Ruined: Loving An Alpha Male: BWWM Romance (5 page)

“Not yet,” I added.

She nodded. “Yes, not yet. I’m not stupid. I see the writing on the wall, okay? I have to take care of myself, and I will. I just don’t need you to make it harder for me. Do you understand that?”

Finally, being happy with her answer, I nodded and stepped back from her. “I understand, and I’ll back off. Where’s your phone?”

She reached behind her and pulled it out. I took it from her hands and called my cell from her phone.

“Save my number in your phone,” I said. Before she could say anything, I stopped her. “I don’t care how you save my number, just do it. And if for some reason you need help with anything, call me. Okay?”

She took her phone from me and remained quiet.

I said, to make sure she understood my meaning, “Angel, I have no problem going back in there and beating the shit out of him, and anyone else I have to, without batting an eye. If you don’t want me to do that, then say you’ll save my number and use it if you need anything.”

She stared at her phone, and I turned toward the gym. I felt her touch my arm, and I turned back to her.

She nodded. “Okay, okay. I’ll save your number.”

“Promise me you’ll use it.”

She nodded and said, “I promise.”

Our eyes met, and I felt the need to kiss her grow more and more as we stood there. I reached and touched the side of her face with just a finger. Damn, she is beautiful. And her lips…

She stepped away slightly from me. She shook her head and said, “You’re crazy, you know that?”

I didn’t say anything. I just nodded at her and turned to head toward Alex and his truck.

When I got home, I fell onto my bed. The apartment I share with Mimi and another girl, Deb, is a few blocks away from UPenn. It’s a three-bedroom apartment on the first floor of a three-level apartment complex. We have living and dining room spaces, with a small kitchen and one bathroom. My room is in the back of the apartment, so I slid past my roommates and closed myself off to the world.

My room is only big enough for a full-size bed, one dresser, and a small desk. I lay there looking up at the ceiling, wondering what I was going to do. I needed to end this with Trip before things get out of hand. I thought back to the gym earlier when he caught me looking at Mason. He went ballistic on me, accusing me of cheating on him and lying to him.

It seems day in and day out he’s getting more and more aggressive, and I do feel, at any point, he’s going to take his aggression out on me in another way. I sighed, and my thoughts drifted to Mason. The fact that he was willing to protect me and knows nothing about me was sweet and a tad bit odd. What’s really odd is the fact that I really liked the way he wanted to take care of me. It’s been a very long time since a man has wanted to protect me without knowing anything about me or even wanting anything.

Well, let me rephrase that last statement. I can see by the way Mason looks at me that he wants something. He’s just not demanding it from me. I started to smile. I know damn well he wouldn’t have to demand anything from me. I’d definitely give it to him willingly.

I can’t mistake the dark lustful look he got in his eyes the few times I saw him looking at me. I can only imagine what it would be like, and I hoped I would get a chance to find out. I know I sound a little slutty, but I can’t help it. The way my body acts around him, it’s like I won’t be able to stop desiring him until I actually get him. My body seems to crave a taste of him, and I know I need to feed that craving somehow.

It was about 9 p.m., and I was just finishing up with studying. I haven’t heard from Trip since I left, so I called him.              He answered on the ninth ring, and I could barely hear him from the music blaring in the background.

“What’s up,” he said to me.

“Where are you?” I asked, trying to ignore the harshness in his voice.

“I’m still at the gym,” he said simply.

I heard a few voices in the background: his brother, Train’s, voice, his manager, a few of his buddies, and a lot of females. I shook my head. This has been going on for a few weeks now. I would call him and see what he was doing, and to see if he wanted to come over, or go out to eat, or something. But he would always say the same thing. He was training and would probably be too tired.

“So how long are you going to be? We really need to talk,” I told him.

He paused, and I heard a muffled sound coming from his end of the phone.

Finally he said, “I’ll probably be here for a few hours and then I’m going home. I have a fight tomorrow, as you know. Maybe we can talk after that. I need all the rest I can get.”

I nodded at no one.

“Okay, well its nine now. You should be calling it a night soon, if you want to get a good night’s sleep.”

“I don’t need you to tell me when to call it a night, Maxine,” he said angrily.

“I wasn’t implying that, Trip.”

