by Ash Johnson
Blake brings his attention back to me and clears his throat once before he speaks again.
“So, what do we do now? How do we keep Ada safe?”
All I can do is shrug. I have no idea how to keep her safe other than being her shadow until we can figure out who this person is. When I find out who this is, they are dead fucking meat.
“I’m not sure what I can do to keep her safe. Other than me following her around all the time, I have no idea. I offered to pay for a bodyguard to follow her around, but Ada freaked and said that would make her more uncomfortable than she already is.”
“We’ll figure it out buddy, don’t worry about it. She’s in a house with a security system and I know the hospital has great security, too. As long as you’re with her on the days she’s off work then we should be golden until they can find out who this psycho is, right?” Blake asks, making it sound so simple.
“Yeah, except for the fact that she won’t come here on her days off so that I can train. Other than that, I’ll be with her as much as I can,” I nod.
“Why won’t she come here and watch you train? Most chicks dig this place. Hell, I’ve even brought Elle here a few times,” he smiles and then bunches his eyebrows when he sees mine hit my hairline.
I start to wonder when he brought her here, but then I remember that I was out for a few weeks when I got injured after my last fight. Maybe he’s actually getting serious with Elle. I never thought I’d see that happen.
“I’m not sure why Ada won’t come here. Every time I ask her to come while I train or try to talk to her about coming to my fight she blows me off and changes the subject as fast as she can.”
“Maybe she thinks you’ll get hurt and she just doesn’t want to see that. Some chicks are sensitive like that, ya know?” I shrug, but then shake my head.
“Ada’s not afraid of seeing people get hurt. She works at the hospital for fuck’s sake, she see’s people who are really hurt on a daily basis. I don’t think that’s the reason she won’t come here, but I’m not going to get pissed at her for not wanting to come here. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about bringing her here with all of these assholes around us. She’s hot and they’d jump all over her the second she walked through the door,” I narrow my eyes at Zane, who is running on the treadmill, remembering him trying his best lines on Ada at the barbeque.
Blake chuckles and I turn my attention back to him.
“Yeah I’d be nervous about bringing her fine ass in here if I were you, too. I don’t know how you lucked out and saw her before I did, but you fucking suck, man,” he mutters, his gaze set to the floor.
“What? What the hell are you talking about, Blake? You’ve been fucking her best friend since I met Ada,” I ask, really confused as to why Blake would be telling me how I lucked out.
“Dude, I was fucking Elle because she is decent in the sack, but Ada’s pretty fucking hot. It’s nice to go to their house and get a good look at that beautiful woman every once in a while. I really like Elle, but I would have given anything to tap that fine ass,” Blake zones out and squints at something on the ground, not even paying attention to me wringing my hands together as I keep telling myself not to punch him in the nose.
“What the fuck did you just say, Blake? Are you looking to get your ass beat?” I growl, drawing attention to us. I don’t even notice three other guys in the gym gathering around us. Blake finally snaps his head up to me and smirks.
“No man, I was just thinking out loud, I didn’t mean anything by it,” he says, putting his hands up in front of him in surrender.
“No, I think you did mean something by it. I would never tell you that I wanted to have sex with your girlfriend or that I was fucking her friend to get closer to her. That’s just a dick move. Elle’s a cool chick and if you’re using her to get closer to Ada while I’m with her, then we have a really big fucking problem on our hands,” I yell, just now noticing that there are two guys behind me, each holding a shoulder.
I glare at Blake for a few minutes and see that he actually looks embarrassed about what he said, but he never apologizes for it.
“Who the fuck are you, Blake? I feel like I don’t even know who this person standing in front of me is because my best friend would never tell me that he wanted to fuck my girlfriend.” I hear a few of the guys standing around us “OOH”, but I’m still too pissed off at Blake’s comments to think about the other men around us. Then Blake wipes at the blood drying from his lower lip being split open in the ring and smirks at me.
