Royal Stripper

by Sienna Valentine

  She stopped in the street, making everyone else on the sidewalk have to walk around her to pass, but ignoring them. He suddenly made sense to her, the way he was withdrawn, that he lived at a shelter. Fighting was probably always part of his life. Who could guess at what sort of childhood he had, but it probably wasn't anything like hers. Fighting might be all he knew. And who was she to judge, anyway?

  She slowly started to walk again. They hadn't paid him for that fight he lost, and he ended up injured, although she got the impression it looked a lot worse than it was. It wasn't like this job gave him benefits. They paid him only if he fought, and it seemed like only if he won as well. She couldn't imagine living with that sort of uncertainty and danger.

  She felt bad now, having judged him so harshly. She had no idea who this guy was. For someone who fought for a living, her night could have ended up a lot worse than it did. It didn't end up badly at all, in fact. She was really just upset that it was over, not that it had ever started in the first place.

  She got to Starbucks and stopped in front of the big double doors. Something caught her eye and she looked over at a large poster taped to the wall of the building next door. She'd seen it before, but never really paid it a lot of attention after reading it the first time. Now she read it over again with renewed interest. Smiling, she reached up and stuck her nail underneath the edge and carefully pulled it from the wall, rolling it up into a tube once she removed it completely. This could be helpful. But first she needed to find Joel again.

  Chapter 19

  Joel

  There was no rain tonight, but Joel was still careful to make sure he arrived at the shelter in plenty of time to get a bed. After sleeping on the couch with fresh sheets the night before, he didn't relish another night on a park bench to follow it up. Not that the shelter could compare in any way to the other activity he had partaken in last night, but going without sex again would be something he'd get use to as well.

  He felt bad about leaving the way that he did. Amber had been nice to him, and really did have no expectations in return. She was gorgeous, and far more than he ever deserved. Even when he slept he didn't dream about being with women that looked like her, and never ones that treated him so well. He didn't deserve a girl like that. The best thing he could do for her in return is stay out of her life. He had no intention of going back there to see her again. Nothing good ever happened in his life, and he didn't need to drag someone like that down with him.

  "Joel?"

  His head snapped around and his eyes got wide. "Amber? What the hell are you doing here?"

  "This is the third shelter I've been to, actually," she said. She had a small half smile on her face, but she looked at him apprehensively, as if she was expecting him to lash out at her. "I'm not a stalker, I promise."

  Joel couldn't believe she was standing in front of him again. "I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye," he said. "I just thought it would be easier. Did you come for your clothes? I have them here." He turned to reach under his bunk, but she reached out and touched his shoulder.

  "No, keep them," she said. "I don't care about the clothes. I just came..." she paused as he looked up at her from his cot, their eyes meeting again. He felt something between them, something he'd felt last night that had overwhelmed him enough to kiss her. He had the same feeling now, but he resisted it.

  "I came to show you this," she said. She was holding out a rolled up poster so he took it and lay it down on his bed to straighten it out. His eyes scanned it quickly and then he looked back at Amber. She was smiling brightly at him.

  "What do you think?" she asked. "Isn't that what you do? That sounds like a great opportunity, doesn't it?"

  Joel just nodded as he re-read the advertisement. The poster was promoting a fighting competition, put on by Tiger Strike, one of the local training teams for up and coming professional MMA fighters. It was also being co-sponsored by Golden Dragon Dojos, a chain of training facilities that was known for producing some of the best fighters in the country. It was a single elimination style tournament, with spots for up to 16 fighters. First place was a thousand dollars, but more importantly, a contract to train with Tiger Strike for a full year, for free. That sort of opportunity was invaluable to someone like him.

  "So are you going to do it? You should totally do it!" Amber seemed positively giddy, and he noticed that her hand was resting on his shoulder, a couple of fingers grazing lightly against his bare neck. It felt nice to be touched, his early resolve to keep her out of his life was made a lot more difficult now that she'd shown up out of the blue. And with something like this.

  "Definitely," he said. Then he noticed something as he re-read the date of the fight. "Wait, this is for Sunday at 7 PM. This Sunday. As in, tomorrow."

  "It is? I didn't even notice. Crap. I guess that's not going to work after all, then. I'm sorry, I should have noticed that..."

  "No, this is the opportunity I've been looking for. I have to do it."

  "But your head. Do you really think you should fight again so soon?"

  "It's fine, it doesn't even hurt today," he lied. She was right, he definitely should not be fighting again tomorrow. Or maybe not even by next weekend. But there was no way he could pass up on an opportunity like this. Even if he didn't win, the experience alone would be worth the $100 entry fee. A minor setback towards his apartment fund, but an investment towards his future.

  "Are you sure? It doesn't look so good." Amber had moved towards his back and reached out to touch the wound. He jerked away involuntarily as soon as she made contact, wincing. "Doesn't hurt at all, eh? Joel, this doesn't look better at all. I think it looks worse, actually."

