Paxton's Promise (5 page)

Once our dinner was put together and loaded up in a basket, we made our way down to the beach. There was hardly anyone around, which was fine by me. I hated crowded beaches. As we walked, I cringed every time I saw a plastic bottle or trash littering the ground. When I was in high school, I’d been in the Environmental Club and I took that shit seriously. I guess that was why I wanted to major in a science field in college.

Since I had the blanket, I draped it on the sand so Pax could set the basket down. The sunset was just off in the distance, casting the sky in a pink and yellow haze. It was the perfect setting for a date. It was a shame I wasn’t on one.

“So, your aunt?” I began. “Is she on your mother’s side or your father’s?”

“Mother’s,” he answered. “She got custody of me after my parents died.”

I started to help him with the food and paused. “Oh no, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up.”

He smiled sadly and passed me a plate. “No need to be sorry. It was a long time ago. I was in high school when it happened.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Keeping his eyes on the food, he pulled out the chicken and potatoes while I grabbed my favorite thing . . . the homemade bread. “My parents loved to go sailing. Sometimes they would take me with them when I was little. When I got into high school and started dating Kacey I stopped going with them. I had my own life, you know?”

“Oh, I get it. Alas, I didn’t have loving parents like that. I mean my mother was great, but she was all I had along with Matt. My father left when I was three.” Setting his plate on the blanket, he laid down and rested on his elbow, facing me but keeping his eyes on the ocean while he ate. “How did they die?” I asked.

He popped a piece of bread in his mouth and chewed it slowly. “There was a big storm that came through off the coast of Fiji. They were trying to get to land before it hit, but they didn’t make it in time. I guess you can say I spent a lot of my high school years angry. I didn’t start getting into trouble until after that. Kacey kind of kept me grounded.”

It was strange to think that Kacey, the girl who stole Tyler’s heart, had also stolen Paxton’s once before. I should be jealous, but I wasn’t. She helped get Tyler to where he needed to be. He couldn’t get that with me.

“So Kacey helped you?”

He smiled and finally looked at me. “She was everything to me. At least, until we moved on. Is that how Bradley was with you? Are you upset that you two aren’t together anymore?”

I took my time chewing my bread and turned my head. Bradley was my friend and lover, but he wasn’t
everything
to me. I’d never had that. “No, it wasn’t like that with us,” I murmured. “Don’t get me wrong, I feel the loss of him here,” I said, rubbing a hand over my heart. “But I’m honestly not that upset about it. Our time had come to an end.”

“So you don’t blame me?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Why can’t you look at me and say that?”

Turning to him, I looked him straight in the eyes. “No, I don’t blame you, Paxton. I don’t think I’ve really been in love with anyone before. I loved Tyler and Bradley, but with Bradley it was more of a friend kind of love and with Tyler it was pretty much all lust.”

Then it hit me. That sharp feeling in my chest wasn’t hurt or sadness, it was envy, longing. I wanted to feel that kind of love. All of my friends were gone, scattered. Having Ashleigh around helped me to not feel so lonely. Now she was gone.

“What’s that look for? You seem upset,” Paxton remarked, grabbing my attention.

“Sorry, I was just thinking. I didn’t really realize what my problem was until just now.”

“What are you talking about?”

Swallowing hard, I fiddled around with my food so I wouldn’t have to look at him. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but if I said them out loud I wouldn’t be able to take them back. It would show my vulnerability and I didn’t want that. The only problem was, I didn’t have anyone else to talk to. How in the hell did it get to the point where Paxton Emerson was literally all I had?

“I just realized I’m alone now,” I whispered. “All of my friends are gone.” If I was honest with myself, I should be thanking him for making me stay with him. At least now I wasn’t physically alone.

His hand came down on mine, soft yet strong. “No, you’re not, Gabby. Because I’m here, and as long as you’re with me, you’ll never be alone. I promise.”

AFTER OUR DINNER on the beach, I had felt embarrassed admitting my insecurities so once we got back, I retreated to the first bedroom I could find and closed myself up. Paxton was actually being nice, but I shut myself off and ran away.

When morning arrived, I quietly got out of bed and threw on a pair of shorts and a tank top. Surely, he had a gym in his monstrosity of a house. Or better yet, some breakfast.

Sneaking out of the room, I tiptoed downstairs and into the kitchen. My stomach growled and I was thirsty as hell. He had a Keurig machine and it reminded me of how I wanted my pumpkin spice coffee. Maybe I could steal one of his many cars and go get some. Instead, I opted for a glass of orange juice and a bowl of corn flakes. It was interesting searching through his cabinets. There were the occasional bags of potato chips, but he also had some fruits and vegetables too. His aunt must’ve done his shopping.

What I wasn’t expecting while eating my cereal was what I found in the freezer. A corn flake went down the wrong way and I choked, hacking as if I was dying.

“Gabby, what the fuck, are you okay?” Paxton shouted as he rushed into the kitchen.

My throat was burning, but I was fine. “Yeah, I’m okay. My cereal just went down the wrong way. I was just a little shocked when I opened the freezer.” That was when I got a good look at him. He was wearing a white tank top and jeans, all covered in grease. If I thought I couldn’t breathe before, I definitely couldn’t now. “Holy shitfuck.” Wait, did I just say that out loud?

“I think my aunt went a little overboard,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. The tank top showed off both of his arms which were covered from shoulder to wrist in tattoos. On his tanned skin, it was sexy as hell.

