The Fighter

by E. L. Todd

  Brutus walked inside, wearing dark jeans, a deep blue V-neck, and a black leather jacket. He had the looks of a bad boy but a smile of a saint. When his eyes settled on Pepper and her dress, it was like I wasn’t even in the room. “Damn, you look good in that dress.”

  Pepper couldn’t hide her smile as she set down her glass and moved into his chest. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he gripped her around the waist. Together, they pulled themselves together and kissed. He bent his neck down to kiss her hard on the mouth, his hands gripping the material of her dress and pushing it up slightly in the process.

  I looked into my wineglass so I wouldn’t be creepy.

  When Pepper pulled away, she dragged her hands down his chest. “You look good too.”

  “Not as good as you.” He kissed the corner of her mouth. “But thanks anyway.” He squeezed her ass with both hands before he pulled away. He turned his attention to me and stuck out his hand. “Hey, Colt. Nice to see you.”

  I ignored his gesture because this man deserved more than a boring handshake. He came in here and put a smile on Pepper’s face. That made him my hero. “Yeah, it’s great to see you too.”

  When he pulled away from my hug, he smiled. “Looks like I have the approval of the best friend.”

  A knock sounded on the door, and Tom walked inside. “Hey, guys.”

  Pepper walked to the other side of the apartment to greet him.

  And left the two of us alone for a second. “Yes, you have my approval—a million times over. You make Pepper really happy, so you’re my favorite person in the world. Thanks for being so good to her. I really appreciate it.” I clapped him on the back.

  “Are you just saying that because you think I’m hot?” he asked, grinning playfully.

  “I mean…it helps.” I chuckled.

  “It’s ironic. I was actually worried you would never like me since Finn is your brother.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” I glanced at Pepper, who was absorbed in a conversation with Tom by that time. They hugged then kissed each other on the cheek.

  “Well, if they’d ended up together, she’d be your sister-in-law. I don’t know, I just thought you might be loyal to him since you’re related.”

  I wasn’t loyal to him at all. He went behind my back and slept with my ex-wife. Then he proposed to her and dumped her. Good riddance. “I’ll always love my brother, but he never deserved her. I’m relieved he’s on the other side of the world and out of her life. She deserves to be happy.”

  “Do you think he really loved her?”

  The answer immediately popped up in my mind. The instinct was so clear. I had so many memories where Finn wore his heart on his sleeve, the way he spoke of her so highly, the way he stayed faithful to her when he could have fooled around. “I do. But I don’t think he loved her enough either. If he did, he wouldn’t have left.”

  “Well, I hate that she got her heart broken, but I’m glad it happened. At some point, he’s going to realize he made a huge mistake. It’ll hit him when he least expects it. Hopefully, it’ll be too late for him to do anything about it.”

  It was incredible that Brutus predicted that outcome so easily.

  “About eighteen months after I got divorced, Cassandra came back to me. Every man she was with only wanted her for her money. They would use her then spit her out again. No one actually cared whether she lived or died. That’s when she appreciated me, realized what she threw away.”

  “What did you do?”

  “She gave me the revenge I’d been hoping for. So I smiled and slammed the door in her face. Never saw her again.”

  We devoured our gourmet steaks, our red wine, and Pepper ate all the bread in the bread basket. We were given a private table in the corner near the window, but women still gawked at Brutus.

  “That was so good,” Tom said. “But I’m not taking my shirt off tonight. We’ll do it clothed.”

  “That’s fine with me,” I said. “My belly is bigger than yours. Brutus is the only one who looks thinner now than when he walked in.”

  Brutus chuckled. “You guys are my biggest admirers. Pepper doesn’t even compliment me like that.”

  “Fucking you is my compliment.” She moved her hand to his thigh and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

  He melted right before my eyes, like he’d never been more infatuated with a woman in his life. His hand went to the back of her neck, and his fingers got lost in her blanket of hair. He leaned into her and kissed the corner of his mouth, his affection implying that he wanted to do more than just kiss her.