  "Wounds always start to look worse as they heal. You just surprised me, that's all." He turned to face her so that she couldn't try to poke it again. "Listen, thanks for bringing this to me, but you should probably go. I need to get to sleep."

  "You could... I mean, if you want, you could come back to my place again tonight. It's probably more comfortable than here."

  Joel looked up at Amber, wanting nothing more than to say yes and follow her back to her place. Especially if they could re-enact some of the passion from the night before. But his resolve was beginning to strengthen again. Here she was doing something amazing for him once more, giving him this opportunity that he never would have known about, and the only thing going through his mind was that the only way to repay her was to stay away.

  He shook his head. "Last night was great," he said.

  "But..." she said before he could.

  "This isn't going to work, Amber. You know that, don't you? We're too different. I'm no good for you. The only thing I ever find is trouble, and I don't want trouble finding you."

  She opened her mouth to argue but he just shook his head again. "Please," he said. "Don't come back here."

  Her green eyes grew larger, and it wasn't until she turned and stormed away that he realized that was a trick of the light, shining against the tears that had started to form. He was tempted to run after her, but he gripped hard against the bed frame to hold himself back. It's for the best, he reminded himself. But as he lay in bed thinking about her, he was having trouble really believing it.

  Chapter 20

  Amber

  Sunday was always a day off for Amber, the bar wasn't nearly as busy as people had to get up the next morning. She woke up late after a rough night of arguing with herself about whether she was more angry at Joel for being a dick, or herself for caring so much about this guy that she had known for just a day.

  It had hurt more than she thought it would when he told her to leave the shelter and not come back, and she hoped that she had turned away fast enough from him so that he wouldn't see the foolish tears that started to well up in her eyes. She was happy, at least, that she held them from falling down her face. It was stupid. He was just some guy she met. Not even a successful guy. He was a fighter, for god sakes. What did she need that in her life for?

  And
yet, she couldn't get him out of her mind. He'd been injured, and there seemed like no one around that cared. His family was gone, all of the people who looked to be his friends the first night she saw him couldn't care less about him the next night. That would be one thing if he was a horrible person, but after spending the night with him she didn't see that side of him. What was it that kept him so alone?

  He had asked her not to come back to the shelter, and she would respect that. But she knew where he was going today, at least. And she was pretty sure he wasn't going to have anyone else there to support him. He was keeping her away from some sense of twisted duty that told him he was no good for her, but that was up to her to decide, not him. She was going to the fight tonight, whether he wanted her to or not. At the very least, maybe she would stay in the back where he couldn't see her. But she wanted to see him. Make sure he was okay.

  It felt like forever before it was time to leave, and even so she ended up getting there much too early so she spent some time in a coffee shop across the street, sipping a latte and watching the venue from the window. She felt almost as nervous as if she herself was going to fight. She couldn't imagine how Joel was feeling.

  As soon as she started to see people starting to arrive and go in, she finished up and made her way over. She was just paying her entry fee of ten dollars when she heard some shouting coming from the back. One of the voices sounded like Joel. She hurriedly paid and followed the sounds to a black curtain at the back of the gym.

  "...fucking bullshit. Fucking scam artists." It was unmistakeably Joel.

  All of a sudden the curtain parted and he stormed out, walking past without even seeing her, his eyes filled with fury and likely only seeing red.

  "Joel, what's wrong?" So much for her keeping a low profile at the back of the room.

  Joel stopped and spun around, clearly surprised at seeing her. "What are you doing here?"

  "I wanted to watch," she shrugged.

  "I told you... you know what, never mind. It doesn't matter anyway, I'm not fighting."

  "Why not?"

  "Because this tournament is a fucking bullshit scam to drive business to this fucking club," he retorted hotly.

  "Wait, slow down, what are you talking about."

  "The poster said it was $100 to enter, which I brought. What it didn't say was that it was open to club members only. Fucking BS."

  "So can't you join the club?" she asked. It didn't seem like that big of a deal to her. He hadn't said anything negative about Golden Dragon Dojo's last night so she couldn't imagine what he had against being a member."

  "Sure, if I have $300 extra for a membership. Like I said. Fucking scam. Let's get out of here." He turned and started to walk away, not even looking to see if she followed.

  "Joel, wait," she hurried to catch up to him and grabbed his arm. She knew how much this fight could mean to him.

  "You don't have any other money? Isn't this worth it? I mean, I get that it's bullshit and they should have put that on the ad, but you're here now, and think about what it could mean if you win this? 300 bucks won't mean much then."

