Blake: A Bad Boy Romance

by Day, Laura

  Jonas reached the door and pulled it open and standing there, his fist raised to knock on the door, was a stunned-looking Blake.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “Jonas,” Blake said as he looked from Ivy back to her father. There was something in the look Ivy was giving him. Her arms were crossed and she looked rather unhappy. The look she was giving him was a warning. She was trying to warn him about something, but what? “I didn’t know you were in town...”

  “I came to speak to Ivy,” Jonas said. But the warm and friendly voice Blake was used to hearing was gone. Instead Jonas sounded cold and detached. He was wrapping a scarf around his neck and slipping into a pair of gloves. Finally, when he was dressed for the weather outside, he looked up at Blake and continued. “I have asked Ivy to end her relationship with you. Ellen and I are getting married and the two of you will be stepsiblings soon. It’s...unacceptable.” He almost shuddered as he said that final word and Blake felt a ball of anger begin to form in his stomach.

  “I wasn't aware Ivy and I had to get your permission,” Blake said. “We’re both adults. We can do whatever we want. And,” he continued, taking a step closer, “I’m not your son. You can’t tell me what to do.”

  “I don’t want you anywhere near my daughter,” Jonas said and, to Blake’s surprise, he didn’t back down. Blake was taller, stronger, younger, and a better fighter than the older man, but Jonas didn’t seem as intimidated as Blake would have expected. “You broke her heart once in high school, Blake. I was there. I was the one who held her while she cried. I was the one she spent her prom night with. Did you really think she wanted to be watching TV with her dad that night? It’s not just that you’re stepsiblings. It’s that you are not mature enough for my daughter. She needs a man who understands how the world works, not some overgrown boy who fights for a living.”

  “Dad, that’s enough!” Ivy’s stern voice cut through the room and both men turned to look at her. “I think you should leave. I’m not going to stand here and listen to you insult Blake. He’s lost everything because he was trying to protect me. I don’t know where this is coming from, but I don’t like it and I want you to leave.”

  Blake raised his eyebrows at Ivy. He had never heard her talk to Jonas like that. Ivy was normally very respectful to her father. She always did what she was told. She never missed curfew or talked back. She never went through a real rebellious phase, but it looked like she was hitting it now.

  “And what happens when you break her heart again?” Jonas asked as he walked past Blake. “We’ll be family soon. What will you do then?” He walked away before Blake could say anything.

  Not that Blake was going to, it was a rhetorical question and one he had asked himself many times. He had an answer for it. He wanted to be with Ivy forever and he was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.

  Blake entered Ivy’s apartment and closed the door behind him. He looked over at Ivy, but she wasn’t crying. She was shaking her head with an almost rueful smile on her face.

  “Can we talk about what happened earlier? When you ran away from me?”

  “I’m sorry,” Ivy said.

  “What did Darryl do?” Blake asked. He didn’t know how he knew; he just did. Ivy loved him as much as he loved her. The only thing that would drive her away was some outside threat: Darryl. It had to be. The son of a bitch was behind bars, but rich people have a different sort of prison experience than everyone else. It wasn’t too surprising that Daryl could harass Ivy from within a jail cell.

  “He said he would drop the charges against you if I broke up with you,” Ivy said with a shrug of her shoulders.

  “And you believed him?” Blake asked raising his eyebrows.

  “What was I supposed to do? Stay with you and watch you go to jail?”

  “Look, I’m not some little fish Darryl can push around. I have a lot of money, too, and I have a lot of connections, Ivy. It’s not going to be so easy for Darryl to push me around. Especially once this article comes out. I read the rough draft; it looks good. It makes Darryl look like a pathetic stalker, which he is. I brought it for you to read, too. I haven't asked Tim to change anything about our relationship, but I can...”

  “No,” Ivy said shaking her head. “I can’t keep doing this wishy-washy nonsense. You’re right. We want to be together and we are. If people have a problem with it, it’s their problem. We know we love each other and we’re both adults. So, let's do this.”

  Blake smiled and took two steps towards Ivy. He put his hand on her cheek and then pulled her close to him for a deep kiss. He could smell the soap she used, could feel the sweep of her long, dark hair. Her back was warm and soft as he pulled her closer to him. He could feel her heart beating and he focused on the tha-thump of her heart. He closed his eyes and fell into the sound. It was like the noise of the universe. It was the only sound he wanted to hear.

  “What about your fight?” Ivy asked, her voice muffled. She was leaning against Blake’s chest and she spoke directly into him, which made him smile.

  “Still cancelled for the moment. But that decision can be overturned and Tim thinks it will be. But it doesn’t matter. There are always more fights. The only real issue is if I get a felony conviction. That could cause a real problem. But I punched Darryl once and he was violating his restraining order against you. I really don’t think I’m going to get a felony charge for it. I didn’t do that much damage to the guy. This isn’t as bad as you think it is, Ivy.”

