Fight 3 (10 page)

“Hey, you got time for a fight? I’ve got two newbies about to go at it. You’re more than welcome to stay to watch.” His smile is so genuine. His girlfriend is one lucky lady.

“Absofuckinglutely.” I say, grinning.

*****

That night, I’m so ready to see another fight I almost totally forget to eat. Almost. I’m eight months pregnant, though, so I really don’t ever forget to eat.

Heading to the same spot as last night, I try my hardest to stay out of the light so Mac doesn’t see me. I see Rose looking around the crowd and as soon as she spots me, I give a little smile and nod. I need to help this girl.

And then the thought occurs that I’m in the perfect position to help her.

Jesus, why didn’t I think of this last night?!

The fight starts right as I get my note together, and halfway into the first round, I sneak in and find her backpack from last night. She needs to come to me on her own and not because she’s star-struck. God, I hope she makes this decision before it’s too late for her.

Rose,

I know you have it tough. I know exactly what you are feeling.

You need to come find me, I can help you understand everything better.

I’m in Texas, it’s a big state. Here’s my information.

Don’t wait, do it now.

-Gwynn

1-555-846-9445

619 Peach Street

San Antonio, Texas

I slide the note in her backpack and pray to God she finds it in time. Then I pray some more that she follows my instructions and gets the fuck away from him.

With that, I walk out of the gym and drive back to the airport. It’s time to go work on getting my Eddie back.

Chapter 16

Eddie

Flipping her over on the bed, she squeals in laughter and reaches up to grab the headboard. Fuck, how I wish we could be in my apartment right now. Her skin is fucking glowing, and I can’t stop the images of her bound, just for me, from rushing into my head. She bites her bottom lip and brings her feet up to rest on my shoulder, crossing her ankles for me to hold on to with one hand.

“Goddammit, Red,” I grunt as I slam into her, over and over. I can feel her tightening around me, and I slow my pace a little to help ease her off the edge. I can’t have this ending this fast, this is the best it’s ever felt. I can feel everything in this position and I don’t want it to fucking end.

“Harder, Eddie. Please,” she begs as I purposely and agonizingly move slower and slower. She’s begging for harder, but she’s moaning because I’m hitting just that right spot. Jesus she is so fucking tight I feel every part of her in my movements. I feel her tightening around me again and this time I don’t have as much willpower as before. This time, I feel my own orgasm coming on strong. Moving one of her legs to my other shoulder, I reach down and start rubbing her clit in slow circles as she pushes up her hips to meet my every thrust.

“Oh god, Eddie... Oh my GOD!” She screams a string of profanities, tightening so tight around me I explode immediately afterwards.

“Fuuuuck!” I growl as I pull out of her mid orgasm. Shit, we didn’t use a condom. FUCK!

“It’s okay, don’t freak out.” Her eyes are laughing at me, “I’m on the pill, remember?”

“Fuck... yea. Still, that’s so irresponsible of me. Shit, Red, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’d rather never have to use one.”

“Yea, it did feel fan-fucking-tastic didn’t it?” I grin at her and lay down next to her

Jolting up in bed, I look around to remind myself where I am. Running my hands over my recently shaved head, it takes me a minute to get myself to calm down.

The dreams won’t stop. Sometimes I see her face, the girl that’s carrying my child. Gwynn. Other times I just smell her. Sometimes I see a figure, a pregnant figure, but I can’t get to her however hard I try. I know something’s there, I know we HAD to have something, since my mind has all these images of her, but I can’t get to her.

She’s been gone for three days and it’s been the worst three days ever. Not that I would tell anyone, though. I can’t get that reputation of being whipped by a random chick. She’s having my kid and I’ve been told she’s marrying me, but not if I have anything to do with it. I just can’t seem to get her out of my mind. I’ve never met a girl like her before from what I can remember. Most chicks would be a blubbering mess, being as pregnant as she is and having their “fiancé” be such a dick to them, but she deals it right back. One tough ass chick, that’s for sure. She kinda scares the shit outta me. 

I’ll never understand that shit and why someone would do it, but I’m just happy she’s only training and not fighting. I couldn’t be with a fighter. I couldn’t have my baby’s mother be involved in getting the shit beat out of her.

My phone rings, bringing me out of my daze. Jesus, this girl takes up every fucking moment of my thoughts lately.

