The Fighter

by E. L. Todd

  “Yeah, we’re best friends.” I stepped out of the way so my date could be seen. “This is my boyfriend, Tom.”

  Brutus shook his hand then introduced himself to the rest of the table.

  Pepper gave me a furious look. “This guy can’t take no for an answer, can he?”

  “Maybe that’s a good thing.”

  “No. It’s just an annoying thing.” She turned back to him. “So what’s your next plan? To impress my friends?”

  He stared at Pepper like she was the only woman in the room. He’d probably paid a guy to sit at the bar and alert him if she walked inside. Then he showed up and tried to sweep her off her feet. “Is it working?”

  “Yes,” Zach blurted.

  Pepper glared at him.

  Brutus smiled slightly then turned to me. “How long have you guys known each other?”

  “About…” I tried to think of the total time since the night we met. “About six years now—”

  “We used to be married.” Pepper used her best ammunition to get herself off this guy’s radar. Telling men she used to be married to a gay man was her best method to shake their attention. “We got divorced almost two years ago. And I’m sure it’s obvious why.” She drank from her glass, victorious in her scheme.

  Why did she want to shake this guy so much? This one actually had potential.

  His eyes narrowed, and he continued to stand there as if he were intrigued. “It’s great to see that you guys are still friends. That’s quite a testament to your relationship.”

  She did a double take because she couldn’t believe what he’d just said.

  I liked this guy.

  Brutus remained as cool and suave as ever, drinking from his glass while admiring the earrings that hung from her lobes. He stared at her like she was land he had already claimed for himself. She thought she was on the market, but he obviously thought she was already his.

  I wondered when Pepper would figure out that this guy wouldn’t let her go without a fight.

  He turned to Stella. “What’s your story?”

  “I’m her best friend,” Stella said proudly. “And I’ve been dating Zach for almost a year now.”

  “You’re a lucky man.” Brutus raised his glass to Zach.

  Zach clinked his glass against mine. “And you’ll be a lucky man if you can ever tame a woman like Pepper.”

  Pepper’s cheeks immediately reddened.

  Brutus took a long drink before he set his glass down. “I’ve always been a lucky guy…”

  I’d never seen a man so smitten with Pepper. The guy was crazy rich and so sexy it was stupid, so he could have whoever he wanted. So if he really had his sights on Pepper, it must be for a good reason. “Tom, let’s head out. I’m a little under the weather.”

  Pepper snapped her neck in my direction. “You aren’t going anywhere.” She knew exactly what I was doing and wasn’t buying my excuse.

  I rubbed my stomach. “Must have been those hot wings I had earlier.”

  “You didn’t eat any hot wings today,” Pepper said coldly.

  “No, I’m pretty sure I did.” I grabbed Tom’s hand and motioned to Stella and Zach.

  Zach caught on. “Yeah…we’ve got to go too.”

  “You are all traitors.” Pepper rolled her eyes then drank from her glass.

  Brutus wore a slight smile, knowing he must have gained our approval if we were giving them some privacy. “It was nice to meet you all.”

  “You too.” I waved to Pepper then walked out with everyone else. When I turned back to look at her from the door, she was flipping me off.

  I gave her a thumbs-up and darted out.

  We were relaxing on the couch of my apartment when Finn called.

  Tom eyed my phone on the coffee table. “It’s almost eleven. Why is he calling so late?”

  “It’s probably eight in the morning his time.” Now I was taking his calls, but I still resented him for what he did to Pepper. She was fucking every guy she saw because she was still so devastated by his betrayal. She talked about having a family on her own because the idea of ever trusting someone again was just too hard. I knew I was to blame for her feelings as well, but Finn did the biggest amount of damage. I took his call. “Hey.” I spoke with a somewhat positive tone, but I was still annoyed that I had to have a conversation at all. Maybe when Pepper was married to a good guy, I would finally stop hating Finn.

  “Hey.” His tone was the complete opposite of mine, full of melancholy, like he didn’t have the energy to even have this conversation. “How’s Seattle?” He sighed into the phone, like I was the one who’d called him and interrupted his day.

  “Cold, wet, rainy. The usual. How’s Uganda…or Kenya? Wherever you are.”

  “Hot and humid.”

  “Wow, polar opposites.”

  “Yeah.”

  I watched the TV while my feet rested on the coffee table. I expected him to tell me about saving someone’s life or his adventures with the villagers he was treating, but he was quiet on his end of the line. He’d never been much of a talker, but conversation was essential for a phone call. “Everything alright?”

  “Yeah…I’ve just been going through a rough time. I don’t have anyone to talk to about it.”

  When I realized my brother was actually hurting, I dropped all my resentment and opened myself up to him. I left the living room and headed into the kitchen so I could escape the sound of the TV. “What’s going on, man?”

  “I’ve been thinking about Pepper a lot…”

  If he called me to tell me he’d made a mistake, I didn’t want to hear it. If he said he wanted her back, I wouldn’t help him. He’d made his decision six months ago, and he had to stick with it for the rest of his life.