  It used to gross me out when Pepper and Finn were like that. But with Brutus, it was a welcome sight. Brutus adored her.

  When the waitress brought the check, Brutus pulled away. “I got it, guys.” He grabbed the black pad then reached for his wallet in his back pocket.

  “No. We split it.” I grabbed my wallet and threw down my card.

  “Yes.” Pepper grabbed her wallet. “We split it three ways.”

  “Not gonna happen.” Brutus grabbed her wallet and placed it on his other side so she couldn’t reach it. “I’d consider splitting the bill with the guys, but no way in hell am I letting you pay.”

  Pepper didn’t fight since her wallet was out of her reach. “You’ve got to let me pay sometime.”

  “No, I don’t.” Brutus took my card and slipped them both into the folder. “Good, the check dance is done. I hate that shit.”

  I liked the fact that Brutus wasn’t an arrogant asshole who refused to let anyone chip in. He didn’t make us feel poor, like there was no way we could afford a place like this. He wasn’t stuck-up like I imagined a billionaire would be. He was chill.

  The waitress took it, and the argument died.

  “You know,” Pepper said. “We live in the twenty-first century. Women pay for stuff.”

  “I agree. But you pay for your meals in a different currency.” His arm moved around her waist, and he gave her that smoldering gaze again, like he couldn’t wait to get her back to his place so he could fuck her into the sheets.

  She blushed slightly. “I’m going to check my makeup before we go. Mind letting me out?”

  “You could just slide over my lap,” Brutus said, half teasing.

  “I have a feeling there would be a huge log in the way.” She smacked her hip against his in the booth.

  He rose from the booth, let her out, and then gave her a playful smack on the ass as she headed to the bathroom. Then he sat down again, facing us like he hadn’t just groped Pepper right in front of us.

  I liked him.

  He started a new conversation. “I’m thinking of taking Pepper to Fiji next week. The weather is beautiful right now, and we could use a vacation.”

  Man, I wished this guy would take me to Fiji to fuck for a week. “Wow, that sounds really nice.”

  “What about her shop?” Tom asked. “She’s her only employee, right? She can’t close that long.”

  “I’ve been helping Pepper with her business,” Brutus explained. “I gave her a few pointers, helped her with marketing, and got her to hire a few girls to help her run the store. It’s only been a few weeks, but her income has risen by three hundred percent, even with the cost of employees.”

  “I didn’t know that…” Pepper hadn’t mentioned it to me.

  “She fought me at first, but I didn’t like the fact that she had to work all the time. The nice thing about owning a business is not working all the time. My self-interest was my primary concern.”

  “That’s great,” I said. “She’s also been making it check to check, but she’s never given up her business because she enjoys it too much.”

  “It’s a great business,” he said. “Women want something small like that. You go to Victoria’s Secret and see models in a size double zero, and it’s intimidating. At Pepper’s shop, it’s more intimate and more realistic. Makes women feel sexy. I knew she had a lot of potential the second I walked in there.”r />
  “Good. I’ve always wanted her to have more success.” I had feared for her financial stability without me. I made a lot more money than she did, and when we first divorced, I kept putting money into her account until she threatened to rip my eyes out. “But I don’t know about going to Fiji. Pepper is kind of a homebody, and she hates planes.”

  “She’s afraid of flying?”

  “No. The seats are just uncomfortable for her.”

  “Oh…that shouldn’t be a problem,” Brutus said. “We’ll take one of my planes.”

  One of his planes? I’d forgotten this guy was worth a hundred and fifty billion dollars. He probably had planes all over the world. “Then she’ll say yes in a heartbeat.”

  “I was hoping so,” he said. “I have to be in New York on business in a few weeks, so I want to spend some time with her before I leave. It’s just part of my job sometimes.”