“I won’t have sex with your girlfriend, Jay, but just know that I’ll be there to get Ada if you ever fuck up with her,” Blake says with a cocky tone and turns to walk out of the gym.
What the fuck was that? Blake has told me that girls I’ve slept with were hot and I’ve done the same with him, but I’ve never told him that I would want to have sex with someone he was with. That’s against some unspoken friend code, I think.
I’ve known Blake since I was a sophomore in college and we’ve been living together for the past seven years, but it’s like he was a totally different person just now. I’ve never seen that side of Blake and now I’m a bit worried about him being around Ada.
I decide to shake off what Blake said to me and get back to training. Unfortunately for my next three sparring partners I’ve had a really shitty day with Ada telling me about the texts and then with Blake being a huge douche.
After four and a half hours of training coach tells me to head home, even though I have enough energy and anger to go for another two hours at least. I speed to Elle’s house because I don’t want to leave Ada alone more than I have to, but when I pull into the driveway I see Blake walking out the front door. The split lip I gave him is cleaned up, but still puffy and visible with the smile on his face. I kill the Jeep and jump out, seeing red.
“What the fuck are you doing here, asshole?” I yell, getting more pissed off when Blake smirks at me.
“Well, after you and I talked at the gym and you told me that someone was threatening Ada, I took it upon myself to come over and make sure she was alright.”
“How in the fuck did you get into the house? You don’t have a key,” I say, shaking my head. Blake holds up his keychain and shows me a new silver key hanging next to our house key.
“Think again. Elle had one made up for me so that there was an extra in case she or Ada got locked out. I know the security code too, just so you know. Have a nice day,” he smiles and starts walking in the direction of our house. I’m a bit dumbfounded as to what’s going on with Blake lately, and I’ll get to the bottom of it. My best option, and also the best looking one, is to beat it out of him.
Chapter 23
Ada
After I got only three and a half hours of sleep, Blake decided that he was going to come and check on me for Jay. That’s what he told me when I saw him standing in my doorway, watching me sleep. I was having a nightmare about the day Ivy died again; they aren’t frequent, but they are very vivid when they do occur.
I woke up suddenly, feeling sick to my stomach because of the dream and saw Blake with both hands braced on the doorframe, his brows furrowed at me. I gasp and pull the sheets up to my chin even though I’m in a t-shirt and yoga pants. I want to make sure that he can’t see anything.
“What are you doing here Blake? Elle is at work and won’t be home for a few hours,” I say nervously glancing at the alarm clock on my night stand to see that it’s the middle of the day.
“Sorry Ada. I know Elle isn’t here, but I forgot my phone charger in Elle’s room last night so I came to grab it after training today. I heard you mumbling something and then you screamed so I thought I’d come and check on you. Jay told me about the text that you got this morning and I just thought I’d make sure that you’re okay before he gets here,” he shrugs, acting as if it is normal for him to be in my house whenever he wants.
“Oh, okay. Well thanks for keeping an eye on me. I appreciate it,” I m
utter.
I know that Jay and Blake are protecting me, but I feel like I never get a second to myself anymore. I can’t even sleep a few hours without one of them staring at me. I’m okay with Jay being the one staring, but Blake standing in my doorway kind of weirds me out.
“Alright, well I’m off. Just thought I’d pop in and see how you were holding up. See ya soon, Ada,” Blake says, giving me a small wave, phone charger in one hand, and turning to walk out.
I can’t take a full breath until I hear the front door close. That was odd; he’s never just stopped by to check on me before without Jay being with him. I sit up in bed and pull my knees up to my chest, trying to get my mouth to stop watering and the ache in my stomach to dissipate, but it doesn’t work and I know I’m going to be sick.
I leap out of bed and run a few feet down the hall to the bathroom, making it to the toilet just in time to lose whatever it was I ate last. I hear the front door click shut again and roll my eyes. Great, Blake came back in and I’m vomiting into a toilet. This can’t get worse.
“Ada?” I hear Jay’s deep rumbling voice from the open door of the bathroom, “Are you okay, baby?”