He was quiet for a while, and then he sighed.

“Look, I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow. You’re coming to the fight, aren’t you?”

“Yup, I’ll be there.”

As we hung up, I got in the bed and let sleep over come me, thinking of how good Mason’s lips would feel all over me.

I got it bad.

             
****

It was fight night, and I had to say I was glad it was finally here. It was exciting for the sport, and you can finally get the opportunity to see how everyone fared during the off season. Trip was ready, I could tell. I saw him briefly in the locker room, just before the fight. He doesn’t like to have me back there with him, so I just go in, kiss him, and wish him luck.

I never bothered to ask him why he didn’t want me back there with him, especially when the room is typically packed with people—not to mention women in general. I just make sure I’m where he could see me when he comes out and cheering when he’s fighting.

When the fighters are finally announced to the crowd, it’s a huge deal. The announcer introduces each fighter and their fighting nicknames. As the festivities began, Mimi and Tiny made their way next to me to keep me company.

“Did we miss anything?” Mimi asked me.

I shook my head and said, “Nope, you guys are just in time.”

And they were. The lights began to dim, and some obnoxious rock music started playing in a packed room filled with MMA fans.

“You ready to see the best fighting you’ve ever seen in your lives?” the commentator announced on the mic.

Everyone around me erupted in cheers and started chanting fighters’ names that they knew. There were a lot of Trip fans out there, as he was the most popular fighter in this amateur circuit. There were different circuits in the amateur MMA arena. We were part of the Northern circuit that serviced the East Coast from Connecticut to Florida. Most of these fighters weren’t just from Philadelphia. They were from within a few hundred miles, but they would all come here to fight for the title at the championship that would be held in a few months.
The announcer started introducing each of the fifty fighters for this season. Typically the season lasted for ten weeks, with two to three fights every Saturday. After the ten weeks, there are about five fighters that enter the semifinals by weight class. They fight against the best five from the circuits, and it goes down to finals and finally the championship. A fighter that would be crowned champion can actually take home millions, especially if his knockout stats are high. It’s every fighter’s goal to will their opponents into submission, but there ain’t nothing like knocking someone out.

Trip was very good at that and had a great record. He ended up being champion in this circuit last year but lost in the semi-finals. I know he’s ready to right the wrong he did last year. The commentator announced where each fighter was originally from, their weight class, last year’s record, etc.

When they finally got to Mason, I paid attention.

“MMA fans, you’re gonna love this next fighter who says he’s gonna take this sport by storm. He’s from Dallas, Texas, and stands at six feet three inches and is 253 pounds of pure muscle. He’s new to the sport but says that won’t stop him from taking fighters to the grave.”

I started to hear boos, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Neither could my two companions.

“Ladies and gents, give it up for Mason ‘The Reaper’ Weeeeessssst.”

My friends and I clapped for him and, as he stepped up, he locked his eyes directly on mine. He didn’t acknowledge me with anything but his eyes. He then moved his eyes around the crowd and then went back to stand next to Lou.

“Holy shit, did you feel that?” Mimi announced.

“Yup, I sure did,” Tiny replied.

Mimi nudged me, and I realized at that second that I was still staring at Mason.

I tried to play it off some, but the look in their eyes told me I was caught. I wondered if anyone else noticed me looking at Mason. I first searched for Trip or his brother, but they were busy hamming up the crowd around them. When I looked over at Mason again, his eyes were still on me. I inhaled as he smiled slightly in my direction and gave me a head nod. I blushed and looked away.

“Oh yeah, girl. You have it bad,” Mimi said.

I frowned and looked at her.

“What do you mean?” I asked as I feigned surprise.

She laughed and looked at Tiny, “Is this girl for real? Max we just witnessed you eye fuck that Texan guy.”

I blanched and said, “I did not.”

“Oh yes, you did,” Tiny replied, and they laughed at me.

I slouched down in the bleachers, hoping that it wasn’t as bad as they told me. I tried to make up for it when they finally announced the reigning champ, Trip, by clapping loudly. But it sounded so forced, and it felt force too. To be honest, if I just sat there it wouldn’t have made a difference. I was over-shadowed by some giggly blonde with huge breasts in a skimpy skirt that stood next to him the whole time

Humph. That’s odd.

