“Your mother watched it with me. And she convinced herself the dark-haired lady sitting in the front row with one of your T-shirts was Del. She even went to your room to get the picture of the two of you off your dresser.”
Brendan groaned and then hoped his father hadn’t heard it. He’d forced himself not to bring the picture of him and Del to his new place when he rented it, but he couldn’t shove it in a drawer, so it was still in his old bedroom. “Is there anybody that escapes Mom’s notice?”
“Not that I’ve found. Just know that she’s going to ask you about it when you get home, and since we rewound it a couple of times and I’m sure it was Del, you might want to have an idea of what you’ll tell her.”
He didn’t want to tell his mom anything since there was really nothing to say at the moment. Telling a woman who’d lost a son and who tried and failed to hide how badly she wanted a grandchild that he’d run into the only woman he’d ever loved, had sex with her and then left wasn’t high on his list of things to do.
“Thanks for the heads-up,” he said, not going into further detail. Fatherly advice was best dispensed in the shed over lawn mower parts and cold beer.
“It didn’t look like you took too bad a beating. You sure you don’t want to come straight home for the holidays?”
Though Brendan had an apartment within fairly easy driving distance of his parents’ home, he’d always gone and stayed a few days at Christmas. Maybe it was weird sleeping in his childhood bedroom when his own king-sized bed was in the same city, but it had become a habit. His mom loved having him home and it helped immerse him a little more in the holiday spirit. He also had extra sports-watching time with his dad and home-cooked meals, so everybody was happy.
“I’ll be home in plenty of time for Christmas. But some of these bruises on my face are probably going to turn a nasty purple and yellow before they start fading. I don’t know why it is that Mom can watch the fight happen on the television, but then she gets so upset when she sees me in person.”
“It’s the bruises that get to her. A little blood she can handle, but the bruises don’t look as bad on TV, especially since it’s usually over before they’re even done rising to the surface. It’s the next day you really look bad.”
“I guess. I’m staying here an extra night, by the way. I’ll head to the cabin tomorrow night.”
“Text your mom when you stop for supplies,” his dad said. There was no cell signal or internet at the cabin, though they maintained a landline for emergencies. The phone was almost as old as Brendan, with a long, coiled cord. “So she knows you at least got to town.”
“I will. Love you, Dad, and see you soon.”
“Love you, too, son.”
It didn’t take long enough for Brendan to realize he didn’t have the attention span for television. After channel-surfing through the rotation enough times to grow bored with it, he popped some more ibuprofen and pulled the cash he couldn’t afford to blow out of his wallet to stash in the room safe. Then, after looking at himself in the mirror and grimacing at the bruises on his face he couldn’t do anything about, he went down to the casinos.
Rather than see if any of the guys involved with the event were still around, he wandered around. Occasionally he’d stop at a table or a slot machine long enough to lose some money, but mostly he watched people.
And waited for a text message from Del. Not wanting to risk missing one, even though he usually noticed when his phone vibrated in his pocket, he had it in his hand and glanced at it more often than he probably should.
He wasn’t actively looking for her, since he didn’t want to interrupt her time with her friends, but he stopped moving when he saw her at a blackjack table, standing with Kate behind Brittany’s chair. The three of them were looking at her cards with intense concentration and then he wasn’t sure what happened, but Brittany dropped her face into her hands and Del and Kate laughed.
It made him grin, but then he forced himself to turn away and walk in a different direction. With no destination in mind, he wandered through the slots again, letting the bells and loud voices distract him.
He was rewarded twenty minutes later with a text from Del. Where are you?
Since telling her he was next to a slot machine wasn’t going to do any good, he looked around for something that could qualify as a landmark. In the casino with the weird sculpture near the pretzel shop with the big sign.
I’m not far from that. Wait for me?
I’ll be here.
It only took her a few minutes to spot him, and he loved the way her face lit up when she did. “Hey, you.”
Taking her hand, he pulled her close for a quick kiss. “Having fun?”
“Yes. How about you? I didn’t know you were even in the casino.”
“Just wandering around. I saw you once, at the blackjack table, actually.”
She laughed. “You’d think after four years of being college roommates, Kate and I would have known Brittany can’t count to twenty-one.”
“What are they up to now?” Which loosely translated to how long do I get to be with you right now?
“Brittany had a call from her husband about the kids and Kate realized she’d mixed a text about wedding flowers, so they went to find a quiet spot to make phone calls. I told them I’d catch up, but I only have a few minutes.”
Not long, then. “A few minutes will do for now.”
She put her arms around his neck and kissed him as though they weren’t standing in the middle of a busy casino, in front of a pretzel shop. Brendan held her close, smiling against her mouth when she made a low, hungry sound deep in her throat. He guessed—or was hoping—it wasn’t due to the smell of freshly baked pretzels.
“You’re so damn tempting, Brendan,” she said when she’d broken off the kiss. “I’ve never been able to resist you.”