I feel a hand on my back, lightly rubbing and soothing me for about three seconds before I lose it and throw up again. Jay grabs the hair around my face and pulls it back behind my ears so I don’t throw up on it.
“Can you give me a minute Jay? I don’t want you to watch me puke,” I whisper my plea, hoping he heard me.
“Sorry bunches I’m going to stay with you. I just watched you puke, so I don’t think it’s going to make things worse if I see it again,” Jay says with a smile in his voice. He stands and gets a wash cloth when I stop to take a breath, wetting it with cool water and placing it on the back of my neck before I vomit again.
After a few more minutes and a bit of dry heaving, my body calms down and I feel like I can stand. When I finish brushing my teeth, Jay picks me up and I bury my face into his shoulder while he walks back into my bedroom and then sets me on my bed before lying down, facing me. I lay my head down on the pillow and close my eyes, loving how Jay is slowly running his hands through my hair and then I notice that I feel better.
“Are you feeling okay babe? Did you catch a bug at work or something?” he asks with genuine concern in his voice.
“I was having a nightmare and I think it seemed a little too real. I woke up really sick to my stomach but I feel a lot better now, actually,” I say, smiling at him. He gives me an incredulous look that says he doesn’t believe me, so I feel that I have to tell him again.
“Jay, I’ll be fine. I actually feel a lot better now. Do you want some coffee?” I shoot out of bed and start making my way to the kitchen with Jay on my heels. I turn to see him running his fingers through the longer hair on top of his head, possibly frustrated. It takes me a second to tear my gaze from his flexed and tattooed biceps. All I see when I look at them is how they flex when he’s above me and as much as it turns me on, I need to think of something other than sex right now, especially if he’s upset about something.
“Yeah sure, I’ll have a cup or two with you. Don’t you think you should try to sleep a little bit more, though?”
“No, I’m totally awake now. Blake made sure of that,” I say, slightly cringing at how creepy it was that he was staring at me while I was in bed.
“What? How did Blake make sure of that?” Jay’s voice is tight, as if he said it through clenched teeth.
“Well, when I woke up he was standing in my door. He said that he was just coming to get his phone charger from Elle’s room when he heard me scream from my nightmare. He told me he thought he should check on me because you told him about the text I got. I know that the two of you are just looking out for me, it just scared me a bit to see him there when I woke up.” I walk to the counter and begin making a pot of fresh coffee for Jay and me.
“We might want to talk to Elle about changing the code on the security system and maybe even your locks while we’re at it,” Jay says in a cautious voice as he sits down at the kitchen table and looks out the giant bay window, avoiding my eyes.
“Why do you think we should change the locks and the security code?” I ask as I watch Jay’s jaw muscles flex and his hands bunch, but he still hasn’t looked at me. After a few seconds with no answer, I decide to ask him again.
“Why Jay?” I growl. He loosens his fists and lowers his head a bit, bringing his hands to his face. He rubs his eyes with the heels of his palms before he lifts his head back up and looks at me.
“It just doesn’t sit right with me that Blake has a key and the code and can come check on you when I’m not around, okay?” he huffs.
“Why wouldn’t that sit right with you? Blake is your best friend and he’s seeing Elle now, so he’ll be around anyway. Changing the locks and the code won’t do much,” I say, my brows pulling together as I try to figure out where the hell Jay is going with this.
“You’re right, I’m just freaking out about this whole thing. I don’t want to add more stress to this situation and I’m sorry,” he mumbles, shooting an apologetic look in my direction.
I pour us two cups of coffee and sit down next to him at the table, looking out at the cloudless sky. We drink our coffee in silence, both staring out the window and avoiding eye contact. As soon as we’re both done, I stand to put our cups into the dishwasher and try to decide if I want to take a bath or just try to go back to sleep, but Jay makes the decision easy for me.
“Do you want to go lay back down with me? I’ll give you a massage,” Jay says, waggling his eyebrows.
