I give him a curt nod and listen as he tells me to bring my arms up and shows me how to get my arms in position. My left leg is forward while my right leg is back and he goes over how I’m going to lead with a left hook since I’m right-handed, and how those who’re left-handed would lead with a right hook.
I love how I don’t know anything about MMA, but he’s taking his time in showing me exactly what needs to be done. After a while I start to really get into it and his buddy Frank, and who I assume are Frank’s friends start chuckling in the back, saying how at this rate I’ll be kicking his ass in no time.
Sweat beads on Ricochet’s face and I find myself staring a little too intently at the man before me, and guilt soon settles in, reminding me of why I’m feeling down to begin with. He goes over to where he put a towel a few minutes ago and wipes it against his forehead, taking the sweat with it.
“You look distracted again,” he mutters out before grabbing his water bottle and taking a good ol’ chug of it.
“A little bit, but I’m trying not to be.” I’m honest in my confession, and I doubt he’ll ever know what’s plaguing my mind, and that’s okay. It’s my cross to bear. Sucking in a deep breath, I grab the water bottle he got me not too long ago.
“Yeah, well, stay in the moment. I think you have a habit of worrying about stuff you can’t control. I’ll help you cut that shit out, just trust me alright?”
For some reason I nod at what he’s said and he clears his throat before speaking again. “Cool, I’m gonna go freshen up. You comin’?”
“I thought you weren’t trying to sleep with me,” I tease him, seeing a hint of playfulness glimmer in his eyes.
“Not actively trying,” he comments, trying to hide a devious smile as he walks away toward the sign that says ‘lockers’. I end up following him, even though I know I probably shouldn’t and Ricochet strips off his shirt, revealing a perfectly glistening eight-pack.
Good god.
I had no idea he looked like this under there . . . holy fuck.
I have a really hard time not licking my lips at the sight of him. He catches my gaze and clears his throat, pulling me back into the moment. “You want some?” He holds out a plastic bag of something, but it’s not until I take a few steps over to him that I realize what he has in his hands. He has baby wipes. I can’t help cracking up laughing at him and he rolls his eyes. “Don’t even, it makes me fresh enough to go grab a bite of food at the diner. Don’t wanna be stinkin’ up, you know?” He still has a wipe in his hand, so he rubs it against his body, under his arms, and tosses it in the trash. He grabs a stick of deodorant from his locker and applies more, while I give in and wipe myself off too. The feeling of the wipe against my skin is refreshing as hell, and lovely.
Over the next couple minutes he changes into his normal attire and puts on his cut, while I’m still in sweat ridden clothes. I was wondering why he had a bag slung around his shoulder when we were on our way to the gym, and now I understand.
We say our goodbyes and I’m introduced to the rest of Frank’s friends, then we head further down the block, walk two more blocks away and head into a restaurant called Mamie’s. I’ve seen it so many times in passing, though I never had the urge to walk in and have a meal.
“Rico, how’s my favorite lil’ dumpling doing?” an elderly woman calls from behind the counter. Once she sees me her eyes sparkle and she looks over to him. I’m sure she has her assumptions, so it’ll be interesting to see if she brings any of them to light.
“I’m great, Mams. This is Venom, she belongs to my club. Came to the gym with me this mornin’.” He immediately tells her as we make our way up to the bar. He takes a seat and I sit beside him. Looking around I realize there aren’t menus here, the placemats are the menus, which is super old school. It’s so fuckin’ adorable.
“Hey there, sweetheart. You look like you’re a riot.” She looks me up and down before her smile brightens up. “I’ve always loved a good woman with some spirit, and something tells me you’ve got plenty of it.”
“That she does,” Ricochet chuckles lightly, looking over at me for a moment. Our eyes lock for a split second before I drift my gaze down at the menu, looking over the options. There’re tons of options here from meat platters, carbs galore, or your average oatmeal, croissant, or donut.
