Fight of Life (Perception Book 3)

by Shandi Boyes

  “Hold on, just wait a minute” Callum responds panicked as his eyes dart down to look at the white lines on the coffee table, before turning back to look at my eyes.

  “I can’t just have him un-arrested. It doesn’t work that way” he continues as he rubs under his nose with his index finger.

  “All you have to say is that you swang at him first. It’s that simple. Then Jacob will be served with a lesser probation period, since it was self-defence” I reply as I raise one of my eyebrows into the air, daring Callum to force me to push the call button.

  “Three…two…one” I countdown, warning Callum that I am not joking. I really don’t want him to call my bluff right now.

  “Alright, fuck Lola. I will do it” Callum replies panicked.

  I try to hold in my smile, but the feeling of victory feels too good that the corners of my mouth start to lift into a little smirk. When I look over at Hank, he is looking at me proudly.

  I refused to leave Callum’s house until I personally watched him call Ryan to request to change his statement. When Ryan arrived at Callum’s house, he seemed surprised to find Hank and I sitting in his lounge room, but he didn’t say a word as he retook Callum’s statement. Once they finished all the formalities, Hank and I followed Ryan out of Callum’s house.

  “How did you get him to agree to this?” Ryan questions confused.

  “I told him I was going to press charges against him for the assault at Mavericks, using the original photos and statement you took”

  “But I didn’t take any photos” Ryan interrupts confused.

  “He didn’t know that, did he?” I reply as I smile brightly at Ryan. “Will it help Jacob?” I question.

  “Yeah it will, you did good Lola. But next time please don’t go to a drug addicts house alone” Ryan request firmly.

  “I wasn’t alone. I had Hank with me” I reply as I wrap my arm around Hank’s shoulders, while he does his best bodyguard pose, causing both Ryan and I to laugh.

  Chapter 45

  Jacob

  When I walk back into Noah’s room with Jenni’s dad Michael following closely behind, Emily immediately wraps her arms tightly around my neck.

  “Now if that doesn’t wake Noah up, I don’t know what will” I chuckle while I return her hug.

  “He is very lucky he has you as a friend Emily, or he would have been spending the next three days in jail awaiting his arraignment” advises Michael. Emily gives Michael a hug as they talk in hushed whispers.

  “Look after him” Michael pleads before he spins on heels and walks out of the room.

  “Are you okay Jacob?” Emily questions sincerely.

  “Yeah, I am all good” I lie.

  I am fucked. Ryan has pretty much said there is no chance I am going to not do jail time this time around. One fucking week, that was all I had left on probation. One lousy fucking week. When I was sitting in the holding room, my mind immediately starting to wander to the last time I was sitting in that exact same room. I couldn’t stop thinking about Lola. I have hardly seen her in the past six weeks. Every time she entered the room my heart would skip a beat, until her sad eyes flicked up to mine and my cool composure started to crack. I know I was being a coward by leaving the room, but I was trying not to create a scene in front of Emily. I still fucking love Lola, but I can see in her eyes that I have lost her, as she no longer looks at me like she used too.

  Three days later, I was nervously tapping my foot in the court chambers waiting for my turn to face the judge, when I spot Michael come running towards me quickly.

  “You are one lucky son of a bitch” Michael says clearly excited, while he motions for me to follow him.

  We walk into a courtroom at the other end of the hall, where I notice a judge is already seated. I have to do a double take when I enter as the judge looks so much like the world famous actor Morgan Freeman. I nearly want to pull my phone out of my pocket to take a picture to show Emily, but I don’t think the judge would appreciate that, so she will just have to take my word on his freaky resemblance.

  Michael makes his way towards the judge, requesting permission to approach the bench. When his permission is granted, Michael hands the judge a piece of paper and they discuss the particulars of my case while I take a seat on one of the wooden chairs at the front of the galley. The judge eventually motions for me to move forward and I stand next to Michael at one of the wooden desks in the room. Here it is, I am about to be handed my fate.

  “You are an extremely lucky young man. I sentence you to probation for six months with an attached agreement that you will complete five hundred hours of community service and you will be required to attend counselling sessions for anger management” advises the judge to my shocked expression.

  “Thanks Judge, thank you” Michael graciously praises as he smiles brightly at me.

  I stand there completely dumbfounded. Ryan said there was no way I was going to escape jail, but I just got handed only six-months of probation.

  “How did you do that?” I question confused. Emily had said Michael was a good lawyer, but she failed to mention that he could perform magic.

  “The judge just overturned your original conviction from two years ago. Which means that you didn’t have a prior conviction recorded on your criminal record for this incident. A normal sentence for a first time offender is probation and sometimes community service” Michael responds.

  “My original conviction got overturned?” I ask, still confused.

  “Yes! The DA was given some new evidence and the Judge just agreed to overturn your first conviction. Stop looking so worried Jacob, you just got handed your life back. You should be celebrating right now” he replies while he slaps my shoulder with excitement.