“Well hells yeah, I could never pass up a massage from those big hands,” I smile and start to walk back toward my room. As soon as I hit my bedroom door, Jay wraps his large arms around my waist, just under my breasts, and bends to kiss the side of my neck.
“You smell so good, like sugar and flowers,” he purrs into my ear. I lightly moan as he bends lower and grabs the hem of my t-shirt and lifts it over my head.
He eases his hands down my shoulders and grazes his fingertips across my collarbone before sending them south to cup my breasts. He pinches my nipples with the perfect amount of pressure, earning a whimper from me at the sensation that zings through my body.
I twist my hands behind my back and run them along his stomach, finally making contact with his hard length, which causes him to let out a deep groan.
I’m having fun playing with him, but it would be easier if he didn’t have his work out shorts still on, so I move my hands higher to his hips and grab the top of his shorts, shoving them down. When I finally dispose of that obstacle, I move my hands back to his erection and start stroking him. Jay’s left hand leaves my breast and his hand starts to move south, toward the band of my yoga pants.
I feel his whole body lean down to accommodate for the height difference, and as soon as his fingers start to travel inside the fabric, his head dips next to my ear and he licks the shell.
“Should we see if Ada’s ready?” he asks, his hand stilled on my pubic bone. I can only nod, but I know he doesn’t even have to check. The second he touched my breasts I was dripping wet for him.
His hand slowly moves lower and he makes contact with my most sensitive flesh. After running his fingers in small circles a few times, he pushes two fingers inside me and slowly pumps them in and out.
“Oh God baby, you are so ready for me, aren’t you,” he groans. I nod again because my voice is caught in my throat. My hands stop stroking him because all I can focus on is the pressure building low in my stomach.
Jay removes his fingers and shoves my yoga pants down my legs, and before I can get both feet out of them he scoops me up and puts me on the bed, positioning himself above me and putting one knee in between my legs. He bends down to kiss me feverishly before he speaks against my mouth.
“Are you ready for that massage now, baby?” he says against my lips.
I pull my brows together and open my mouth to speak, but stop w
hen he starts kissing down my neck and down my chest, stopping briefly to give a bit of attention to each breast and then continuing south. I smile because now I know what he meant by massage.
My smile fades and is replaced with a gasp as soon as his mouth closes over my folds and his tongue darts out. I moan and shove my fingers into his hair, trying and failing not to pull it. It doesn’t take much work for Jay to get me to the edge of the cliff, and once he starts sucking on my clit and inserts a finger into me, I’m gone, my body shaking and my mouth screaming his name.
Jay kisses his way up my body and smiles a devilish smile once he makes it up to my mouth.
“I loved that massage, thank you,” I say breathlessly, smirking at him.
“If you loved that then you’re really going to love how good I’m going to make your body feel now,” Jay flashes me a hot as hell smirk and then spends the next hour and a half making my body feel amazing.
Chapter 24
Jay
“Will you come with me to Omaha on Saturday?” Ada hesitantly whispers, breaking the silence caused by us trying to catch our breaths after that awesome round of sex.
“Omaha? What’s in Omaha?” I ask, knowing that she used to live there, but not sure why she’d want to go back.
“Well, Sunday will be the thirteenth anniversary of the day Ivy died and my mom and I always go back to visit her and tell her all of the things that have happened to us through the year. I understand if you can’t come with training and your fight being the night before, or if you just don’t want to,” she says, rambling on, her eyes focused on her slim fingers that lightly scratch up and down my chest.
I gently put my hand on top of hers and wait for her to look up at me. When she finally does, I smile and bring my hand up to run it across her soft cheek.
“I’d love to go with you to Omaha,” I answer honestly. I would go to the ends of the Earth with Ada if she asked me to.
“Well, before you agree to go I should tell you that my mom will be with me. She’s a tall order and I can barely tolerate being around her. Of course she can’t tolerate being around me so it makes for a very awkward trip,” she chuckles but it sounds like she’s trying to cover up pain behind her laugh.