. I'm fucking ruined now. God, he's beautiful. In every way there is. If he wasn't meant to be a singer then he just missed his chance, because his voice is unforgettable.

  A few lines in, and something changes in him. I can hear it in the power behind the voice and on his face as it transforms. Maybe he comprehends the words as he voices them, or maybe it's the alcohol altering our perspective, but some kind of force is holding us to each other. Either way, he's consuming me. Now, he's singing...to me.

  He places his hand on my waist and aligns our bodies as he hits the chorus again, but this time he's making me listen. I'm devouring every word. "Won't you stay with me, 'cause you're all I need. This ain't love it's clear to see, but darlin' stay with me."

  A tear falls from my eye as it overfills. I hate myself for it, but I can't stop it. He just opened himself up to me, and it wasn't even planned. I just had an epiphany. I don't need him to love me, I just need him to stay...and that's exactly what he's asking, making our needs one and the same.

  He lowers the mic as the song ends and grabs me by the waist as he looks down at me. "Stay with me, Piper." I nod, but that doesn't suffice. "Promise me."

  I look him in the eyes and a surge strikes my heart, causing it to ache. "I promise, Haddox."

  He kisses me and it's the most powerful yet, forcing me to intercept all of his emotions. It's overwhelming, yet it's liberating. He breaks free from my lips, but not my eyes. "We're going home."

  He hands off the mic and without paying the silent crowd around us any attention, he pulls me along behind him as he rushes to the door, grabbing my purse along the way. From the looks on their faces, they just discovered the same secret that we discovered.

  I pay the cab driver and pull her out of the car. We ascend the steps and I pull her against me, kissing her neck. She arches her back, pressing her breasts into me. I need to relieve all of this tension. I don't understand it nor do I know what to do with it. Oddly, I don't think the alcohol had anything to do with what just happened.

  I grab her hands and walk forward, slamming her against the front door, raising them above her head. She brings one leg up to wrap around my leg and slips her hands free, before she starts to un-tuck my shirt. I growl. "Fuck, Piper. Every time I try to slow the sex down you make me want you more. What am I supposed to do with that?" I press my body against hers, my erection bulging at the front of my jeans. I move my hands to the frame. "I'm trying to be what you want. I'm trying to give you more. I'm trying to be what you need. It's not in me to be virtuous."

  She starts to unbutton my shirt from the bottom to the top, button by button, until it's hanging open. She goes for my belt next, unbuckling it, following through with my jeans. "Who said that's what I want? Where is it noted that's what I need? If I wanted to slow the sex down then I wouldn't continue spreading my legs for you. You want to give me more, then give it all to me.... starting with yourself, exactly the way you are."

  Like a rubber band my control snaps. I shove the key into the lock and turn, and then open the door. I push her inside, shutting the door behind me. All she has to do is ask and she shall receive. I may fight a lot of things, but I'm no longer fighting this.

  I back her against the wall and look at her beautiful face in the dark, only able to see a center line running diagonally across her face from the moonlight shining through the window. She's done the impossible. She's hooked me. I want her, I need her, and I can't let her leave. Looking at her I know it's irreversible. I lace my fingers with hers and slowly raise them. I close in on her, but stop a breath away from her lips. "Mine," I say and crush them to hers.

  Beast, protect her...at all costs.

  We pull into a subdivision across town. I glance around as Haddox drives down the street. It's a quaint neighborhood with beautiful houses. They aren't like the more modern style ones
that you see being built now. My guess is that this is an older neighborhood. I like it. Every yard is perfectly mowed and nothing out of place, not a single plant or tree.

  I'm nervous. I have no idea why. I met Marlin last night, but there is something about meeting other women that is nerve racking. It could be because they can be so catty and judgmental. If these people are important to Haddox and she decides she doesn't like me, then she could be the neck to turn Haddox's head.

  I breathe to calm myself down as Haddox pulls into the driveway and shuts off his truck. This one makes the one back in the city look like a piece of junk¸ but I like that about him. I like that he's not worried about what others think about him. It's a quality that not all have.

  I stare at the immaculate house in front of me, giving off the vibe that the perfect family lives here. The handmade wreath on the door made from burlap and bows is the first that I notice. MBK is enclosed in a wooden circle, all cut from one piece of wood and hanging from the wreath hanger filling the void in the center. The center letter is bigger than the outer two, signifying it's the initial that represents the last name.

  I place the tips of my fingernails in my mouth as I stare at the white rocking chairs, perfectly angled on the porch for the occupants to see each other as they chat. I can picture them sitting out here as the little girl plays in the yard: a normal, loving family. I wonder what that would be like. It has to be better than penthouses and private schools, constantly looking for things to do out of boredom from the lack of parents being physically present. My mom didn't even work and I saw her no more often than my father.

  Haddox grabs my free hand and I look over at him. "They're going to love you. You've already met the worst critic of them all. Are you ready?"