  As I was driving back to the hospital, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to switch it back on since I had to turn it off when I entered the courtroom. The instant it turns on, my phone dings indicating I have received a text.

  Good luck today. Lola xx

  This is the first text I have received from Lola in over six weeks. How the hell did she know what was going on today? Then suddenly it dawns on me, she was one of a small handful of people that knew about my first conviction. My eyes dart to the clock displayed on my dashboard and when I notice it is 2pm, I quickly manoeuvre a U turn and start heading away from the hospital.

  The instant I walk into Hank’s gym, my stomach lurches in protest at the smell.

  “You will eventually get used to it” states a female voice to my right that I instantly recognize. Lola smiles at me brightly as she walks over and wraps her gloved covered hands around my neck.

  “I am glad to see you aren’t behind bars right now” she whispers softly, before she slowly pulls away from my embrace. I want to hold on to her, but I reluctantly let go when I see Hank jogging towards us.

  “Jacob” he greets as he replaces Lola’s arms with his own.

  “It’s been so long since I have seen you” he continues, before he assists Lola in removing the gloves from her hands.

  “You better watch that you don’t start getting a little puggy on the inside” he laughs as he finishes removing Lola’s gloves. Lola’s eyes roam over my body, before they return back to my face, where she offers me a rare small smile.

  “Thanks Hank” she whispers before she starts to walk away from us.

  “How is she going?” I question roughly, once she enters the locker rooms. She looks tired, but she is still a fucking stunner.

  “She is going good” Hank replies smiling, before his smile morphs into a frown.

  “Why didn’t you tell me what happened to Lola?” he questions sternly.

  “She told you?” I question unbelievably. Lola was so adamant she never wanted anyone to know what had happened to her.

  “Not in so many words, but yeah she told me, but why didn’t you tell me? I was so mad at you for weeks after you got arrested. If you had told me what had happened, I would have understood. I am not a complet
e asshole” Hank responds.

  “It wasn’t my story to tell” I reply as my gaze returns back to the locker room. I can feel Hank’s gaze burning a hole in the side of my head, but I can’t stop looking at the locker room. My dick starts to stiffen just thinking about all the fun that Lola and I use to have in there.

  “Go and talk to her Jacob” Hank whispers softly as he nudges me towards the lockers.

  “I can’t” I whisper roughly. I don’t know what to say to her to get the hurt look out of her eyes every time she stares at me.

  “Why not?” Hank immediately responds.

  “It’s complicated” I reply, while I scratch my eyebrow.

  “Complicated my ass. You two are just too stubborn for your own good. Go and talk to her” Hank replies angrily as he pushes me harshly until I am standing in front of the locker room door.

  “Is it safe to come in?” I question as I roll my eyes at my own corniness. I can hear Hank chuckling as he walks into his office. He can laugh as he hasn’t experienced the wrath of an angry Lola.

  “It isn’t like you haven’t seen it all before Jacob” she replies sarcastically.

  I chuckle loudly as I walk into the locker. When I spot Lola, my eyes nearly bug out of my head. She is standing in front of the mirrors with a small white towel wrapped around her curvy fit body. I have spent hours studying every delicious inch of her body the past year and there is still so much I have yet to discover. She stops brushing her hair and looks at my reflection in the mirror as I adjust myself.

  “How long has it been?” she questions while she cocks her eyebrow into her hairline. “Actually, I don’t want to know” she continues as her face morphs into sadness and she slightly shakes her head. I watch as she takes a large inhale of breath before she recommences brushing her hair.

  “Did you help get my original conviction overturned?” I question while taking a few steps closer to her, trying to keep my gaze on her face, but failing miserably.

  Lola’s excited face turns around, her mouth is opened wide in shock, before she smiles brightly. “It got overturned?” she questions excitedly.

  When I notice her reaction, I can’t help but smile. When I nod my head, she quickly closes the distance between us and jumps into my arms.

  “Holy shit, I didn’t think it would get overturned” she screams loudly into my ear as she wraps her arms tightly around my neck.

  I relish having Lola in my arms again as I hold her close to my body and take in several large inhales of breath. Fuck she smells so good. She must notice my death grip on her, that she starts to wiggle out of my embrace. I reluctantly place her back down on her feet and she adjusts her towel to ensure she is still fully covered.

  “You need to watch where you are pointing that thing” she giggles, as her eyes narrow down to my erection bulging out of my dress pants.

  “Sorry” I apologize as I adjust myself, trying to get my cock to calm down.

  “I am going to go and wait for you outside as I can’t control this thing looking at you like that” I advise, causing Lola to once giggle.

  Chapter 46

  Lola

  Jacob swiftly turns on his heels and bolts out of the locker room. I can’t help but feel a little excited that I still manage to spark such a reaction out of him. But now I am going to suffer miserably for the next several days. Bob had a hard enough time trying to compete with the real thing and now that I have felt the real thing rubbing against me, I am never going to get it out of my head. Fake it until you make it Lola, I chant to myself.