  Blake looked over to the table and saw the cardboard box half opened on the table, a few items were spread out over the table. He recognized his first metal from his first ever boxing match hanging over the brown cardboard edge. Ivy was the person who encouraged him to join the local Y’s boxing club. She had actually filled out the paperwork and everything. She begged him to join. There was something about the legitimacy of a club that appealed to Ivy. Blake didn’t like it as much. He found the rules too confining and he felt like he was always waiting on the slower kids in the club to catch up. But nothing beat the thrill of a real match in front of an audience. That made it all worth it for Blake: the bright overhead lights, the referee edging around the corners always watching, the glare of sweat on his opponent's face.

  “I can’t believe you still have this,” Blake said walking over the table and holding the cheap plastic medal up to the light.

  “Of course, it was your first win,” Ivy said as she leaned against him and wrapped her hands around his waist. “It was your first match. I remember I was so nervous as I watched you. I was so worried you were going to get hurt. I had to watch the match from between my fingers.”

  “But I won.”

  “You kicked that other guy’s ass.”

  “That was the exact moment I knew I wanted to be a fighter.” He could still remember the roar of the crowd, though there couldn't have been more than twenty people there. He remembered the referee holding his hand up as he was declared the winner. His heart was pounding, he was out of breath, but he had won and he had seen Ivy sitting in the stands smiling up at him.

  “You’re welcome,” Ivy said with a kiss.

  “What are we going to do about your dad?” Blake asked as he slipped the medal back into the box.

  “I don’t know. Maybe he just needs a little bit of time,” Ivy said with a shrug. “I wonder what your mom thinks…”

  “My mom loves you,” Blake said. “I know she’ll be okay with this. Maybe she can convince Jonas to change his mind.” He leaned down and kissed Ivy on the forehead as he looked at the clock. It was still early, only ten o’clock in the morning. But his statement would be coming out within two hours. He needed to go to Tim’s office and get ready. He would have to answer questions and deal with the press and the backlash. But he had Ivy back and she was ready to fight for their relationship. As long as she was there, he could convince himself everything would be okay.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  They arrived at Tim’s office
where Ivy was surprised to see Ellen sitting in one of the leather chairs in the office sipping a cup of coffee. Blake strode into the door, but Ivy nervously hung back. Her own father had just told her he didn’t approve of her relationship with Blake; she didn’t want to hear the same thing from Ellen whom she liked so much. She watched from the doorway as Ellen stood up and embraced Blake who whispering something into her ear.

  She looked up and smiled at Ivy as Blake went back to talk to Tim. Ivy watched Ellen walk towards her and she felt oddly trapped in place. She was desperate to run, but social conventions told her she couldn’t. But she couldn’t bring herself to take a step forward. She fidgeted nervously as Ellen came a step away from her and she froze as the other woman pulled her in for a hug.

  “How are you doing, Ivy?” Ellen asked as she released her.

  “Not great,” Ivy admitted. “My dad came over. He doesn’t approve of me and Blake.”

  “I know,” Ellen said with a shake of her head. “We argued about it all last night and the entire ride up here.”

  “You argued?” Ivy asked.

  “Yes. I don’t know what your father is thinking. You and Blake are both mature adults who can make your own decisions. If you want to be together, you should. You aren’t blood related and you weren’t raised together. You’re barely stepsiblings,” she said with a wave of her hand and roll of her eyes.

  Ivy smiled and grabbed the woman by her shoulders and pulled her into a strong hug.

  “Thank you, Ellen. That really means a lot to me. It means so much. I don’t even know how to describe it. Blake really cares what you think and I don’t know what he would do if you didn’t approve.”

  “He would ignore me and do whatever he wanted,” Ellen said with a smile. “He would bring you around for the holidays and just wear me down until I agreed with him.”

  Ivy laughed; it was only too easy to imagine. But her father wouldn’t be so easily swayed. He was a stubborn man with strong principles. “I just still can’t quite believe it. He said it would be bad for business. Do you think that’s true?”

  “Your father cares far too much about what the people in that town think. I think he would be very disappointed to realize his life isn’t interesting enough for town gossip. No one is going to care that you and Blake are together and the ones who will care will just be happy because they know what a good fit you are.”

  “But there are some who will think it’s weird.”

  “Then we’ll ignore them,” she said with a shrug.

  Ivy liked Ellen’s idea of the world, one where everyone was kind and understanding where it was easy to ignore gossips and snoops. Ivy wasn’t convinced the reality would be quite as kind. She was about to tell everyone she was in a relationship with her future stepbrother.

  She glanced over at Blake. He was wearing a simple long sleeved black t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans. He was standing in front of a big bright window, the soft grey light from the cloudy sky illuminating his frame. It almost hurt how much she loved him. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to him, but she was helpless to stop what was coming. Sometimes she wondered if his life would have been better if he had not met her, but she was too scared to follow that thought to the end.

