The Silencer: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (3 page)

Jason

I’ve never been good at knowing when to shut my fucking mouth. Judging by the look on Shelly’s face, I’d just offended her big time with my shit hole comment. I wasn’t trying to insult her employer but all you needed to do was look around to see that the place was literally a shit hole. There was no way to sugarcoat it. It wasn’t her fault. It’s just the way things were.

“I’m sorry. That was an asshole thing for me to say. I didn’t mean to offend you.” For the first time since I had met her, I looked into her eyes. I could tell that she was a genuine person, had a good heart.

God damn, Jason. Why do you have to be such a dick?

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m not offended. I am surprised at some of the things you said, though.”

“What do you mean?” The more I talked to this chick, the more she blew my mind. I had just insulted her—or at least I thought I did—but she wasn’t offended. It was like she saw something in me, and I know damn sure that I saw something in her.

The way she carried herself, the way she talked to me, the way she interacted with her residents, it was all with pride, confidence and love. I couldn’t find a job that suited me, but it was obvious that she loved her career.

I had never met anyone like her. Most of the trashy girls I met at the after parties were sluts. Shelly didn’t seem to be like that. She had self-respect, a good head on her shoulders and she was self-reliant.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t expect to hear that somebody like you was so invested in caring for an invalid.”

“No? And why is that?”

“I mean no offense but we don’t really see
anyone
come through these doors that has a goal of getting their loved one out of here, let alone someone who is still so young and rough around the edges.”

Rough around the edges?

“So what? You think I'm just some giant asshole or something? Am I some kind of monster because I fight?”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” she started backpedaling.

“It’s okay. I deal with this kind of thing all the time. That’s why I almost never tell anyone what I do for a living. They think that because the sport is barbaric, those who compete in it must be too.”

“I’m not one to judge,” she waved her hand in the air. “What you choose to do for a living is completely up to you.”

“You know what?” I grinned at her. “I think you and me should go on a date, let me show you who I really am.”

“You are? Are you telling me or asking me?”

“I’m asking you. Why don’t you let me take you out for a night so I can show you there’s more to me than meets the eye?”

“Although that sounds very nice, Mr. Stark, it’s very much against the rules. Besides, I really don’t have the time to be going out on dates right now.”

Challenge accepted. She must not know how much I love it when women play hard to get. I don’t back down, and I don’t take no for an answer.

“Against the rules? Are you being serious right now? Did we go back in time and end up in grade school again? You and I are going to go out on a date Saturday night. I won’t tell if you don’t,” I winked at her.

She turned white as a sheet as I watched the blood drain from her face. I watched her cheeks flush a nice salmon shade. She was grinning nervously, which exposed a small dimple on her right cheek. I’m a sucker for dimples. She could search for a way out of the conversation all she wanted but there was no way out for her because I wasn’t backing down.

Shelly

I couldn’t believe that this guy was asking me out. First of all, I didn’t even know anything about him, well not that he knew anyway. This was only my second time being face to face with him. On top of that, he didn’t exactly endear himself to me during our first meeting.

I’ve seen guys like him before. The bad boy who fucks anything with two legs that has a pulse. The bad boy who stays out partying, drinking all night. I could smell the booze on him the first day that we met when he chewed my ass out. Still, it was undeniable that I was attracted to him.

Even though I had every reason to say no to him, I found myself contemplating whether or not I should agree to go out on a date with him. It had been a long time since I’d been out with anyone. Being so busy with work all the time made it nearly impossible to date. I wasn’t lying about that. That’s not to say I wouldn’t be able to make time for someone if I felt they were truly worth it.

Was this guy worth it? I had no clue. I didn’t know anything about him other than he was a cage fighter and a bit of a dick—but a God damn sexy dick! It wouldn’t kill me to put myself out there. My friends were all either getting married or had long-term boyfriends.

If my history is any indication, I’d make the worst possible decision for myself. I always look for love in all the wrong places. I had always defended my choices by saying that you never know where Mr. Right might turn up, but I knew that was bullshit and the guys that I’d chosen to date had all been tremendous wastes of time.

And yet I was finding myself in the same situation. Instead of sticking to my guns and insisting that going out with him wasn’t a good idea, I found myself looking into his perfectly blue eyes, feeling like I wanted to melt. He was fucking hot and I could tell he had a dark side to him. A dark side that drew me in like a magnet.

“So what do you say?” he asked, snapping me out momentary daze.

“I’m free Friday night,” the words slipped out. I couldn’t believe that I had just agreed to go on a date with a man who fights for a living.

“Okay, what time and where would you like me to pick you up?”

I grabbed my pen and wrote my phone number on his hand. God, it felt like I was in grade school again.

“Just give me a call tonight after 8:00 and we’ll set something up. I’ve got to do my rounds and I’m sure you’d like to spend some time with your bother.”

“All right. I’ll give you a call this evening.”

I power-walked down the hall, not wanting him to see how flustered I had become. I wondered what in the hell I was getting myself into. I had so much on my plate with trying to earn the promotion at work that I was already exhausted every night as it was. There was also the fact that I wasn’t supposed to date clients or their relatives.

In the eyes of the assisted living center, they were one in the same. The residents were our clients because they were the ones who received our care. Their families were also our clients because they paid the bills. I was really sticking my neck on the chopping block for a guy that I barely knew.

Setting myself up to have the best possible chance of landing the ADON position should have been my top priority. Going out with Jason was honestly not a good idea. It certainly wouldn’t do anything to help my career. If anything, it had the potential to get me fired. I had to keep this one to myself.

