Cutter: A Fight or Flight Novel (2 page)

F
OUR YEARS EARLIER

If you’d told me two weeks ago that I’d have my own apartment, a job, and some pretty decent people in my life, I would have called you a liar. The best thing that’s happened to me since leaving home was breaking into the gym. Since then, Garrett’s put me up in his apartment upstairs until I get my shit together. Not only that, but he gave me a job at the gym to pay my way so I’m not freeloading. The work’s not glamorous—mostly picking up after the fighters he trains and taking out the trash—but I feel pretty damn good about myself when I go upstairs knowing that I’m contributing.

Garrett helped me get a new driver’s license, since mine would expire today, on my twenty-first birthday. Only problem is…a few of the guys found out today’s my birthday and are insisting on taking me out for a celebration. If they knew the life I ran from—a drunk mom, an abusive stepdad, and a childhood filled with broken promises and broken bones—they wouldn’t push the issue. I thought about canceling on them, but I’ve proven I can run from my past, although the memories might be a little harder. I just have to remind myself that I’m not my mom and I’m allowed to celebrate all that I’ve accomplished and my birthday without blacking out.

“If you guys need a ride tonight, you better call me. I’d rather be pissed about getting out of bed at two in the morning than getting a phone call to identify bodies,” Rian, Garrett’s wife, harps at me and a couple of the guys, James and Randy, as we climb into the truck to take off for the night.

“I promise.” I run across the parking lot to give Rian a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. Over the weeks, she’s been more of a mother to me than my own was my entire life. If my mom were a real mom, this is something I would have done to her, and judging by Rian’s smile and wink, it’s exactly what she was expecting.

After a quick drive, we pull up at a bar close to campus, the blue-and-white flags of U.K. flying high and promoted in almost every window. I was on the campus once, talking to an admissions advisor because of Garrett’s insistence. I could totally see myself being a regular college guy like the ones walking up and down the street. I’ve always wanted to be a normal kid, but due to my home situation, that wasn’t ever an option.

I follow James and Randy through the doors of a bar aptly named The Wildcat, proudly show my ID, and make my way to the bartender. I order a beer, unsure what the options are since drinking has never been a pastime of mine. The woman behind the bar, dressed in tiny black shorts and a knockoff University of Kentucky jersey, passes me a longneck in exchange for a few dollars.

Glancing around, I notice James and Randy have already found themselves a pair of girls to occupy their time. Two girls dressed in less clothing than the bartender are standing around a tall table, with drinks in their hands, laughing with my friends. Then I notice her.

She’s with the gigglers, but she looks as out of place as I am. She’s a short girl, maybe a head and a half shorter than me, wearing a simple tank top and a pair of jeans that hug her curves in a sexy-without-trying way. Before I know what I’m doing, I’m walking in her direction; the pull to her is undeniable. Maneuvering myself around James, Randy, and the gigglers, I scoot next to her and her eyes meet mine almost instantly.

“Hey,” she says with a genuine smile.

“Hey.” It’s a simple response, but I feel like it says more than anything else would.

“Josette.” She sticks out her hand for a shake and the moment my palm touches hers, the spark surprises me.

“Cutter.”

“Is that your real name? Or a nickname?” Over the music, her laugh fills my ears.

I pull out my driver’s license and pass it to her, shrugging.

“Well, Cutter James Greer, it’s nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.” I don’t know if it’s the hops in the beer or the embarrassment I feel saying something so ridiculous, but I can feel my face getting hotter. This isn’t going so well.

“Do you go to U.K.?” she asks while stirring her drink around with the little straw inside the glass.

“No, but I’m thinking about it.”

“How do you know these two jackasses then? I’ve not seen you out with them before.”

“I work with them at the gym.”

“Oh, you’re a fighter?” Her eyes look genuinely interested.

“Yep,” I lie, embarrassed to tell her I’m the glorified janitor. “How do you know James and Randy?”

“Nichelle and Karinna are always with those two. And by the looks of it, they’ll end up at our house tonight.” Josette rolls her eyes, then stares daggers at my friends.

“Are they dating or something?”

“Or something,” she waves her hand dismissively. “I’m pretty sure Niche and Kar are in some kind of experimental phase, screwing their way through all the morons they run across. I’m hoping it passes quickly. No offense—you seem like a nice guy—but your friends are dumb as dirt.”

I try to suppress the choking due to me swallowing my beer down the wrong pipe, but I can’t help it. Both James and Randy train with Garrett part-time, nothing serious, but they have it in their heads they’re going to be the next big thing. Good enough guys, but Josette’s analysis is dead on.

Suddenly, Josette leans into me, pressing her hand to my chest, and stands on her tiptoes to get closer to my ear. “This is going to be really strange, but I need a huge favor. Care to help a girl out?”

