by Jenika Snow
He had fucked up, and what sucked even more was the knowledge that if she hadn’t come to his house, and been the bigger person, she wouldn’t be sitting in front of him right now because he was too much of a stubborn asshole. He would have blocked her out, gone on with his life, and always wished he had done it differently. He only had a short time left, because he knew after his mid-terms she would want nothing to do with him, and that realization hurt like a bitch.
Chapter Twelve
“I don’t know about this, Darcy.” Mary held her gym bag tighter as she walked down the shady looking alley that apparently was how to get to this incredible, but secret gym owned by a former MMA fighter. Darcy looked over her shoulder and smiled.
“Of course. Mica told me how to get here.” Mary swallowed and looked around. It was still daylight, but that didn’t mean safety was guaranteed, especially when downtown.
Apparently Darcy and the pierced guy, Mica, she had been dancing with at Tainted had hit it off. They had been talking for the last week, sometimes several times a day. It was sickening to watch, but Mary also saw how happy Darcy was. Yeah, it may have only been a week, but Darcy went through men as fast as she did underwear. That didn’t mean she looked down at her friend, because even if she might have been the equivalent of Alex when it came to being experienced in sex, she didn’t have an arrogant air around her like he did. The sidewalk beneath their feet was cracked and even missing in some parts. A few dumpsters were lined up to their left, and a door slammed open right as they walked by it. A heavy set man wearing a greasy apron shuffled out with a large black trash bag slung over his shoulder. His gut protruded under the dirty material. He eyed them suggestively for a moment before he walked over to one of the dumpsters and tossed the bags into it.
This whole situation gave Mary the chills. She should have stayed home, or at least just gone to the gym she normally did by campus, but of course Darcy had talked her into coming to this great gym that only the serious trainers went to. Mary wasn’t a serious trainer, though.
“I can see the place.” Darcy pointed to a building a short distance away. Mary looked over her shoulder, saw their car growing more distant, and shook her head.
“Why couldn’t we just drive to the front entrance?”
“Because Mica said it’s a bitch getting back on the main road since it’s a one-way street and they’re doing construction. He said going through here is a straight shot to the facility. Besides,” Darcy looked over her shoulder and grinned again, “This alley is just used for the restaurant, and a few boutiques. He told me to call him when we got here, but I don’t want him thinking I need him for everything.” Mary rolled her eyes.
“I don’t know why you didn’t since you guys talk on the phone ten times a day.”
“You’re being dramatic. Come on.”
Ugh, she was so missing the point.
“Only girls asking for trouble go down back alleys because some guy told them it was okay.”
Darcy snorted but didn’t turn around. “If you pick up the pace we will get there sooner.” They broke through the alley and stood right across the street from the front doors of what didn’t look like a training facility.
“You sure this is the gym?”
Darcy looked both ways, then reached back and took her hand again, and all but dragged her across the street. “Yeah, I told you, unless you know about this place you would never know it was here.”
“And why did you feel the need to come here because a guy you met last week said it was the place to go?” Mary also didn’t point out that Darcy didn’t even like exercising, and compared it to getting kicked in the crotch.
“Because I need to get rid of my muffin top, and besides.” She stopped and looked Mary right in the eye, which had her stopping also. “I really like him. He isn’t like the other guys.” Before Mary could respond on that Darcy continued talking. “I know I’ve said that about others, but Mica makes me feel things that I have never felt. He makes me laugh, holds my hand instead of trying to get in my pants, and won’t even have sex with me until we know each other better.” That had Mary’s eyebrows lifting. “I know, crazy, huh?” Darcy smiled broadly. “I really like him, Mary.” They stared at each other for a moment, and Mary smiled in return. “Besides, you’re always complaining about that gym you go to, how it’s always crowded and the guys there are inflated to the max.”
Yeah, Darcy was right. Mary didn’t bother reminding Darcy, again, that she had only known Mica for a week, because her friend was elated, and who in the hell was Mary to pop her happy balloon? She looked at the building again. It looked rough. A look to her right showed construction going on, and to her left showed the busy main street. Okay, so Mica had been right about it probably being a bitch to drive right to the door, but still, that didn’t make her feel any better about walking down that creepy ass alleyway, or into a building that looked shady.
Darcy was right about the gym Mary went to. It was overcrowded, filled with guys that looked like their muscles were about to explode out of their skins, and attitudes that matched a fresh pile of dog shit. She tilted her head back and stared at the tall, red brick building. It was similar to other older buildings in Columbus, with its aged look and standard box-like structure.
“All right, then, come on.” Darcy pulled her forward and into the building. The air conditioning hit Mary in the face right away, but it was the sounds of men grunting, curses ringing out, and low, steady thumping of music playing overhead that drew her attention. She leaned in close and whispered into Darcy’s ear.
“Are you sure women even come here?” She couldn’t see the main workout room since there was a wall separating the small, front office, but the pictures hanging behind the front desk showed a lot of men posing as if they were in some kind of UFC match. A beefy man wearing a tank top glanced up from his computer screen and eyed them both. Darcy stepped forward and leaned against the counter.