CHAPTER FOUR

Shelly

Although I was exhausted from another long day at work and desperately needed to get some sleep, I couldn’t make my mind turn off. My date was still a few days away but I was incredibly nervous about it. Normally, I would be excited at the prospect of actually having a man take me out, and maybe I was but this felt different.

It was much more than just nerves. I didn’t know what kind of reputation this guy had, and it kind of made me nervous. The last guy that I dated was someone my mother had set me up with and he was an accountant. Very safe, very reliable and
very
boring.

I thought about giving my cousin Sasha a call. I needed to catch up with her anyway as I hadn’t really talked to her in a while. Sasha is a couple of years younger than I am. We basically grew up together but she didn’t have the same dreams and ambitions that I did.

While I knew I wanted to get into the medical field, she was perfectly happy being a bartender and partying as much as she could. To be honest, there have been times when I’ve envied her lifestyle. She seems like she doesn’t have a care in the world and there are times that I’d like to feel like that as well.

I had known that her carefree lifestyle wouldn’t be for me, but it was nice to dream. I’ve got a house and a car that I’ve worked hard for. Sasha, on the other hand, lives in a run-down apartment in the rough part of town and I’m almost positive that her landlord moonlights as a pimp. If I lived the lifestyle she lived, I might be able to have a lot of fun but I wouldn’t have anything to call my own.

Sasha has always been as a wild child, and maybe that’s why I thought about seeking her advice. She was easily the most free spirited person I know. I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good or bad thing but it seems to work for her and that’s all that really matters.

Working in the most popular bar in town, she’s seen most everything that this city has to offer. Aside from tending bar, she lives for only three things: partying, fucking and fighting. She doesn’t like to get into fights but she loves to watch them. She’s dated a number of different types of fighters. Everyone from boxers to MMA competitors. Of course, saying she’s dated these people may be overstating things as the majority of her “dates” have consisted of drunken one-night stands. That doesn’t matter to her, though. She lives her life the way she wants.

“Oh my God, Shelly, how the hell have you been girlie?” she answered. She’s never been a hello type of girl.

“I’m good. I was just calling to see if you might be free Thursday night?”

“Actually, that’s my night off at the bar. Whatch’ya wanna do? Anything wrong?”

“No, I just haven’t seen you for a while and thought we should catch up. We could grab dinner and talk?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Wanna meet at the Violet Vine around 8:00?”

“Sure. I’ll see you then.”

I hung up the phone, excited that I would be getting the chance to pick her brain. I could have asked her over the phone but I wanted to be able to see her facial reactions, just in case there was something wrong with this guy. I picked Thursday because that would be the night before my date and I figured if anyone knew anything about Jason, it would be her. My only hope was that he wasn’t one of the many fighters that had been in her pants.

As usual, I was sitting at our table by myself while waiting for her to arrive. Finally, she came walking in around 8:45.

“I’m so sorry I’m late. The traffic is crazy out there,” she said, apparently searching for an excuse. She must have forgotten that I travel the same route to get to the restaurant that she did.

“It’s okay,” I stood to give her a hug.

We both ordered some drinks and made small talk while we waited for our food to arrive. Actually, it was more like her talking while I sat there listening. Every once in a while, I’d try to get a word in edgewise but she cut off every attempt.

I got to listen to her go on and on about her bartending job and all the cute guys that come into her bar every night.  She kept telling me that I should come down and visit her some time so she could introduce me to some of the regulars to come in. I saw that as my chance.

“A guy is actually one of the reasons I asked you to come out with me tonight.”

This seemed to perk her ears up. Suddenly, she was more than willing to listen to what I had to say.

“Yeah? You wanting me to set you up with someone?”

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that. I met someone and was hoping you might know who he is.”

“Really? That’s pretty unlikely. We don’t exactly run with the same crowds.”

“That is an understatement,” I said jokingly. “This is more someone who would hang around your crowds I think.”

“Okay? I can’t see you going out with anyone from my circle, no offense.”

“This wasn’t something I planned. I met this guy at work. His brother is in my assisted living center. He’s a cage fighter so I figured you may have at least heard of him.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jason Stark.”

“You’re shitting me,” she said as she put her hand over her mouth and gasped. “Jason ‘The Silencer’ Stark? Nuh-uh! You’re going out with him?”

“Yeah. We have a date for tomorrow night. What do you know about him?”

“Well, I can tell you that he’s one of the best fighters in the area right now.”

“He’s good?”

“Oh yeah. In the cage, he’s excellent. Outside the cage is another story.”

“What does that mean?”

“When it comes to being a bad boy, Jason Stark is known for being one of the baddest. He definitely has a reputation that follows him around.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” I told her, getting a little worried about agreeing to go out with him.

“That depends on who you’re talking to. He’s been in my bar a few times and that man loves to party. He can drink with the best of them but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him leave without a different woman on his arm. He’s also one tough son of a bitch. I always hear about people trying to start shit with him out on the streets because he’s a fighter. It never works out very well for the aggressors.”

“Great. So I’ve got a date with a drunken womanizer?”

“I said he can drink. I didn’t say he was a drunk,” she snorted. “But he
is
one of the most sought after men in the city. I can’t believe you’ve got a date with him! I’m so jelly!”

“Why is that so hard to believe? Am I hideous or something?”

“No,” Sasha said with a laugh. “It’s just that I know you and the guys you typically date. This guy is the complete opposite.”

“Hmmm.”

Hearing everything that my cousin had to say about Jason Stark intrigued  me. I was growing more and more excited about our date. The butterflies began to stir in my stomach as I thought about what the bad boy might want to do with me.

I was putting my career on the line to go out with the gorgeous, tattooed, musclebound hunk, and I was eager to do it. This man had a hold on me, and we hadn’t even gone out yet.