The Fighter's Block (2 page)

“W
ell you better decide right now
because I’ll automatically go for your right hand. If you’d rather it not
be the hand I break, then I suggest you
let me know.”

Brian laughed again, but he was pissed. There was no way he was going to let this guy show him up. For one
,
this jerk
was smaller than him;
and another, he didn’t take too kindly to being threatened by arrogant little pricks trying to pick up
on
his
girlfriend.

Van
had no problem taking on
bigger g
uys. Brian was probably 6’3”, 22
0 lbs., but the two inches and
thirty
pounds meant nothing to Van. He was pretty happy w
hen Brian made the first move—an unskilled
right
swing
to his face that missed when Van blocked it. After that,
he
had Brian down on the pavement in a matter of seconds, his arms twisted behind him while
his opponent
yelled out in pain.

“So which hand?” Van asked him. “I’m being really
nice giving you an option.”

“Jesus! You’re gonna break my fucking hand
!?
”

“I told you I would. Maybe
next time
you’ll think twice about hitting a girl.”

“It was- I didn’t mean to hurt her! I just—”

“Which hand?” Van
growled
again. “Five, four, three…”

Dani quickly walked away at that point. She half-jogged, half-walked to get away from it all and she heard Brian yell out a few seconds later.

Tears were streaming down her face; hot, angry tears that she wished would stop. She should have used her phone the second Brian dragged her out of the club yelling at her. But no, she had to let him rant and rave until he was
really
mad, taking her purse and her phone from her when she said she was going to call a cab.

She took a deep breath and wiped the moisture off her face. Why
didn’t
she see it coming?
How did she get herself in such a pathetic predicament?

“Hey!” Van called from behind her.

She slowed just slightly,
recognizing that deep voice,
but didn’t turn around. If she could just
make it to the convenience store
around the corner, she could call a cab.

Oh yeah, w
ith what money?

“Hey, Dani?” Van asked again. He was right behind her and added, “It’s Dani, right?”

She
was
feeling grateful that he’d stepped in to help her out, but angry and embarrassed at the same time. “Look, I don’t know—”

He had her purse in his hand when she turned around
and he handed it to her. “Thought you might want
this
,” he said.

She paused for a second, thinking it over.
Gratitude rushed through
her
and
she
fi
nally asked, “You didn’t have to break his other hand in order to get it, did you?”

Van
partially
smiled. “Uh, no, he was really compliant for some reason.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle, even though the night had been hellacious and she just wanted to go home. Wait, now she no longer had a home…

“Well, thank you,” she told him. “I’m, uh, really sorry about all of that, though.”

“I
t’s not your fault
; you shouldn’t have to put up with that. And
I can take care of myself.”

When she
smiled again
,
his insides turned over. God
,
she had a beautiful smile. Picture perfect
.

“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious,
”
she replied.
She unzipped her purse to
retrieve
her phone, only to
find
it was dead. And she had no cash anyways since Brian cleaned her out of that as well.

“Can I just give you a ride?” Van asked, realizing that she still might need his help.

He turned to motion behind him at his truck and she
used the moment to glance him over
. She had to admit that his style was pretty casual, and maybe he wasn’t quite
like
the m
en she was used to being around. He seemed a bit rough around the edges—sexy but
maybe
a bad ass. She could tell his background was in no way similar to hers. B
ut there was something about his demeanor that made her consider him in a differ
ent
light
.
This guy was
certainly
what her parents would call “street material,” and under normal circumstances, she should have turned and ran away.

But there was something there, a gentleness, and she could sense it. She could also sense that
he
wasn’t comfortable around
her
, and that made her curious. He was good-looking, definitely, but it was his eyes that seemed to win her over. They seemed kind, genuine, and when he looked at her, he seemed cautious. But the fact that he’d rescued her from a sticky situation made her wonder how often he was in the middle of that sort of thing. What was this guy’s story?

He noticed the unusual lo
ok on her face
and changed his mind.
“Or if you don’t trust me or whatever I can just call you a cab.
I’ll pay for it,
”
he added, pulling out his wallet
.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him—for some reason she did—but where would she even go? There’s no way she’d go back to Brian’s, and for all she knew, he might call the cops on
this guy
anyway.

“I don’t really have anywhere to go
now
,” she finally admitted
. She held up her hand to decline the cash he tried to give her
.

“You live with that
fuck wad
?” Van realized.

That made her smile somewhat, but then she sombered up.
“Lived. Past tense. That’s what all of that was about. I told him we were through and that I was moving out. He didn’t exactly like to hear
it
.”