  “Are you in Seattle most of the time?” Tom asked.

  “Yeah, it’s where my corporate office is,” Brutus explained. “But I have headquarters everywhere.” He didn’t talk about work much, probably because it was an awkward topic.

  And I never asked him anything because Pepper forbade me saying a word about it.

  Pepper returned to the table a moment later. “Ready to go?”

  Brutus rose to his feet and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Want to stay at my place tonight?”

  “Sure. You have any dessert in the kitchen?”

  He smiled at her. “I made sure my chef made a few things for you.”

  “So you knew I was coming this weekend?” she asked, being playful.

  He rubbed his nose against hers. “I was hoping you were.”

  On Sunday night, Pepper walked into my apartment. “Guess where I’m going tomorrow.”

  I didn’t turn my gaze away from the TV. “Fiji.”

  “Wait…how did you know that?” She came over to the couch holding a bag with her store logo on it.

  “He told me at dinner on Friday.”

  “And you didn’t mention it?”

  “Why would I ruin the surprise? He said he was going to take you on his private jet… That’s gonna be cool.”

  “I know, right? It’s so crazy. I’ve never taken a vacation my entire life, and now I’m going to Fiji on a private jet to a private island. Like…is this really happening? And Brutus is just so…” Her hand made a fist as she tried to describe her thoughts. “Sweet and sexy…and kind and funny. On top of that, he’s rich? What the hell was his ex-wife thinking?” She shook her head. “There is no better guy out there than Brutus Hemmingway—even if he weren’t rich.”

  “He told me she tried to get him back about a year and a half after they divorced.”

  “What did he do?”

  “Slammed the door in her face.”

  “Good. She didn’t deserve him…not after what she did.” She pulled a few items out of her bag. “Look what I got myself for the trip. I found the sluttiest lingerie in my inventory…at his request.” She smiled as she showed me the pieces, excited about running off to an exotic location with her sexy boyfriend.

  “He’ll like all of those—especially that black one.”

  She put everything back in the bag. “He’s great, isn’t he? You guys like him?”

  “We love him.” He was perfect, a blessing after Pepper had been cursed. “And I can tell you love him too. Well, not literally love him. You know what I mean.”

  “Yeah, I do. Our relationship is just so easy. It’s really nice…” Her eyes wondered why, and a smile slowly faltered off her lips.

  I studied her, wondering what she was thinking. “Where did your mind go?”

  She shifted her gaze back to me and cleared her throat. “I was just thinking about Fiji…pretty long flight.”

  “But you’ll be on a private plane, so it’ll be nice. There will probably be a full bed, so you could even sleep and screw the entire way.”

  “True…I can’t believe this is really happening. I’ll take lots of pictures to show you.”

  “You better. And have a good time.”

  “I will. Keep an eye on my apartment, okay?” She hugged me then kissed me on the cheek.

  “I will.”

  She rose to her feet and let her bag hang on the crook of her arm. “And thanks for forcing me to go out with him… None of this would be happening without you.”

  8

  Finn

  “Dr. Burke, I don’t understand.” William, the man who oversaw the various programs around the world, sat across from me in the tent just outside the village. The zipper was pulled up so we had our privacy, but anyone could hear through the thin material. “You’ve been doing exceptional work here on the ground. The team loves you, and the patients are grateful to have you here treating them. You still have five months to go before your commitment is finished. Why are you trying to leave now?”

  The heat permeated the material of the tent and my clothes, constantly making me hot and sweaty. My hands were always slippery because the humidity kept my skin moist at all times. The bugs and spiders that crawled into unlikely places were the stuff of nightmares. But my discomfort had nothing to do with my decision. “I wish I could give you a better justification. I wish I could tell you that I’m sick or have other obligations. The truth is, I belong somewhere else. I thought this was what I wanted to do…but I realize this isn’t my home. I should be in Seattle. This was a wonderful opportunity, and I’m so grateful you gave me a chance to be part of this wonderful program. But…my heart isn’t in it.” My heart was on the other side of the world, sleeping in another man’s bed. Colton told me I had no chance at getting her back, that I’d fucked up too badly. But I still wanted to be home. I still wanted to see her. I didn’t want to spend another day in this jungle when I could be looking into her face. Even if she never wanted me again, I still wanted her friendship. I just wanted to talk to her, to see those beautiful green eyes stare back at me.

