Bull: An MMA Stepbrother Romance (3 page)

“You’re not playing dress-up, you’re dressing your age to get hot guys!” Janis said. “I’m not talking about some wimpy, nerdy do-gooder like you usually hang out with.”

She bent her head and lowered her voice. “I’m talking about a 6’4” tattooed, don’t-take-home-to-your-mama, musclebound stud. I'm talking about a guy that will fuck you six ways from Sunday and leave you...dear god.”

Janis had gone still. She was staring in the distance.

“I’m talking about that!” she said as she pointed across the store. 

Lisa followed to where Janis was pointing. She saw the back of a huge man with gorgeous brown hair and tattooed arms.

“Oh my god,” he whispered. “That’s Jake!”

“Jake?” Janis asked.

“Jake! My stepbrother!” 

Lisa had turned away from him and was trying to hide behind a rack with clothes without being obvious about it.

“That’s Jake? Good lord, girl. You are in deep trouble. He’s fucking gor–he’s walking over here. Someone’s with him.”

“What?” Lisa said, panic rising inside of her.

“Girl, you need to grow a pair and go for that!” Janis teased.

“Grow a–”

“Shhh, here he comes.”

“Lisa? Is that you?” Jake said as he walked up to them. 

“Oh hey, Jake,” Lisa said as she turned to him in mock surprise. “Uh, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here with, um,” he turned to the tall blonde that had followed him over and snapped his fingers. “Um...”

“Zoe,” she said with an obvious air of disgust. She was gorgeous, exactly the kind of girl Lisa expected Jake to have.

“Yeah, Zoe, of course. Zoe, this is my sister Lisa,” he said.

“Stepsister,” Lisa corrected.

“Oh, it’s like that huh?” Jake said with a chuckle. “You trying to keep your options open with me?” He brushed his hair back as he said it.

He might be a major prick, but damn, he cleaned up nice. His hair fell in waves to the collar of his button-up shirt. The way he rolled up his sleeves, showing his muscular forearms...

Lisa blushed. “No, it’s not that, I just meant, you know–”

“Uh huh, sure sis,” he said interrupting her. “And who is this with you?” he asked with just a little too much interest.

“This is my roommate, Janis,” she said.

Janis stuck her hand out, palm down as if expecting him to kiss it. She smiled, “Hi, Jake. Lisa has told me all about you.”

To Lisa’s astonishment, Jake took her hand into his and kissed it, never taking his eyes off hers.

“Wow, Lisa, you never told me you had such...nice friends,” he said with a mischievous smile. “So, what are you lovely girls doing here?” he seemed to have forgotten all about Zoe who stood behind him looked bored and pissed.

Did he just say lovely?

“Well, I was just telling Lisa here how she needs to get some confidence,” Janis said. “I mean, don’t you think this would look good on her figure, Jake?”

Lisa snatched the dress Janis was holding out of her hand and shoved it back onto the rack. “Don’t be ridiculous, I’m confident,” she said in a I-can’t-believe-you-just-told-him-that tone.

“You should take some BJJ lessons. That would definitely help with your confidence problem,” Jake said.

“Confidence problem? Who said I have a confidence problem?” Lisa protested, but they were ignoring her.

Janis was laughing. “Did...did you just say she needs to take some BJ lessons? Like...you know....BJs?”

It was Jake’s turn to laugh. “No, not BJs. BJJ. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Builds confidence.”

“I don’t lack confidence,” Lisa said as they continued to ignore her.

“It’s settled then,” Jake said. “I’ll teach you some BJJ.”

“You will do no such thing, I’m perfectly–”

“Good. Meet me at my gym, nine p.m. tomorrow night.”

Lisa started to protest but Janis threw a quick elbow into her ribs. She gave her a look that told Lisa she was about to blow it.

“Uh, nine...nine pm? Where is it? Your gym, I mean?” she said, trying not to sound too eager.

Jake ignored her again and pulled out his mobile phone. He tapped a few times on the screen and put it away.

“Cool, see you tomorrow at nine,” he said as he turned, grabbed Zoe’s hand and dragged her away. “See you, sis. Janis.”

“Jake, I’m not making any promises. I may not be able to–” 

She gave up. He was no longer listening and was walking away.

Janis checked his ass out as he walked away. “God, look at that,” she said biting her lower lip. “You lucky bitch. Have you ever seen what those guys do when they roll around on the floor together? You’re about to have more Jake than you can handle,” she said with a self-satisfied smile. “And you can thank me for that.”

“Gee, thanks,” Lisa said. Her phone dinged from her purse. She pulled it out. There was a message from a number she didn’t recognize. It had an address and said See you at nine, Jake.

Lisa thought back trying to remember if she had ever given him her number. 

She hadn’t.

Chapter 4

Mom

“You should definitely go,” her Mom said.

“I was all set to, but...I don’t know. I don’t see the point, and–”

“Lisa, look at me,” her mom said as she grabbed Lisa by the shoulders.

Lisa looked up and met her mom’s gaze.

“Lisa, baby, you know I love you, right?”

“Yeah, mom. I know.”

“Then you know what I am about to say I say from love,” her mom said. “I only want to help. Honey, all your life you’ve been...scared. You’ve been shy and afraid of men. And that experience with...what was his name?”

“Roger.”

“Right, Roger. That whole thing didn’t help. What exactly happened there again?”

“Nothing, mom. He just was...I wasn’t for him.”

“Well, I don’t know about all that, but ever since then you’ve been...different. When you walk down the street you look like a victim. I don’t want you walking through life like that.”

