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“I know, and if he looks like that I can’t wait to see the rest of them,” Janie is obviously keeping her options open, so to speak. 

I turn to Steve to ask him if he’s got some pens and I find him standing there with his mouth open looking at us.  I start to laugh at him.

“What, Steve?  Haven’t you ever heard women admiring men before?”

He shakes his head slightly, “I guess not quite so passionately before.”

Janie looks at him, puts one hand on her hip, the other on the counter and leans forward closer to him.

“Honey, that wasn’t anything.  You’d better pull your big boy pants up because it’s about to get real in here.  Now how about some pens so we can get on with the show, huh, handsome?”

Elsie and I look at each other, Marco is silent behind me.  I can only imagine what’s going through his head. 

Elsie turns to me and says, “I love her, can I keep her?”

“Only on the weekends, El.” 

Marco’s hand comes to rest on my shoulder and he whispers to both of us, “I think she’s pretty fucking cool myself.”

My face wants to split with the grin breaking my face in half.  I didn’t realize it was so important to me that Marco liked my friends, they have been by my side through a lot over the past few years, more of a pillar of strength than even I think they realize.

“Absolutely, Miss, I am at your service,” Steve hands Janie three pens smiling widely at her.

“I will keep that in mind Steve, and I’ll let you know when I need you,” she smiles flirtatiously at him then turns to us.  “Here ladies, let’s get the preliminaries done so we can continue on to the main event.  It looks like their warming up for us.”

“These boys won’t know what hit them when we’re done with them,” Elsie looks wickedly through the room to where John is standing. 

Marco smiles shaking his head, “You ladies are incredible, you’ve got bigger balls than a lot of men I know.”

Marco

I knew it was going to be interesting and Elsie and Janie certainly didn’t disappoint me.  John’s tough but if he handles a room full of women like
this
all the time, then he is one hell of a man.  They are professionals but they don’t hesitate to tell it like it is when it suits them. 

The girls finish their paperwork and we head to the back room where their class will be given, John’s already there and a few other students have arrived. 

I kiss Elizabeth lightly on the cheek.

“I’ve got the cage in about a half hour, I’m gonna grab a bag to loosen up first and find Brian.  There’s something I’ve got to discuss with him.”

Her eyes become concerned.  “Is everything ok, Marco?”

“Yeah, baby, just something about work.  Have fun, ok?”  Another light peck on her cute little cheek.

“I will and you’d better watch out, I’ll be able to kick your ass after tonight, Mr. Bond.”

“I look forward to seeing you do it, babe, I’m a sick fuck like that, if you haven’t noticed,” I wink at her.

“I’ve noticed Mr. Bond, but I would definitely call it sexy.  Now leave so we can get this started.”

Elizabeth gently pushes me from the room and I hear the girls laughing with her.

There’s a free bag a few down the line.  I drop my things near the wall behind the bag and pull my shirt over my head.  I’ve got gym shorts on, like John, which is what the typical attire is unless you’ve got a gi, which most people don’t.  I start some stretches to loosen up before hitting the bag.  I glance to the girls’ class and notice that John’s started it.  He begins the class like a traditional martial arts class, showing respect and bowing to the students and they bow in return.  Looking around I see the gym’s started to fill up, I’m glad we got here when we did.  I start jabbing into the air before I let go on the bag, loosening up my shoulders, arms, and back.  I love this sport, it makes me feel alive and the adrenaline rush is incredible.  The bag is hard, it’s unforgiving to my punches, showing me no give which makes me have no mercy.  I glance back at the class and I see Elizabeth’s standing in front of John, he’s got his arms around her, holding her tight.  What the fuck?!  I freeze, watching, feeling anger beginning to boil inside of me.

“Calm down, Marco.  It’s just demonstration for the class.”

Brian’s voice comes from behind me pulling me from my jealous melt down.

“Hey man, how was your fight?” I ask him, trying to act like what I was watching didn’t bother me.

“It was good, put him down second round.”  He looks towards the girls’ class and John’s still got Elizabeth in his arms speaking to the class.  “You
know
it’s just demonstration, right dude?”

“Yeah, it’s good.”  I shake my head, looking down at the ground.  What the hell’s gotten into me?  I’m possessive, yes, but not jealous.

Brian Daniels is the quintessential handsome blonde man with striking good looks, in his early 30’s, he has a formal but casual way about him, and the uncanny ability to immediately put someone at ease.  I think Brian’s family had old Southern money back in the day, way back, and those genes have never been bred out of the family.  His family has been in the construction business for years and he’s basically taken over the company since he’s been back so Brian has a lot of connections and acquaintances in the field, both professionally and journey man.

“So, John said you think something’s up, what is it?”  I change the subject.  I couldn’t wait to talk to Brian since he called me yesterday.  I wanted our conversation to be face to face because you can get so much more meaning looking at and examining a person’s expressions.

“Marco, I don’t know what’s going on but there is absolutely nothing wrong with your paperwork and applications.  Everything is spotless in them, it’s something else.”  Brian is serious, there is concern in everything about his expression and the way he’s holding his body.

Brian and John served together in the Marines, that’s how they became friends.  John’s got the dark intense native look and Brian is the other end of the spectrum.  He’s the pretty-boy blonde with perfect facial features and sharp blue eyes.  I’m not sure exactly what went down but they saw some horrible things while they were deployed and some serious shit happened.  Brian’s family is from here and he grew up here.  John moved here when they got out of the service because Brian’s the closest person he’s got in his life.  John works personal body guard for the movie studio when needed, which has kept him pretty busy these past couple of years.  They are inseparable, if I didn’t know better I’d think they were lovers. 

“What the fuck is it, Brian?”  This information has just confirmed my instincts.  I’ve seen shit like this in the past and it never ended good and a lot of money was lost, strange things can happen in things like this.

