Hooked (TKO #2) (12 page)

Chapter 19

Lance

I didn’t stay too long at Garrett and Raegan’s apartment last night. By the time I got home, Dad was asleep, so I took another quick shower and decided to lie in my bed. I tossed and turned all night thinking about Hilary. The last text I got from her was before she fell asleep, and I knew I could have texted her but she needs her rest and I didn’t want to wake her. I really just wanted to see if she was okay.

Every time my phone goes off, I dive for it but it’s always nothing. Maybe she’s not awake yet. That’s what I’m telling myself. I don’t want to think about the possibility she could still give up on me. I can’t take another letdown.

I glance over at my clock. If I don’t get moving soon, I’ll be late for practice. I don’t want to hear Howard yelling at me. I drag my ass out of bed and throw some clothes on. I brush my teeth and grab my wallet and keys. Dad is already gone for the day. I’m feeling guilty. I should have come home sooner last night and talked to him. I decide I’m going to sit with him later on, and let him know about the recent events in my life.

My phone vibrates loudly and my heart begins beating wildly in my chest when her name pops up. I expected a text message, but a phone call is so much better. It’s not like I’m having a bad day or anything, but hearing her voice just makes everything better. I feel like a giddy school boy as I say hello. Her voice doesn’t sound so chipper. She sounds exhausted and stressed out.

“Hil, what’s wrong, sweetheart?” I ask, trying to hide the panic in my voice.

“He-he found me.” Her voice is barely a whisper, but I heard everything she just said. Out of anger, I punch the wall beside me. Luckily, I did no damage, but then I wouldn’t have cared if I had.

“What do you mean he found you? What the hell happened?” I’m raising my voice and not even meaning to. The last thing I want to do is scare her but when it comes to Travis, I will always fear for her safety. This is why I should have stayed with her last night. Her going back home so soon was a mistake. Guilt floods my body.

“He showed up at my house this morning, asking where I’ve been. My dad told him h-he needed to leave or he would call the cops. You should have seen the look he gave me. I was so scared.”

“But he left, right?”

“Yeah, he did. What am I going to do? He’s not going to leave me alone.” The fear in her voice breaks my heart. No woman should have to be scared of a man.

“Are you alone right now? Do I need to come by? I can. Just say the word.”

“No, my mom is here.”

“Stay with her today. If she goes somewhere, tag along with her. Don’t put yourself in a position where you are alone. If something happens, and I couldn’t make it to you in time, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”

“I didn’t want to tell you about this because I didn’t want you to worry, but I couldn’t keep this hidden from you.”

“No, I’m glad you told me. He’s going to pay for this.”

“Lance, just let him be. He’s not worth it,” she pleads. She’s right. I almost gave up my life because of the last encounter with Travis.

“You’re right.” I sigh. “It just pisses me off that he actually went to your house like that. I should have watched over you better.”

“It’s not your fault.”

We talk for a little longer before hanging up. I hurry to prepare myself for training at the gym. At least I know I’ll have no trouble sparring and working out today. I’ll take out all my frustrations, and I’ll imagine I’m kicking his ass.

***

“I was just getting ready to call you,” Howard yells across the gym. His voice echoes loudly, bouncing off the walls.

“I was on my way. I had an unexpected phone call that ran a little over.”

He looks skeptical, because he knows me well. I can’t get out of it, so I tell him what I’ve just learned about Hilary, and I already know he’s getting ready to threaten me.

“Before you say anything, I know better, Howard. I’m not putting myself in that position again. I’m not hunting him down or anything.”

When he starts laughing, I’m seriously hoping this is the end of this conversation. I don’t want to talk about it anymore because the more I talk and think about it, the madder I get.

“Where’s Garrett?” I ask. He’s usually here by now. The guy never runs late for anything.

“Raegan is sick this morning, so he stayed home with her. He’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Morning sickness? She was feisty last night. I stopped by for a minute and thought she was going to rip my head off.”