“What?” I grumble, rubbing my face, trying to wake up and get her out of my head.

“Where’s your girl, dude?” Tatum’s voice booms through the phone.

“She’s not my girl, dude. And I don’t know.” I sigh.

“Fuck you, Eddie. You aren’t even trying to like her. She’s carrying your fucking kid, man.”

“Yea, and now I’m Goddamned trapped with her, in this house that I am paying for but don’t remember buying, and nothing in here belongs to me....” I look around at the house that is mine on paper, but doesn’t feel like home.

“Asshole, stop being fucking stupid and listen to me. YOUR MOTHERFUCKING APARTMENT IS IN ASHES. NOTHING IS LEFT. NOTHING. She lost everything too, dude. She was your motherfucking neighbor.”

“I know, man, you keep telling me that, I just don’t see it. I wouldn’t buy any of this shit.” Looking around at the decorations adorning the house, I don’t see anything here that I would buy on my own.

“You didn’t, fuckwad. You got into an accident the week before you two closed on the house. Gwynn had to do everything on her own. EVERYTHING,” he growls at me.

My relationship with Tatum has been strained ever since I woke up. Really, my relationship with everyone has been strained since I woke up. New and old, no one around me seems to like me anymore.

With one exception.

As mean as I’ve been to her, she sticks around. She’s still nice to me when I’m not being an ass to her. She still tells me she loves me, even though I laugh every time she does. I can’t even look at her at times because her being here pisses me off. I can’t fuck anyone, because we are apparently together, but I need a motherfucking release. Last week she gave me the best fucking blow job I’ve ever had, and Jesus if she wasn’t sexy as hell the entire time doing it. Not that I’d tell her that. I had to leave the room as soon as I finished so I didn’t touch her like I wanted to. So I didn’t taste her like my taste buds were screaming for me to do.

“Shit, Savage. What the hell am I doing here?”

“Being a dick,” he replies quickly.

“Fuck off, man. Maybe it’s time for me to move on. Things aren’t coming back and I’m just making her life a living hell.”

“You leave that girl and I will put my boys on you so fast your head will swim,” he growls.

Well that’s a first. I’ve never been threatened by the Savages before.

“Damn, calm the fuck down, I’m just talking. She’s having my kid. I have to stick around for that thing.”

I refuse to call it what it is. A baby. A new life. A baby girl.

Angela.

“Stop calling it a thing, Eddie. It’s your baby girl.”

“I know man... shit, I know.”

I feel like an asshole. I do. Not that it’s going to change my behavior, because I really can’t keep the thing or its mom. I can’t turn into him, and having them around will definitely give me too many chances to hurt them.

“Just... dude let us know when she gets back. Molly’s freaked out something bad is going to happen.”

“I told her not to kill the kid, it’ll be fine,” I grumble, trying to sound unaffected by the emotions coming out of my friend.

We’re Tatum and Eddie, we don’t do women, or love, or kids, or any of this shit. What the fuck happened to us?!

“Right. Just a grade-A asshole lately. God, Eddie. That’s disappointing.”

He hung on up me. Good, I didn’t want to hear his bitching anyway.

Hearing a car pull in the driveway, it must be her, so I head into the kitchen to open the side door. It’s raining and as much as I’m angry about this whole situation, I can’t just let her stand out in the rain looking for her keys.

I walk back into the living room and grab the magazine I was reading. Hearing the door open, I listen for her to say something to me like she always does, but it doesn’t happen. Why’s she ignoring me?

Why the hell do I care?

Fuck. I sigh and get up, making sure she’s ok. She has been gone for three days, and she is eight months or so pregnant. I guess I should make sure she’s ok. Nothing more than concern for my kid. Definitely not concern for her safety. For her happiness. For her well-being.

Definitely not.

Right?

“Hey,” I say, walking into the kitchen, then stop in my tracks.

She’s so fucking beautiful.

STOP! No, I can’t think this! She’s fucking pregnant. And she’s ruining my chances of getting laid by something that isn’t pregnant.

“Hi,” she whispers.

“Hey... you okay?” I say, walking over to her.

My head is yelling at my feet right now because I really shouldn’t get this close to her, this attached to her, but damned if I couldn’t stop myself from hugging her.

She smells so familiar and something is pulling at my heartstrings just having her in my arms. She sniffles and I tense. Is she crying?