As much as he wanted to take her by the hand and lead her back to his hotel room, he just pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled. “Kate and Brittany will be looking for you.”
As if they’d read his mind, her phone chimed and she rolled her eyes. “Message received.”
“I’ll be around if they get distracted again,” he said.
“I feel silly, texting you just to get a kiss. I’m sure you have better things to do.”
He shook his head, cupping her chin in his fingers. “No, I don’t. There’s nothing better than kissing you.”
Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink as her phone chimed a second time. “Then kiss me again because I have to go.”
He kissed her and then took a big step back, so he wouldn’t be tempted to try to change her mind. After sighing, she gave him a small wave and walked away, looking at her phone screen. Then she looked back at him, and he winked.
A little over twenty-four hours, he thought. He’d get by on stolen kisses for that long, and then he’d have her all to himself for dinner. He was almost sure he’d make it.
Chapter Seven
Hangovers sucked, Del thought as she lifted her fourth cup of coffee to her mouth. That was one part of the college experience she didn’t miss, though the hours spent laughing with Kate and Brittany made up for it.
She didn’t even know what time they’d finally gone to sleep. Kate, of course, had nodded off first. Then, at some point, Del and Brittany must have passed out on the other bed because she’d woken up to piercing sunlight shining in the window and Brittany’s head on her shoulder.
Two hours later, they were in the quietest restaurant they could find, eating a breakfast that didn’t bode well for the bride’s gown fitting and drinking coffee as fast as their server could refill the mugs.
“Have you seen Brendan this morning?” Kate asked, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. They’d both been in the room when Del had fished her phone out of the bedcovers and seen the text messages from the night before.
Apparently the half-dozen times she’d snuck away from her friends to kiss Brendan hadn’t been enough, ju
dging by the text she’d sent him well after midnight.
Where are you now?
In bed. Where are you?
In Kate’s room. Want to meet in the lobby and have sex under the big Christmas tree?
Yes. There had been a break and then a new text bubble before she could respond. How much have you had to drink?
All the drinks.
She’d groaned when she read that, and then realized her friends had crept up behind her and were reading over her shoulder, because they both burst into laughter.
Stay in Kate’s room and we’ll have sex under the big Christmas tree another time.
I’m setting a reminder in my phone.
Okay. You’re going to stay in Kate’s room the rest of the night, right?
Yes, since you don’t want to have sex with me. We’re eating nachos.
Eat the nachos and go to sleep. Don’t leave Kate’s room and I’ll see you in the morning.
“I haven’t seen him yet,” Del told them. “Just a text to tell him we were alive and going to find breakfast. He recommended huevos rancheros because they go well with nachos.”
When her friends had finished laughing at her for the second time and they’d paid the bill, they decided to wander around the shops again for a while. They’d had their fill of gambling and nothing about the flashing lights and loud sounds appealed to them. And because none of them had gone through as much money as they’d thought they would, they could each do a little more shopping.
We’re going to do some more shopping, she text-messaged to Brendan. And then I’ll have to help them pack because the room’s a mess. I might not get to see you before dinner.
I’m resting my leg, so I’ll just watch TV until you’re ready.
She frowned and stopped walking. Are you okay?
Yes. The muscle’s sore and I walked a lot yesterday. But I’ll be fine.
Okay. I’ll text you when I’m free for dinner.
I’ll be waiting. We can meet at the big Christmas tree.
Del felt the heat in her cheeks again. Kate and Brittany had stopped walking when she did and, since they were staring at her, didn’t miss it. When she read the text to them, they laughed some more and then dragged her into the overpriced makeup store.
Hours later, Del had mixed feelings about saying goodbye to her best friends. Because she was staying to have dinner, Del had put her suitcase in her SUV and moved it to the casino’s day lot. They’d arranged for late checkout, though, so their cars were waiting in valet parking for them. She walked out with them and they all exchanged hugs.
They’d had a good time and part of wished her they could have gotten away from work and family longer. But they’d be together again in less than a week for Kate’s wedding.
And Brendan was waiting for her.
Because she no longer had a room, Del made do with a lobby restroom to brush her hair and touch up her lip gloss while butterflies danced in her stomach. It was dumb, she told herself. It was Brendan.
But this wasn’t giving herself permission to use an old fling for guaranteed great sex. Nor was it sex fueled by the excitement and adrenaline of the fight or stolen kisses in a casino because it was fun. This was a date. Like a real-relationship kind of date, and that made her nervous.
They’d spent the weekend away from the real world, but after the meal, they’d both be returning to their regular lives and Del wasn’t sure where it would go from there. The thought of picking up where they’d left off, only to have him run again, was too painful to contemplate.
Before she could change her mind, she pulled out her phone. I’m ready when you are.
The response was immediate, as if he’d been waiting for her text with phone in hand. I’ll meet you at the big Christmas tree in ten minutes.
He was there in five, and she laughed when he kissed her and then gave a pointed nod toward the Christmas tree.