“Sure,” I mutter, knowing there’s no favor I could do for her that could end badly. I just met this woman, but I’m pretty sure there’s not a whole lot I wouldn’t do to keep feeling her hands on me.

“Okay, so there’s this creepy guy from my history class. He’s always asking me on dates and shit. Maybe if he thinks we’re together, he’ll get the hint—as if
no
wasn’t hint enough—and leave me alone.”

“So you’re using me to scare off another guy?” I ask, amused at her reasoning.

“Yes, Cutter. Please? Will you be my fake dude for a few minutes?” She puffs out her bottom lip and softens her other facial features. I’d be a damn fool to say no.

“None of this reflects badly on me, got it?”

“Yes, sir.” She giggles as I all but drag her onto the dance floor.

I’m not sure if I’m a good dancer, but I tend to be good at whatever I put my mind to, so I’m really trying for Josette. Not only that, this gives me an excuse to keep my hands on her and, hopefully, her hands on me.

I approach the situation casually at first, swaying a little more than a foot away from her. She doesn’t seem too pleased, so I amp it up a little. Taking her arm, I twist her around so her back’s to my front and forcefully pull her ass into my groin. Wrapping one hand around her waist, I dig my fingers into her denim-clad hip and softly grind into her. I run my other hand up and down her side, discreetly grazing the underside of her breast. Her breath hitches so slightly that had I not been paying attention to everything about her, I would have missed it. Josette’s arm comes up and hooks around my neck, gently pulling on the hair, and together we effortlessly find a rhythm.

Leaning down, I run my nose across her jaw and yet again her breath hitches. She pushes her hips back into me, undoubtedly feeling my arousal. “You smell amazing,” I whisper into her ear and her head lolls onto my chest, her eyes close, and a small, sexy grin appears across her lips.
God, I want to kiss those lips.

“You’re doing great. Is he gone yet?” she whispers, pulling me from the intimate moment. Reality comes crashing down on me as I remember this isn’t real. “Fake dude,” as she so casually put it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the guy she’s talking about sulking in the corner and watching me with an envious glare. After maybe a minute, I guess he’s had enough because he abruptly stomps out of the room; I keep him in my sight until he makes his way out the front door.

“He’s gone,” I whisper in her ear as “My Chick Bad” bleeds into the next Top 40 song, and I take my hand off her hip.

“Perfect!” Josette steps away from me and takes me by the hand, leading me back to where her friends are still standing with knowing smirks all over their faces. James and Randy look pleased with my performance as well.

The girls start gabbing, mostly about how creepy that guy is, but I catch a few statements on how hot we looked out there dancing, which I ignore. James is the first one to come to me, clapping me on the back and playfully jabbing me in the stomach. “You taking her home tonight? She’s a hot little one, isn’t she?”

“Nah, man. She’s cool, but we’re just friends.” I’m not sure how else to put it, still reeling from my little brush with an alternate universe where Josette was interested in me, there was no creepy kid from her class, and we would be heading back to one of our places to get to know each other better.

“That didn’t look like just friends,” Randy chimes in, shaking his head. “If you’re not interested, I’ll take one for the team, I guess.” He glances back at the gabbing girls and then back to us, putting his knuckle in his mouth and biting down. “I’ll definitely take one for the team.”

Slapping him on the back of the head, I laugh. “You’ve got enough going over there. You go handle yours, dude. Josette’s off limits.”

“Oh, look at the new kid, staking claim on pussy at the bar,” James says, feigning shock.

From the other side of the table, Josette smiles at me and I return the gesture. Am I staking a claim? No, she’s just a cool chick that doesn’t need to get caught up with these assholes…Who am I kidding? I just laid it out there. James and Randy can’t have Josette because I want her.

A few hours later, we’re all a little too intoxicated to drive and instead of waking Rian from a peaceful sleep, we escort the girls back to their house, which happens to be around the block. James and Randy excuse themselves with their respective girls. Josette and I decide to hang out in the living room instead of her room. I’m not sure if it’s because that seems too intimate or if she’s just more comfortable out here.

“So, tell me something about you.”

“My favorite color is red,” I answer.

“Something good. One thing that makes you, you. A little insight into Cutter.”

“I was homeless for three years.” Why did I say that? Out of all the things that I could have told her, I decide to open with the one I’m most embarrassed about. Turning my head, I refuse to meet her eyes even when she starts asking more questions.

“What? Seriously? What happened? Why? Cutter? Cutter, look at me,” she demands, but I don’t. I strongly debate getting up and walking home. “Cutter, please,” she pleads. “Look at me.” Her voice is soft, but when I actually listen, I don’t hear the pity I feared, but concern.