Howard chuckles and pats my shoulder. “Hilary will probably be the same way. Whitney was a mess during her pregnancy. There were some nights I wanted to pack a bag and come sleep here, but I love her so I put up with it. You just learn to shut your mouth.”

“Whitney was hell
before
the pregnancy, so I really feel for you.”

“That’s why we won’t be having more kids,” he says sternly. Then he adds, “No, I’m kidding. I’d put up with it if she wanted more, but Randi is just so damn perfect. You never know true love until you hold your baby for the first time.”

I know what he’s saying is true. I’ve heard people say that before. I’m sure I will see love when Hilary has the baby, but since the baby isn’t mine, I worry I won’t be able to experience what Howard is talking about.

“This baby may not be mine, but I’ll still love it the same, right?” I ask him, hoping he has answers.

“Of course you will. If this is meant to be, and you take what you told her seriously, you won’t think anything less of that child. You are going to be a great father to that baby. She is lucky to have someone like you stepping up.”

“I just don’t want to let her down.”

“You won’t. Now, let’s get to work. It’s just me and you.”

I’m glad he decided to change the subject. I need my mind to be cleansed for now. I walk over to the locker where I set my gloves yesterday. That’s what I love about this gym; I can leave something wherever the hell I want and it will stay there.

I get into stance on the mats, spacing my feet the perfect distance and preparing to spar with Howard. It’s almost like sparring with Garrett but Howard packs the heat. He doesn’t play around. He treats me as if I’m standing in the ring against an opponent. After a few minutes of nonstop hooks and takedowns, I crouch to catch my breath. I look up through sweaty eyelashes and make eye contact with Howard.

“When can I get back in the ring? It’s been too long.”

“You’re ready? I was waiting for you to tell me that. I know last time took a toll on you, and shit went downhill fast. If you’re ready, I’ll get Blaize to add you to the list for next week.”

“I’m in.” There is no hesitation. Fighting is my life. I need it like I need the air I breathe. I’ve missed it way too much, and I’m ready.

“Then it’s done. He should be able to get you in without a problem. He asked me the other day where you’d been.”

Now that I’ve distracted Howard, I sweep his legs from underneath him in a swift motion and pin him to the ground. “See, I’ve still got it,” I boast.

“Well done. Now let me up, and let’s go again. This time, we hold nothing back.”

“Since when do you hold anything back?” I ask as he stands.

Before I can blink, I’m lying on the ground helpless. My body is molded into the cool softness of the rubbery mats. That bastard. “I don’t.”

We continue sparring. If I’m getting back into the ring next week, I need to be prepared. I refuse to be caught off guard.

“Give me your best hook, Lance,” Howard demands as he gets back into stance. I throw a right hook but he stops it immediately. “I said give me a hook, damn it. You throw a hook like that in the ring, and the bastard will take you down faster than you can blink. Your arm isn’t bent right, and your footing is off.”

“Fuck,” I mutter. I reposition my feet, shifting my weight to my lead foot so I can pivot and deliver a hook the way I’m supposed to. I have no clue how the fuck I messed that up. I’m usually better with those, and Howard knows it. This time, I nail it.

“That’s more like it,” Howard says, rubbing his sweaty brow. “I knew you had better than that in you. How many years have you been here?”

“Too many,” I mutter.

“Exactly, too many years to fuck that up. The hook is one of the first things I taught you.”

“I got it, man. I just messed up once.”

“Yeah, just once. If you had been in the ring, you would have lost.”

He’s right, and I don’t want to admit it.

“We have a lot to work on,” he says. “I want to see you practicing your posture, counter-punches, front kicks, leg locks, and submission moves. I’ll help you today, and tomorrow Garrett will be here. Too much time has been wasted and we’ve got to get you ready.”

“Sounds good. Can I get some water real quick? You’re kicking my ass.” I laugh, trying to make light of the situation.