  Twelve o’clock came quickly. It seemed the hands of the clock were spinning around the face far too fast. Ivy could look out the window and see the news vans as they crowded the street below. Reporters in dark suits and short skirts stood out in the windy weather speaking into microphones and sending the story around the world. What would they say? What would the message be? Would Blake be a violent, redneck freak or a man protecting the woman he loved?

  “Ivy, can you come in for a moment?” Tim asked. Ivy looked over at him confused. His face was oddly red and he was tugging at his collar.

  “Sure,” Ivy said as her stomach dropped. She stood and mustering as much confidence as possible she strode into Tim’s office. Blake was sitting at a table, a cup of coffee in front of him. He was staring out the window and didn’t look happy. “Hey,” Ivy said struggling with a smile.

  “Hey,” he responded with a general smile. He reached out for her hand and stroked the back of her knuckles with his thumb for a moment before letting her go. “I need to tell you something. It’s not good news, but it’s not as bad as it sounds and I just need you to let me explain everything before you start in with questions.”

  “What? Why? What happened? What’s going on?” Ivy asked Blake rolled his eyes.

  “Wow, you literally could not go one second. The camera that was found at the house-”

  “No,” Ivy interrupted feeling not a familiar flush, but something worse. She felt not a rush of heat, but a bucket of ice cold water poured over her head.

  “He’s uploaded it to the internet. We’ve had it pulled off of the places that have lawyers, the more respectable porn sites. But it’s out there, Ivy, and there’s not much we can do about that.”

  “I’m going to be sick,” Ivy said, grabbing her stomach.

  Blake grabbed her hand and held her in place. Looking right in her eyes, Blake said, “Ivy, I’ve seen the tape. We have nothing to be worried about. It’s really good.”

  Ivy gasped and stared at him as he cracked a smile. She wanted to slap him. Like a sassy broad in an old movie, she wanted to land a hard one right on his face. But she held herself back. There was something about that smile. She wanted to kiss him and kill him all at the same time.

  “I can’t believe this,” Ivy said, shaking her head. My life is over, she thought. She didn’t want to say it out loud. Blake had enough on his shoulders; she didn’t want to add to it. But it was out there. People were going to hear about it. They were going to search for on it on Google. She was going to be a joke.

  She had about an hour to process everything. It was too much time and not nearly enough. But they had a press conference to give. Tim led the way with Ivy and Ellen following behind him. Everyone in the office stood and nodded as they passed. How many of their jobs depended on Blake’s career? What would happen if it was over? They rode the elevator in silence. At the tenth floor, Blake reached over and squeezed Ivy’s hand and she squeezed his in returned.

  The elevators opened and they were greeted with the glare of flashbulbs and the members on the other side of glass doors began to mob the entryway.

  “Blank faces, everyone,” Tim reminded them. He took the first step, with Blake right behind them.

  Ellen and Ivy waited a beat and then they, too, stepped out into the hallway and walked towards the mob. It felt wrong to Ivy. Her every instinct was to run away from the vultures out there. But she needed to be strong; she couldn’t falter again.

  The doors were opened as they stepped outside and into the fray. The flashbulbs were blinding and Ivy almost stumbled as she walked out. The members of the press were pushing forward and shouting as Blake stood at a podium and pulled out his statement. Ivy was shaking from head to toe. She had no idea Blake’s life was like this. It was intense and overwhelming and she wanted to go sit in a quiet room for hours after only dealing with this for a few seconds.

  “Thank you for coming,” Blake intoned into the microphone. His voice was strong and confident and he spoke clearly and slowly.

  Ivy was impressed. If it were her, she didn’t think she would have got a single word out.

  “I would like to start by apologizing for my actions the other day. I allowed a man to provoke me to violence. I sincerely regret my actions and I want my fans to know violence is never the answer. In my defense, however, I would like to tell my side of the story. The man on the other side of this exchange is Darryl Linden. He’s a member of the Linden Logging family. He has been stalking and harassing my girlfriend, Ivy McCormick, for years. He has left threatening and dangerous messages and he has twice violated his restraining orders. So far he has managed to stay above the law. He provoked me into hitting him and I take full responsibilities to my actions. Later, BreakerSpin will be runn
ing a full story of the extent of the stalking and fear this man has inflicted on an innocent woman. I am working with my sponsors and the organizers of the fight to move past this minor infraction. My lawyer will answer any questions you may have.”

  The press had been silent for the entirety of Blake’s speech but when he finished they were louder than ever as they yelled questions at Blake, his lawyer, but also to Ivy. There was a blonde woman with helmet like hair and a cheap pink suit screaming questions in Ivy’s direction.

  “Are you Ivy McCormick!? Are you the one responsible for all of this?”

  Ivy felt bewildered, but she tried to keep her face a neutral mask like Tim had instructed. She could barely hear Tim answering questions over the din of the reporter’s yell.