  Willian didn’t hide his annoyance. “You realize this means you’ll forfeit your position with the Mayo Clinic.”

  It was my dream job, to work for an organization that provided the best health care in the country. But I realized I had a different dream now. That dream could be a reality this very moment if I hadn’t made the wrong decision. “Yes.”

  William sighed in disappointment. “Alright. If I can’t change your mind…”

  “You can’t.” I’d never imagined myself making a decision like this. A few years ago, this never would have happened. I never would have cashed in my dreams to spend my life with one woman…in one place. But she changed me in ways I couldn’t explain. Now I wanted to come home to her every night, to live a quiet and mediocre existence that gave me so much joy. I was officially trading in my bachelor life because it gave me no further happiness. “Thank you for everything, William.” I shook his hand and left the tent.

  My bag was outside, so I grabbed it and headed to the Jeep parked at the dirt road. I would get on the next plane to the United States and leave this part of my life behind forever. I would return home to my house and my dog.

  And hopefully…eventually…Pepper.

  If I could get her back.

  “Finn?” Jane’s voice came from behind me.

  I’d forgotten about her, hadn’t given her a second thought at all. My mind had been wrestling with memories of Pepper, thinking about the regret I carried like TNT strapped to my chest. I turned to look at her.

  The unease was written across her pretty face, the gleam of sweat on her forehead as her blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She was a doctor from the UK, so she had an English accent. But her eyes filled with dread, like she already knew what was happening without my needing to explain it.

  “I’m going home, Jane.”

  Her feelings for me started the day we met, but she knew I didn’t reciprocate her affection. I was just a lonely man trying to forget my pain by using someone else. She let me use her
. Maybe she hoped I would change. Or maybe she knew I never would but didn’t care. “I hope you get her back, Finn…”

  9

  Colton

  I sat on the couch and looked at all the pictures she sent me. There were some of the private pool attached to their room, the beach that was just steps away from the villa, along with other beautiful scenery.

  Including a picture of Brutus in a Speedo.

  My god…so beautiful.

  She sent a smiley face emoji. Just for you.

  Actually, I think it’s just for you. But thanks for sharing. It was nine o’clock my time, so it must be late afternoon wherever she was at. Every picture had a stunning blue sky and so much sun that she would be so dark by the time she came back.

  A knock sounded on the door.

  Tom had just left an hour ago, so maybe he was coming back because he forgot something. I left my phone on the coffee table then opened the front door. I expected to come face-to-face with Tom. Then I would show him the sexy picture of Brutus that Pepper was so nice to share with me.

  Instead, it was Finn.

  As in, my brother Finn.

  On the other side of the door in jeans and a t-shirt, he looked exactly the same way I remembered. His skin was a little darker from sun exposure, and he seemed leaner than before, like he couldn’t keep up his strict diet while living in a third world country.

  I stared at him blankly, thinking this was a dream…or a nightmare. “What are you doing here?” It wasn’t the best first sentence to come to mind, but the words tumbled out on their own. I expected Finn to be a distant part of my life from now on, a guy I saw for the holidays every few years. I never expected to see him standing on my doorstep, especially when he looked dead inside.

  “I’ve been gone for six months, and that’s the first thing you want to say to me?” His tone was clipped like he was seriously offended by the way I addressed him.

  My attitude fired back. “You’ve been gone for six months because you wanted to leave. And you caught me by surprise. I had no idea you were coming home for a visit. How long are you in town?”