The Fighter's Block

by Hadley Quinn

  “I’m gonna go shower; wait here, okay?” Van finally said.

  She nodded her agreement, not surprised that he returned only five minutes later and barely dried before he’d gotten dressed. She sat with him upstairs to watch the last two fights of the night, but Dani could tell he was hardly watching the octagon. He kept scanning the crowd for Brian, even though he knew he most likely wasn’t there.

  When they got home that night, Van called Doug Buchanan to inform him of the latest. He knew that nothing could be done at that point unless Brian broke the restraining order, so Van pushed for the order to be changed to one hundred feet.

  “You’ll have to go before the judge again, Van. And I’ll be honest with you…just seeing the guy at a fight isn’t going to get you very far. He didn’t talk to her, he didn’t come near her…it’s gonna be a useless argument.”

  “Jesus, Doug! He has physically assaulted her twice! And the second time…” Van was too angry to finish the sentence.

  “I’m sorry about that, Van, I really am. I just don’t know what else we could have done. She didn’t report it that night—”

  “She was threatened not to!”

  “Van—”

  “I don’t wanna talk about this again,” Van growled. “I still cannot believe this guy fucking gets away with everything!”

  “The only way to charge him with the crime now is if he confesses. Or if we can prove that he was still in Jersey that night—”

  “Then find a way to make it happen!”

  “Van, there are no formal charges I can investigate. And I’m not your P.I. Talk to the guy that’s working for her dad.”

  “Forget it,” Van said, and he hung up the phone. He was glad that Dani was in the shower and didn’t hear the call. He didn’t want her to be worried, but at the same time it was probably a good idea to keep her extra cautious.

  Dani came out of the bathroom a few minutes later and found Van already in bed with the TV on. They usually didn’t get home until almost midnight on fight nights, but even if he wasn’t ready to go to sleep, she knew he was physically exhausted.

  “Are you pretty sore tonight?” she asked, climbing into bed next to him.

  “Mm, a little,” he admitted, pulling her close to him. She smelled good, as always, and when she gently positioned herself against his body, he enjoyed the feel of her satin chemise in his hands as she kissed him.

  “Guess what?” she said with a smile.

  But Van was instantly on guard for some reason. That ‘guess what’ phrase made him over think her excited smile, and the first image in his head was of him trying to change a baby’s diaper and failing miserably. He wasn’t ready for that—a kid—and he wasn’t sure how he was going to pretend that he was excited for her news—

  “I have my birthday all planned out and you don’t have to do a thing,” she said.

  It was the last thing he expected her to say, and it took a while for him to shift gears. “You planned your birthday? You mean the beach trip?”

  “No, I don’t want to go to the beach that weekend. We’re going to Philadelphia.”

  “Oh yeah?” he replied, completely surprised. “What’s there that you want to do?”

  “Anything. Everything. I’ve never been there.”

  “You’ve never been to Philly?” he asked with disbelief.

  “Nope. So we’re going to stay close to the ball field, go to three games that weekend, and just see a few sights. I don’t even care what, but I know it will be fun.”

  Van decided that he shouldn’t be surprised. Dani grew up with a lot of privileges, but most of them consisted of what her parents wanted for her. The only places she’d been were the major world cities, staying in lavish resorts or attending high profile events.

  “That sounds awesome,” he told her truthfully. “Whatever you want to do sounds great to me.”

  “I know. I was counting on the fact that you would pathetically follow me anywhere.” She leaned over him and pressed her warm lips to his.

  He chuckled and nodded his head. “Yeah, you got that right,” he replied as he slid his hands to her hips to place her on top of him.

  “I don’t want to bother any sore spots,” she said, kissing the side of his face that was slightly bruised.

  His hands traveled to her ass and he ran his fingers along the edge of her panties. “It was a short fight; I’ll survive.”

  “Hmm, for some reason I think I have the power to make you suffer a little more…” She straddled his waist with a seductive smile, moving softly against his erection.

