Breaking Beast (Pounding Hearts)

by Izzy Sweet

  “Hey!” he calls out from behind me and I whip around to face him.

  “You got a car?” he asks, and I shake my head.

  “Is someone going to pick you up?”

  I shake my head again. “I’m just going to walk.”

  “Shit,” he curses and hits the clicker on his keys. His red car beeps and lights up. “Get your ass back here.”

  “Why?” I ask.

  Has he changed his mind after all? Fuck, I hope not.

  “Because I’m giving you a ride.”

  I shake my head. Yeah, no… “I’m good.”

  “It’s not a fucking request, it’s an order.”

  Is he serious? One look at his face and resistance seems futile.

  “Fuck,” I curse under my breath. I thought I was off the fucking hook.

  “Hurry up,” he warns, walking up to the driver’s side door. “Before I change my mind…”

  Great, now I have no choice. I can’t risk him ratting me out to Chase.

  Hands clenching in my pocket, I stomp up to his car. He slides in his side and leans over, pushing open the passenger side door for me.

  “You really don’t have to,” I say as a last ditch effort to get out of this. “I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself, and I like walking.”

  Grabbing his gym bag off the passenger seat, he tosses it in the back and tells me to, “Get in.”

  Sliding my backpack off my shoulder, I set my jaw and climb in. I know when I’ve been beat, dammit.

  Placing my backpack on my lap, I fasten my seatbelt then look over at him.

  He looks over at me and I notice his own jaw seems to be clenched. He seriously looks pissed.

  If he doesn’t want to do this then why the hell is he doing it?

  “Where to?” he asks and turns the key in the ignition. The car roars to life and I jump a little in surprise.

  His lips curve at the corners, hinting at a smile, and I snort, a little pissed off that my reaction amused him.

  “Do you know where the Super 10 is?” I ask, fingers curling around my backpack.

  He nods his head sharply.

  “That’s where I’m staying.”

  Chapter Four

  Alex

  Why the fuck am I driving her to a Super 10? I’ve taken women to motels before… but yeah, that was for a completely different reason, right?

  This is serious jailbait territory right here.

  I’ve got this feeling some guy is going to come out of some hidden room and tell me to have a seat.

  She was absolutely full of shit when she said she had been working out. I was there from two until close, and it wasn’t that damn late when I left.

  She’s lying, but why? Why not just tell me what’s going on? Probably some kid shit… boyfriend doesn’t want to be with her anymore or something like that.

  Driving through the streets, I find myself looking over at her a couple times.

  She still looks beautiful, but man she looks so young huddled against her door. It’s not like I would push myself on her or something like that.

  Shit like doesn’t fly with me at all.

  “Let me get some heat on for you,” I say to her as I switch the heat on in the car.

  It’s not that cold outside for me but I guess to these southwestern people this is freezing or something

  “Thanks,” she mutters but just turns her head to stare out the window.

  Feeling annoyed by all of this shit, I focus on driving to the motel. It’s in a rougher part of town, and as I drive through the streets, I can feel the eyes staring out at us.

  There’s not many reasons a car like mine would be driving through this part of town at this time of night. Drugs or danger are the only reasons that come to my mind as we pass a corner with a couple guys standing on it smoking something.

  Things are going from bad to worse tonight. First, I forget to lock the building up. Then I stupidly decide to help some jailbait waif out, and now I am driving through the very wrong part of town.

  Turning right, onto the street with the Super 10, I slow my car down. Turning into the parking lot, my eyes search around the building. The thing is at the least forty years old and it’s showing every single year.

  The place is rough, and I can only imagine what kind of bugs or other forms of scum are living inside of it.

  Rolling closer to the main entrance, I glance over to see Christy’s eyes opening wide.

  “You live here or something?”

  “No,” she says quietly.

  “Your parents own it or work here?”

  “No… nothing like that.”

  “You work here?” I ask, and I know very well that could have several meanings—one of which makes me feel sick.

  Looking back at me, she asks, “Why do you care? I didn’t ask for you to drive me here.”

  Shaking my head, I look all around the place. I can just feel the bad vibes from the place leaching into us.

  “I don’t like the idea of letting you off at a place like this. It’s…”

  “Look, it’s all I can afford for the weekend. I just need it for a few days. We can’t all afford the Ritz, ya know?”

  “Don’t you have a place to stay? Is that why you were showering at the gym?”

  She hunches her shoulders as she says, “It’s none of your business, but if you must know… this place is on the bus line for where I work. That makes it ideal for me.”

  “Ideal is not getting shot or mugged. You said for a few days, right?”

  We’ve been sitting here, in front of the entrance, for a couple of minutes, and I can see that she is working herself up to opening the door. Working herself into leaving my relative safety, and walking into what I bet is hell.

  Fuck it, in for one mistake tonight, might as well make ‘em all.

  Slipping the car into drive, I pull away from the building.

  “What the hell?” she says loudly as I pull us into a tight half-circle and hit the accelerator.

  “No way am I letting you go in there. No way in hell… Even if I didn’t have a conscience, Chase and Avery would have my balls for dropping a student of theirs off at a place like this.”