He points over to the water cooler, and I run over, almost drinking every damn drop in the tank, or at least it seems that way. The water is cool and refreshing as it runs down the back of my throat. I could keep drinking it, but I need to get back to work.

I return to the mat and do the first thing Howard told me to work on—my posture. He tries to throw a punch and immediately I block his and retaliate with one of my own. He grins and we go at it again and again, until he finally wears me down and gets a hit in. “There’s the old Lance I know. I was wondering where he went.”

“Oh, he’s here and exhausted as fuck.” I laugh.

“You’re out of shape.” He points to my stomach. I have to glance down but I know he’s full of shit. There’s not an ounce of fat on my stomach.

“Am not. I have a damn six pack, and I don’t mean beer.” I stand with my hand on my hip. “Haters gonna hate.”

“You need psychiatric help, boy,” he teases.

“Don’t hate on me, man, where’s the love?”

“Oh, there’s love, and there will be more of it when you win your match next week.”

I need a good payday in my life. I have more than enough in my savings. Even though I still help Dad out with bills, I am able to put some aside and I’ve continued to save it up.

Hours pass while Howard and I continue to spar. We work on everything he wanted me to, plus more. I know my body will be sore later but I don’t mind. If it means victory next week, then I’ll pay the price. I’ll never let my body become this unaccustomed to the fight again.

I glance at the old clock on the wall. It’s a quarter to five. Time flies when I’m kicking ass, and getting my ass kicked at the same time. I head out to my truck when it’s time to leave, and check my phone to find there are no messages from Hilary. My heart sinks a little. I start to panic because I’m worried about her. What if something happened? Frantic, my heart pounds in my chest as I tap on her name. The phone rings a few times and I’m beginning to freak the hell out. Without another thought, I jump into my truck and slam the keys into the ignition. I’m about to click the keys forward to start the engine when she answers.

“Are you okay?” I ask her without a proper greeting.

“Hey to you, too. Yeah, I’m fine. Mom and I went shopping today and I reenrolled in school. Dad had to pull a few strings but I will be starting at the beginning of the new semester.”

“That’s awesome news. I’m happy for you. I’m sorry, I just left the gym and I haven’t heard anything and I got worried,” I admit. I feel like such a baby. I’ve never been so concerned about a woman before.

“I didn’t mean to make you worry. I actually forgot all about him today for once. It was nice.”

“What are you doing tonight?”

“I don’t have any plans.”

“Can I take you on a date?” I cross my fingers, remembering just how our last date ended up. It started out as a great night and ended in utter disaster, but then she was still somewhat seeing Travis.

“Yeah,” she says. “I’d love that.”

“I’ll pick you up at seven, then.”

“I can’t wait.”

When I hang up, I’m a happy man. Everything seems way too good to be true right now, but I don’t mind. I’m going to soak this up and pray it never stops.

Chapter 20

Hilary

I hang up with Lance, and butterflies invade my inner being. A date. Maybe if I’d been smart enough to leave Travis alone back then, we’d be still having many dates instead of another first date. With a smile plastered on my face, I skip over to my closet and open the doors to reveal two rows of color coordinated clothes. Sadness washes over me for a brief second when I realize that in a few short months I won’t be able to fit into any of these. I search through each section before I finally settle on a pair of black skinny jeans and a pale pink blouse. My shoes are arranged according to style, and I choose a pair of sandals.

There’s a knock on the door, and Mom peeks into the room. “Hey honey, have plans tonight?”

“Yes. Lance is picking me up and taking me on a date.” I show off my outfit.

Mom nods in approval. “Good choice. I’m glad you found someone like him to love you and this baby. There are guys out there, but some are hard to find. Seems he was right under your nose all along.”

I’m taken aback by Mom’s choice of words. Love? I barely know Lance. He’s been there for me since I met him, and he made the decision to take on the massive responsibility of caring for a child that isn’t his, but I don’t know him enough to say I love him. I doubt he even loves me. This isn’t a fairytale, and life just doesn’t work that quickly.

