Violet’s Bucket List

by Embers, Tuesday

  “I think he’s happier like tha. He can pretend I secured myself a nice piece of land, and have a flock of my own to tend to. He can tell all the lads at the pub tha his son is off living the same dream he loves. I don’t care.”

  Eli frowned with that closed-off look he sometimes wore for other people, so I knew he very much cared. I took a chance and touched his arm, hissing at the electricity that hummed between us at the simple contact. He turned to look at me, as if daring me to say the right thing, when we both knew there was no right thing to say about it. I swallowed hard, blinking up at him with unconcealed sadness at the hard look in his eyes. “I’m sorry you have to not care.”

  Eli sucked in a long breath, held it for a few beats, and then deflated, his closed expression melting into confusion. “Tha was the perfect thing to say. Thanks.” He drew me to him to comfort himself, wrapping one arm around my back and resting his chin atop my head. My hand migrated to his chest, unable to help myself, now that I was so near. “My Da hated the military, so I joined to spite him. Seems foolish, now tha I look back, but somehow it worked for me.”

  “I wonder where you would’ve ended up if he hadn’t put those expectations on you.”

  “I’d be in Ireland still. Probably working at the local pub. Having something to prove is a powerful thing, even if the person you’re hoping sees ye isn’t watching.”

  “Do you still feel that weight?” I smoothed my thumb across his chest, hoping to soothe the ache there.

  “Not as much anymore. I haven’t talked about my Da in years.”

  My other arm reached around so I could rub his back. “I’m sorry I made you talk about it. I shouldn’t have pried.”

  Eli thumbed my jaw thoughtfully. “I don’t mind talking to ye about myself.” As soon as the words escaped his lips, he looked surprised by them. “Whoa. I don’t think I’ve ever said tha before.” He eyed me with suspicion. “I think I’m catching a bit of those Hot Girl Blurts. Next thing I know, I’ll be confessing government secrets just because ye bat your lashes at me.”

  A genuine, broad smile spread across my face, and for a second, I swear I could feel a sunrise expanding in my heart. “See? Now, that was the perfect thing to say.”

  “Then why aren’t ye kissing me? Bring that smile over here. I miss the taste of it.”

  I’d never been a public display kind of girl, but I’d also never been with a man like Eli before. He pushed me over the edge with a simple touch, so I knew I couldn’t deny him a kiss, just because the lobsters were watching us from their tank.

  I leaned up on my toes, touching his scruffy cheek with my fingertips, angling his chin so his breath fanned my face. Our lips took their time, pausing the earth’s rotation as we learned what it was to kiss without the adrenaline of falling from the sky – to produce our own high of endorphins from a simple kiss. The uncomplicated beauty grew into something measured with intensity, allowing us to indulge in the slow, melty seduction.

  When he pulled away, it was only an inch, his lips still tauntingly close. “Ask me anything, and I’ll tell ye.”

  “Your favorite band.”

  “I tell the lads at work I like rap, but I listen to Frank Sinatra when I’m alone.”

  I smirked at the cute confession. “What did you want to be when you were a little boy?”

  “I wanted to be not my Da. I didn’t have the rest worked out until a recruiter waved a form in front of me. I told people I wanted to be a farmer, so he’d leave me alone about it.”

  I took my golden opportunity and asked more girlfriendy kind of questions. “Do you have any bad habits?”

  He sighed. “I wish I could lie to ye.” Eli kissed my lips again, stroking them as if he couldn’t resist the taste, but knew he should because we were in public. “I bite my nails, for one. I can’t stand clutter. Like, can’t sleep if I left a sock on the floor, or there’s dishes still in the sink. I don’t like sharing.” He frowned, spending a few breaths taking stock of his life. “I love to fight, but I’m not much of a talker. Bad combination.” A wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows. “Now it’s ye who are taking advantage of me, asking me stuff like tha when ye know full well I can’t shut up around ye.”

  “I’m evil like that. See? There’s my bad habit for you. Pure evilness.”