  He spun around, his eyes still filled with fire. "You think I just have money lying around, Amber? Do I look like I'm fucking rolling in it over here? Everything I have I'm saving to get an apartment. To make first and last month's rent. That's a goal too. You think I want to live in a fucking shelter for the rest of my life? Yeah, if I win it I get a grand. What if I lose? There's a good chance of that happening as well. I have to fight four fucking times and win every one of them to win the whole thing. All of those today."

  Amber said nothing. She didn't realize just how hard up he was. That made this opportunity even more important.

  "Anyway, even if I wanted to, all I brought was $100. I left the rest with everything else I own, locked away at the Y. It starts in 20 minutes and there are no late entries. So fuck it, let's just go. Or you can stay if you want. I'm going."

  He wrenched his arm away from her and started to storm away again.

  "Wait," she said again. He kept walking. The club was starting to fill up now, and the noise level was rising but she knew he heard her. She raised her voice this time, though, and called out behind him. "What if I pay for your membership."

  This time Joel stopped. He only stood there though, a few feet away from her, so she walked forward and around him so that she could look him in the eyes. He was looking down at her feet, though.

  "I said what if I pay for your membership."

  "I heard you."

  "And?"

  Now he did look up. His face was contorted, as if in pain. "I could never ask you to do that."

  "That's fine," she said. "You aren't asking. I'm offering. You can pay me back if you win."

  "Amber," he said, shaking his head. "Winning is a long shot. Let's be honest. Especially with this." He reached back and touched his head, but kept himself from wincing visibly. It still hurt, but not quite as much as yesterday.

  "So, if you lose, consider it a gift. Look, I'm not saying I'm rich, if I was I wouldn't live in that shitty apartment. But on a good weekend, I can make 300 in tips alone so it's not the end of the world to me. And it's my money, I can spend it however I want. This is as worthy a cause as any."

  "You just met me," he protested.

  She shrugged. She'd made more impulsive decisions in her life than this one. For a lot less noble a cause.

  "I don't know," he said. "I hate to feel like I'm in someone's debt."

  "You won't be. Anyway, if you lose, maybe I can think of something you can do to repay me anyway." She grinned slyly and then moved closer to him. Her hand touched his stomach and then slid down his body between his legs, giving him a little squeeze. His eyes popped open and she laughed. "Just kidding," she said. "Sort of."

  She let go and walked around him, heading towards the curtained area he had just come from. "Come on," she said. You only have a few minutes left to sign up."

  Chapter 21

  Joel

  Joel couldn't believe what Amber had just offered him, and he really wanted to turn her down. Owing someone, anyone, something was a feeling he absolutely despised. He'd gotten this far in his life without anyone giving him anything, including his own family, so he wasn't sure how to react to it. And yet, this fight was an opportunity that could change his life. How could he turn it down?

  Numbly, he followed Amber to the back where the sign ups were happening.

  "Look who's back," a large Hispanic looking man said as Joel walked up to the desk. The man stood next to a couple of others that were sitting at the desk in front of clipboards. They were wearing Golden Dragon Dojo t-shirts, but didn't look like they were fighters. The man addressing Joel was wearing a white karate gi, with the Golden Dragon Dojo crest sewn onto the breast. Obviously already a member before today. He had long black hair slicked back and tied into a tight ponytail at the back. His face was worn and creased, with a small scar under one eye. One of his ears was puffy as well, clearly having been punched one too many times.

  "You back to swear at our club a little bit more, ese?" the man asked, walking around the desk. He was actually about Joel's height, but broader in his shoulders. Joel sneered at him as he approached and moved forward until the two of them were almost bumping chests.

  "Maybe if your club wasn't trying to rip off fighters I wouldn't need to," he spat back.

  "So maybe you should get the fuck out," the man replied, pushing forward into Joel. Joel stood his ground and didn't budge, but he clenched his fists, ready to throw down with this guy if he tried that one more time.

  "Hey now, cool your jets Carlos," a voice came from behind both men. The man called Carlos glared one last time at Joel, but then stepped back. Another man was behind him, wearing a similar gi but in black. The same crest was sewn onto his breast. He had dark hair for the most part, but streaks of gray gave a hint at his age.

  "Is there a problem here," he said, walking up to Joel and extending his hand. "I
'm Marcus Flores, the owner of this club." Joel actually recognized his name. Flores use to be a big name fighter in MMA, holding more than one title in his day.

  Before Joel had a chance to speak, Amber cut in. "No problem. We were just signing Joel up here for your event."

  "Fabulous," the man said. Joel shook his hand begrudgingly, but his eyes stayed trained on Carlos behind him who was glaring right back. "Glad to have you with us. We look forward to you joining our club, regardless of how you do today. Good luck!" He gave Joel another slap on the shoulder and then nodded as he walked past him. Carlos grunted at Joel one last time and then followed Marcus through the curtain.

  "Do you take credit cards?" he heard Amber say. The person at the desk nodded as Joel turned to the desk to fill out the paperwork. I hope that fucker is fighting today, he thought.