by Alta Hensley
I told Nero to fuck off, get out of my life, and to never come near me again. And I honestly thought that would happen. I assumed he would see how far he’d pushed me, and that would be the end of it.
And for a while, it seemed like it had worked.
“Oh, don’t be like that,” Nero teased me playfully, as if he didn’t give a shit what he put me through. “I think we can help each other again, bro.”
“Help?” I half laughed back. “Help each other. Do you really think you helped me last time? Did you not see the mess you left of my life?”
“Did you get the money to pay for your dad’s treatment?” he asked, his tone going cold. “Was it my fault you got sucked in so deeply? I didn’t rack up your gambling debt. You did.”
I wanted to laugh, to tell him that he was supposed to be my friend, and that he could have accepted another method of payment for my issues, but there was really no point. He didn’t see what he was doing wrong. I’d known that for a very long time. You couldn’t argue with stupid and stubborn.
“Look, all I’m asking for is a chance for us to make some money again. It won’t be like last time. We’ll do things totally differently.” He stepped closer to me, trying to look as genuine as humanly possible. “Judging by this shit-pit house that you live in, you could really use the cash. We all know that old school gym isn’t going to be paying you that much.”
Even though he wasn’t tempting me even a little bit, he knew just the right words to say to get under my skin. He was an expert in manipulation, and it just pissed me off that I was even in this position again. It really shouldn’t be this way.
“Just get the fuck out of my house.” I sneered at him as I balled my fists. “I don’t care what you think. I don’t give a shit why you’re here. I will never do anything with you ever again. The sooner you understand that, the better.” My words didn’t affect him at all. A serene smile played on his lips. “I would honestly rather die than do anything with you ever again.”
“Okay.” He held his hands up in a defeated gesture. “I can see you’re still a little upset about something that happened four years ago. If you’re really unable to let things go, despite the fact that you’re on your way up again, then that’s fine.” He moved toward the door. “But if you do change your mind, here’s my info.” He slid a business card onto the coffee table, which made me roll my eyes in disgust. “I suspect you’ll be calling me soon enough.”
I had to bite down on my lip, to stop the expletives from spilling out because I just wanted him to go now. I didn’t want to draw him back into a fight, not when he was so close to the door.
“Fucking idiot,” I muttered under my breath as soon as the door clicked behind him. “Fucker.”
I walked up the stairs, wanting to see if my dad was okay, and I quickly found him sitting up on his bed, looking shaken up and weak. The first thought that ran through my mind was that Nero came up to the room and did something to him, but I quickly shook that thought away. Nero might be a scumbag, and the lowest of the low, but he would never do something like that. No one would.
“Are you okay, Dad?” I asked, racing to his side. I pulled his blanket up tighter around him, feeling my fingers brush against his ice-cold skin at the same time. My mind rushed into a state of panic, tying itself up in knots, worrying about what I could do to help him. “What should I do? Should I call the nurse? Or the hospital?”
“Don’t fuss,” he said as he tried his best to reassure me with a smile but in a weak-sounding voice. “It’s just a cold. I’ll be okay. I just need to get to the bathroom. That’s all.”
“Oh, of course. I’ll help you.” I smiled reassuringly, tucking myself under his armpit. I might be acting like I was okay on the outside, but I was desperately not. Helping my grown ass father—someone who used to be the strongest man I know—to the bathroom ripped out my guts.
As I helped him across the hallway and into the bathroom, my mind totally freaked out, wondering what I was going to do now. The cancer was obviously creeping its way back through his body, eating him up from the inside out, and he was truly too weak to fight it this time. If he was going to have treatment again, he was going to need it soon. But I really didn’t know how I was going to afford it with no insurance. And I already knew how much all the experimental treatments were. All the money I was earning from the wins was covering the unpaid bills I already had and not even all of them. I just didn’t have enough to cover this too.
But I was going to have to. If I didn’t, then he’d die.
My thoughts went to the business card downstairs. The one piece of paper that could unlock everything.
Like a damn crack dealer, Nero had left the drug… a chance at more money.
But, of course, it wasn’t going to be used. I could not make the same mistakes that I did last time. I just couldn’t. If I did this again, whatever my reasoning, there wouldn’t be a third chance. I was lucky to be in the position that I was in. I knew that, and I couldn’t risk it.
But what other options did I have? I already knew that I was not going to take that path, but I didn’t know what other roads were open for me. It was frustrating to be helpless, and to feel hopeless when it came to the one constant in my life. Things might not have always been straightforward in my life, but my father had never been an issue. I just couldn’t lose him. I really couldn’t. I needed to do something. No matter what it took. I had to fight for his life. I had to fight.
11
Julep
“His mouth made him feel like he was gonna win. Not his hands. I had my hand. He had his lips.”
– Joe Frazier
I was just starting to get used to the idea of barely seeing Mateo. Of not getting any one-on-one time with him. I was even almost at the point of accepting that what we had was a one-time thing, and that it would never become anything more. But then he came into my office, giving me that heart-stopping grin of his.
“Hi, Julep.” He sat down in front of me. “How are you?”