  Turning to me, she says even louder, “Let me out, asshole! I can take care of myself!”

  Not bothering to slow down at the turns, I race us through the streets. “No way, buttercup. I saw you in the fucking shower, broken in half like some damsel in distress. I can’t let you get murdered or worse on my watch.”

  “What the actual fuck? Do I have to punch you in that big head of yours? Let me out! I can’t go anywhere else.”

  “What about home?” I ask as I blow through a thankfully empty red light.

  “I lost that the moment I hit eighteen,” she says through gritted teeth.

  Well shit, at least she’s legal.

  Getting on the loop around the city, I lean back in my seat as I feel the bad mojo from that hotel sliding off of me.

  “That sucks… I left home at about nineteen… but then again I was exploring the world, not getting booted.”

  Her face turns white as she asks, “Where the hell are you taking me?”

  “My house. I’ve got a couch you can crash on. If you need to get to work, we’ll figure it out.”

  “I’m so not sleeping in your house, creeper.”

  Shrugging my shoulders, I point to her car seat. “That won’t be comfortable to sleep on.”

  We make good time back to my home, even with her ranting about me being a crazy lunatic. I can see her reasoning, I really can… but fuck if I am going to let her get hurt on my watch.

  Pulling into my driveway, we drive past the privacy gate. “What the heck is this place?”

  Smiling at her, I say, “My home.”

  It’s not as big as some of the guys I know, but it’s got a good size to it. When I was coming back from across the ocean, I brought back a wealth of knowledge and money to go with it. A lot of guys go over to the Asian c
ountries to start a name for themselves. Most come home with busted bodies and empty bank accounts.

  I didn’t.

  Japan, particularly, was very good to me when it came to helping me rise to the top. I left there a champ and came back here, taking on all the challengers.

  I worked my ass off for the middleweight championship belt.

  I didn’t take any shortcuts when it came to working my way up to the top. I worked hard and bled for every inch as I pulled myself up the ladder. I’m at the very top for that exact reason. Hard work and determination, plus a strong desire to win.

  Looking over at Christy, her eyes are wide as she takes in my place.

  “This place is huge!”

  “Nah, but thanks for the compliment.”

  The garage door opens up for me. Pulling the car into its spot, I glance over at Christy. “Let’s go.”

  “No way! I said I wasn’t going to stay here with you.”

  Shrugging my shoulders, I open up the door of the car. “Suit yourself, but the walk back to the main roads is a bitch.”

  Getting out of the car, I hear the booming bark of my Cane Corso. “I’m coming, Muffin, hold on!”

  Leaning back down into the car, I look Christy in the eyes as she just stares daggers at me.

  “I’m not some asshole, I won’t touch you. I don’t do shit like that. I’m just trying to help a fellow fighter out. That’s part of what Chase teaches you guys, right? Take care of one another? Well, it’s a code with us real fighters.”

  Standing up, I walk to the door leading into the house. As I pull my keys from my pocket, I hear the car door open then shut quietly.

  Opening the door to the house, my big jet black Muffin barrels into me at full speed. Ramming into my legs, she stands up to put her paws on my chest. Barking loudly at me, I smile when I hear Christy squeak behind me.

  “What the hell is that?!”

  Glancing over my shoulder, I say, “Hey, be nice, Muffin has feelings you know.”

  “She looks like a hound of hell or something!”

  “Nah, she’s a big baby.”

  Pushing Muffin down, I step around her and take my bags into the house.

  I don’t hear any noise as I make my way in. Turning around, I see Muffin standing there in the doorway, just staring at Christy.

  Snickering, I ask, “Aren’t you coming in, Christy?”

  Looking at me for a brief second then back to Muffin, she says, “She won’t let me! She’s going to eat me!”

  “No way, you’re too scrawny. No meat on them bones. She’s just making sure you know who’s HMIC in this house.”

  Growling, Christy says, “I’m not scrawny, big head, and what the hell does HMIC mean?”

  “Head-Muffin-In-Charge,” I say, and laugh loudly before heading into the kitchen.

  I whistle quietly and Muffin races after me, following me to the treat bag.

  Chapter Five

  Christy

  It’s one thing after another tonight. I just can’t win. All of my plans have gone to shit. No, scratch that. Everything has gone to shit.

  What the hell should I do now?

  I could keep on fighting this, I could keep demanding Alex to take me back to the Super 10, but I get the feeling I would only be wasting my breath.

  I guess all I can do is go with it and roll with the punches.

  At least, for now.

  Alex seems like a good guy… at least he’s good to his dog.

  Gripping my backpack, I watch him lavish Muffin with affection and treats. Muffin looks up at him with adoration and happily wags her tail.

  I try to remember what I’ve heard about him around the gym but it isn’t much. I know he’s done a stint overseas and that he’s the current middleweight champion. That’s about it.

  In the gym we’ve had very little interaction. He hangs with the other fighters, and I’ve been restricted to the kiddie crowd.

  Despite everything that’s happened, I don’t get any creepy vibes off of him. He doesn’t leer at me or try to touch me. He hasn’t said anything pervy, but still, I’m on my guard. I just don’t see what he gets out of this.