Mams grabs two coffee mugs and proceeds to pour me one, then Ricochet. He’s adding his creamer and milk while I still gaze over the menu and decide what I want. “I figure you’re gonna need a few minutes, darlin’, Rico here always orders the same thing. He’s such a creature of habit.” Mams’ smile grows and I’m getting the idea she loves Ricochet like he’s her own grandson or something.
“Yeah, a couple more minutes would be great,” I tell her.
“So, Rico, how long have you been hidin’ your girlfriend from me here? Shame on you!” Ricochet spits the coffee out of his mouth from laughing so hard while she’s hitting him with a folded-up placemat. I even start to laugh from the pure genuineness of it all. It makes me realize I haven’t taken any time for myself in a really, really long time. The last few years have been about getting stronger, about getting myself to a point where I can get Peyton, and maybe even about getting some much-needed revenge.
“What’s so funny? Tell me this instant!” Mams demands, smacking him again with the placemat.
“Venom isn’t my girlfriend. She’s just a friend,” Ricochet immediately tells her after calming himself down.
“Ah, I see.” Mams looks over to me. “You ready, sweetheart?”
I give her a curt nod and ramble out my order, “A short stack of buttermilk pancakes, bacon, and some scrambled eggs, please.”
“Sure thing. Lewis, I need a short stack of buttermilk pancakes, six pieces of bacon, and a decent serving of scrambled eggs out here ASAP. This poor girl is all skin and bones,” Mams hollers back into the kitchen, and a ‘comin’ right up’ is said back in response to her.
“Now, Rico, I know you’re saying Venom here is a friend, but with the way you look at her I don’t buy a lick of whatever bullshit you’re tryin’ to sell me.” Mams makes her way to the kitchen and Ricochet glances over to me with redness spreading across his cheeks. While I want to pick on him for blushing, I don’t, instead I tell him how I feel, how this morning has made me feel.
“I-I’ve had a lot of fun today, and . . . if you don’t mind, I’d like it if we do it again.” Ricochet seems a bit surprised at my admission, but I’m sure he wanted to get me out of the rut I’d put myself in.
“Yeah, we can do the same thing tomorrow, bright and early, so make sure you don’t go drinkin’ with Devi or Nikki.”
“I won’t,” I speak softly, but I won’t break the promise I just made to him. Nothing I said was a lie. I want to feel like this again, and the sooner I feel this way, the better.
Chapter Seven
Ricochet
It’s been a week since I took Venom to Frank’s gym and since that day, she’s been waiting for me in the kitchen every morning. Even on my off day she was there, in her workout gear, ready to go. It makes me happy to see her have some sort of passion for something. I think if I hadn’t intervened when I did, she would’ve been sucked down a rabbit hole she might not have been able to pull herself out from.
She was determined to go yesterday on my off day so she went and I figured she’d take a break today like I told her, but with no shock to me here she is, pouring herself a cup of coffee and then one for me. “I thought I told you to rest today.”
“You did, but I don’t want to take a break. I’m learning so much and I don’t want to lose that momentum.”
“You won’t,” I quickly tell her and she does the typical thing, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Well, I didn’t realize that she’d have this much attitude this early in the morning. I should’ve come down here and got my cup of coffee first. “You’re not gonna forget everything in one day.”
“Still, I don’t want to chance
it. Are you going to let me get in the ring with you today?”
I’m halfway through swallowing my first sip of coffee and about spit it out like I did at Mamie’s last week. I blink a couple of times and stare directly at her, trying to see if she’s kidding or not. “You’re joking. Please tell me you’re joking.”
She furrows her brows together. “Why would I be joking?”
Alright, this is fuckin’ hysterical. She’s lost her damn mind if she thinks she’s at the level to be in the ring. “I’ve been showing you the basics of mixed martial arts, Venom. You’re not ready for the ring.”
“I’d beg to differ. I’m a quick learner, I’m quick as hell on my feet, and I’m determined. Ricochet, I’m ready.”
“I’m not gonna say what I did again. If you’re comin’ to the gym then let’s go, but don’t go thinkin’ I’m gonna let you get in the ring,” I grumble, and Venom brushes past me while I sling my gym bag over my shoulder.