As I looked at him, my face heated up. I instantly remembered the last time we were together. We were naked, writhing together, screwing in the middle of the boxing ring. I never acted that way before. I was never crazy and spontaneous like that. And the sex was so animalistic, taboo, and dirty. Fucking filthy. And now I was really embarrassed about it. I hadn’t even been drunk. I couldn’t even blame it on booze. I had just been swept away in the moment. That was really all there was to it.
“Oh… yeah, I’m fine,” I mumbled back, cursing myself for being such an awkward idiot. “How… how are you?”
“It’s been a busy week.” He sighed deeply, which caused me to look back up at him.
As soon as our eyes connected, I noticed that there was a sadness behind his gaze, an upset look that hadn’t been there before. Something was going on in his life. Something bad, and I couldn’t help but wonder what.
“Is everything all right?” I asked, automatically reaching out to touch his hand resting on my desk. As soon as our skin connected, I got bolts of desire once more. It was so powerful, it forced me to snatch my hand away. “Is there anything that I can help with? Is it the media stuff? Is it getting too much for you, because I can speak to someone if you like?”
“No, no, it isn’t that.” He sighed deeply again. “Although that stuff isn’t much fun, but I know that it’s essential. Part of the gig. No, it’s just my dad. He isn’t doing so great.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” I said as I could clearly see the sorrow in his eyes. “If you need any time off or anything, then just tell me and I will get it taken care of. I can work the training schedule around you. Whatever you need.”
“Thank you.” He smiled at me, a lightness flickering back into his eyes. “But I got to keep training. Vegas is coming, and I’m still not up to my best physical shape. Getting close, but not Vegas level for sure.”
Vegas… Mateo needed to know the promoter’s con
cerns. I didn’t want him to go in blind, and it was likely they could be assholes to him. The boxer didn’t need to be bothered with all the business aspects, but I also didn’t want to keep him in the dark.
“Look”—I leaned in closer to him—“I have some stuff that I need to talk to you about. But I’d rather not do it right now.” I decided that leaving the talk about Vegas and what the promoters said would be better discussed when Mateo didn’t seem so upset. “Can we meet up later on to discuss it?”
He nodded slowly, as if something was plaguing his mind and he didn’t like that idea. I suddenly went into a panic. What if he thought I was asking him out on a date, and that wasn’t what he wanted at all? How fucking embarrassing! Maybe he’d only wanted a good fuck and to move on.
“It’s work stuff,” I said quickly, feeling mortified that I seemed to be making this worse. “Not… anything personal.”
“Oh no, it isn’t that,” Mateo reassured me rapidly. “It’s just… it’s your brother.” My heart sank at those words. “He warned me against dating you.”
The anger exploded through me, and I couldn’t stop the outburst that fell from my mouth. “My brother has no fucking say over my personal life,” I said harshly. “And if you’re going to listen to him, then I would rather know now.” I was dangerously close to admitting how far my heart was in this. But right now, in the heat of the moment, I didn’t care. I was just being honest with him, telling him what I needed.
“No. I have no intention of listening to him,” he replied quickly. “I just wanted you to know. I didn’t think that it was fair for him to say that stuff to me about you, and for you to not know about it. It just didn’t seem right.” He gave a soft smile. “I’m my own man, Julep. I’m not going to let your brother or anyone else scare me away from what I want.”
What he wants? Did that mean he wanted me?
“Okay.” I felt my entire body cooling and calming down. Mateo was just being a good guy, opening up to me in the way that I had with him. I needed to just appreciate him for that. He wasn’t like everyone else. Like the men who had allowed Danny to scare them away from me. “It’s just, I’m not a child anymore. I really wish that my brother would see that I’m a grown woman. I can see and date whomever I chose.”
Shit, did I just say date out loud?
Mateo stood up with the smile still on his face. “I’m sure you have a lot of work to do, and I should get in a workout.”
I nodded, hating how the man turned me into a ball of nervous energy. “Yeah, I do have work. But later?”
Mateo nodded as he walked toward the door. He then looked over his shoulder with a seductive grin that instantly made my panties wet. The man oozed sexy charm. “Looking forward to it.”
“Thank you.” I smiled at Mateo as he handed me a glass of white wine. I was trying to allow my more feminine side to show tonight as we hung out, wanting him to see that part of me. I really didn’t want to ever become just another one of the guys to him, which I knew was how I was viewed by everyone else. And since most of my days were spent in workout clothes and a ponytail, I actually wore a dress and allowed my hair to flow past my shoulders. I even put on some makeup which made me feel a little out of sorts.
There was a baseball game playing on the big screens around us at the bar, but Mateo managed not to pay a single second of attention to it, focusing only on me. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
This was the part that I didn’t want to deal with. I sucked in a deep breath before confessing everything. “I think you deserve to know that we had a meeting with the Vegas promoters yesterday, and it was about you.”
“Of course.” He nodded as if he expected the news. “And they aren’t happy with me?”
“Well, it isn’t that…” I said quickly. “It’s just that they are scared. They’re afraid that the… rumors about you will come back to haunt us. I don’t think they’re too bothered about the media stuff, because, of course, it is bringing in revenue, but they’ve told Danny to keep a strict eye on you and axe you if you start to behave suspiciously.”