“I don’t think he loves me, Mom. We don’t know each other that well.”

“It may not be love right now, but that doesn’t mean it can’t blossom into love in the future.”

“That future is far off. I’m just going to take one day at a time, and see what happens.”

“Definitely. But just so you know, the future isn’t really that far.” Before she leaves, she adds, “Have a great time tonight.”

“I will.”

I was excited the first time Lance and I went on a date, but now I’m a little more anxious. By the time I’m finished getting dressed, I glance at the pink clock on my wall.

He’s going to be here in less than ten minutes!
I touch up my lip gloss and spray a little perfume on before turning my light off and walking to the living room.

Dad walks inside with Lance right behind him. I’m trembling because Lance looks so handsome. He’s wearing a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His arms are adorned with tattoos, and it’s not like I’ve never noticed them before. Hell, I’m used to seeing them, but they stand out brightly against the black of his shirt.

I grab my purse off the coffee table and hug my parents. Lance gives them a wave and pulls my hand into his as we walk out the door.

I buckle my seatbelt and sit there waiting for him to get in and start the truck. I want to ask where we are going, but the more I think about it, I prefer the element of surprise. His engine roars to life and Taylor Swift is playing loudly through the speakers. He chuckles, his face transforming into a shade of pink as he turns the volume down. I stifle a laugh as he grabs my hand and brings my knuckles up to his lips.

“I like the song. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not like I haven’t heard you sing “Shake It Off” before,” I remind him.

He nods his head, grinning, as we begin driving down the road.

I let go of his hand for a split second to turn up the radio, and I begin singing along with the song. He turns his head to look at me, probably making sure I haven’t lost my mind before he joins me.

He pulls into a restaurant parking lot and parks the truck.

Mmm, Italian
. My stomach growls at the thought of a big plate of chicken alfredo. I can practically taste it and we haven’t even gotten out of the truck. He leans in, giving me a soft kiss on the cheek.

“Are you hungry? I should have asked before I drove here but I sort of assumed we could grab dinner.”

“I’m famished.”

Inside, the hostess sits us, and the waiter comes shortly to take our drink order. The girl tries shamelessly to flirt with Lance but he doesn’t pay her any attention. He tells her we both want a glass of sweet tea with lemon and never takes his focus off of me.

Take that, blondie.

Moments later she returns with the drinks and we order our food. The chicken alfredo is just as amazing as I imagined it would be. It’s so good, I don’t leave a single bite behind. We make small talk during dinner but with the way the waitress keeps popping up at the most awkward times, we don’t really talk about much.

So far, this is much better than the first date. When we return to the truck after he pays the bill, he opens the door for me. “I’ve been trying to think of what else we can do but I’m out of ideas. I’m not good at this date thing. I think I may have told you that the first time.”

“Yeah, you did. It’s fine. We can just go with the flow, you know, see where we end up.”

“I still live with my dad, or I’d say we could go back to my house and talk.” He climbs into his side and shuts the door, then starts the engine.

“We can’t go to a bar because of the baby.” I don’t want our date to end, but what the hell are we supposed to do?

“We could go bowling.”

My eyes light up. “Oh, that sounds fun. I haven’t done that in a long time. Let’s do that!”

“You’ve got it, sweetheart.” He takes a left at the next green light. I can’t believe I forgot about bowling.

“Oh shit, I don’t have any socks. I’ll have to buy a pair at the bowling alley.”

“If you don’t mind, I keep a clean change of clothes in my gym bag. You can wear my socks if you want. Remember, I did say they are clean.” He laughs.

“Sure, I mean if you don’t mind.”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want you to wear them. My feet don’t stink or anything if that’s what you’re worried about, and neither does my gym bag.”

He parks the truck and turns around to reach his bag in the back seat. I hear the sound of the zipper opening and closing before he tosses a clean pair of socks to me. I catch them in one hand and hold them as we walk inside. The sound of the balls crashing into the pins fills the air and the sweet aroma of bowling alley food permeates my nose. If I hadn’t just eaten, I’d want a pizza.