  I finish getting ready and hesitantly make my way out of the locker room. Jacob is leaning against the wall and when he spots me, he pushes off and confidently strolls towards me. I watch as his eyes roams over my body, before they slowly lift to my face.

  “Clothes still isn’t helping” he chuckles cheekily, making my confidence soar. I could say the same thing for Jacob. When Hank joked saying that he might start getting puggy on the inside, I couldn’t help but roam my eyes over his body. Jacob still looks like he is built like a machine, even though he hasn’t worked out for weeks. That is why I swiftly walked to the locker rooms, so I could take a freezing cold shower in a hope to calm down the intense throbbing between my legs.

  My eyes look past Jacob to Hank’s office and I am surprised to find that the office is dark and Hank is nowhere in sight.

  “Where is Hank?” I question confused.

  “He said he had to head home and asked if we could lock up the gym for him” Jacob advises. I pull my eyebrows together tight as I stare at Hank’s empty office. This gym is his home.

  “Have you got time to talk?” Jacob questions nervously.

  I quickly check my watch, before nodding my head. “I am not due at work for around two hours” I reply, while still trying to work out where the hell Hank went.

  Jacob gently grasps my hand within his and walks out of the gym, before spinning around to lock the door. He then bends down and slips the key under the mat at the front of the gym. It is only as Jacob starts swiftly strolling towards his car do I spot Hank leaning against the wall at the side of the gym. When he notices my confused gaze, he smiles brightly at me before lifting his index finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. I nod my head as I wave goodbye to Hank, just as Jacob opens the passenger side of his door.

  When Jacob pulls his car into the carpark of Mavericks bar, I can’t help the smile that forms on my face. I still love Mavericks even though I have been working at Pete’s for almost two years. Even though Mavericks isn’t officially my turf anymore, it’s still feels like I am returning home. Jacob holds my hand as we walk into the bar and the first thing I note is that Maggie isn’t serving behind the bar, perhaps she does occasionally have a day off.

  “Hi Jacob, what can I get you?” question a pretty blonde girl behind the counter. She smiles brightly at Jacob as she flutters her eyelashes at him. I roll my eyes at her blatant attempt to flirt with Jacob right in front of me. He is holding my hand for fuck sake and she stills goes there.

  Jacob orders two beers and I am pleased when he doesn’t appear to flirt back with her. I give her a sly smirk, feeling victorious. Take that bitch. Once she serves Jacob our beers, he walks over to one of the tables located near the pool tables.

  “Just being back here can nearly make me forget everything that is going on” Jacob says quietly as he takes a sip out of his beer. I don’t say anything back to his statement. I just slowly roam my eyes over his face. He looks exhausted and physically drained, but I am more concerned on what is going on in that head of his. He has dropped everything in his life to be there for Noah and Emily. That is a huge burden to be placed on anyone’s shoulders, even if they are as strong as Jacob’s.

  “Now it all makes sense. It’s like the pieces of the puzzle are clicking together” states a deep voice to my side. I look over and see Flynn standing next to our table with a beer in his hand. When my gaze flicks to Jacob, I can see that his jaw has started to tick and his angry glare is staring daggers at Flynn.

  “It was Jacob wasn’t it? The one you run off for?” Flynn questions in his deep Australian accent. You can tell by his tone that he isn’t angry or upset, he is just curious. Jacob’s angry glare slightly falters as it turns towards me. I nod my head at Flynn and he smiles before he takes another sip out of his bottle.

  “Well I will leave you two love birds to talk, nice seeing you again mate” Flynn states as he turns to walk back towards his band mates.

  Jacob slightly nods his head in greeting, but his angry scowl remains on his face. I watch as he swallows harshly several times in a row and his eyes feel like they are burning a hole into me with how deep he is staring.

  “I didn’t sleep with Flynn” I huff annoyingly. Annoyed at myself that I had succumb to Jacob’s angry glare and caved on my stance about being questioned. But also annoyed that Jacob has no right questioning me after what I had seen in those pictures on his Facebook account.

  “
I don’t think you should be the one shooting daggers at me Jacob, after what you have splashed all over the internet” I reply while I cross my arms dramatically and breathe harshly out of my nose. Jacob’s angry scowl is replaced with confusion and he looks at me dumbfounded.

  “You didn’t sleep with Flynn?” he questions surprised. Typical, out of my whole dramatic statement all he got was the part about me not sleeping with Flynn.

  “No I didn’t sleep with him” I reply angrily.

  Jacob’s face morphs into a huge grin, that causes my heart to falter. I haven’t seen him smile like that for months and I have missed it so much. I lick my lips and notice that Jacob’s gaze lowers down to my lips. When his eyes lift back to mine, I can see the sexual hunger that has settled deep within.