Lisa nodded.

“Hon, you’re beautiful, smart...kind. You have everything going for you. Somehow, though...it’s like you don’t know it. It’s like you don’t realize how amazing you are and you go through your days in fear and doubt. It’s time you conquer that, sweetie. You need to get past it and I think he can help. Jake has trained women to defend themselves and he swears up and down that he can help you.”

“Mom, I–”

“Just try one session with him,” she said. “If you don’t like it or you don’t think it is helping, I won’t say anything else about it. Ever. I promise. Deal?”

Lisa looked at her mom. She knew if she just said yes right now it would make her mom so happy. 

“Okay,” she said. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Thank you, sweetie, I really think this will help,” her mom said. She turned her attention to her phone and typed a few words. In a moment her phone dinged.

“Great. He said he’s glad you’re in.”

“You...you just texted him?” Lisa said.

“Yeah, I wanted him to know you were definitely in.”

“Mo-om!” Lisa said. “I could have...you know, told him myself. Now he thinks I’m some big baby!”

“Oh, don’t be silly, hon,”

“Hey, wait a minute. Did you give him my number? He sent me the address to his gym yesterday, but I don’t remember giving him my number,” Lisa said.

“Oh, yeah, he asked for your number after you left the day you two met. He said he figured since you guys were now family he should be able to reach you in case of emergencies.”

For a moment there Lisa had hoped he wanted her number for other reasons.

Chapter 5

Triangle Choke

Lisa walked into the dank gym. Most of the lights were out and only a few people were still working out. She could hear someone hitting a speed bag. The rhythmical rata tata tata echoed throughout the gym. 

A loud crack shot through the gym and Lisa jumped in surprise sending a jolt of adrenaline through. Another loud thud boomed through the gym. She looked for the source of the sound and saw Jake standing in a fighter stance in front of a heavy bag.

He threw a leg out and kicked the bag. Crack! The sound boomed with surprising loudness. Crack! Each kick was like a gunshot going off in the gym and the violence and loudness made Lisa anxious.

He threw a three-punch combination into the bag. Pop-pop-pop! He looked to Lisa like a cobra. One second he was bobbing and weaving, a millisecond later he was unleashing hell on the bag. His arms and legs were a blur as sweat flew from his muscular body.

He paused to catch his breath and turned around. He looked up and saw Lisa watching him. He smiled and motioned her over. His chest heaved with each hard breath. His expression showed no kindness or even familiarity.

Lisa crossed her arms in front of her, holding herself as she walked over to him. Her gaze never met his.

“Hey, sis,” he said.

She looked up at him, but found it impossible to look into his eyes. He stood in front of her in only shorts. His muscles rippled and bulged as he moved and a glistening sheen of sweat shined on his tattooed skin. The hard features of his rugged face matched the animal virility of his body. 

“Sis,” Lisa spat. “Please. We barely know each other.”

Jake laughed. “You still at that, sis? You still trying to find a way to get me?”

“Oh please. I knew this was stupid,” she said as she turned and tried to storm off.

Before she had managed to move Jake shot out a strong hand that grabbed her by the arm, stopping her in her tracks.

She jumped from his touch and he snatched his hand back. Fury boiled within her. How dare he? Was he suggesting she was hot for him or something?

“Hey, sorry, I was just teasing,” he said. “That was lame. I apologize,” he said as she looked up at him. It seemed sincere. Maybe she had overreacted. Why had that touched such a nerve?

“Listen, let’s start over,” he said. “I know women don’t like being touched by men unless–”

“No, it’s not that. Never Mind. I overreacted,” she said, ready to move beyond her embarrassment. 

“So, you can train me or whatever? You’re going to...what? Make me some kind of ninja or something?” 

Jake laughed. “No, nothing like that. But there are some tools I can give you to help you a little. Give you a fighting chance if something unexpected ever happens. More than that, I wasn’t kidding when I said that what I can teach you will give you a little confidence. It’ll make you look like less of an easy target.”

Lisa became aware of her posture, the way her arms folded in front of her, the way her eyes stared at the floor. She straightened up a little taller.

“That’s better already,” he said, noticing the improvement. “Now, can you look up? Confident women don’t stare at their shoes.”

What an asshole! Was he saying she wasn’t confident? 

She tried to meet his gaze. His breathing had slowed, but his muscular chest still heaved. Why did all the hot guys have to be such jerks? 

The hard, angular features of his face were intimidating. He was so handsome. She found herself getting lost again in his eyes. She wondered what it would be like for a man like that to take her. 

It was too hard to look right at him and once again she found herself forced to look down.

He brought his hand under her chin and gently lifted it up. She wanted to resist, but she also wanted to see his face again. She let him lift her chin and she met his eyes, those eyes, again. She found her knees threatening to buckle.

“Don’t be afraid. This will be fun,” he whispered as his lips curled into a slight smile. He used both hands to remove her glasses.  Jake’s hands were strong and rough and where his skin touched her face it felt hot, like burning coals.

“Okay,” he said,  full of energy. “First, your clothes.”

“What wrong with them?” she said.

“No...nothing’s wrong with them. It’s just, they are super baggy. The sweats thing, that’s fine for a jog, but we’re going to be active here, rolling around. It will be better if you get some...tighter clothes. Spandex. Things that stretch. They stay on better. No biggie, just don’t want you rolling around and then wind up naked or something.”

Lisa looked down at her sweats and felt even more stupid and more out of place than she did when she walked in.