Torn - Part Two (The Torn Series) (8 page)

Surly told the girls about the fight - and I texted Riley - but the only responses to our invitations were a couple of “maybes.” Apparently Jen had turned into a monster taskmaster and was having them spend every spare moment practicing. Between that and the two jobs I wasn’t surprised that Riley wasn’t coming around much.

I had finally gotten her alone the Sunday before. She was pretty wasted when I picked her up from work - not surprising for a bartender at the end of a shift, but still, I didn’t like it when she was that drunk. She was still fun, still sexy, still just
Riley,
but something about it didn’t sit right. It made me worried for her.

“Gonna make me sober up first?” she slurred when I shut us inside her room. She still hadn’t gotten any furniture for the place. This time I was determined that I would help her out once we both had a little more free time.

She was avoiding meeting my eye and not just because she wasn’t focusing on anything very well. Something was bothering her. Something was on the tip of her tongue. She just didn’t want to talk about it.

“Jen’s riding you guys pretty hard, I heard,” I said after I’d gotten her a glass of water from the kitchen.

“Yeah.” She stared down into it like it was a foreign substance. “She wants us to be perfect.” She took a long swallow. “I’m really tired, though.”

“I know, baby,” I said, shooting her a sly grin. “Want me to help you sleep?”

She wrinkled her nose. “You don’t like to do me when I’m drunk.”

“No, but I can make you come anyway. Lie down.”

She giggled as we stretched out on her bed and she draped her limbs over me. I found her already wet and warm when I reached between her legs and pushed her panties aside. At least that much hadn’t changed - she was still hot for me. I teased her with a light touch until she was rocking against me and breathing my name. Then I plunged two fingers inside her and let her ride them to her climax, thumbing her clit all the while to push her over the edge. Her scent, her gasps, the very heat of her had me as hard as iron but I rolled onto my back and forced myself to calm the hell down while she slid into sleep at my side.

The sun was up and nearly blinding me through her windows when I woke hours later. She planted her lips on my neck when I stirred. “Morning,” she said, hiding her face, “Sorry I was so out of it.”

“Mmm,” I said as she kissed her way along my jaw. “How are you feeling?”

“Good,” she said, swinging a leg over my waist. “Hot.”

I raised an eyebrow and gripped the hem of the little sleeveless shirt she was wearing. “Hot? Why not take this off, then?”

I wanted to make love to her slowly that morning but it just wasn’t possible. Not when I’d been left hanging the night before; not when it had been so many days since I’d gotten her alone at all.
Things will get better soon, once the competition’s over, once my fight with Tony is finished.
I told myself that, though I wasn’t entirely convinced.

We came together with limbs thrashing and the poor futon threatening to snap apart. I waited for her to crack a joke or giggle about something like she normally did, but she was unusually silent.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Just worried.”

“How come?”

“Your fight coming up.” She sighed. “I thought it was fun, before. Even kinda hot. You know?”

“Yeah?”

“But now, I dunno. I’m worried.”

I wanted to go back in time and punch my own stupid face. “Because of what you saw with my brother?”

“Yeah. You kinda lost it, Mal.”

“I know.” I couldn’t apologize again. It wouldn’t change anything or make her feel any better or safer with me.

She shook her head. “I’m overreacting,” she said. “It’s just…there was a lot of fighting in my family. My father and my mom’s brother, mostly.” I brushed her hair away from her face and waited for her to continue, feeling like an even bigger asshole than before. “I was scared back then. And I guess your fight just reminded me of that. Of what it was like.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, though the words fixed nothing. I just didn’t know what else to say.

She squinted up at me and grimaced as she asked, “You guys aren’t on steroids, are you?”

I snorted, taken aback by the question. “What? No! Fuck no.” What had made her think that one up? She must have been doing some research online or something. “I swear it, no. It’s just Tony. We have a long history of just… utter shit. And he’s always had the upper hand, and I always fucking lose it. But it’s only him, only because he’s my brother.” I kissed her forehead. “Come to my fight this week. You’ll see. I’ll win my match without becoming some out of control rage monster.”

I was hoping she would laugh; at least she cracked a smile. “All right. I might have to rush off to work after but I think I can make it.”

Good. I’ve got this. I’m fixing it.

○●○●○●○●○

I didn’t see Riley again before the night of our matches. The way I kept chasing after her and she kept brushing me off was making me start to feel like the damn girl in the relationship - if that’s even what it was. I didn’t know what she was thinking anymore.

I couldn’t concern myself with it then - not that night. Lee had us all slipping into a warehouse down near Williamsburg - the basement was too small for the crowd he was expecting, and the fall weather was too dicey for for a rooftop event. It seemed like it was raining every other day. Some of the other guys from the gym were helping him set up the cage in the center of the space. It was a little elaborate if we were trying to avoid notice and I wondered - not for the first time - how Lee kept the cops from getting involved. Money must have changed hands somewhere.

That or I supposed it was possible they just didn’t give a damn. I’m sure they had bigger problems than some dudes voluntarily getting into a ring and punching each other.

“What’s the order?” I asked Lee when I got him aside.

“Surly’s last,” he said, “You’ll be second, I’m pretty sure. Still working it out with your opponents.”

“Who am I fighting?” I almost expected him to say Chet. Chet the Crusher. People still talked about that match from months before, where I fought and beat a guy who was not in my weight class. Crowds loved a good underdog win, and I was definitely the underdog in that match.