  “She’s seeing someone?”

  I wanted to slam the phone down when I heard the question. “You’re joking, right?”

  “No.”

  “You heard her on the phone the other day. Yes, she’s seeing someone.” She was seeing tons of people. I would never let him have the satisfaction of the destruction he caused. I wouldn’t let him know that Pepper was still suffering, still processing this break up in a self-destructive way.

  He was quiet for a long time. “Is it serious?”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me, Finn. Look, you dumped her and took off. You don’t get to call and snoop on her—”

  “I’m not snooping, okay? I just—”

  “It’s over. When Pepper said you would never have another chance with her, she meant it. Stop asking about her because I won’t give you answers. And don’t you dare call her either. She wouldn’t answer anyway.” I couldn’t believe Finn was pulling this shit. I also couldn’t believe it took him six months to figure out what he’d lost.

  “You really think I have no chance of getting her back?”

  She had a billionaire pining for her affection. She talked about being alone for the rest of her life. She would never take back Finn in a million years, even if she did have feelings for him. “None.”

  He sighed into the phone. “Are you going to tell her what I said?”

  “No. I’m sure time is standing still over there because you’re alone, but we’ve all moved on. Tom and I really like her boyfriend. He’s hot, rich, and treats her like a goddamn queen. No one is thinking about you, Finn. No one is thinking you two should be together. We’ve all moved on, and we’re in better places. You’re just going to have to live with the consequences of your stupidity—because you deserve to.” I hung up and shoved the phone into my pocket.

  Tom stared at me from his seat on the couch. “That was pretty cold.”

  “He deserves cold.”

  “You lied and said she has a boyfriend. I don’t think that’s fair.”

  “I’m not letting Finn think she’s still heartbroken over their breakup…even if she is. I’m not letting her look weak. He ripped her apart into so many pieces, they may not fit together again. I’m not giving him any hope whats
oever. I don’t want him anywhere near her, and neither does she.”

  “But are you sure about that? Maybe she would take him back.”

  “Trust me, she wouldn’t.”

  Tom kept staring at me.

  “What?”

  “I just think if Finn really feels that way, maybe Pepper has the right to know.”

  I came back to the couch and avoided his gaze. “If he really felt that way, he could leave his post and come home and try to win her back. I’m not stopping him. She’s just a phone call or text message away if he wants to do it the coward’s way.”

  “But maybe he never will because he thinks she has a boyfriend.”

  “Whatever. They never should have gotten together in the first place. I’m not letting that shitshow happen again.”

  5

  Pepper

  Now it was just the two of us at the table in the bar.

  Because those bastards abandoned me.

  He stayed beside me with his hand around his glass, keeping a respectable distance between us even though he’d already licked the valley between my tits and eaten my pussy. Our night together had gone on for hours. We didn’t get to sleep until six, which was why it was so easy for me to slip out when he was dead to the world.

  Dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, he didn’t look like the rich man with a fat wallet. He seemed like a regular guy, which was why I went home with him in the first place. His jeans fit him so nicely, and the fabric of his shirt stretched across his chest because he had such a solid build. His masculine physique was softened by that pretty face. If being a billionaire didn’t last, he could always do modeling—or porn.

  “Your friends are nice.” He pivoted his body toward mine.

  “They’re backstabbing assholes, and we both know it.”

  A soft grin stretched his face. “I think they liked me.”

  “They just think you’re hot.”

  “And you don’t think that?”

  “Well…I do. But they also think you’re rich.”

  “I am rich.”

  “And that’s exactly why I’m not interested…” I took a drink.

  “Because I’m rich?”

  “Because you’re arrogant about it.”

  He studied me while his fingers tapped against his glass. “It’s impossible for a self-made man not to be that way.”

  “I’m sure it is.” I didn’t mean to be rude to this guy, but I’d already rejected him, even though he refused to accept my disinterest. He popped up in random places, cornering me so he could have my attention. If he weren’t such a good-looking guy, people would find it creepy.

  After a long bout of silence, he spoke again. “I’d really like to take you out sometime.”

  “I told you I wasn’t interested.”

  “Why?”

  I turned back to him, doing my best not to turn vulnerable when I looked at his sexy features. “I’m not looking for anything serious. If I were a man, that answer would have been sufficient.”

  “But I asked you to fuck, and you turned that down too.”

  “Because I don’t like to be with the same man twice. Again, if I were a man, you wouldn’t be blinking an eye over this. So you continue to ask me because you don’t like my answer…like it’s going to change.”

  “I have to try, right?”

  “Or you could move on to someone else. A man like you could probably get any woman he wants.” He could pick them up in his expensive car and drive them to the airport where his private jet was waiting. He didn’t need to spend time hunting me down if he wanted a hot piece of ass for the night.

  “I can get any woman I want. But I want you.” Full of arrogance but also with a hint of sweetness, he threw out a line that softened me.

  I looked into my glass.

  “You want me too. So tell me why you won’t let yourself have me.”