Venom huffs in annoyance and we make our way out of the club and head down to Frank’s gym. I didn’t think she’d want to come back a second time, or even a third, or a fourth, but here we are. Personally, I see how her lessons are helping her. She’s gaining more confidence and whatever the hell is bugging her isn’t peeking out as much anymore.
Venom wrapped her own hands today, totally taking the lead. Frank tells me stories about the different types of people who come here to the gym and only do it for show, or to tell people around the street that they’re some big badass now. They only want this shit for street credit, but not her. She’s takin’ this shit more damn serious than most women who walk in here. Hell, she’s showin’ me a side of her I haven’t seen quite yet.
“If you keep bringin’ this lady back in here, I have a feelin’ we’ll be callin’ her Ronda soon,” Frank laughs as he slams a hand on the back of my shoulders and smiles at Venom.
“Aw, Frank. You’re gonna make me blush.”
“Well, I wouldn’t blame ya! Gettin’ a compliment from a guy like me.” Frank’s New York accent comes out thicker than ever and Venom giggles lowly.
“You say compliment, but we both know you’re tryin’ to sleep with her,” I pipe up, not letting his shit slide. He can package his present however he wants, but he’s hittin’ on her and I’m not sure I like it. I don’t fuckin’ know why, but fuck, it bothers me.
Venom furrows her brows together and stares at me for a minute in either annoyance or frustration. Shaking her head lightly, I’m expecting to get bitched at for speaking out of turn, but I never thought I’d be this lucky. “Are we going to spar or what? I’m already hungry and I don’t want to waste time.” She saunters over to the mat where we normally spar and Frank gives me a look that shows he’s sorry for overstepping.
I turn my head to look over in her direction and quickly realize she isn’t heading for the mat, she’s going to the ring. “Venom, I said we weren’t ready for that.”
She grabs onto the middle rope and pulls herself up, ignoring what I’ve said and goes in between the ropes. “I beg to differ and the only way I’m going to convince you is to show you, so why don’t you get your ass up here, or are you a chicken?”
Oh, this woman, she should know better than to ever call me a fuckin’ chicken, or insinuate I am one. The way she raises her eyebrow to toy with me only aggravates me further and I find myself approaching her. Placing a hand on the rope I pull myself up and weave between them, staring right at her as I do so.
“You’re really in a mood to fuck around today, aren’t you?” She has no idea I mean this in more ways than one. Venom sayin’ that sassy shit, oosh, my cock is semi-hard under these shorts. I keep my eyes pinned on the way she gnaws on her plump bottom lip.
We start up and she pivots, keeping her hands up, ready to find my weak point. I move to the side just as she strikes and can’t help but smirk knowing I one upped her for the movement. I keep an eye on her movements and see her starting to lean to the left, so I jump back and she misses again.
Feeling a bit confident I move to the right and just as I get the feel of what she’s going to do next she uses her alternate hand and the slight movement causes me to look in that direction. Well, my mistake. She pushes her palm up against my nose and I let out a curse as a shock of pain shoots up into my head. Warmth rushes down over my lip and at this point, I know she’s done some good damage. Motherfucker.
I lean my head forward and put my fingers over my nose and pinch it closed while leaving the ring, heading to the locker room to assess how bad the damage is. In the background Frank’s laughter fills the gym and I walk into the locker room, going straight to the sinks.
“Ricochet, oh my god. I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” Venom comes in straight behind me, grabs a clean towel from the shelf and turns on the faucet. She wets the towel a bit and then wipes away the blood. “I didn’t mean to hurt you like this. Fuck, I’m so sorry. You started to pivot and then, fuck, oh my god.”
I know she didn’t try to hurt me, but she was trying to do something else. “This is the type of shit that happens when you try to show off,” I snap, pissed off as hell. She could’ve just sparred with me on the mat like usual, but no, she had to jump into the ring.