She all but climbs into my lap and drags my head to face hers. I raise my eyes, meeting hers looking back at me with compassion. “Both of my parents died in a car accident two years ago. I failed out of all my classes and lost my scholarship. Had it not been for Nichelle and Karinna giving me a place to crash, I would have been homeless.”

“I’m sorry about your parents” is the only thing I can think to say in response. Not that I’m glad her parents are dead, but it’s kind of nice to see that my situation could have happened to anyone. Granted, I left my family and hers passed away, but we’re both orphans depending on the goodwill of others to survive.

Changing the subject, Josette walks into the kitchen and returns only moments later with a small handful of what looks like Tylenol and a glass of water. Divvying out two for her and two for me, she swallows hers down and passes me the glass. I follow suit, knowing I’m going to need this to fight off a hangover if it comes in the morning. I’ve never had a single drop of booze before, so I have no idea how my body is going to react.

“I should call my boss and see if he or his wife can come pick me up.”

“Calm down, you’re sleeping here,” she says without a second thought. I glance down the hallway where my friends disappeared and when I look back, Josette’s pulling a blanket off the back of the couch and covering both of us.

Bringing one of the corners up under her chin, she cozies into my side and rests her head on my chest.

“Thanks for tonight, Cutter. I really couldn’t take that guy asking me out one more time. I might have stabbed him for real this time,” she says, her voice softening as she starts to drift off to sleep.

“There’s not a whole lot I wouldn’t do for you, Jo.” The immediate connection I feel with her is like I felt when I met Garrett—that she’s meant to be in my life and I need to cherish the feeling. It is weird, though. I’ve only known her for a few hours, but the protectiveness I feel toward her is what I can only describe as instinctual. Like it’s my purpose.

“Happy birthday, dude. Being a grown-up is fucking awesome.”

My mouth opens to question how she knew it was my birthday, but then I remember I showed her my ID. She must have noticed the date.

“Thanks, dude,” I chuckle.

Resting my head back, I close my eyes, and I can’t remember hearing her take another deep breath before my head lolls to one side and I’m dreaming of kicking that guy’s ass for irritating Josette.

The sun pours through the curtains, pulling me from a deep sleep. Unable to move my left arm, I glance down with my eyes slowly adjusting to the morning light and notice Josette still nestled into my side. I guess
nestled
wouldn’t be the right word. Somehow during the night we managed to find a lying position—my head on the arm of the sofa, my legs sprawled out over the cushions while Josette’s body is draped over mine, her head resting on my chest.

I attempt to move without waking her, but I should have known better. At the first motion, she raises her head and her cheeks flush.

“I am so sorry, Cutter. Oh my gosh.” She wrestles to an upright position, then crawls to the chair across from me and pulls her knees up to her chest. “I’m so embarrassed.” Her head falls forward, and her short hair makes a small curtain around her face.

“Don’t worry about it, Jo. No harm, no foul.” Grabbing the blanket that’s still on the couch, I casually lay it over my lap to hide my erection. I’m not sure if it’s because she’s so beautiful right now, or if it’s just a raging case of morning wood, but either way, I don’t want to embarrass her any more than she already is, even though she has no reason to be.

“I probably should wake up the guys. They need to take me home so I can get to work,” I say, breaking the awkward silence that’s bestowed upon us.

“Fuck. Yeah, work. I start my new job today and God knows what’ll happen if I’m late. I’m sure they’ll fire me before even letting me clock in. I’ll grab Thing One and Thing Two on my way to the shower. Make yourself at home.” With that, Josette sweetly smiles at me and saunters down the hall, heavily pounding on one door on the right side of the hall and one on the left before she disappears behind the one at the end. The moment I hear the groaning of James and Randy, it’s clear that was her tactical way of waking them up.

A few minutes go by before either of them emerges from door number one and door number two, but I’m pretty sure the big prize lies behind door number three when the sound of squeaky pipes and running water resonates through the house. Instead of focusing on a naked and sudsy Josette, I hurry the guys along, promising to make them a fresh pot of coffee as soon as we get to the gym.

“Can’t we just stop at Dunkin’ or something? I need coffee now. I’m not sure I slept and I’m pretty sure I’m still drunk,” James whines, head in his hands.

“Oh, it’s cool. I’ll call Garrett and ask him to come pick me up if you can’t drive. But don’t you have a match or something coming up soon? I bet he’d be pretty pissed if you don’t show,” I jeer, knowing how to break James from his woe-is-me moment.

“You’re an asshole,” he gripes.

“And you’re a big fucking sissy. Say goodbye to your friend and let’s go.”

Pulling up to the gym at a quarter past ten, I have no time to shower and change. I’ll be lucky if I can sneak through the back and at least get out of my jeans and into some sweats. Cracking open the door, I peek around the corner, noting the coast is clear. Slipping into the locker room, I change in a mad dash and almost get out unscathed.

