Blame It on the Shame (Blame It on the Shame: Lou-Lou and Ricardo's Story #1)

by Ashley Jade

  I don't even have a chance to right myself or them before they're screaming, “Jesus, walk much? Watch where you're going, douchebag.”

  The voice sounds familiar and I look down in a combination of surprise and panic when I see Lou-Lou brushing off her hands and standing back up.

  “I'm sorry. I didn't realize...wait, why exactly am I a douchebag? It was a mistake.”

  She thinks about this for a moment before replying, “Because you knocked me over.” Her eyes appraise me up and down. “Look at the size of you and look at the size of me, you could have killed me.”

  “Wow,” I say. “Over dramatic much?” I hold up my hand's. “Like I said, it was a mistake. But what the hell are you doing walking the city streets alone at 3am? Because that shit could kill you.”

  She doesn't answer me because her hand flies over her mouth and she lets out a gasp. “Forget me. What the hell are you doing? Why do you have blood all over your hands?”

  Motherfucking shit.

  She takes a step closer. “Are you hurt?”

  I take a step back and put my hands at my sides. “I'm fine.”

  She digs around in her purse. “No, you're not. You're bleeding and you have scrapes on your knuckles.”

  It's not my blood.

  I don't even have time to protest because she's reaching for my hands and dabbing some shit on my knuckles. “Sorry, I should have warned you it would sting.” I don't say a word because the reason I'm pulling back isn't because it hurts.

  It's because she's being so nice to me and she's taking care of me.

  It's a strange feeling...completely unfamiliar.

  I take care of and look out for those I care about, namely Tyrone and Jackson.

  But when you get right down to it, I'm the only one who takes care of me...it's been that way for as long as I can remember.

  She reaches for my other hand. “But then again, you did knock me down so I guess we're even, huh?”

  “Not my fault you're the size of a Polly pocket.”

  She stops messing with my hand and gives me that 'fuck you' smile of hers. On another girl, it would look downright bitchy, but on her...I don't know...it's kind of sexy.

  I bet she's wild in bed.

  Fuck.

  My dick needs to reverse the course and abort this mission because there's no way in hell I'm ever pursuing the idea of fucking her.

  That land has already been flagged...by the man I hate.

  She goes back to cleaning my hand and I have to force myself not to look at her.

  But it's hard in more ways than one because those bright doe eyes are downright hypnotizing and that full bottom lip of hers is just begging to be sucked on.

  Nope,not going there. I can't.

  Fucking her would be like taking a big ol' bite out of Eve's apple—and I'm fully aware DeLuca's the serpent.

  I yank my hand back with abrupt force. “You can stop now.”

  She looks taken back for a moment before her gaze darkens. “You're welcome, asshole.”

  “I don't recall asking for your help in the first place.” I gesture to the apartment complex. “Now go home, you shouldn't be out here this time of night.”

  Her tongue finds her cheek and her expression turns fierce. “You don't control me. I can do what I want.”

  “Not when you belong to DeLuca you can't.”

  For a moment I think something like an understanding passes between us, but I'm dead wrong because she says, “That's why you took care of me last night, isn't it? It wasn't because you're some kind of upstanding guy with a good heart. It's because you're afraid of him and what he could do to you. God, I'm so stupid.”

  I open my mouth to tell her she's wrong but she storms off in the direction of the apartment building...while raising her middle finger in the air.

  She's been walking around the apartment complex at all hours of the night...for five days straight now.

  I tried taking the high road and explaining myself to her again but she won't have it.

  I also tried talking to her about this upcoming Saturday night, given it will be her first time in the cage but she slammed the door in my face and told me to fuck off.

  That's when I called her a brat and told her to grow the fuck up...literally.

  I might have also shouted something about her having a Napoleon complex.

  Her response to that came in the form of her throwing another bottle of whiskey at me.

  This time from her third story apartment building as I was leaving to go to the gym.

  Tyrone laughed when I told him and said it explained why she knocked on his door randomly and asked if he had a bottle of Jack Daniel's lying around.

  She's what Momma would probably refer to as 'rough around the edges' but that still doesn't even begin to explain her behavior or her personality.

  I'd assumed she was giving both Jackson and Tyrone the same treatment...but I soon find out otherwise.

  “Nope,” Tyrone says. “I can't speak for Jackson but she's been awfully nice to me. Which works in my favor since according to her...she's free rein.”

  He finishes off his statement with a grin that I have the urge to wipe off his face.

  Instead, I turn 'coach mode' on. “Be ready to hit the gym in 5 minutes.” I pin him with a stare. “And I hope for your sake you ate your Wheaties because you'll be facing me in the boxing ring today.”

  I like to mix up the training from time to time. Usually, I have Jackson and Tyrone fight one another since they work well together and still manage to provide enough of a challenge to the other one.

  But every so often, I throw in a wild card to keep them on their toes...me.

  They hate those days.

  I live for them.

  Especially today because Tyrone's been pissing me the fuck off for the past few days.

  I love him like a brother, but right now; I want to beat the crap out of him for acting like a sly motherfucker ever since she showed up.