Anyway, the fights started a few minutes after the announcements were over. Each fight lasts for five minutes within three rounds. For the most part, each of the weight classes has a representative fight. There were four fights this week that consisted of two newcomers, and the second to the last fight was Mason and Choir Boy.

I leaned in a little in my seat and watched as he removed his shirt to show his perfectly sculpted chest. The women all around me gasped at the sight of him; even the two girls next to me inhaled sharply. I simply smiled, as I knew what all of them were thinking. Most of these men in here were cut-up. But it was something about Mason and his low blonde hair, not to mention his perfect eight-pack abs, huge thighs, and calf muscles that flexed as he moved. What captured me anyway was his eyes. From here I could see the focus in them as he entered the cage. The black guy that was with him all the time said a few things in his ear as he stood there and rotated his shoulders.

Lou said some words to him as well, and he nodded. But he never removed his eyes from Choir Boy. Just before the ref called the fighters to get ready, I saw the black guy say something to Mason that made him smile and shake his head. For a split second he lost focus, which was something I never saw before in a fighter. You typically see fighters with their eye of tiger gaze that never falters, so for Mason to smile was odd to me.

I noticed the bell ring, and the crowd erupted, shouting everything under the sun to the fighters. I remained quiet and concentrated on Mason’s fighting style. He moved easily around the cage and simply waited for Choir Boy to make a move. When he did and moved in to throw a combination of punches, and I believe kicks, he never completed them. The moment he raised his arms, Mason went on attack and connected a few punch combinations that made Choir Boy’s face connect with the mat in seconds.

I looked stunned, and the crowd around me went crazy. Mason stood back and watched the ref count down. I looked at Mason and saw he was watching my reaction. I simply shook my head and smiled. Well, I guess I did all that warning for nothing.

Once he was announced the winner, he left the cage and made eye contact with Trip.
Oh crap
, I thought to myself, but nothing happened. Trip just watched Mason head to the locker room as Trip took his place in the cage. Trip’s fight didn’t take that long to end either, but it wasn’t as short as Mason’s fight.

As I waited for Trip to come out, Mimi said to me, “I seem to never get tired of watching two sweaty men go at it locked in a cage, it’s animalistic, you know. I can see the attraction women have.”

“Fuck that. I just like seeing the bodies. Since you’re with Trip and all, what’s up with that guy you were making goo goo eyes with? Do you know if he has a girlfriend or a fuck buddy? He was a hot white boy.”

I felt a twang of jealousy at her question. I mean, I know I didn’t have a right to be angry, but I was. I thought about lying to her, but I never got a chance.

“Oh, he’s spoken for…
definitely
,” Mimi replied, and then smiled at me.

I looked at her quizzically and tried to hide my smile, but they both saw it. I shook my head at them, and they both laughed.

“I’m just messing with you, girl. I thought I saw drool coming from the side of her mouth earlier,” Tiny said. She wiped the side of my mouth, and I smacked her hand. She laughed again. “Well, I hope now you’ll get rid of crazy. He doesn’t deserve you at all,” Tiny said, and Mimi agreed.

I rolled my eyes at them both and tried to ignore the feeling of longing when I think about Mason. I said goodbye to my friends and waited for Trip to come out of the locker room. I waited at least an hour before I called his cell.

He answered on the sixth ring, “Yeah, baby. Did you see me?”

I smiled, and said, “Yeah, I saw you. Great fight. Where are you? Are you ready to go?”

Typically when he’s done with his fight, we go have dinner and head to my place so he could relive the fight that just took place all over again to me. I would rub him down, and we would just hang out.

“I left already. Train said he has a party back at the gym for me. So we’re headed right there now. What’s up with you?”

I was stunned. Here I was sitting here waiting for him, and he was already gone.

“Are you fucking serious right now? Trip, I’ve been sitting here waiting for you like I always do, and you’re telling me you left already?”

“What the fuck do you want me to say, Max,” he yelled. “The way you’ve been acting lately, I didn’t think you’d be waiting for me.”

“Aw, come on, Trip. That’s bullshit. You’re the one who ditched me last night and then asked me to be here today to see you fight, and I did. You knew damn well I would be waiting here for you.”

“Well, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d notice.”