“Why are you crying?” I ask. It was supposed to be a growl, but my body seems to have other things on its mind when I’m around this girl.

She swings out of my hug and looks at me.

“I’m not fucking crying. Don’t do... that, if you don’t mean it. Just... don’t.” Then she storms off into her room.

“Well then... okay. I won’t PRETEND TO CARE ABOUT YOU!” I scream down the hall at her.

I hear her scream, then something crashes against the wall. No.

Oh shit. God, no. My heart starts beating out of my chest as I picture her hurt, laying on the floor. Something bad. I can’t lose her.

Where the FUCK did that thought come from?!

Rushing to the door of her room, praying she’s okay, envisioning the worst, I see her seething in the middle of her room.

“YOU.... FUCK YOU.” she yells at me, throwing a pillow at me. I’m sure it would have been something harder had she had something harder in her general vicinity.

“What the FUCK!?”

“I’m trying my GODDAMNED HARDEST to make this work, Eddie! I just FUCKING WENT TO FLORIDA TO FIND YOUR MOTHERFUCKING SISTER! I thought bringing her back here would help you remember... BUT YOU DON’T SEEM TO WANT TO FUCKING REMEMBER ME!”

“I CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT THAT, GWYNN!” I scream back at her, seething that I’m so upset about this fight, because it seems like she’s breaking up with me.

I should be happy about that, right?

“I KNOW! I!... I know. And I don’t think anything is going to change, Eddie.” She’s shaking, pulling at the bottom of her shirt.

I cock my head and close my eyes, chills taking over my body as a flash back rips through my head.

“How you doing?” she asks, picking at her shirt hem, not looking me in the eyes.

“I’m fine, Red. You are the one who just threw up your lunch. What brought that up?”

“Eddie, you just found out your dad died! How are you not shaken up about that?!” She says louder than I would have liked.

“I told you the other day, Red. It really doesn’t bother me. He’s gone. He can’t hurt anyone anymore. Hopefully he suffered.” It’s the truth too. I don’t really hold grudges, but with him I do.

“You would say that about your own dad?” She looks at me with tears in her eyes.

“Shit. Red, he was a terrible man. I would never want another child to have to be around something like him. He wasn’t a dad. He was an evil sperm-donor. I’d never be like him, Red. I didn’t have a great childhood... I literally went through hell. I’m glad he’s gone. And I’m glad I now know what NOT to do as a father.”

She laughs and relaxes a little. I walk up to her, spreading her knees to stand as close to her as possible. Leaning in, I kiss her neck and wrap my arms around her. Hugging me back, she sighs into me.

“I know you know, Tex.” She whispers.

“I do. When were you going to tell me?” I ask, not letting go of her, unable to look her in the eyes because of the threatening tears. I feel my body start to shake from nerves. I need to hear the words come out of her mouth.

“After I took the test,” she whispers into my neck.

“Shit, Red. I need to be there with you. I want to be there with you. Baby, I love you. This is huge!” I say, pulling back and cupping her face.

“You can’t even talk to me without getting pissed and ignoring me, Eddie! You know what!? THIS ISN’T GOING TO FUCKING WORK!”

Wait, what? What the fuck was that?

Holy shit, it felt so real.

“Wait, are you kicking me out?” Oh fuck, why can’t I breathe right now.

Jesus Christ, why does my chest hurt like this?!

“No. I’m telling you, Eddie, that I’ve finally accepted that this isn’t going to work. You don’t have to get out, but you need to leave for tonight. I need some silence. I need you to go live the life you think you should be living. Find a girl, fuck the shit out of her, do whatever the fuck you want to do. You don’t have to stay for me anymore. I’m done.”

I blink, trying to figure out what’s reality and what’s a fucking dream. Everything in me hurts, which confuses the shit out of me. I should be thrilled she’s finally letting go of this crazy notion, but I’m shaking from being so upset that she’s letting me go.

What the hell.

“You’re done?” I glare at her, willing myself not to explode on the poor chick.

“Yes,” she whispers. “Now please, just go.”

Her eyes are hard. Cold. Shit, what did I do? I shake my head and storm out, getting into my truck and heading to the bar. I need a fucking drink. And maybe, just maybe, I can find someone to screw to get this woman, Gwynn, out of my head.