I expected a rant from him, a rampage, a threat to leave the gym, but instead he simply smiled and nodded calmly at me. “Oh, I don’t blame them,” he said. “If I were in their position, I would probably think the same thing. I hold no grudges.”
Surprisingly, he was taking this information in a real adult way. Acting far more mature than most of the hot-headed men I dealt with on a daily basis. If people could see this side of Mateo, they would know that he truly was a changed man.
“So, I think you should tell me some more about you.” Mateo smiled, sliding his body a little closer to mine in the booth we sat at. It was as if he knew the business side of this conversation was done, and he wanted to transform this into a date now. My heart fluttered wildly at this, and my emotions exploded within. This is what I wanted so badly. For Mateo to want me as more than just a hookup. And it seemed like I was actually getting what I wanted. “I feel like you’re something of a closed book.”
We got on to talk more about our lives… or at least, I did. Mateo asked me a whole bunch of questions, and he actually seemed very interested in the answers. He wanted to know little things like my favorite food, or what college I had attended. We spoke of favorite movies and music. Everything was so casual and completely normal. A typical date. He also had a way of making me feel incredible and special with just the way he watched me speak, or the way he actually seemed interested in what I had to say. I had always been in my brother’s shadow, so to have someone so focused on me felt truly amazing.
But then the moment was ruined before I could find out anything about him by a group of rowdy, drunken frat boys coming into the bar. At first, it was just the noise that put a damper on the mood, but then they started to notice Mateo and things took a horrible turn for the worse.
“Holy fuck, there’s Vega,” one of them slurred loudly. “The fucking asshole who lost that fight on purpose. He caused people to lose a lot of money. I lost twenty bucks or something. I recognize him from the news lately.”
We turned away from them, both pointedly ignoring them, but it seemed to rile the drunk up even further. He walked over to our table.
“Hey, you fucking cheat. What do you have to say for yourself?” Still nothing, we simply sat there in silence with me clasping tightly onto Mateo’s hand. “How does it fucking feel to be a fraud? To be a fuck-up?”
“Let’s just go,” I whispered to Mateo, getting him to stand up with me. He was shaking, really trembling, and I knew that he was having a hard time holding it together. I could tell he was trying his best because of all the crazy media stuff that he was already going through, and I was extremely proud of him for that. But the dude in his face was a real douche and I wasn’t so sure how much more Mateo could take before knocking the man out.
“Got nothing to say?” the drunk slurred, getting right up in Mateo’s face even closer. But I knew this was going to get ugly because Mateo didn’t flinch or back away in the slightest. He stood his ground and glared a warning that any sober man would have heeded and run. “Is that because you know I’m right? That you’re a fucking asshole who’s come back to boxing with the sole intention of fucking over everyone again? You owe me twenty bucks.” Spittle fell from his mouth. “With interest.” He laughed at his own words.
“Walk away,” Mateo said calmly. “You’re drunk, and this conversation is over.” The warning in his glare spilled over into the tone of his voice. I would have pissed my pants if Mateo looked and spoke to me in that same way.
“I’ll fucking tell you when this conversation is over,” the man yelled, growing increasingly angry now. One of his friends came over to try and pull him away, but it was too late. He was too riled up by his petty temper and the booze that was swirling around inside of him. “Fuck you!”
Before I could even register what was happening, a loud crack rung out and everyone seemed to be yelling. In the middle of all the c
haos, it took me far too long to actually work out what had just occurred. By the time my mind snapped back into action, I could see the red welt already forming on Mateo’s cheek.
The drunk man had just punched Mateo. Mateo Vega! The Matador! Was he insane?
I could see in Mateo’s eyes that he was furious, but still he wasn’t reacting. He continued being the bigger person, which had me really proud. But at the same time, I didn’t want this drunk fucker to get away with punching him. I didn’t even know what was happening to me. Only that an intense red mist had descended and that I wanted to cause this man pain.
Before I could even really think about it, my fist swung backwards and it slammed into the asshole’s face with a sickening thump. Because he was so intoxicated, my punch caused him to stagger backwards, giving Mateo and me enough time to get the hell out of there before things really escalated.
“Are you okay?” I asked Mateo in concern, examining the shining injury that was spreading nastily across his cheek.
“Yes. Are you?” He sounded impressed, glancing down at my hand.
Adrenaline pumped through my body. I couldn’t believe I did that, but it actually felt good. Damn good. That fucker had it coming. He deserved it, so I didn’t feel bad one bit. I was almost glad that Mateo didn’t fight back, leaving it to me. Aside from the fact that I could take the heat with the press, and Mateo beating up a frat boy would have been the worst PR ever, I actually enjoyed feeling my knuckles connect against flesh again. Clearly, I missed the ring. Plus, that guy got beaten up by a girl. There was no bigger humiliation than that.
“My wrist hurts like hell, but I’m all right. I’m a little rusty on my punch delivery.” I laughed elatedly, letting some of my hysteria out. “Come on, let’s go back to my apartment. Just in case the cops come, we can be long gone.”