“Mica recommended this place.” From Mary’s standpoint she could see the skeptical look on the guy’s face. He was tanned, but naturally, not the fake and bake look. His dark hair was in spikes around his head, and he had what seemed to be the standard tribal-like tattoos around both of his muscular biceps.
“Mica told you to come here?”
Darcy nodded and stepped away from the counter.
“Hold up.” He picked up a phone and waited before he started speaking in it. “Yo, I got two birds here saying Mica told them about Frost.”
Birds? Did he seriously just call them that? After listening to whatever the person on the other end said he hung up and motioned them forward with a crook of his finger.
“Boss says you’re good to go, but you need to fill out the waivers.”
They each took a form, handed him their IDs to make copies, and sat down on the fold-out chairs off to the side. The waiver was similar to the one she was required to fill out at the gym she normally went to, and pretty much said if she got hurt at Frost they weren’t liable for any injuries. After they finished filling the forms out he took them around back to a small door. Inside were a line of blue lockers on either side of them where they could put their things. He left them after explaining that going out the door straight ahead would lead them to the main work-out room.
“God, what was with that guy?” Mary said, which had Darcy laughing.
“I don’t know, but did you hear him call us birds?” That had Mary laughing, too, and her irritation leaving. “I mean what a pig.” They grabbed their towels, tightened their ponytails, and headed out. As soon as Mary stepped out into the main floor she stopped, which caused Darcy to run right into her back. She stumbled forward and looked around. This certainly wasn’t like any gym she had ever been to. In the center of the room was a boxing ring. Off to the right were several punching bags that hung from the ceiling, and to the left was a line of the standard workout equipment: treadmills, weights, ellipticals, and blue mats that covered the ground. But those things weren’
t what had Mary realizing she was totally out of her element. She saw only one woman working out, but she was ripped beyond belief, and could easily hold her own up against the muscle that filled the room. The men were mostly shirtless, with sweat dripping down their hard bodies, and looks of steely determination on their faces. This wasn’t a gym where beefed up guys came to work-out and pick up women. No, this place was for the serious fighters, the ones that were all about the art of the sport and weren’t about to be screwing around with anything else.
“Darcy, I think we are totally out of our element here.” She tilted her head back and saw that the place must be one huge room with a few walls dividing it.
“Have you ever seen so many hot guys in one place? And I’m not talking about the steroid injected ones that hang around at the clubs. I’m talking about the real ones.” Darcy had a point. These guys didn’t have muscles that looked grossly out of proportions. They had toned, defined bodies that you could tell they worked their asses off, and the way they looked, as if anyone fucked with them they’d kick some serious ass, made her feel wholly feminine.
“Come on, let’s go to the treadmills.”
They walked past the ring where two guys were boxing. Their shirts were off, sweat coated their bodies, and their concentration was only on each other. They moved with synchronized movements, seeming to know the other’s position before it was even revealed. They punched, jabbed, and blocked each other’s hits, and the testosterone and masculinity filled the air.
“God, I just had a series of orgasms watching them beat the crap out of each other.” Yeah, Mary could totally relate. “Mica said he’d be here, but I don’t see him.” They stopped in front of the treadmills, and Darcy looked around. “Maybe he’s in one of those rooms?”
There were a few closed doors lining one of the walls, but Mary hadn’t come here to look at the man candy, although she was seriously reconsidering that. She needed a good work-out, one that would exhaust her and not have her thinking about the guy that had been consuming her thoughts for the past two weeks.
Mary picked a treadmill, not bothering to snap Darcy out of whatever trance she was in, and started the machine. She set it for a workout that would start off slow and increase in pace and incline. After a few minutes Darcy climbed onto the treadmill beside her and started her own workout. For the next five minutes they were silent, and all other sounds except Mary’s feet hitting the machine, were blocked out.
For the last fourteen days she had tried her best to steer clear of Alex unless it was in the form of tutoring him. For the most part she succeeded, making herself relive that night at the club, and when she had seen the scratch marks the next morning to make her anger fresh again. It was childish to keep it up, but she feared that it would be too easy to fall into the trap of forgetting everything that had happened, and giving herself to Alex. Then there had been the times she had walked past the football field, heard the guys practicing, and found herself going over to watch him. He was a machine on the field, taking down his teammates like they were annoying flies. Keeping her emotions in check hadn’t been as easy as she thought, especially when she had tutored him the last three days.
Margo’s wedding was next weekend, and midterms right after that. She was determined to make sure Alex passed that class if it killed her. No way in hell would he be able to hold it against her if he failed. He was smart, more so than he gave himself credit for. He just didn’t try, and that was his problem. If only he stopped staring at her, stopped letting his emotions play across his face as strongly as if he was actually telling her he wanted her then and there.
