by Matson, TC
Shit, listen to me. I sound like a damn girl sitting in the salon describing how her man made her feel last night. But say what you want. I’m ok with it. I’m good with what she’s done. She’s accomplished the unthinkable. She’s leveled the Leveler, making me putty in her hands.
Chapter 35
My hand is completely numb. My arm’s on fire and the painful pricks spreading into my shoulder make my eyes flick open. I blink trying to figure out where the hell I am, but my face is covered by strands of hair. It’s that moment of confusion before your brain kicks into gear. Slowly, I pull her hair out of my face and gaze at the beauty in my arms. Only her legs are covered by her taupe sheet, exposing the rest of her bare skin. Her arm is resting over my chest, the curve of her hip pressed against my leg as she’s curled tightly into my side. Basically I’m her slumber prisoner. We’re lying the exact way we fell asleep after…well, you can use your imagination, but keep it wild. My girl can be a freak.
The past two days have been full of wasted time and sex. We did some catching up and it’s my job to make my girl happy. I aim to please.
She begins to stir, stretching, and then glances up to me. “Good morning,” she says still hazy from her dreams. “What time is it?”
“I dunno. You have my arm held hostage. What’s the ransom on it?”
She giggles raising her head. I groan pulling my worthless limb into my chest as pins and needles attack my muscles.
“Maybe you should sleep on the couch next time,” she jokes.
“You’d be uncomfortable crammed in the crack,” I say peering from the corner of my eyes.
She pulls my dead arm around her shoulder and lays her head on my chest drifting her fingers along my skin.
“You never told me about this one,” her fingers follow the tattoo on my left pec.
I grab her hand and press her palm flat over it. “I had to remind myself I had one.”
“Just being alive isn’t good enough?” she snickers.
“It felt stolen,” I say.
Up, down, up, down, her fingertip follows the heartbeat line. My mind is racing to find the right words that won’t make me sound like a forlorn douchebag. I inhale deeply. “I started falling for a woman who wanted nothing to do with me. I needed the reminder that I owned that beat I felt, but even that didn’t work out too well. Now it’s a constant reminder that the beat is in someone else’s hands.”
She leans up and kisses my cheek. “Underneath all the bulky muscles is the most tenderhearted man I’ve ever met. I love you too much.”
It’s one thing to know it and feel it. It’s another to talk about it. Snuggly, squishy, gushy feelings make me uncomfortable and make my skin crawl, so I do what I’m best at—showing her rather than telling her. I confess my feelings by meeting her satin lips with a slow and gentle meaningful kiss. I make love to her mouth as our tongues slide across each other’s, inhaling the very moan she exhales. It’s a sensual kiss, intoxicating and one that can make me utterly mindless. It’s a kiss that I will never let anyone else fucking taste.
“Mmm…” she sighs against my lips.
I smile pleased her body reacts to it flawlessly. But unfortunately… “I have to get ready for the gym,” I tell her sliding out of the bed and having to tuck my cock under my waistband.
“You’re kidding right? After that, you’re just going to walk away?” she mumbles.
“I’m just delighted your panties will be soaked for me all day,” I tease.
“You’re going to let that,” she nods toward my hard-on, “go to waste?”
I bellow pulling my shirt over my head. Her appetite for me is ravenous and I fucking love it. “You’re very persuasive. I need an excuse to have an invite back tonight. I can promise it won’t go to waste then,” I say low and thick.
“You’re evil,” she jests.
“No, just incredibly smart.”
A playful innocence glimmers in those up-to-no-good greens of hers. “But what if I don’t take your offer?”
I rub the bulge lengthwise. “Then, sweetheart, it will be you that just wasted this.”
Oh, that look with her lip between her teeth…she’s gonna eat me alive tonight. Painfully, I walk away to the bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready for the gym before her pouty lips on that sexy naked body changes my mind. I’m already at war with myself.
Not unexpectedly, I didn’t work hard at the gym today. I screwed myself over when I walked away from Paige with a blazing hard-on. The heavy bag offered me no steam release, the jump rope only raised my heart rate, and shadowboxing only heightened my imagination of things I want to do to her when I see her.
After the gym, I headed back to my hotel, showered, cleaned up, then came over to Paige’s to chill with Blain and Jason while I wait for her to get off of work. Jason brought a new black headed fling and they’re both sitting on the love seat chatting each other up. Eavesdropping here and there, the conversation is positioning Jason right where he wants. He’ll have her in the sack tonight with little to no effort. What man gives a damn about the shopping sales this weekend and where she gets her nails done? I would have told her to shut the fuck up long ago, but not everyone is as debonair as I am.
I’m chilling in the recliner watching the ESPN highlights with Blain when his phone rings. He lunges to answer it and dashes to the other room. Has to be Lacy. Dude’s nuts about her with good reason. She’s smoking hot, legs that run for miles, a toned ass, handful-size tits, and dark hazel eyes that are bright with happiness. Unfortunately for him, she doesn’t see potential and has hammered a “brother’s best friend” sign on his forehead. Little does she realize she could have him eating out of her hand just as Paige has done me. Sometimes women can tame a dog, but he doesn’t even try. Pussy balls is what he’s got. If you want it, go all in for it.
