by Tracey Ward
I offered one to Laney. She looked down at it like it was dog shit.
“Not a great time for me to be drinking, Jenna.”
“It’s not for you. It’s for Max. He’s gonna need it for his face.”
She took it from me with a frown. “What’s the other one for?”
“Kellen,” I told her, heading out the door to the backyard. “He’s gonna need it for his hand.”
Laney and I stood on the patio outside the kitchen watching the boys. The rest of the party stayed inside, oblivious to what was going on.
The boys talked for a second, no clue what about. At one point Max looked over his shoulder and pointed out to sea. Kellen nodded, his eyes on the distant spot. Then Max squared his shoulders, took two visibly deep breathes, and nodded his head jerkily.
Kellen swung immediately.
To the surprise of no one, he used his right hand.
I sighed with relief when his fist connected, glad it was over, but then I was on the lawn and heading toward him at nearly a sprint.
“Here,” I said, holding out the ice cold beer. “Put it on your knuckles.”
He held out his hand to me and I did it for him, pressing his large palm against my smaller one. His skin was already red but I knew the real trouble was invisible. It lay on the inside where no one could see it, not unless you were looking in his eyes. They spoke volumes of the pain going on in his body.
“You okay?” I asked quietly.
“It hurts like hell,” he breathed through gritted teeth. “I haven’t hit bare knuckles with it since the accident.”
“Why’d you do it? Why didn’t you use your left hand? It wouldn’t have hurt as much.”
“Because it was going to hurt him.”
“That was the point, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t feel right putting a hurt on someone that you’re not willing to take. Everything comes with consequences.”
I grinned despite my disgust with the entire thing. “You get so Yoda sometimes.”
“You’re a freaking animal, Kellen!” Laney shouted at him.
I turned to see her wrap her arms around Max where he’d fallen back on his ass on the grass, his face a swelling mass of red on the left side. He touched it gingerly, flexing his jaw.
“I went easy on him,” Kellen promised her.
“Jesus, if that was easy I don’t want to know what hard feels like,” Max joked with a weak chuckle.
“You’ve never taken a punch before?”
“Never had a reason to. Never thrown one before either. Usually everybody loves me.”
Kellen took hold of the beer to step around me and offer his left hand to Max. “I’m never going to love you but I hope that’s the last time I have a reason to hit you. I feel a little bad about it.”
“Don’t,” Max grunted, taking Kellen’s hand and letting him help him up. He turned and helped Laney up in return. “I asked for it. Literally and metaphorically.” He flexed his jaw again. “You’re going to have to show me how to throw a hit like that, though. I won’t be so scared the next time I’m walking through the parking garage in the middle of the night.”
Kellen grinned. “It’s like golfing. It’s all in the hips.”
“Is it really?”
“No. It’s in your head. It’s what’s in your gut. I’ll show you, man. You’ll see.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Kellen clapped him on the shoulder and they walked back toward the house, one with a cold beer pressed to his face and the other with a bottle cooling his knuckles. They left Laney and I behind, and we stood there on the lawn staring after them in amazement.
“I guess that’s one way to deal with it,” I muttered.
“And here I spent months resenting you. I didn’t know punching you was an option.”
“If only we’d known. I would have taken it. Better to get hit in the face than live with a year of guilt.”
“I could do it now if you want.”
I held up my hand, warding her off. “I’m good. Maybe next time we have a huge fight.”
“God, I hope we don’t have a next time,” she groaned.
I smiled wrapping my arm around her shoulder and leaning my head against hers. “We’re sisters, Laney. There will always be a next time.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kellen
I prowled the outside of the ring, circling him slowly. He was tired. I could see it in his arms. Too many hits thrown but unconnected. I could see it in his legs. Too many twists and turns, pivots and spins trying to follow me around. He wasn’t fit enough for this and the fact that he made it this far surprised me. It kind of annoyed me. I wouldn’t be facing off with a powderpuff in Las Vegas. I needed the practice with tough fighters, practice that this guy was supposed to supply, but here he was letting me down. Letting me win.
The animal growled in my chest, thrashing against my ribs. He begged to be let out. To run. To chase and kill, but there was no prey to be found. Not in the ring.
I was acutely aware of Jenna standing in jeans and a tank top, the warmth of spring bringing her skin out to see. To touch. To taste. To chase. I remembered what it was like to love her on the cliff in Ireland. On the couch in her apartment. The bathroom of mine. We had sex more frequently now and it wasn’t always perfect, sometimes I couldn’t quite make it work, but the majority of the time I was in it. I was with her and present and it was the sexiest thing I’d ever known. Looking down into her eyes and throwing myself into the moment head first, diving into her body and soul were the best moments of my life. I craved them like an addict. I craved her like a starved beast. Sweet, soft skin, mewling cries, long neck and throbbing pulse.
And just like that I was semi-hard in the ring.
That was new.
I lunged at my opponent, yanking my focus back to the bout. He stumbled sideways trying to dodge me and I took full advantage, laying into him with my left hand. I saved my right. I’d need it as healed as it could be in Vegas, because make no mistake, I was going to the championship in Las Vegas. The last three hits I landed on the guy at the end of the bout solidified that fact.