  Eli relaxed his shoulders, and the worry lines on his face disappeared. “I fancy ye, Mouse. Another habit of mine is tha when I see something I want, I go after it. I don’t want often, but when I do, it switches something on inside of me. Can’t decide if tha’s a bad habit or not, but it’s worth mentioning.” His eyes met mine in a loaded gaze that said more than I was expecting. I sobered, taking in his confession with a baffled wonder that he was actually talking about wanting me. Me. I mean, me.

  Eli kissed my floored lips again, keeping me close while the lobsters watched us fall even harder for each other.

  14

  Boxing Gloves and Mittens

  I’d never been much of a nail-biter, but I couldn’t quell the nerves that bubbled up in me when I sat with Brady in the family section of the underground boxing pit. “I don’t know about this. I mean, I’m basically sitting back and watching the guy I like get punched in the face. Is it too late to call this thing off?”

  Brady chuckled, his arm slung around my seat as he sat back and took in the scene with a lax gaze. “I don’t think you understand how huge Eli is. I don’t think he’ll be the one getting punched, Vi.”

  I studied Eli’s opponent, Dan the Destroyer (otherwise known as Herpes Breath), who walked around in the stands to do the meet-and-greet and pre-match shots with his fans. His copper-colored fro was in full swing, bouncing as he strutted. I wanted Eli to take Dan down with no foreplay, so I made mental notes as best I could to help Eli speed things along. When Eli came out from the men’s bathroom, however, I could scarcely remember my own name. I’d thought I understood just how good looking he was, but even though we lived together, I’d never seen the king of my dreams without his shirt on. Shoot, I’d never even seen him in shorts. Yet there he was, toned and massive, muscles ready for anything, and trained not to mess around.

  A few people called his name and cheered, but he merely raised his chin to them in acknowledgment. It was clear he was the crowd favorite. He beelined over to us and handed me his gloves. “Lace me up?” he requested, ignoring the populace that was thickening by the minute.

  “Sure.” I stood and fumbled with the laces after sliding the gloves on his hands, as if I’d never tied anything before in my life. My fingers were inflexible and clumsy, but somehow, they got the job done. Eli looked down on me with a tenderness to his smile. It made me feel like less of an idiot for having to sing the Tying Your Shoes song in my head that my mother had taught me when I was young. He was too good looking, and standing too close for me to pretend my way through intelligent conversation.

  “Ye aren’t looking at me, Mouse. Are ye sick of staring at me already?”

  “N-no. It’s just that… I mean, you’re… And looking like this is… You’re practically naked!”

  He looked down at his green silk shorts in confusion. “Ye’ve never seen a lad in shorts at the gym before?”

  “I feel like maybe I have, but none come to mind right now.”

  He chuckled at me, taking pleasure in my awkward flirting. “I’m glad ye came to watch me fight. I know this isn’t your scene.”

  My eyebrows crinkled together in concern as I remembered my panic. “I don’t like this. The thought of someone trying to hurt you? I like your face exactly as it is. Seriously, Eli. Can’t you call this off?”

  Eli leaned down and brushed the lightest of kisses to my lips, making me swoon and melt in public. I heard several cheers for Eli to keep going, and a few catcalls for us to get a room. It was when he brushed his nose back and forth across mine that my bones started to turn to jelly again, and heat flooded low in my belly. He steadied me with his strong arms around my waist so I didn’t hit the floor. “E
asy, Mouse. Sorry about tha.” He lowered me to the chair next to Brady, who gave a pound of his fist to Eli’s glove in solidarity. “How about ye, Brady? Are ye this worried about my mug?”

  Brady didn’t miss a beat, and blew a kiss to Eli. “You know who you’re coming home with, baby. Now knock that guy out so we can get you home, where you belong,” he kidded.

  Before Eli could leave us, I reached out and grabbed onto his glove, pausing him enough to gather my bearings. “Wait! The guy with the shoulder! Destroyer the Dan! The Herpes Breath!”

  Eli ignored the crowd, the ref who was calling his name to go into the ring and start the match, and the entire world so he could hear me out. He lowered himself to squat between my knees, so he could look up into my face, as if I was the only woman in the world he wanted to stare at. “What is it, Mouse?”

  I pleaded with my eyes for him not to fight, but my mouth went into therapist-mode. “That guy’s right shoulder is weak. That Dan guy. He’ll do most of his fighting with his left side to compensate. He’s got money in the game, too. He keeps looking toward the bookie in back with dodgy glances. He’s desperate for cash, so he’ll fight with everything in him. Look out for something dirty.”