Her routine kicked into the next gear, and she ran faster. Sweat started to bead at her temples, and she reached for her earbuds and put one in each ear. Darcy was already mouthing the words to whatever song she was listening to, so Mary focused in front of her, which was of all the men working out. She turned up the volume on her iPod, and like she did every other time before let the music take her away. Closing her eyes she was washed away in the sad, heart wrenching lyrics coming from the song “Wrecking Ball”. She hated and loved the song. She kept her eyes closed, listening to how deeply the song was sung, and how a part of her could relate to it. She wanted to be let in, and never wanted it to come down to this. She had walked away, but he pushed her away.
She opened her eyes and faltered slightly in running at the man who was in the middle of grappling with another, mere feet from her. All she could see was his back, but she knew that back, knew those sharp, dark lines that covered the entire muscular expanse. The song was on repeat, and she didn’t stop running as she watched him wrestle with the other guy. His moves were powerful, exact, and had her whole body heating. In a move that made her knees weak he stood, grabbed the guy around the waist and around one of his legs and lifted him above his head. She didn’t blink, didn’t even breathe as she watched him bring the other guy down on his back, hard. It was such a display of force, of masculine power, that she swore the ground shook beneath her. Over and over they fought, Alex always getting the upper hand. Although the moves looked painful and dangerous, the men knew what they were doing, and expected each and every action and reaction.
The men broke apart when an older man, maybe in his late thirties or early forties, stepped onto the blue mats. His blond hair was in a faux hawk style, and there was no denying the raw power that he wielded. She could tell he held authority, and by the way his muscles were clearly visible through his white t-shirt and track shorts, she knew he was also deadly.
Movement to her side caught her attention, and she forced herself to look away from Alex. Mica sauntered over to them, his body sweaty, his dark hair plastered to his forehead, and his lip ring glinting under the florescent lights. His lips moved, but of course she couldn’t hear what he said with music blasting in her ears. She looked over at Darcy who wore a wide grin. Darcy hopped off the treadmill and rushed over to him, like she hadn’t just seen him last night, or talked to him an hour ago. Mica scooped her up like she weighed nothing, but then again he was a big guy, not as tall or muscular as Alex, but big nonetheless.
Alex.
She looked over at him again and held her breath when she saw him staring right at her. Sweat dripped down his face from his dark hair, over his wide shoulders, and down that ridiculously ripped abdomen. He didn’t even bother wiping the wetness from his eyes, just continued to stare right at her. He looked dirty from fighting, was breathing hard from exertion, but the way he watched her, made him seem like he was in control of every little thing. He let his eyes travel down her body, well, as much as he could see, and she swore she saw his pupils dilate. The clothes she wore were for working out, but the pants were tight, and her top just as snug as it hugged her breasts. She should have worn something sloppy that hid her junk in the trunk, or her rounded belly.
Don’t fall for it. Remember who and what he is. Those thoughts faded as quickly as they had come the longer she looked at him, and dammit she couldn’t look away. Her pulse kicked into overdrive, her palms started to sweat like the rest of her body, and all she could do was think about how much she wanted him. The treadmill kicked off, and she was left standing there panting, but her increased respirations had more to do with the fact that Alex staring at her made her feel bare. She pulled out her earbuds and gripped her iPod tightly in her hand.
This was ridiculous, and her reaction to seeing him, when she had just seen him yesterday, when she was trying to practice self-restraint in all things concerning him, was bordering on insanity. She just needed to go, before she did something she regretted like going up to him, taking his face in her hands, rising on her toes, and kissing the fuck out of him. Yeah, that would be something she could never take back, and would set into motion a lot of things that could and would backfire.
Chapter Thirteen
“I think I’m done here, Darcy.” Mary tore her eyes away from Alex, walked past Darcy who was still in Mica’s arms, and made her way quickly to the locker ro
om. She was letting him get to her, and to be honest this was all on her. All he did was look at her and she was a wreck, and it was like everything that had happened well … had never even occurred. She pushed the door open and leaned against the lockers. The metal was cool against her overheated skin, but it didn’t help in cooling her down. Perspiration moved between her breasts and down the center of her back.
What was she doing? Playing with fire, that’s what. Since the first time she saw him she had felt something deep, which had been ludicrous then and still was now.
The sound of the door opening pierced her inner musings, but she didn’t bother looking up.
“I’m sorry to bail on you, Darcy. I just need to get away from him.” She wasn’t going to tell her roommate about what was going on inside of her, at least not until they were in the safety of their house, and away from the object of her frustration and arousal. When Darcy didn’t answer she lifted her head, but it wasn’t Darcy who stood a foot away from her, but Alex, and he looked pissed. Slowly she stood and faced him.
“What the fuck are you doing, Mary?”
Anger spiked inside of her at his cold tone. That bastard.
“I guess it’s not obvious.” She moved her hands up and down her body as if to show him her sweaty self. He infuriated her. First she was hot for him, not even able to think clearly, and then he opened his damn mouth and pissed her off. There had never been a person that could make her feel annoyed, angered, and aroused all in the same breath, but Alex was doing a fine ass job of it. “But I think I may be working out at a gym.” Her sarcasm was thick. He didn’t move, didn’t blink, and damn him, showed no freaking emotion.