  “I have no doubt about that,” he agreed. “But you’re sweet to me when I’ve had a grueling day.”

  She chuckled but it was in agreement. He knew she’d do all the work because she would insist on making him feel good. They were good at give and take. Always.

  She leaned down and kissed him again, a smoldering connection that traveled through her core.

  “I love you so much, Van.”

  He could barely return the sentiment before she was leaving a trail of kisses down his chest to the very enthusiastic participant straining to get out of his boxers.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Brian methodically rocked himself in the recliner, pushing with one foot. He set his chin in a hand while his elbow propped it up on the armrest and stared at a television that didn’t interest him. He smiled briefly for the dozenth time, picturing the look on Dani’s face when she saw him at the fight. But what pained him the most was missing out on Van’s reaction when she most likely told him of it.

  He reached for the bottle of beer next to him. He put his lips to it, took a long pull of cold liquid, and then held onto it while he continued to think. It was time for the next step, he thought, although he was slightly worried that it might be too soon. But even if it was, he knew it would still cause a rift. That he was sure of. He smiled again, laughed even. He pictured it in his head, his masterpiece, and he couldn’t help feeling proud of himself. In fact, he wanted to watch it again, just to honor his brilliance. So what if she tried to use it against him later. There was no proof whatsoever that he was in Jersey that night.

  He made a phone call thirty minutes later. “Yeah, I’m ready,” was all he said. The recipient only replied okay, and then hung up the phone. Brian returned to the game on TV and enjoyed the rest of the night with eager anticipation.

  ***

  “That looks terrible,” Jaime said, eyeing the hideous paint that her sister had smeared all over the wall.

  “What?” Dani scoffed. “Shut your mouth, I’m not even done.”

  “Yellow? Really?” She stared at the only living room wall in the apartment that was not red brick, and now the once beige paint was a sunflower yellow.

  “You know, you’ve always been the least imaginative of the family,” Dani told her. “You’ll like it, trust me.”

  Jaime shrugged her shoulders and set the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter. “If you say so.”

  “I do say so, Ms. Narrow-minded. And where are your two terrors?”

  “With Steve. It’s his brother’s birthday so he took the kids a day early for the barbecue in Allentown.”

  Dani nodded as she rolled another twelve-inch stripe of paint up the wall, and then blended it in. “It’s weird not having Van here,” she said. “I mean I’m okay with it because I have to be, but I haven’t been here without him in the apartment since those first couple of weeks I met him.”

  “So I don’t understand. He got back on the department? What about his fights? Is he done with that?”

  “No, he’ll still keep fighting because he’s not back on full time. He’s still been on call, but there’s been no need for him lately.”

  “But when four firefighters die in a building collapse, they have to restock their unit?” She knew that cut Dani pretty deep, and she felt horrible. “I’m sorry, hon.”

  Dani accepted the apology silently, but she didn’t speak any further about
how much it hurt. She was worried about Van, but she knew it was something he wanted, just like fighting. She understood him, what made him tick, but she didn’t necessarily like it.

  “Well, I think that’s good for now,” she said, stepping back to look at the wall. “Does it look okay? I mean evenly covered?”

  “Yeah, you did a good job.”

  Dani cleaned up her painting supplies as Jaime unloaded the food in the kitchen. She’d brought takeout from the Thai restaurant down the street, but she also had a few other items from the store that Dani had requested. Jaime wished her sister wasn’t so good in the kitchen because it certainly wasn’t Dani’s figure that was affected by it.

  They ate, laughed, and had a good time. Dani got started on the treats she had in mind while Jaime straightened up and then shut the apartment windows because of the noise down on the street.

  “Do you really want to smell the paint?” Dani asked her.

  “It was your idea to intoxicate our slumber party. Besides, I don’t even smell it.”

  Dani smiled. “It’s quick-drying. It should be ready for round two by now.”

  “Hm. Round two better be an improvement.”