They also drained the energy in my limbs.
All of them.
“Yes!” Jenna shouted, jumping up and down at the edge of the ring.
She still showed the same excitement at my matches that she did the first time she came to watch me fight when she was only thirteen. When she’d stood with her dad by the ropes, her hands pressed to her lips holding in screams of joy and anger depending on my state. She’d lost her shit when I won, so proud and so happy, spurring a new joy in me that I hadn’t had since I was a kid. A love of the sport lost in the anger that’d settled in my soul. She shook the anger up, blew it away, and nestled in its place. Peaceful and perfect.
“And that’s Vegas,” she sang, celebrating before the results were announced.
I didn’t care. It was unsportsmanlike but Tim and I both ignored protocol, smiling at her as she enjoyed the win. Callum was behind her, his arms crossed over his chest, a grin on his face and Sam by his side. She didn’t look as impressed by all of this as they did, but she waved and gave me a thumbs up with a semblance of enthusiasm.
“The winner of the bout and moving on to the championship match in Las Vegas, Nevada by five points…” the announcer bellowed to the entire gym, “Kellen Coulter! Congratulations!”
I didn’t bother telling them they’d miscounted. Instead I nodded, bumped gloves with the loser, waved to the room, and jumped down from the ring, my arms in search of Jenna.
She threw herself against me the second my feet landed, ready and always waiting. I whispered in her ear all the things I’d been thinking during the fight and she giggled against my neck, burying her face in the sweat and heat of my body. Her skin against mine and her voice in my ear begging me to tell her more nearly made me indecent. I put distance between us, gave her a promising kiss, and headed for the
showers.
The other guy must have left after the bout without a shower because I was alone in the echoing tile room. Just me and the still unfamiliar feel of a smile on my face for no other reason than I was happy. Simply and comfortably happy.
“I think I’m in love.”
I didn’t turn. In fact I didn’t move. It was bad enough that Callum was seeing my wet, naked ass. I wasn’t about to show him my dick too.
“Why are you in here?” I asked tiredly, my smile fading.
“Because I need to talk to you about this.”
“Can’t we talk about it when I’m not naked?”
“What does it matter?”
“Because you just came in here professing your love to your very nude friend in the men’s shower. I’m kind of scared right now.”
“I’m not talking about you,” he spat. “Get over yourself, pretty boy. Not everything is about you.”
“I didn’t say it was and I—you know what? Never mind. I’ll talk to you when I get out.”
“I’m in love with Sam.”
I let my head fall against the tile wall. I lifted it and banged it again gently. And again. “Why? Why are you doing this now?”
“Because she’s out there and I can’t talk about it in front of her.”
“Why not?” I asked, standing up straight. “Go tell her. She’d love to hear it.”
He hesitated. “Do you really think so?”
No. No, I did not think so because Jenna had told me repeatedly that what Sam wanted was a fling. Something fun and light, something Callum should have been able to deliver on considering he took absolutely nothing seriously, but now here we were in the most uncomfortable of places talking about his feelings. Deep, reverent feelings.
I hated him so damn much right then.
“I wouldn’t tell her that, man,” I told him evasively. I could have gone into the why but I didn’t because it wasn’t my business. None of this was my business, just like my shower and my naked body wasn’t Callum’s business.
“You don’t think I should?”
“No.”
He paused. I waited, still motionless. Still annoyed as hell. “I think I’m gonna tell her.”
“That’s a choice.”
“We haven’t had sex yet.”
“That’s… okay. Great. Sorry to hear it. Can you go now?”
“Do you think it’s too soon to be in love with her if we’ve only been dating a month?”
“Yes.”
He paused again. “Seriously?”
I growled, stepping under the spray of the water to wash the soap off my body, then slamming the lever that cut the water. “Toss me my towel,” I demanded, holding my hand out behind me.
He took his time taking it off the hook and brought it to me instead of throwing it, his shoes squeaking on the wet tile.
“Don’t touch me, dude,” I warned him, looking over my shoulder. “I swear to God, if you slap my ass I’ll kill you. It’ll be easy to clean up in here so don’t tempt me.”
Callum dropped the towel in my waiting hand and retreated back to the doorway without a word. He wasn’t joking around. He was dead serious and that was the worst part of all of this.
I wrapped the towel around my waist and turned to face him. “Alright, look, you need to take it easy. She just came out of a serious relationship and she’s not looking for anything heavy. Just be you. Be fun. That’s what she wants. That’s why she likes you.”
He nodded his head, his eyes on the glistening taupe tiles at his feet. “Okay. Okay.”
I had no idea what else to say to him, but apparently I was supposed to say something because he was blocking the exit. He stood there waiting and thinking and trapping me in a shower with him and I had no idea how to get out. What was the magic phrase? I didn’t have any Fritos to throw his way to distract him so how did I get out of this?
I cleared my throat but he didn’t look up. His face was blank, his stare turned empty. He was sad. Crestfallen.
“You okay, Cal?”