Lance pays for our shoes and at least two games to begin with. We walk down to the lane, and as he sets our names up on the screen, I take my sandals off and slip into his socks and the bowling shoes.

He put my name first, so I select a red ball that is just the right weight. I focus on the pins in front, thinking about how I want to beat him. I walk up to the line, crossing my left foot behind my right and let the ball slip gracefully from my fingers. It slides with ease down the lane, crashing into the pins. Only four of them fall, much to my dismay, and now I have to try to get the spare. I miss the other pins and the ball goes straight into the gutter. I glare at the remaining pins before turning away and sulking over to one of the chairs. Lance laughs as he picks up the black ball he chose and makes a strike without a single flaw.

“Not fair. You cheated.” I continue to sulk.

“Are you jealous?” he asks as he approaches me.

I cross my arms over my chest and look in the opposite direction. “No, I’m not.”

“Aw, sweetheart, do you want me to let you win?”

I turn to face him and uncross my arms. “No, I’m going to beat you fair and square.” I stand to grab my ball and this time I almost will the pins with my mind. They are to obey my every command, but they don’t listen. This time I don’t even hit a single pin. The second time, I hit three. “Whose idea was this again?”

“Yours, babe,” he says as I plop back into my chair. He leans down and whispers in my ear. “Have I told you how sexy you are when you’re frustrated?”

His words ignite my insides and I look up at him. His eyes are filled with lust and I can’t look away. “No, you haven’t.” I try to pull away from his gaze. Too bad he just chuckles and kisses my outer ear lobe. Damn butterflies.

“Well, I just did. You’re not just sexy when you’re frustrated though, you’re sexy in general.”

I just felt my temperature rise a few degrees and even though I can feel the air from the vent just above me, I’m burning up. Who knew bowling could be so tempting?

I can think of a million different things right now, but not one of them involves him walking away and making yet another strike. Lucky bastard. I grab my ball and I don’t even turn to make eye contact with him. All I’m doing now is praying to God that I can at least come away with a spare. That’s all I’m asking. One freaking spare.

As the ball slips from my grasp and begins sliding down the lane, I close my eyes. I don’t want to see it hit the gutter. The sound of pins crashing down fills the air and Lance’s voice slams into me along with his arms. “Holy shit, Hil, you got a strike!”

“I what?” I open my eyes to see not a single pin standing. My eyes widen and a smirk that could stretch across this great state of Texas spreads over my mouth. “Oh yeah, I did. In your face!”

I continue to taunt him until he presses his lips against mine. A moan escapes my throat and we kiss until people around us begin to cheer. I should be embarrassed but I’m not. I just made a freaking strike and I got a kiss. I’m on top of the world.

We finish our two games, laughing and kissing as we go along. I lose both games. We walk out of the bowling alley hand in hand like two young kids without a single worry in the world.

“You know,” he tells me, “I never thought I could have this much fun on a date. I should thank you for making me a new, better man.”

I stop walking and turn to face him. “Well, you are definitely better than you were at the bar that night.”

“Yeah, can we kinda forget about that? I was an egotistical asshole with only thing on his mind.”

“I remember. He was so not romantic. I mean, who drags a girl to a closet?” I joke. There was a time just thinking about it tore me apart.

His brow creases for a moment and the smile fades. “Like I said, I was an asshole. You deserve so much better and I’m going to give that to you.”

“Second chances are rare. Wait…this is a third chance, you must be lucky.”

“And grateful,” he adds as we close in on his truck.

He opens the door for me like always, and as soon as he climbs into the driver’s seat, he places the palm of his hand on my cheek, pulling me closer. We spend the next several minutes making out like horny teenagers. Surprisingly, he doesn’t try to put any moves on me. In a way, I’m grateful because I’m able to see he’s not the same man he was before. He’s actually turning out to be my Prince Charming, and he may be late, but at least he’s here now.