  Dani only smiled again as she finished up her cupcake batter. She went to work filling each paper cup in the baking tray while Jaime turned on a movie.

  Because Van wasn’t home, a knock at the door could have been startling. But when Jaime gave her sister a worried look, Dani said, “I’m betting it’s Marnie.” She wiped her hands on a towel and went to answer the door, first checking through the peek hole.

  “Yeah it’s me,” Marnie’s muffled voice said from the other side.

  “What’s the password?” Dani teased.

  “Uh, open the motherfucking door?”

  Jaime laughed from the couch, unbothered by Marnie’s crassness. And when Dani opened the door and corrected her with, “Open the motherfucking door please,” both Jaime and Marnie cracked up together.

  “You hear the mouth on that thing?” Marnie said to Jaime with feigned disbelief. She came into the room and dropped onto the couch.

  “I know it. She’s the biggest potty mouth in the family,” Jaime answered.

  “Van has been rubbing off on you, my dear,” Marnie said to Dani.

  “Pssh, Van barely ever swears,” Dani said with a smile. She followed Marnie’s path but sat on the other couch.

  Marnie laughed out loud. “What? Are you kidding me? Where do you think I learned all the filthy words I say?”

  Dani gave her a funny look but then smiled and said, “From your mother. You already told me that.”

  Marnie laughed again. “Yeah, true. But seriously, Van only holds his tongue for you, baby cakes.”

  Dani considered that for a second and then shrugged. “Not always, but I won’t disagree with you. I’m sure he might.”

  “Oh, he does. I mean he doesn’t always sling f-bombs all the time like some of the guys do. He never really has unless it’s to make a point. And to be honest with you, he is a little more mannered than most—which is surprising because of his circumstances growing up. His dad was a piece of work, physically and verbally.”

  Dani slightly nodded, but it made her sad to think about it. Van had survived a lot. And he turned out to be an amazing man, despite his upbringing.

  Marnie glanced at Dani and then looked at the television. “He is soft for you though,” she said with a tiny smile.

  “Well I would hope so,” Dani chuckled. “He married me.”

  “Yeah he did. And he’s still in la-la land when it comes to you. You have a power over him.”

  Dani wasn’t quite sure if that was a tiny stab or something kind coming from Marnie. Usually she would speak her mind, but every so often she’d hold back just a little, and Dani was left guessing. Jaime didn’t catch it—she was absorbed in the movie already—so Dani went back to the kitchen to finish her cupcakes.

  ***

  Marnie went home after midnight. She’d joined in plenty of times to make fun of Dani’s sunshine wall, and even though she and Jaime had a dozen good laughs about it, Marnie almost admitted out loud that she actually liked it. After Dani sponge painted two other tones over the paint, it looked pretty damn good. And she knew what Dani had to hang on the wall when it was completely dried—beautiful black and white photographs of a trip to Atlantic City. It really would look “fabulous,” as Dani had put it.

  Marnie smiled as she entered her own apartment. Dani was something else. She was totally a foreign specimen to her, but there were parts about her that she really liked. Maybe there really was an innocence to her like Van said. Sure she’d been around the world, worked with famous people, knew the ins and outs of relationships for the most part. But under all that bullshit, the girl had personality. She was feisty. She was humorous.

  Marnie chuckled to herself. She could be really crass when she wanted to be.

  But in a funny way. Dani had a sense of humor that was dainty, but at the same time, soul-bearing. In a way she seemed so wrong for Van, but when you take into account their entire existence together… It just made sense.

  “What’s so funny?” Paul’s voice spoke, breaking into the darkness.

  Marnie turned on a lamp to see him sitting up on the couch in his boxers, the blanket partially covering one leg. She set a plate of cupcakes on the counter and said, “Sorry to wake you.”

  “I wasn’t sleeping. Just waiting up for you.”

  Normally Marnie would take offense to that, ready to accuse him of not trusting her. But she motioned to the counter and said, “Dani made me bring you some shitty cupcakes.”