“Levi,” Blain calls jogging down the hall. “Drive me to Tonic. Mason said Wesley’s up there giving Paige a shit time.”
I’m out the door before he can get his shoes on and catch up. I’ve had enough with this bastard. I despise the fucking word no, and this is just the same. I say stay away but he doesn’t listen. She tells him to take a hike and he refuses. It’s like a fucking slap in the face and I’m fed up with it. Shit doesn’t fly well. You do not disrespect me, and you sure as shit aren’t going to disrespect my girl. Seems he needs a little reminder.
My imagination runs wild, rearranging his face as I white knuckle my steering wheel, bolting through town. By the time I get to Tonic, she’s in the parking lot arguing with him. Slamming my car in park, I jump out stalking toward them, the sound of jackhammers battering against my eardrums, and red consuming my vision.
“What the fuck?” Wesley barks when he sees me, provoking Paige to twirl around. She’s beet red, madder than hell. “How is it you always show up?” he adds.
Promptly, I reach out and pull Paige to me then sharpen my eyes on him. “I was going to ask you the same thing,” I scoff.
“I was having a conversation with Cherry so if you don’t mind, excuse yourself,” he dismisses me.
A sinister laugh rumbles from my chest. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
Paige presses me backward with pleading eyes. “Levi, he isn’t worth it.”
He zeros in on her with fire in his eyes. “Not worth it? You weren’t saying that the other night. You told me you loved me.” As the odious words exit his mouth, he balls his fists at his side readying for a fight. “But I can’t remember if that was before or after our kiss.”
Have you ever lit a firecracker intending to hold it as it blows up? This motherfucker just did.
“You son of a bitch.” I lunge.
“Levi, no!” Paige pulls at my arm, but I’m too far gone.
Wesley throws a sloppy punch but I feign left and return with a right hook, but before I can land it, I’m digging deep for strength to withdrawal and stop. Paige has driven herself in between us.
“No!” she screams with m
urder in her voice. She turns and pushes Wesley in the chest backing him up. “No!” she points shrieking at him. “You don’t get to come here and start shit!” She whips around and pushes me back then points behind her. “You don’t fuck up everything you’ve worked so damn hard for.”
I’m heaving rage. “Paige—”
“No!” she barks again then zips around to face the punk. “Loved, you asshole. Past fucking tense.” She stomps toward him as his chest rises and falls while adrenaline floods him, glowering at her. Without warning, she hauls off and kicks him in the nuts and as he doubles over, she squares him in the jaw.
I grab her shoulders and pull her back while she kicks and bucks still yelling. “Hope that fucking feels great! Stay the fuck away from me!”
“Paige,” I growl in her ear but now she’s the one too far gone.
“Be glad it was me and not him,” she continues to spit at him.
I turn her and pick her up bringing her to my face. “Fucking snap out of it!”
She blinks and her hands dart to her mouth. Outrage melts away as absolute shock splashes her face with a deep shade of red. I’m assuming she’s never lost herself before…it’s a perilous place to be and she just visited it front and center.
“Hi,” I tighten my lips. “Welcome back.”
“I–I…” she stutters.
“Went paperweight on his ass,” I tell her placing her feet back to the ground.
Wesley has already put his tail between his legs and disappeared around the corner into the darkness to probably lick his wounds. But me? I’m furious. I grab her arm and guide her to my car and jerk open the door. “Get in,” I growl.
I step around to the driver’s side and drop in immediately turning to her. “If you ever step between two men like that again…” I pause unsure how I’ll even finish it. “Just fucking don’t ever do that shit again. If I had hit you…” I don’t finish that.
“But you would have blown your chance at the championship,” she says quietly.
“You could have gotten hurt!” I shout slamming my fist against the steering wheel. Frustrated and knowing my limits, I stop myself before I can say anything further and start my car putting it in gear.
No words are exchanged on the short ride home. I’m fuming, swarming with a pissed-offedness I’ve never experienced before. She remains quiet, nervously twiddling a string from her purse as we pull into the driveway. I place my hand on her lap, steadying her in the seat as she reaches for the door.
Her whole body’s tense, a sickening worry drenching her face. “Don’t you ever do that again,” I tell her, this time less vexed.
“But—”
“There aren’t any, Paige. You could have gotten hurt. Tell me what would have happened if that punch had connected? How would you have felt if that put you in the hospital? How the fuck would I have felt? You don’t get between men, I don’t care how fucking tough you think you are.”
Her eyes turn into steely slits. “He isn’t worth losing your chance.”
“That’s my decision.”
“You would have hated yourself if you lost it. You’ve said it yourself. You’ve worked so hard to get where you’re at,” she counters.
“I have worked hard, and I would have worked even harder to get back to where I’m at. But you don’t decide what I do. Do you understand that? Do you not get that you could have been seriously hurt?”
Defeated, she nods. There’s no argument. She knows I’m right.
“I’m a fighter. I’m trained to read people, to read their actions as well as their reactions. I focus on body movement. Eyes. Body language. It’s survival, but Paige, if I didn’t have an ounce of control, there wouldn’t have been a way to slam the brakes on that strike. You better be damn glad I saw you.”