Luckily, Lee said, “Vaughn, some guy from Westchester.” I didn’t recognize the name. As long as he wasn’t fifty pounds heavier and a foot taller than me I didn’t care.

I watched the first fight with Surly waiting at my side. We eyed Vaughn through the cage where he stood with an older guy. Probably his coach. If he had a real coach, I might be in a little trouble. I cast my eyes back over my shoulder and took in the audience. They were ready for blood, all leaning forward, teeth bared, barking encouragement at the fighters. Finally I spotted the tell-tale flashes of color as the girls wove their way closer to the front.

And then I spotted
him,
trailing behind, trying to catch up. Tony.
What the fuck is he doing here?
I shouldn’t have been so surprised to see him - he’d want to watch me fight, see if I would be much of a challenge when I finally faced him.

Surly saw him as well and placed a heavy hand on my shoulder. “Don’t.”

He was going to bother Riley and the girls. He’d say something stupid, or something offensive, or something about me and fuck up the whole night.

“Not worth it,” Surly warned, and he was right. I couldn’t compromise the fight, and Riley had the girls for backup. Hell, I’d probably make things worse if I tried to intervene right then. I had to focus.

And if I couldn’t quite focus, well, I could always pretend Vaughn was my brother, and pound the poor bastard through the floor.

Surly shoved me forward as they called my name. Striding towards the center of the cage, the crowd disappeared. The noise faded into a background buzz. I knew then that the fight was mine - I was in the zone. Vaughn stood across from me, a defeated man who just didn’t know he was beaten yet.
Poor asshole.
It was an arrogant thought.

The bell rang. Vaughn and I circled for just a moment, a few steps left, a few steps right, then he feinted once and lunged forward. I sidestepped easily - I’d seen his weight shift, predicted his movement before he fully committed and came at me. I thumped him on the back as I dodged and let him pass - a half-hearted jab, meant to anger him more than hurt.

It worked - he turned to me with an offended glare, eyes blazing. It didn’t take very much to piss off a fighter - these were the same types of guys who went off the rails when you just jostled them at a crowded bar. Show one up in the ring? There was going to be blood.

Vaughn feinted with a jab again before changing tactics and throwing a kick at my shins. I was expecting another lunge and was slower to move out of his striking foot’s way - it struck a glancing blow, sending a sharp jolt of pain up my leg but failing to get me off balance. I struck downward with an elbow to his shoulder, causing him to slump before me.

I was on him before he could dart away, an arm around his neck and another going for his waist. We grappled - no words, no taunts, just grunts and sweat and the screams of the crowd that I could barely hear.

He hurled himself forward and we both went down in a tangle of twisted limbs. I got a leg over his back, only to have him flip me off and pin one of my arms to my chest.
Shit.
It wasn’t going as easily as I’d hoped. This Vaughn guy was actually pretty good.

I flipped us both again. This time I managed to wrangle him into a leglock, putting pressure on his knee. I almost had him but he was fast, faster than I’d predicted, and he wrenched away before I could really throw my full weight into it.

I spotted a flash of black and red in my peripheral vision - Riley had reached the front of the crowd. She was there, watching, waiting for me to win.
Or waiting to see if I flip the fuck out.

Was Tony with her? There was no time to speculate with Vaughn trying to wind an arm around my neck. I threw him back with a mighty heave. It was only the first round, but
fuck it,
I thought,
time to end this shit.
The less time Riley was stuck with Tony, the better.

All my grappling practice with Surly paid off after all. I preferred dancing around the ring and pummeling a guy until he went down but that wasn’t always an option. Bucking my hips and twisting, I heaved his weight off of me and locked him up in a triangle - legs wrapped around his head and one arm. I squeezed hard, watching his face turn red.
Tap out already, goddammit.
I wasn’t letting go, I’d let him pass out if I had to.

Luckily it didn’t come to that - he tapped out and Lee blew his whistle. I released the guy and sprawled back on the mat, all my strength momentarily sapped. He sat back and took a huge gulp of air.

“Good fight, man,” he said.

“You too,” I replied, staring up at the lights in the ceiling. I didn’t want to deal with Tony; I wanted a beer and a nap.
Oh, well.
I rose with a groan and dragged my ass to the cage’s exit.

“Not bad,” Surly said when I reached him. “See? All that practice wasn’t for nothing.”

“Shuttup,” I grumbled, taking a sip of water from the bottle he offered before pouring it over my head. He didn’t need to gloat about it.

There were still two fights left, and I couldn’t just skip off into the audience while Surly waited for his turn. I was stuck. I could only imagine what sort of bullshit Tony was filling Riley’s head with.

Our match couldn’t come soon enough.

○●○●○●○●○

Tony was gone by the time I reached the girls after the last two fights. Surly’s hadn’t gone as smoothly as mine - he’d taken a few rough blows to the head early on and nearly went down right there. Of course afterward he refused medical assistance but I was sure he at least had a concussion. That meant making the poor bastard stay awake for most of the rest of the night.

What did he care, though? He’d won in the end with a vicious uppercut that I’d never seen him throw before. He was usually much more conservative, letting the fight drag out, taking few risks, going all three rounds. Maybe his opponent had shaken the caution out of his thick skull.

I found the girls huddled together near the cage as the crowd slowly dispersed. People were encouraged to leave in small shifts to avoid bringing too much attention to the warehouse but not many were listening. Riley broke away from Jen and Robin when she spotted me.