Closing my gaping mouth, I cleared my throat and pointed to the freezer. “You think? I bet there’s two hundred dollars worth of Ben & Jerry’s in there.”

Chuckling, he walked over to the freezer and opened it up. “That doesn’t surprise me. Jackie didn’t know what flavor to get, so she got them all, and then some. All I told her was that you liked it.”

“And how did you know that?”

He snorted and shut the freezer door. “Every time you and Ashleigh were around each other you couldn’t get through a conversation without talking about it. Besides, Ryley told me Ashleigh was the same way.”

“Probably even more so now that she’s pregnant,” I said, laughing. “Anyway, thank you. It’ll make the stay definitely more enjoyable.”

“Well, fuck, I was hoping
I
would make it more enjoyable.”

The smile on his face was contagious and I couldn’t help but return it even though I knew I shouldn’t. “How long have you been up?” I asked, taking a seat at the bar. I still needed to finish my cereal. Honestly, I didn’t think he’d be awake. It was still fairly early.

“A while. I’ve been out in my garage.”

“I can tell,” I replied, gazing up and down his body. “Doing what?”

“Why don’t you come and see? Do you need to meet your brother at the gym today?”

I shook my head. “No, he’s taking a few weeks off. I don’t have to go there.”

A wide grin spread across his face. “Well, now that we’re both taking off some time, we can actually enjoy life outside of a gym.”

I scoffed. “That’s what you think. Matt will kill me if I don’t work out during this time off. Surely, you have a gym in here somewhere.”

He narrowed his gaze skeptically. “You haven’t been looking around the house while I’ve been outside?”

I had a mouthful of cereal but I didn’t care. “I made it as far as the freezer. I mean really, I’m not going to go searching through your house. Furthermore, I thought you were still in bed. The last thing I wanted to do was walk in on you.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, smirking. “You wouldn’t want to accidentally see me in an indecent situation.”

Now I was thinking about him touching himself.
Fucking great
.

Turning on his heel, he headed for the door and called out over his shoulder. “If you want to know where the gym is, it’s above my garage. I’ll meet you out there.”

After the door shut, I hurried with my cereal and rushed upstairs to brush my teeth and wash my face. I really wanted to find his room, but knowing my luck, he’d walk in and find me. That was the last thing I needed. Once I put my tennis shoes on, I was ready to go. Paxton had two garages, one connected to his house, while the other was off to the side. It was much larger and had a second floor. From the music blaring, it had to be in that one.

The door was open, so I made my way in and walked past the covered cars toward the stairs. It smelled like oil and lubrication sprays. There were black stains all over the floor where Paxton must have been working. I had no idea he could work on vehicles. Sometimes it was hard to picture fighters doing anything other than fighting. Our schedules were always so demanding and there wasn’t ever time to do much of anything other than eat, sleep, train, and fight.

Heading up the stairs, I could see Paxton through the crack in the door, lifting his weights. He’s changed into a pair of shorts and his skin was shiny with sweat. Was it bad I wanted to lick him?
What the hell. Get your shit together, woman.
No, I didn’t want to lick him or do anything else that involved touching his body with mine. Fighters were off limits, especially him.

Standing up straight, I opened the door and waltzed in, getting the full view of the room. He had everything you could ever need to train, with one exception—a practice ring. He did, however, have a large mat that could suffice. I sat down on the mat and began to stretch, feeling the pull as the muscles lengthened.

“Have you told anyone you are here?” he asked, coming to the mat.

He joined me on the floor and started stretching too. “Ashleigh. I called and told her the day you came over. I haven’t talked to her since then though.”

“What about your brother?”

“Oh God, no. He’d kill me if he knew I was here. He refuses to let me get involved with you guys. Why do you think Tyler and I kept our affair a secret?”

“Yeah, but if nothing’s going on, what do you have to hide?”

“Seriously?” I said, glaring at him. “The last thing you need is for me to have to explain the real reason why I’m here. We’d both get in trouble if anyone found out.”

“So basically you’re saying you’d care if Scar came after me? I’m a little shocked, considering how you loathe me.”

Getting to my feet, he did the same and stared down at me, waiting. “I don’t hate you, Paxton. I just don’t care for you. I appreciate what you did for Ryley and Ashleigh and I’m paying my debt. That’s all this is.”

He stepped closer. “Is it? Because I don’t think you know what you want. Or maybe you do and you’re just too afraid to admit it.”

When I moved back, he countered. “You’re wrong,” I whispered, feeling the chills fan across my skin. He was about to attack and I knew it, I could feel it. Practicing with my brother and Ryley was one thing, but with Paxton it was a whole different story.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

With a wolfish grin, he circled around me like a lion hunting its prey. “You said your brother wanted you to train, right? Well, I’m going to help you. We all fight differently and I think you could benefit from my style.”

“I’m quite happy with my own,” I said, slowly getting into stance. My body tingled in anticipation.

“Yeah, but if my moves could help you win the title, it’s a win-win.”

My chest rose and fell as my body went on hyper alert. Paxton was good at his floor game and if he took me down to the mat I didn’t know if I’d have the strength to fight him. Deep down I’ve wanted to get back in the ring with him. Now I had my wish. Instead of waiting, I swung and he blocked me, smiling as he deflected each and every jab. Paxton was the Light Heavyweight champion and outweighed me by about fifty pounds. There was no way I could fight someone like him and actually win.