“Yeah, I’m good. I’m her rebound.”
“I don’t know that for sure.”
“But it’s what Jenna told you.”
“Basically.”
“Alright. Okay.” He came forward, backing me into the wall. His arms went around me and he pulled me into a hard hug. “Good talk, man. Thanks.”
“Yup,” I choked out.
He squeezed me extra hard once, turned, and left without another word. He left me standing there with my hands up like I’d just been mugged at gunpoint, my eyes on the ceiling, and a string of incoherent curses bursting under my breath.
They all translated to one thing – fuck my life.
Once I was dry and fully dressed I went outside to meet up with Jenna, Callum, and Sam. I was surprised and a little annoyed to find a gathering of groupies waiting for me. It was a practice that had started once I hit puberty and at every match they were there. Not always the same ones but they looked the same and when the lights went out they all felt the same. I was growing tired of the game even before Jenna and I got serious, but now that we were engaged and she was there at almost every event these girls were starting to piss me off.
“Hey, Kel,” one purred as I passed.
I walked briskly, not making eye contact. I wasn’t even trying to be nice. I cold shouldered every one of them hoping this was how you made them go away. Ignoring them and pissing them off.
“You want to party with us tonight?”
“You still have my number, right?”
It was the same spiel every time. I pushed through the cloud of their perfume and out the door, into the fading sunlight where Jenna was waiting for me. She smiled at me, pretending she hadn’t noticed the unwanted entourage, but she’d seen. She knew. She’d known about them for as long as I had and she knew about my dark days when I delved in them. Reveled in them even. When I’d been young and so damn dumb that I couldn’t even see straight.
She wove her arm around my waist, tucking herself into my side. “Are you ready to go? Amanda is meeting us there in twenty minutes.”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Where are you guys going?” Sam asked.
“To look at a house in Hermosa.”
Callum shook his head. “Told ya not to do it, dude.”
“When do I take your advice?” I asked him.
“Do you want to go get drinks afterward?” Sam asked. “I think we’re going to a karaoke bar.”
“Nah, it’s open mike night at the Saddle Sore,” Callum corrected.
Jenna looked between them, confused. “You’re going to a country bar?”
Sam shrugged. “Apparently.”
“It’s gonna get weird,” Callum confirmed.
I shook my head. “That sounds awful, but I think we’re gonna pass.”
“Oh no, we’re definitely gonna pass,” Jenna countered. “You guys have fun with that.”
Sam smiled, taking Callum’s hand. “We will.”
He looked happy then. Not at all like the guy I’d talked to in the showers, and I realized that I wasn’t the only person who knew how to wear a mask.
We parted ways, waving goodbye, and heading for our cars. Jenna and I jumped up into my truck and I smiled when she immediately settled in the center, pulling in close to me. She brought out her phone as I pulled out of the parking lot.
“Okay, so tickets to Vegas in two weeks are cheap. Less than a hundred dollars apiece. Do you want me to book them now or wait until we know what hotel we’re staying at? Do we know what hotel your dad has a penthouse in?”
“Why don’t we drive?” I suggested.
She lowered her phone. “You want to drive to Vegas?”
“Yeah. It’s not far. It’d take, what? Four or five hours?”
“We could do that,” she agreed slowly.
I glanced at her, put on alert by her tone. “What? What’s wrong with driving?”
“You could bail,” she said
bluntly. “That’s what’s wrong with it. If we drive you’re not committed to anything.”
“You mean I’m not stranded.”
“I mean you could leave whenever you want without doing what you set out to do.”
“I’m going to see him, Jenna,” I told her calmly. “I said I would and I will.”
“You don’t even know where he lives.”
“The Palms.”
She jolted in surprise. “You talked to him?”
“No.” I flexed my fingers on the steering wheel, adjusting the grip. Scratching the itch. “I talked to your dad. He has all of his info. He told me where he is and I asked him to contact him if I won this bout.”
Jenna spun her phone in her hands. “I texted my dad right after you won. He knows.”
“Then my dad knows too. He knows we’re coming.”
“How do you feel about that?”
I looked at her sideways, suppressing a grin. “I don’t know, Ben. How should I feel?”
She smiled. “Shut up.”
“I haven’t had time to figure out how I feel yet. When I do I’ll let you know.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
I wrapped my right arm around her shoulders, tucking her into my side. “I know you will.”
When we pulled up in front of the house Amanda, our realtor, was already waiting for us. She stood tall and beautiful, ebony skin and shining hair in front of the albino nightmare behind her. The house was a cottage on the beach tucked between soaring condos on either side. There was a ramshackle fence around the front yard that was overgrown to jungle status. The white paint on the outside of the house was chipped and peeling. One window was cracked straight down the middle, the other was boarded up entirely. It was a sore thumb sticking out of the golden coast and shimmering sea behind it.
“You two bring me to the nicest places,” Amanda said with a smile.
We made our way to her, eyeing the place dubiously.
“You mean this isn’t your usual sale?” I asked her.
She snorted delicately. “Honey, I just showed a two million dollar condo this morning. This is definitely not my normal. You’re lucky I like you.”