She blinks her eyes at me a couple of times before she says a word, almost flabbergasted by what I’ve said. With a nod, she speaks, “Yeah, and I . . . I wasn’t trying to hurt you. It was an accident, Ricochet. I swear, it was an accident.” Venom pulls the towel away from my lip and takes a swallow, almost like she’s processing the weight of what she just did.
Fuck, I know she didn’t do this maliciously, but this is why we don’t let cocky people make their way up in the ranks of the club. If she wants to get anywhere above a full patch, she’ll never let her ego blind her to what needs to be done ever again. There’s a difference between wanting to do something and having to do it.
After a moment her neck flushes red and it even spans across her chest. I’ve seen this happen to people a couple times before when they’re getting overwhelmed. Inhaling deeply through my nose I give her a moment, and then I realize her eyes are filled with glassy tears and she’s choking back a sob.
I don’t know exactly why, but the need to pull her into my arms and tell her it’s okay takes over me, so I grab onto her hand and I pull her against me, but as I try to form the words to tell her, nothing comes out.
Instead, I find myself staring at her plump lips and slowly I bring mine down onto hers and inhale her honey scent. It smells just like it does on a hot summer day, in the midst of the country. I can practically hear birds singing in the background. Fuck, she’s so sweet. Venom stalls in the shock of what I’m doing, but I snake an arm around the back of her neck and pull her closer to me, completely letting go of my nose. I don’t give a fuck, I want to claim her mouth in a way I’ve only dreamt about, but I’ve been too fuckin’ afraid it would fuck up our friendship.
Chapter Eight
Venom
If someone told me a week ago I’d be doing this, I would’ve called them crazy. I would’ve laughed in their damn face and told them this wouldn’t have ever been possible. Yet here I stand, leaning against the frame of Ricochet’s door as I watch him throw on a shirt and slide his cut on before our morning trip to Mamie’s. Unlike every other day, he opted to come back and take a shower before we went out. Then again, he didn’t have his bag slung over his shoulder this morning. I didn’t even think about reminding him. I’ve had Peyton on my mind so much in the last few days, and she’s been plaguing my free thoughts. I want to go to her right now but I know I can’t do that. It would be stupid, it would be idiotic, and most importantly, it wouldn’t get me anywhere.
God and now things are so awkward between us, probably because I ripped my mouth away from his after he kissed me, pulled myself away from a situation I was terrified to be in. I mean . . . was I terrified? I think I was. It came out of nowhere and I’ve never had any indication he ever wanted . . . or at least I don’t th
ink I did. I don’t think . . . gosh, I don’t know.
The truth is my husband screwed everything up for me, my trust levels, everything. Since being part of the Iron Vex MC I’ve felt so much better about things, but when it comes to a deep personal connection like this, I’m still fucking screwed up. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fully trust someone ever again.
Ricochet comes over toward the door and looks up at me. “Sorry about that. Had other shit on my mind this mornin’.” He eyes me up and down while his eyes linger a little bit on my boobs. I’m not sure if he’s trying to be so obvious but the man didn’t have a problem slamming his lips against mine with a bloody nose either.
God, it felt so nice to have a man’s hand wrapped around the back of my neck, holding me firmly against them while our lips collided with one another. It felt freeing, invigorating, like something I didn’t want to let go of. Yet I did, I tore myself away from the man I knowingly have feelings for, terrified it’ll lead to something where we can’t come back from.
My heart wants Ricochet in more than a friendship setting, but the mere thought of losing him because of my hidden desires makes me want to pump on the brakes. I can’t imagine him not being in my life, and acting on anything that could ruin what we have as friends . . . I just can’t do it. I won’t do it. He means too much to me.
Ricochet walks out into the hallway and I follow closely behind him, not saying a word after what he said a few moments ago. I’m trying not to let my mind get in the gutter, but I know it’s pointless. My head’s going to get there eventually anyway.
“How’s your nose?” I ask him while we start going down the stairwell.
He turns his head and gives me a smirk. “I’ll live, but I’m sure I’ll bruise up from this.”
Venom's Secret (Iron Vex MC Book 4) Page 4