  “I already said—”

  “I want the truth. Don’t waste my time with that bullshit answer.” A new watch was on his wrist, another Omega that was solid black. It seemed like every watch he wore was the price of a nice car.

  “I didn’t realize I owed you an explanation…”

  He finished the rest of his drink and left the empty glass on the table. “How about I go first, then?”

  “Go first for what?”

  “Why I’m bending over backward to get ten minutes of your time.” One arm rested on the table, and he stared at me with the same heated expression he gave me the night we slept together.

  “I guess I would be curious to know. You’ve seen a lot of beautiful women in your lifetime, so I can’t be that impressive to you. We’ve hardly had a real conversation, so it’s not like we have a lot of in common. Your interest in me is a mystery, honestly.”

  “Have you ever Googled me?”

  The only information I knew about him was what I learned from Zach and Colton. “No.”

  “I figured. Then you don’t know that I’m divorced.”

  This guy couldn’t be more than a few years older than me. He seemed too young to have already settled down and then called it quits. “Oh…I didn’t know that.” I assumed that a man like him would be a terminal bachelor until old age humbled him.

  “It’s the same story that’s been told a million times. I fell stupidly in love with her, married her, and then she had an affair. She took half of everything, all of my hard work. I’m not sure which stung more, signing those divorce papers or writing her a fat check. She publicly humiliated me…and I was crushed.”

  Just minutes ago, he was a handsome stranger who meant nothing to me. But now, my heart beat a little harder, my eyes softened a little more, and I actually felt something for this man. It was pity mixed with respect, the way he told me about the most humiliating thing that ever happened to him with such vulnerability.

  “So when you got upset because you thought I was married…I respected that. If only more people were like that, perhaps that affair never would have happened. Perhaps I would still be married right now, not that I wish that were the case.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “The divorce was finalized three years ago, when I turned thirty.”

  “I’m sorry…” I pitied him because I understood his pain all too well. Losing someone you thought would be yours for the rest of your life was one of the hardest pains to ever endure. Divorce was ugly.

  “Sometimes I wonder if she just wanted my money. If that guy hadn’t slept with her, then she would have found someone else. Either way, she got half of my wealth, so it didn’t matter. The fact that you didn’t stick around the next morning and kept blowing me off told me you couldn’t care less about my money.”

  I gave a slight nod. “Money is the root of all evil. You can trace back every problem in the world to greed. Every time.”

  He studied me for a full minute. “I think you might be right about that.”

  I turned back to my glass and took another drink.

  “Now that I know you’re divorced, I realize we have something else in common. Ever since things ended with my ex-wife, I haven’t been interested in a real relationship. The idea of getting married again sounds like a headache. It’s all fucking and partying for me now. But with you…I guess I wanted a little more. I’m attracted to your honor. I’m attracted to your indifference to my wealth. Now I’m attracted to you because that divorce must have been hard, but you overcame it.” He moved a little closer to me, as if we were alone in his apartment and no one was around. “Tell me your story.”

  I gripped my glass a little harder. “It doesn’t have a happy ending.”

  “Maybe the story hasn’t ended yet.”

  “Alright.” I released my glass and let it sit beside me. “I was married to Colton for three years. I was very happy. Being married to him was like being married to your best friend. I thought we would be together forever…until one day he told me he was gay.”

  His features softened with pity.

 
“It was really hard, letting him go and starting a new relationship. It took a long time, but we finally came to a place where we’re best friends again.”

  “That’s real love. It survives the harshest conditions.”

  “But then something worse happened…”

  He kept listening.

  “I fell in love with his brother, Finn. He’s a veteran and a doctor. It kinda just happened, and we couldn’t stay away from each other. We started a relationship, and we were very happy…he even proposed to me.”

  “Don’t tell me he’s gay too.”

  I chuckled, because Finn was the straightest guy on the planet. “No. He got offered a position in Africa with Doctors Without Borders for a year before he’ll get a position at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. And he took it…”

  He shook his head slightly. “Makes his promise sound a little empty.”

  “It was completely empty…and it hurt more than when Colton left. Truth be told, I’m still not really over it. I’m over him, but that kind of abandonment really screwed me up. My mother got pregnant when she was really young, so she gave me up for adoption. I stayed in the system for eighteen years. I thought I’d overcome my abandonment issues when I was a young adult, but watching him leave brought everything back…”

  “When did this happen?”

  “Six months ago.”

  “So it’s still a bit fresh.”

  “Yeah. I’m tired of getting hurt. I’m tired of watching the men I love walk away. So I’d rather be alone. It’s just easier that way.” I drank the rest of my glass then set it on the table. I was surprised I’d confided that information in him when I hadn’t even told Colton the truth.

  “It looks like you and I have a lot in common.”

  “Yeah…maybe we do.”

  “Well, I have an idea… How about we be alone together?”

  I turned back to him, finding comfort deep in the beauty of his eyes. Now he didn’t seem like an arrogant douchebag like all the rest. He seemed like a broken soul the way I was, someone who understood the same kind of suffering. “Okay.”