  Eli’s mouth fell open, gazing into my eyes with something akin to wonder. I was grateful I was already sitting down, or else I’m pretty sure that look alone would’ve done me in. “Ye are really something, ye know tha, right? Now you’re my lucky charm.” He looked so sweet and precious, squatting before me as he was. He lifted my hand up to rest on his naked chest, but I jerked away. I didn’t want the entire arena to see how aroused I grew at the simple touch. Eli was patient, guiding my hand gently back to his pecs. “Feel tha? Steadier heartbeats they haven’t seen yet. I’m not worried about tha pipsqueak, so ye don’t need to fret, neither.” When the bell rang to signal him into the ring, I jumped and shrieked when he sprang forward and bit lightly at my neck. “Don’t ye go missing this, Mouse. I’ll be putting on a grand show for ye.”

  I waved him off, my heart thumping as the crowd started to get worked up. I leaned back into Brady, who’d watched our exchange with amusement. “Man, you’re a trip around him. I’ve never seen you so goofy and giggly.”

  “No joke, I almost just peed myself when he bit my neck. You try keeping your cool when your favorite celebrity crush gnaws on your neck.”

  Brady took a sip of his beer, settling into his seat and readying himself to dole out some sage wisdom. “That’s the thing, though. Celebrity kisses aren’t real. Britney Spears isn’t real. Eli is a real guy with a real set of goals and dysfunctions. I’m glad you two went grocery shopping together. Do more stuff like that. Get to know the non-celebrity side of him, and let him get to know the version of you that doesn’t need an oxygen mask whenever he breathes in your direction. I like that girl. I think he’d like that girl, too. The glimpses you’ve given him so far, he’s eaten right up.”

  I chewed on Brady’s words while Eli rolled his delicious shoulders in the ring. “Stop being so wise. And I would never tell you Britney Spears isn’t real. That’s the meanest thing you’ve ever said to me,” I teased, bristling with faux indignation.

  Brady grinned at me. “Here’s hoping.”

  Sherry sauntered in from behind me, tugging on a lock of my ponytail and casting Brady and me a wide grin. “Well, if it isn’t the girl who every woman in here wants to strangle. How’d you get so lucky?”

  “Huh?” I looked around, and sure enough, I counted thirteen different women staring daggers at me. Weird. I was usually the invisible girl who flew under the radar. “What’d I do? Am I not supposed to be sitting here?”

  Sherry had the gleeful look of a girl who loved a good stir of the pot. “Oh, you should always sit here. I’ve never seen Latrice more worked up. She’s been wanting Eli to settle down with her since he first started up here. Then she finally gets him to go home with her, and all he does is drop her off at the front door. Doesn’t so much as kiss her goodnight. Now he’s here with you? You’re in the family box, and he’s kissing you in front of everyone? The girls all want to know how you managed that.”

  “This feels like the MMA version of junior high,” I complained.

  “Think you can get him to slip you a little tongue? Latrice is practically boiling with jealousy. I do love it when she doesn’t get what she wants. Slept with my boyfriend last year, so if Eli does give you some tongue, make sure to drag it out for the viewers.”

  “Oh, gosh. This is so out of hand.”

  “Move it along,” Brady said in a playful voice that also held the firm hand of a command to it. He cast Sherry a light smile as he waved her away.

  Caty stormed in and plopped down in the seat next to mine with no flourish whatsoever, which was unlike her. “I thought we were watching your guy beat the crap out of some other man. I’m in the mood for bloodshed, so crank that bell and let’s do this.” She pounded her fist in the air with a ferocity I didn’t often see in her. “Go, Ireland!”

  “You alright?” I asked her, but her succinct “I will be,” was lost in the shouts and cheers. It irked me that the other dude went by Dan the Destroyer. Eli just went by his first name with no need to declare his masculinity, which was exactly how I preferred him. He didn’t need the bells and whistles of a fancy name to make him shine.

  Eli waited for Dave to pounce, deflecting the first punch, absorbing the second, and knocking a clear jab to Dan’s stiff shoulder. I saw the tightening of Dan’s jaw and the loss of pep in his step that told me I was right on the money with my evaluation.