She slides back in her seat and takes several deep breaths.
And now the question that has repeated itself a million fucking times in my head. “What the fuck did he mean by you two kissing?”
She stares in front of her. “He kissed me,” she says faintly.
“When?” I ask.
She has yet to look my way. Her stare is blank, her body rigid. Then like a switch, tears puddle up and spill onto her cheeks and she grabs her face. “I was so hurt by you, then he confessed things I didn’t know about…I was so confused. I kissed him back. I didn’t stop him,” she cries into her palms.
Some other shithead had his lips on my cherished treasure? What a fucking punch in the stomach. I grit my teeth releasing steam through my nose. “Are you with me now?” I ask furiously.
She wipes her cheeks and finally looks to me. “Do what?”
“Are you with me now?” I repeat. “Are we together or not? It’s not a hard fucking question. Do you want to be with me or him?”
“You.”
“Then put the past in the past and don’t ever do that shit again or I’ll murder the bastard who touches you.”
Before any of you say I’ve pussied out and should have made her divulge more, you need to stop and hear me out. Some shit is better left unsaid, better left alone and forsaken. If you recall, I fucked up with Allison, falling directly into the black widow’s trap. If it wasn’t for that mess, this kiss wouldn’t have happened. First, I don’t want to fucking hear about it. Second, we’ve started fresh and that’s where I’m focused. That’s the beginning line, the bell at the start of the round. Everything prior is eradicated.
“I’m sorry,” she snuffs.
I lean to her and wipe a tear from under her eye. “It’s done. As long as you know where you want to be,” I say and her lips quirk up slightly. “But you have to promise me one thing. Don’t you ever go paperweight on me. I don’t feel like getting my ass kicked by my girlfriend.”
That does her in and she wraps her arms around my neck laughing, but then she begins to cry again.
What the hell is with you women?
“I’m so sorry,” she weeps into my neck.
“Quit apologizing,” I tell her. “Just keep in mind who has your heart and we’ll be all good.”
Chapter 36
I’m not big on wearing formal dresses, doing formal events, eating formal foods, drinking formal…whatever they drink. But here I am in a long, beautiful, light pink strapless dress with a thin band of shimmering rhinestones and glittery crystal adornments wrapping my waist and outlining the sweetheart cut above my boobs. I’m a nervous wreck bouncing my leg beside Levi in a black limo. His attire is sufficiently more comfortable than mine—a black blazer with a red button down shirt, black trousers, and sneakers. Makes me envious of him being a man. It took me an hour to get ready and only twenty minutes for him.
Cory set him up for another press event, which all the fighters had to join. At first, Cory had Allison as his date, but Levi went ballistic and refused. It got ugly when Levi told him if he had to go with Allison he was going to spill some major shit. The standoff didn’t last long after that, and Cory easily agreed. What the shit is, I don’t know and I’m too chicken to ask.
Levi laughs shaking his head watching my nerves get the best of me. I’ve never had to dress like this, hell, I can barely walk in heels, and I’ve never had the opportunity to be in the public eye like this before. Earlier he warned me how the reporters can sometimes be insensitive, asking questions they know could get a rise out of you. He also filled me in about some of the fighters and said that some can be very ill natured trying to get him riled up. I’ll have to have thick skin and not go “paperweight” on them.
Anxiety is gnawing at me. My pulse is at a tempo like I’ve danced for hours at a club. “I never knew a fighter had to do all this,” I say watching the buildings of Atlanta, Georgia, blur past the windows.
“Depends on the manager. Cory is pretty adamant about it, though. Says we don’t need to lose our grounding. We all started small, and some kids look up to us, so we should set a good example. I support the idea.”
The limo stops and I’m on the edge of a pan
ic attack. People are lining the sidewalks, large cameras everywhere, bright lights…
“Breathe, baby. I’m right beside you all the way,” he says placing a kiss on my knuckles.
“You’re used to this,” I squeak.
He grins. “So are you but they’re usually drunk. Think of everyone as the people on the other side of the bar at the beginning of your shift.”
I take a deep breath begging my confidence to outshine the trepidation, but holy shit, I’m petrified.
“Come on,” he says stepping out of the car holding my sweaty hand.
Immediately, flashes hypnotize and blind me. Bright white lights shatter across our skin. My breath escapes me. Panic grips my throat.
Smile, I remind myself, forcing it through the stiffness of my cheeks.
Don’t wring your fingers, I tell myself.
Confidence. You have this.
My body is trembling as I walk on feeble legs and I swear everyone can see it. Levi’s hand is on the small of my back, his finger drawing small circles trying to help keep me grounded, but it’s not doing shit to ward off the impulse to run the opposite direction.
Reporters hang over the blue velvet rope shoving their microphones as far as they can reach and shouting questions, trying to get an interview. But Levi ignores them, only pausing for pictures.
“Does she know about the other woman?” a man yells out.
I tense looking up at Levi. He’s smiling confidently at me and winks nudging me forward only to stop mere feet away for more pictures.
“Breathe,” he leans in close whispering in my ear.