  Paul smiled, knowing his wife was being facetious. “Yeah, I’m sure they’re terrible.” He got up and made the few steps it took to the kitchen and picked one up. Examining it, he cocked an eyebrow. “Cute,” he smirked.

  That made Marnie smile. “Aren’t they cute?” was exactly what Dani had said.

  Paul looked it over for a few more seconds, trying to decide how he should eat it. The frosting was interesting, with— What was that on there? A butterfly?

  “Just eat the damn thing.”

  “It looks real.”

  “It’s a cupcake.”

  “No, the stupid bug on it.”

  Marnie looked at the plate of ‘em another time and shrugged. “That’s Dani for you. Just eat it.”

  Paul shrugged and stuck half of it in his mouth. He settled his taste buds for a few seconds and then raised his eyebrows with surprise. “Holy shit, that’s good,” he said with a full mouth.

  It made Marnie laugh, just the idea of him saying shit while he had mouth full of chocolate. But then the temptation finally affected her and she grabbed one from the plate and bit into it. Not having tried one when Dani offered, she had the same reaction as Paul. No wonder Jaime was about to have an orgasm.

  “Jesus that’s good,” she mumbled. “Is that cherry in the middle?”

  Paul nodded as he shoved the other half of the cupcake into his mouth. The two of them stood there in the kitchen, each devouring a dainty little baked treat. After a minute Marnie pulled a beer out of the fridge and offered it to Paul. He smiled at the gesture and opened it, took a swig, and passed it to his wife. She took a small drink, and then set it on the counter between them. There was something about that moment—the two of them eating cupcakes in the middle of the night, sharing a beer. It touched down in Marnie’s chest, deep, somewhere she hadn’t felt a stir in a while. She looked at Paul, her husband of almost five years, the only real man she’d known since she was a teenager. Their eyes connected, their souls even, and whatever was in those damn cupcakes made Marnie want to devour him too.

  She stepped past the counter when he did, and when he pulled her to him, she kissed him hard, pressing her body against him. Neither of them cared if it was the kitchen counter, the floor, or the bed, but they moved around the apartment like old times. All of the fights were forgotten; all of the money troubles didn’t matter.
It was just the two of them, like it used to be, and the rest of the world was insignificant.

  There was an unusual stillness that night, peacefulness, as they shared the same bed for the first time in four months. Marnie kept a leg over Paul’s and she remained against him, softly touching his chest with her fingertips. They lay there for almost an hour, barely speaking but enjoying the closeness. Neither of them wanted to ruin the moment by saying the wrong thing, but when Marnie said, “I need another fuckin’ cupcake,” they both exploded with laughter.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Dani was eager to get home. It was Friday and Van would be home after a busy July 4 weekend. She’d spoken to him on the phone several times and stopped at the firehouse to have lunch with him once, but it didn’t beat being home together. They had no plans, no commitments, and Dani was looking forward to a romantic newlywed-type weekend with her husband.

  But when she walked into the apartment at five-forty that evening, she instantly sensed something was wrong. It wasn’t just the sounds that she heard, but it was a mood, a feeling in the air. Her attention was directed to the TV right away, where the images she saw practically punched her in the stomach. Van was sitting on the couch, facing the act, but his eyes were directed to the floor, unable to watch.

  Dani wanted to throw up.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, not even expecting an answer. She was crying when she realized what was happening, just as she caught site of herself rising up over Brian on the bed, telling him things that he wanted to hear.

  She rushed across the room and barely found the button to shut it off. She faced Van, fully expecting the anger to unleash. But he just sat there, now with his head in his hands. He looked up a few seconds later, and the hurt and destruction on his face was harder on her than if he’d been angry.

  “It’s not what you think,” Dani said automatically. She didn’t know what else to say, but she just stood there crying, waiting for him to say something. “Van? I swear to you, it’s not what you think.”