“I don’t know yet, dude, but I’m going to find out.”

“Just be careful, Brian. I’ve seen situations like this before, if it’s what I think it is, (and, God, I hope it’s not), people have gotten hurt.  It’s just money.” 

“Come on, man, you make it sound like organized crime and shit.”  Brian lets out a soft laugh but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Bro, I have a feeling this is a lot more than just the guy on the street or the fat inspector sitting in his office eating doughnuts.  I’m just telling you to be careful.  Let me know if you find anything out but don’t be too pushy, ok?  I’ve got some calls in to some contacts in different areas as well.”  I am totally serious.

“Yeah, no problem, you too.  Now come on, old man, let’s see what you’ve got,” he grabs the bag on the other side trying to bust my hump.

“I’ve got your old man right here, asshole!” I goad his cocky ass right back.

I start laying into the bag while looking back in the class, and I see that big clown still has his hands all over my woman.  And I freeze.  Elizabeth is attracted to him.  It’s nothing that she’s doing or saying, it’s how her body is naturally reacting to his closeness, the way it moves, the way it pushes her breasts out searching for the contact in response to that attraction, the way her thighs come together wanting friction from that pulsing in her groin.  And the obvious flush spreading from her cheeks down her chest.  Could this week possibly get any shittier?  Yeah, it could, I’d better be careful.

When I get out of the cage later on, Elizabeth is waiting for me.  She has a very concerned look on her face.  I assume she watched the match and didn’t like what she saw which doesn’t surprise me, it gets pretty raw in that cage.

“Hi, baby, how was the first class?”  I barely peck her on the cheek because I’m a disgusting sweaty mess.

“It was really good, Marco.  And is this fighting always like that?  You guys look like you’re trying to kill each other?  You do this all the time?”

Her eyes are searching mine.  She is really worried I’m ok.  I can’t resist holding here, her genuine concern touches me deeply.  All of the thoughts of her attraction to John are pushed aside by the caring on her face.

“Come here, baby.”  I wrap her in my arms.  “Yes, we fight like this all the time, it’s the way it’s done.  Don’t worry, there are rules in place for safety and I don’t fight outside the gym.”  I look into her face and I see she’s relaxing somewhat.  “Come on, let’s go home and get cleaned up.”

“Um, well…,” she starts to stall.  I turn and see Janie and Elsie standing where another couple of guys are sparring and they’re looking back and forth from the fight to us.  They smile innocently and wave.

“What is it, Elizabeth?”

“The girls were kind of hoping we could, the three of us, go have some girl time for a little while.  I can catch a ride with them…,” she feels bad for blowing me off, I can see it in her face.

“Of course you can hang out with your friends. Let’s get your things out of the car.”  With my arm around her shoulders we walk over to Janie and Elsie.

“So, you guys are stealing Elizabeth, huh?”

“Yes, you’ve had her long enough, it’s our turn for a little while,” Janie, I believe the one with the bigger balls out of the two, attempts to put me in my place again jokingly.

“Besides,” Elsie cuts in, “we want to talk about you and all the men in here.”

She got me there, I can’t help but laugh.  “Well, as long as I’m top on the list, ok.”

We walk towards the door to leave and John and Brian catch up to us.

“Ladies, I hope you enjoyed class, and if you have an opportunity to practice what we went over tonight that would be very beneficial.  Elizabeth, throw Marco’s ass around a little, he needs it,” John says.

“I gave him a run for his money already tonight,” Brian has to add his two cents.

“Ladies, this clown is Brian, Elizabeth you might remember him.  This is Elsie…”

“Hi, Elsie, nice to meet you.”  Brian reaches to take her hand and shakes it.

“Pleasure…” She doesn’t have as much to say to Brian as she did John, I guess I know what team she’s on.

“And this lovely young woman is Janie…watch your ass, she’ll have you kissing it in a minute,” I try to bust her balls as well, winking at her as I do.

“Well, Marco, it’s nice to see you learn quickly, now I know why Elizabeth keeps you around.  It’s very nice to meet you Brian.”  She shakes his hand laughing lightly at my joke.

“Hi Janie, I am so happy to see your superb intellect.  You and I will be great friends,” Brian drips charm but the icing on the cake is the panty melting smile. 

“It appears these two lovely women have caused me to be kicked to the curb.  You guys want to grab some wings and catch some of the game?” I ask the guys.

“That’s what she told you, she likes me better now,” John seriously busts my hump.

And the jealousy I felt seeing him with his hands on her and her body’s reaction to her natural attraction to him surges up inside of me like a boiling geyser ready to blow.  I push it back refusing to acknowledge it, nothing happened and I am probably overreacting. 

“Poor Marco, I guess we can sit with the old man for a little while,” Brian says and I laugh.  He wishes he could look half as good as me when he gets to be my age.

“Alright, assholes, I’ll be right back,” I turn to walk Elizabeth out.

“Thanks John, see you in a couple of days.  Brian it was good to see you again.  Take care of my old man, don’t let him fall and break a hip.”  Elizabeth has to get on that Old Man Marco band wagon. 

“You too, babe?” I pretend mock surprise at her description of me.

“I’m just looking out for you, Marco.”

Me, John and Brian are sitting in Carolina Ale House in front of one of the many TV’s hanging on the walls with beers and baskets of wings in front of us.  Half of our attention is watching the football games, the other half is on our conversation.   

“So, who did you talk to Brian, anyone at the Building Inspectors office?”  This could make a big difference.

“Yeah, there’s a girl that I went to high school with that has worked there since she got out of college.  I went in there the other day to check on one of my projects and we had lunch together.”  He smirks at me to tell me that’s exactly how he planned it.

“Damn, dude, you fucked her to get information?”  John yells at him.