  What’s in it for him?

  If it’s one thing I’ve learned since my mom passed it’s that people are only motivated to do things for others when it benefits them in some way.

  Maybe he’s just looking to score points with Chase and Avery.

  Fuck, I hope not. I hope he doesn’t go telling them everything that happened. The last thing I need is more people feeling pity for me, or even worse, trying to help.

  I can do this. I can make it on my own. I sure as fuck don’t need anyone else. I never want to be reliant or dependent upon another person again.

  Other people will only let you down.

  “Hungry or thirsty?” Alex asks as he wipes his hands off on his pants and rises to his feet.

  I shake my head sharply. My stomach is so tied up in knots I don’t think I could push anything down my throat.

  “Alright, then,” he scowls at me and then jerks his chin. “Follow me and I’ll show you to your room.”

  “I thought I was sleeping on your couch.”

  His shoulders lift in a bit of a shrug and for the first time tonight I notice just how wide they are.

  “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to work.”

  “Why not?” I ask, my heart fluttering with a bit of trepidation.

  Did I read him wrong? Is he going to try to put me up in his room? Make me earn my keep or something after all?

  “If I put you on the couch, Muffin will be up all night drooling all over you. She needs her beauty sleep. I’m going to put you up in one my guest rooms.”

  “Oh,” I say with some relief as I follow behind him.

  He leads me through his living room and up the stairs. I know he brushed me off earlier but his house really is huge. I think my entire house could fit in his living room.

  At the top of the stairs, he pauses in front of the first door then pushes it open. Stepping back, he motions for me to go in ahead of him.

  I walk inside the room and wait for him to follow me but he remains in the hallway.

  “I’m up at six, and you’re welcome to run with me. If you need anything before then my room is down the hall,” he says as I take in the room in front of me.

  There’s a queen-sized bed flanked by two nightstands, a large dresser with a huge flat screen sitting on top of it, and an open door leading to a private bath.

  This room is nicer than anything I could afford on my budget. After taking in the room, I turn around to thank him but he’s already gone.

  “Thank you,” I say quietly to the empty hall and shut the door.

  * * *

  Keeping my clothes on, I toe my shoes off and lean my backpack against the nightstand. Climbing into the bed, I slip beneath the fluffy blue comforter and stare at the ceiling.

  Now that I’m at rest, there’s nothing to keep the night’s events from replaying in my head.

  My ears strain, every little strange noise causing my heart to jump.

  I can’t relax and I’m afraid I’ll never fall asleep because I’m too on edge.

  But then something wet and slimy is dragging against my cheek. I roll over, trying to escape whatever is touching me. The slimy thing drags against my cheek again and something drips onto my chin.

  My eyes pop open and I cry out, “What the fuck?”

  Muffin barks excitedly and wags her tail above me. She’s standing over me, her legs straddling my body.

  She’s such a big dog I’m feeling extremely vulnerable in this position. I swear her head is bigger than my head.

  Her jaw drops down and her giant pink tongue licks my cheek again.

  My face is soaked with dog drool. Yuck.

  “Uh, good girl,” I say, and try to wiggle away.

  She barks and I freeze, afraid that I pissed her off. But no, her tail is still wagging and I know that’s a good sign.


  Her head drops back down and I roll quickly to the other side, narrowly escaping her doggy kiss. She barks at me and jumps back, giving me a way to escape.

  I quickly scramble off the bed.

  Muffin barks at me again. I get the funny feeling she’s telling me something but I don’t know what. Then it hits me.

  “You need to go outside?” I ask.

  She barks again and her tail wags excitedly side to side.

  I nod my head. Yeah, that must be it. “Just give me a minute,” I tell her and grab my backpack.

  She stares at me expectantly and her jaw closes. I walk into the bathroom and her eyes follow me the whole way. I don’t know why, perhaps it’s because I get the feeling she understands me, but I don’t feel comfortable getting undressed in front of her.

  I close the door.

  Dropping my backpack to the floor, I notice there’s another door leading to the hallway and it’s wide open.

  That must be how Muffin got into my room. I close that door and take care of my morning business before getting dressed. After slipping into a pair of black leggings and a tank top, I pull my hair up using the only elastic I have left.

  Ready for my morning jog, I pull open the bathroom door to find Muffin waiting for me on the other side.

  “Woah,” I cry out in surprise. I didn’t expect to find her there and it gave me a start.

  Muffin barks at me and once more wags her tail.

  “I just need to get my shoes on then I’ll be ready to go,” I tell her and walk back into the room.

  Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, I pull on my shoes and then check my phone. It’s a little after six. Alex is probably already gone for his jog.

  “Alright,” I tell Muffin and grab my earbuds. “I’m ready to go.” She trots up to the door expectantly and I open it for her.

  She darts into the hallway and takes off down the stairs.

  “Hey,” I call out. “Wait for me.”

  I close the door and race down the stairs, trying to keep up with her.

  The girl must really have to go.

  Muffin sprints through the living room and disappears into the kitchen. I chase right after her and slam into something big and hard.