  He lifts his chin and puffs out his chest. “Fine.” He waggles his eyebrows. “But I have a date tonight so try not to wear me out too much.”

  I don't even realize I'm charging him until Jackson's stepping between us. “I told you, she's not yours,” I growl.

  Jackson does the smart thing and instead of attempting to stop me, he pushes Tyrone back until he's standing in the living room.

  It gives me a second to calm the fuck down and control myself.

  I know what I'm capable of when I go to that place and I don't want to kill him.

  He is my friend after all and I do care about him.

  “Well, she's not yours either, brother,” he shouts. “Believe me, she made that perfectly clear. A few times now.”

  “What the fuck, Tyrone!” Jackson yells, surprising me.

  I know he's closer to Tyrone than me...I get it.

  I'm their friend and I'd like to think they think of me as an older brother...but I'm their coach first.

  It's my job to make sure they don't get destroyed in that cage as well as make sure they stay off DeLuca's radar. In addition to ensuring they make it out of their contracts alive..and sometimes that means being really fucking hard on them and drawing a line.

  “What?” Tyrone booms.

  Jackson gives him a look. “That's fucked up is what. He already told you he didn't want you hitting on her and now you're taking her out on a date?”

  Tyrone sidesteps him and jerks a shoulder up. “I really don't see what the big deal is.” He looks at me. “It's obvious he lied to us about what's going on.”

  I feel a twinge of nervousness thinking she spilled the beans about who I really am until he says, “Lou-Lou said they never once hooked up and there is absolutely nothing going on between them. For fucks sake, they don't even know each other.”

  I should just tell him that she belongs to DeLuca. I know he can keep a secret and he'll stay far away from her when he finds out she's his.

  But then again...I don't wan
t to tell him something like that without giving Lou-Lou a heads up about it first.

  And that's when it dawns on me...why the fuck is she agreeing to go on a date with Tyrone in the first place?

  Something's not right...and like it or not she's going to have no choice but to talk to me before the night is over.

  Tyrone takes a step forward. “I'm just asking for honesty, Ricardo. Because according to her—you guys are nothing and have no history. In fact, I hate to be the one to break it to you but she kind of despises you. She says you're an asshole to her.”

  He reaches for his gym bag. “And not for nothing, I believe her because you don't seem all that into her. At least, not until I talk about being interested in her. Then you go all he-man. So what the fuck is up? Are you actually into her? Or do you have some kind of personal problem with me and she's the scapegoat?”

  “I don't have a problem with you,” I tell him. “I just don't want you dating her.”

  “Why?”

  “I—” I stall.

  He points two fingers at his face. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you're into her and I promise I'll back the fuck off.”

  “I'm into her,” I mumble.

  He shakes his head. “No brother, you're not. Which means you're lying to me about something.”

  “I have my reasons, Tyrone. You just have to trust me.”

  He hikes his gym bag up his shoulder. “You have to earn that trust first.”

  And with that, he slams the door.

  “Dammit,” I say under my breath.

  Jackson tilts his head in the direction of the door. “You have a good reason for not wanting him with her?”

  “I wouldn't be acting like this otherwise.”

  “Fair enough.” He pulls a sweatshirt over his head. “Okay, I'm gonna help you.”

  I grab a water bottle from the fridge. “How?”

  “I'm gonna make an appearance and crash their date tonight.”

  Before I can inquire about it further he says, “You see, what Tyrone doesn't know is that she's been hitting on me this entire week, too.”

  “She has?”

  This is definitely news to me. Doesn't she know she's playing with fire?

  “Oh, yeah. Just yesterday she trapped me in the locker room at the gym and propositioned me.”

  At the gym? Where the hell was I? Why am I only hearing about this now?

  I want to ask all those questions but for some reason the only one I manage to bark out is, “So you had sex with her?”

  The thing is, Jackson's not as celibate as he pretends to be. He's just very secretive about his sex life.

  He doesn't know it, but I know about his trips to the bdsm club that he frequents on occasion.

  I know about it because I've caught him walking out of there a few times.

  Mere minutes after I myself walked out those doors.

  I don't go there often—even less than he does because I had Scarlet and a few others on rotation to help scratch the itch.

  But I can't focus on that because all I can think about is him fucking Lou-Lou.

  I'm seeing red for some reason I fail to comprehend but he looks at me and laughs. “Don't get me wrong, she's pretty and all but I'm not looking for a relationship or a fuck buddy. I don't do either of those. Especially with a girl like that.”

  He looks down. “Personally, I'd never want to be with a girl who causes me and my friends to fight over her. I don't think any girl's worth risking my friendship with you guys...and the one who is wouldn't put me in that position.”

  I stay silent because something in his statement causes the wheels in my head to start spinning.

  He looks over his shoulder before walking out the door. “Okay, I guess I'll meet you at the gym.”

  “Son of a bitch,” I grunt while snatching my gym bag off the counter.

  I think I just figured out exactly what Lou-Lou's doing here after all.

  The uppercut to Tyrone's face is so hard his mouthpiece falls out.

  I snicker and issue another one quick as lightning.