  Dan put on a tough face and went in more aggressively this time, punching three times in quick succession to try and knock Eli off his game. Eli backed away, absorbing two to his hard abdomen, and deflecting the third.

  I watched the match with my hands over my face, peeking through my fingers in horror as I ranted in Spanish. I prayed nothing would ever hit Eli again, while I was forced to just sit there and watch it all go down.

  “He’s baiting him,” Brady explained. Then he stood and yelled for Eli to… I don’t know, win? Beat Dan up? Destroy the Destroyer? I couldn’t tell above all the shouting that echoed around us off the concrete walls.

  I was motionless in my seat, while my two best friends were standing and giving Eli their all. “Make it be over!” I whimpered, hating every fist that was thrown in his direction, whether or not they met their mark.

  Eight minutes. Eight whole minutes of sheer torture ticked by until Eli finally put Dan out of his misery. As Brady suspected, Eli had been drawing out Dan’s fight, which only grew wilder when he realized there might just be no winning against the mammoth wall that was my sweet Eli. With a final blow, Dan hit the mat with a bounce – an actual bounce that made his head slam down twice. Eli’s arm was raised in the air, a show of gladiator-like musculature and strength. He was incredible, unstoppable, and looking right at me with a grin that was marred with a dribble of blood running from his nose.

  Then Eli did the sweetest thing I could’ve imagined in that moment. He took off his boxing glove, and fished out a red mitten that had been inside the entire time. He tossed it at me, and the women nearby reacted as if he’d taken off his shorts and blessed me with them. But it was so much better than that.

  I fingered the mitten he’d no doubt found while out and about during his day. He’d saved a mitten for me, taking up my cause as if it was his own. More than that, he’d fought with a part of me in his glove. I clutched the red yarn to my heart, letting him know with a passionate look that I saw his gesture. He cared about the little things that made me tick. Somehow, I’d made a mark on him, just as much as he’d marked me.

  The moment lasted only as long as a few well-timed breaths before Dan stumbled to his feet. He had a busted lip, the beginnings of a black eye, and fire in his eyes. I saw the loaded spring before it uncoiled, my enraptured smile mutating into an expression of pure fear when I saw Dan bending his knees in anticipation of tackling Eli from b
ehind. “Eli! Turn around!” I shouted, pointing at Dan.

  Eli whirled around just as Dan shot forward. He barely had time to bend his knees to brace himself against the attack, but he managed to hold his ground. He got in three more punches to Dan’s sore ribs before Dan tried to pull Eli’s knees up to unearth the tower of a man. Everyone who had come to see a wild match went nuts, screaming for more, and also for the ref to intervene. Several people from the crowd jumped into the ring, lending their hand to help the ref break up the impromptu fight. A loud whack from Eli’s fist knocked one of Dan’s front teeth clean out of his head.

  Dan was seething when two men finally pried him off of Eli, who wasn’t rattled more than raising his thick eyebrows. “Watch your back around me, man!” Dan spat.

  Eli made a show of turning his back to Dan as he was shoved out of the ring, proving that he never saw Dan as a threat worth stressing about. He turned back to me and shrugged his shoulders, as if all of that had been nothing more than a slight inconvenience.

  I couldn’t help myself. I ran into the ring and threw my arms around his neck. I was scared, and wished I could protect Eli against all the things that came after him.

  15

  Seeing Brady Naked

  “Never again, do you hear me? That is without a doubt the most horrible thing I’ve ever had to sit through, and I once held a patient’s hand while he had knee surgery!”

  “Are ye finished yet?” Eli fidgeted on the locker room bench we were straddling, him facing me as I tended to his nose.

  “Finished? Finished? This is me just getting started.” I dabbed at Eli’s face, which, after a shower in the men’s room, looked even worse. His eye was popping out, his lip was split, and his nose was still having a difficult time clotting. “Of all the brash things I’ve witnessed, fighting like that – as in, when you don’t have to – was dangerous. And that Dan jaggoff? Vato’s got it in for you. The other match we saw was civil; it was all about the boxing. This? He’s got his sights set on you, and if you think he won’t come after you again, you’re dead wrong.”