“How long have you had to put up with that
crap
?”

“That was the first time he ever hit me, if that’s what you mean. Before that
he was just
turning into a
cocky jackass
, but
lately it’s gotten worse.
I got tired of it.”

Van slightly nodded. “I saw you in the club earlier.”

She was surprised
and looked him over.
His brown hair was fairly short, but it peaked up in the front to form a very sexy little faux-hawk. It suited him for some reason, and even though she could tell he wasn’t that refined when it came to society—
compared to what
she
grew up around
—she was still drawn to whatever it was he did represent.

She
might
have
recall
ed
seeing him
in the club
but she didn’t know if
‘maybe’
would be rude to admit.

“You didn’t look very happy,” Van added. “Looked like you guys weren’t on good terms.”

“Oh, you think?” she
joked with a
smile
.

Van smiled too,
and that caught Dani by surprise. He had an incredible smile, with straight white teeth and a sparkle in his eye. It caught her off guard and
then the two of them were quiet. He wanted to invite her to stay at his place, but he wasn’t sure how she would take to that. She was beautiful, which is why Van had noticed her earlier. She had long
dark
hair, and eyes that were big and…blue?
He
couldn’t tell because
it was night
, but that was his guess.
He found himself lost in those deep pools of
indecision
.

“Well, I need to find a phone…” she began, breaking the silence between them.

Van handed her his again and asked, “Who can you call?”

With a sigh Dani realized she didn’t know. Her parents lived
forty minutes
away, and her sister had little kids that she didn’t want to wake up with her middle-of-the-night arrival.

“
You can have my room
,”
h
e
finally
offered
. “I mean I know that probably creeps you out or whatever, but I can even stay down the hall at my buddy’s
place
. You can have the entire apartment; it’s not a big deal.”

She
was really surprised by
his
generosity. But even though he said she could have the entire place, it didn’t mean that he couldn’t—

“And you can deadbolt me out, if that worries you,” he added.

She smiled. That really was what she’d been thinking.

“Anyways, let’s get you in the truck for n
ow,” Van said. “You look cold. A
nd then if you come up with a better plan
,
you can let me know.
Oh, and I’m Van, by the way.
”

Dani s
hook his hand with a tiny smile, saying his name in her head as she added another piece to the puzzle.
“As you already know, I’m Dani.”

Well, there wasn’t a better plan, so Dani really did go home with Van. And when
he
was grabbing a few things to take with him to stay down the hall,
s
he
insisted that he didn’t have to go. She told him she’d feel weird being there alone if he left
, and for some reason—which she didn’t admit to him—she felt safe with him there
.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

They were both silent as they stood there in the living room together, and then Van finally
dropped his stuff on the couch and
said, “Uh, we should do something for that
…”

She
didn’t even realize what he was talking about until he brought her a
wet
towel
and motioned for her to put it against her face.

“Oh,” she said, barely touching he
r cheekbone before she took it
from him.

“Does it hurt?” he asked. “Let’s put some ice on it.”

He was already to the
freezer before she could reply
and
returned with
a few ic
e cubes to wrap in the towel
.

“Yeah, I guess it hurts a little,” Dani finally said
. She added, “I’ve just had my mind on other things and haven’t noticed.” When he placed
t
he icepack against her cheek
she winced.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” he said, knowing he shouldn’t have even tried. He was
n’t
used to
handling
delicate porcelain dolls.

“
No, it’s okay
,” she tried to assured him. She took over the icepack
at his insistence.

“What’s on your mind?
” he asked.
“
Everything that happened tonight?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, and how I’m going to get all of my stuff out of his apartment,” she smiled
uneasily
.

“Oh. Well j
ust give me an address and I’ll take care of it.”

Dani scoffed, but with a
nother
smile she said, “No way. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Van casually shrugged and said, “Well
,
you tell me how you’d like it taken care of and I’ll do it.”

“That’s very
sweet
of you, but you’ve already done so much.
I couldn’t ask you to do anything else.”

“You didn’t ask.”

After another moment o
f silence, Van turned away to… H
ell, he didn’t know where he was heading. Dani was a little to
o captivating for him to handle
and he was having a hard time keeping his attraction to her in check.
He liked how she seemed confident enough to make eye contact with him, even though he knew she was uncomfortable. He liked how soft her skin looked, and the way her lips moved when she spoke. He liked how she held onto a piece of her long hair, like a security blanket, when he looked at her too long.
She was beautiful, model material, and not the type he would typically find himself around very often.