  “Come on, Hulk. Keep up,” I taunt when his head snaps to the side. “Either learn to suck it up and take the punch...or learn to sense me coming and deflect, my man.”

  I'm giving him shit right now, but in reality, Tyrone's one hell of a competitor. He really excels in the cage but he's not too shabby in the ring, either.

  If I'm being honest, he's one of the best fighters I've ever seen or fought.

  He would have made it to the top in mixed martial arts had he not been royally screwed.

  Him and Jackson.

  “Well stop going all Muhammad Ali and throw in some Mister Miyagi,” he says before I jab him again.

  “As you wish.” He doesn't even have time to register the axe kick I send his way.

  Boxers aren't usually known for their footwork but he and Jackson both forget that although boxing is my first love, I've studied MMA intently.

  He goes flying into the ropes. “The only reason you're so good is because you're older...you've had more years of practice.”

  I put a hand on his shoulder and hear Jackson laughing on the sidelines. “Toughen up, sport. Always prepare for the unexpected.”

  He grunts and the murmurings around the gym come to an abrupt halt.

  Jackson turns his head and I see his eyes blaze briefly before he looks down at the ground and mutters something under his breath.

  I'm even more confused when I hear a few guys let out some whistles and cat calls.

  When Tyrone's mouth drops open and he utters a “Hot damn.” I finally decide to turn my head to see what all the fuss is about.

  The tiny hairs on my neck stand up, my heart feels like it's going to explode out of my goddamn chest and I'm pretty sure I'm breathing harder than a sumo wrestler running on a treadmill.

  Lou-Lou's standing there in nothing but two scraps of red shiny material.

  In other words, her ring girl outfit.

  The same one she'll be wearing tomorrow night...in front of hundreds of men.

  The halter bra top she's wearing draws attention to her chest and practically pushes her breasts all the way up to her neck.

  And while she's not exactly well-endowed, her tits are shapely and perky as fuck.

  The sparkle from her bellybutton piercing snags my attention and I drop my gaze to her waist. She isn't voluptuous by any means, given she's so slim...but her tiny curves aren't anything short of alluring.

  Then I notice the shorts she's wearing...if you can even call them that.

  They fit snug around her little hips and showcase a pair of well-toned thighs and fuck me because I can't help from wondering what her backside looks like now.

  All women are beautiful, I'll never deny that.

  That said, everyone has their type...specific features and traits you find yourself automatically attracted to.

  On paper...Lou-Lou has none of the traits I've found myself attracted to in the past.

  She's not voluptuous or particularly curvy. She's not sporting a D-cup and she's certainly not tall...or a redhead.

  Add that to the other strike against her due to her having the worst personality of any woman I've ever met—and she is in no way, shape, or form 'my type.'

  She couldn't be further from it.

  But right now? I'd swear in a courtroom on a stack of bibles that I've never seen a woman so breathtaking in all my 31 years on the planet.

  I'm so captivated I don't even have time to deflect the fist that launches straight into my ribcage, knocking the wind out of me.

  I stagger back against the ropes and Tyrone doesn't miss the opportunity. He quickly deals another punch...one to my face this time.

  For a moment, I feel like I'm in one of those cartoons with the little birdies flying around my head.

  “Prepare for the unexpected, coach,” he taunts before climbing out of the ring.

  Chapter 6 (Lou-Lou)

  Everyone is staring at me.
Which, I suppose is the point of this debacle.

  I should have known something was up when Bruno called my cell phone yesterday to ask how my 'progress' was coming along.

  When I told him fine, he wanted specifics...and well, I had nothing.

  He started screaming that a few pleasant conversations with Tyrone weren't enough because he would lose interest.

  I told him I didn't want to partake in this stupid plan of his anymore.

  He yelled at me some more before going in for the kill.

  He said it was the least I could do for him—after all he'd done for me.

  Guilt washed over me because he was right.

  Not only did DeLuca save me from my father that night...he also murdered him for me.

  He was telling the truth that day in the conference room when he told me he had something up his sleeve after my father lost the election.

  He killed him for me. He became my savior all over again after that.

  I owed him this.

  I quickly told him how sorry I was and he suggested I go to the gym and make Jackson my target.

  If I thought I'd felt like a fool in the past...nothing compared to how ridiculous my overt lack of seduction skills were when it came to Jackson.

  I sounded like something out of a cheesy 80's porn film...all that was missing was the pizza delivery boy.

  Needless to say, Jackson turned me down quicker than milli vanilli's music career.

  As if that wasn't bad enough, I received a text message this morning from Bruno.

  He said he loved me and it was killing him having to be so far away from me for so long.

  I was so stunned, I took a screenshot of it just in case I was dreaming.

  When I didn't respond to him, he called me and said the actual words.

  He sounded so sincere and so loving I didn't know what to think. For a split second, I was actually disappointed when he told me his trip to Italy was going to be extended by another week.

  He promised he would make it up to me when he got back. I told him not to bother because I'd be fine all on my own.

  He hemmed and hawed before asking me to go back to the gym and head straight for the office located in the back.