“I’m sorry about the text messages,” she said. “I’ve never sent drunk texts before, so it was a shock when I read them this morning.”
“I enjoyed them.” He took her hand. “I also would have enjoyed meeting you here last night, but I think you would have regretted having sex in the hotel lobby more than you regret the texts.”
She couldn’t even imagine. “Thank you for not taking me up on the offer.”
“I probably would have gotten stage fright anyway.” He took her hand and started walking. “It was hard not to camp outside Kate’s door and make sure you didn’t go wandering the casino, though.”
“We had just enough to drink downstairs that having room service bring us a lot of champagne seemed like a good idea.”
He laughed, and then pointed to a sign for an Irish pub up ahead. “I couldn’t make regular reservations because I wasn’t sure what time you’d be, but I finally took Janie up on her offer to let her know if I needed anything. They’ve been saving us a table.”
The restaurant was incredibly loud and dimly lit, but the table the hostess led them to was all the way in the back, and fairly quiet. Del smiled at the sign that said Reserved for Brendan Quinn.
“One of the perks of dating an MMA fighter?” she asked.
Brendan snorted. “If it is, it might be the only one. I’m trying not to imagine what your family would think now, adding fighting to the list of things they weren’t looking for in a potential in-law.”
“I think they’d be fine with it,” Del said, thinking about how genuinely sorry her father had looked when she’d talked to him.
They both ordered coffee since they’d be driving, and then ordered meals that made Del wince at the thought of the calories. It had been all well and good to make fun of Kate and her impending gown fitting, but she had a maid of honor dress hanging in her closet she needed to fit into.
“I don’t know if I’ll be fighting much longer anyway,” Brendan said when the server left.
“I hope it’s not because of me,” she said. “Or my family. As exciting as Friday night was, it would be weird for me to watch you fight like that a lot, but if it’s part of who you are, then that’s okay.”
“It’s not part of who I am. It’s part of a hole in my life I tried to fill after I left you. It’s how I coped.”
“And you don’t need it anymore?”
He looked at her across the table for a long time before shaking his head. “I hope not. Do I?”
The way he turned the question on her made her sit back in her chair. Even though she knew she’d just spoken as if it was a done deal that their relationship had a future, she’d caught that he was still worried about what her father would think of him. And she couldn’t stop the unwelcome doubt that crept into her mind. “I don’t know, Brendan. You rejected me last night, you know.”
He arched an eyebrow, and she knew he’d caught her attempt to deflect the conversation with humor. “When the reminder you set comes up on your calendar, I’ll be there.”
She laughed, resisting the urge to check to see whether she actually had entered a reminder to have sex with Brendan under the big Christmas tree. If she had, at some point in the future, she was going to get a notice that would either be really funny or really painful.
“I’m thinking about giving up fighting mostly because I’m getting too old to let guys beat the crap out of me for grins,” he said, smiling at her.
She felt both relief and disappointment at the change in the conversation’s tone, even though she was the one who’d dodged the question. “Do you have a contract, for like a certain amount of fights?”
He told her he didn’t, and then they talked about his training for a while. And the fighting. Then they talked about her job and her apartment. When their food came, they kept talking, pausing to take bites now and then.
She remembered how, when they’d been together before, they could spend hours talking about anything under the sun. They rarely argued over a topic because they had similar taste in everything from books to politics to movies, but they differed enough to m
ake the conversations interesting.
As the time ticked away and they ordered desserts they mostly ignored, she realized how much she’d missed talking to Brendan. Sure, she’d missed his touch and the way he could heat her blood with just a look. But she’d missed talking to him just as much.
“You have a four-hour drive ahead of you,” she said when the server had already cleared the table and taken Brendan’s money and was only returning to bring them coffee refills.
“At least I won’t have any trouble staying awake,” he said. “I think we’ve had an entire pot each.”
“Still, it’s going to be so late when you get there.”
He sighed, pushing his empty cup away. “I know. I don’t want to go, though.”
“If I didn’t have to work tomorrow, I’d talk you into staying. And no, I can’t call in sick because I took Friday off this week and I’m taking two days off besides Christmas next week.”
“I’m supposed to go to my cousin’s tomorrow so we can put some miles on the snowmobile.” He shook his head. “I wish I could take you with me. You always loved going out on the sled with me.”
“You need to get to the camp early enough to sleep, then. And maybe I can take some time off later in January and you can take me sledding.”
He gave her a heated look across the table. “You should put a reminder in your phone, because I’ll hold you to that.”
“I will.” She pushed back her chair and stood because she knew they could literally sit there all night talking, or until they were thrown out. She didn’t want him out on the snowmobile with no sleep.
“Let’s hit the restrooms and then I’ll walk you to your car,” he said.
She didn’t bother trying to wave off the offer. Brendan had always walked her to her car, and he always made sure it would start before he left her. And she would take the extra ten or fifteen minutes the walk would give her with him.
A Fighting Chance Page 8