“Shouldn’t be too hard to make it to work on time when you live upstairs.” Garrett’s voice booms in the tiled room even though he’s speaking at a normal octave.

“Sorry. I wasn’t exactly home last night. I had to wait for James and Randy to give me a ride back,” I explain, hoping he won’t be too pissed, seeing as it was my birthday and all.

“That’s who you went out with last night? Those two morons? Jesus, Cutter, you trying to get yourself locked up or dead? Do I gotta drug test you now?”

“No, I just had a couple beers. They went back to party with some girls they knew. I hung out with their roommate. Nobody’s in jail, dead, or high. I wouldn’t do that to you, man. I swear. But if you think either one of them uses drugs, why are you going to put them in a fight? Don’t they test for stuff like that?”

“You think I’m that stupid? I keep telling those boneheads if they get their shit together, I’ll fight them. Still, nobody has any shit together. It’s all scattered across Lexington.” Muffling a chuckle, I apologize to Garrett one more time before we both walk out of the locker room and into the gym.

“I hired a new bookkeeper. I can’t keep up with all that shit anymore and Rian’s too busy at home with the baby to do it for me. If she needs help finding anything, help her out, all right?”

“No problem.”

Garrett leaves my side to hop into the ring with James—a very hungover and cranky James, might I add—and starts running drills. From where I’m standing, it looks like Garrett keeps landing stomach hits on purpose and I can’t help but laugh under my breath.

In the back of the room, the phone starts ringing, and out of habit I jog back there to answer it. When I round the corner to the office, a familiar person is sitting in the chair with the receiver to her ear.

“Zan’s, this is Josette, can I help you?”

This is her new job? Of all the places in all of Lexington, this is where she ends up? And a bookkeeper? When you tell me someone works with numbers, I automatically picture some frumpy old dude with a terrible toupee, not a sexy-as-sin woman like Josette.

“Sure. No problem. I’ll let Garrett know you called. Have a good day. Bye.” She hangs up the phone with a smile on her face while she jots down what I assume to be the return call number. Spinning around in her chair, she’s yet to notice me as she places the piece of paper on top of the filing cabinet.

“Jo?”

“Holy shit, Cutter. You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing here? You could have left your number or something. Stalking me at work, even though it seems sexy in the books, is rather creepy.”

“I work here, dude,” I answer, then start to panic a little. “Hey, I’ll be right back.” All but running out of the office, I nearly trip over some weights someone didn’t put away as I rush to the side of the ring.

“Garrett. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Can it wait, kid? I’m in the middle of teaching James here why we don’t come to fight after drinking enough to knock out a small village, isn’t that right, James?”

“Yes. Don’t do it, dude. It’s not a good time.” The wind gets knocked out of him when Garrett lands another shot to his stomach, leaving him hunched over in the corner.

“I guess it’s a good time, now. Worthless today, this kid.”

Garrett climbs out of the cage and I pull him closer to the front of the gym, far out of hearing range of Josette or anyone else who might be listening. “What the hell’s going on, Cutter?”

“Okay, so remember I told you that I hung out with a girl last night?”

“Cut to the chase.” The annoyance in his voice is unmistakable, but I dismiss it to get to the point.

“Well, I told her I worked at the gym and when she asked if I was a fighter, I kind of told her yes. I’m gonna need you to cover for me, please?”

“Cutter,” Garrett huffs out in a single breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Is she coming up here or something? Do I have to make you look cool? You’re really putting a damper on my day. This is what I get for thinking I could come to work and have a good day. I got doofus over there puking his guts out and you asking me to pretend you’re Rambo. What’s she look like, kid? I’ll do it, but just this one time.”

“Well, see…” I begin, and then Josette comes out of the office, looking around. When she finds my face, she smiles and starts walking in our direction. “The roommate is your new bookkeeper. I kinda like her and don’t want her to think I’m a liar.”

“You are a liar,” he points out matter-of-factly. “You gonna start fucking my employees now? Is that what’s happening?”

“No. Well, maybe. Hell, I don’t know. I just want to get to know her and if she thinks I was lying, she’ll think I was just trying to get in her pants, and while that wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen, I really like her. I could really be friends with her. Will you please do this for me? James can’t spar today. I’ll get in there with Colt. Win-win for everyone, right?”

“You’re fucking lucky I like you, kid. Not a word to Rian—she’ll have my balls if she knew I threw you in the ring untrained. If you make my life at home hell, I’ll make your every moment hell.”

“Yes, sir,” I say with a beaming smile. “And Josette’s right behind you.”

“Mr. Rhodes?” Not a second later, Josette taps Garrett on the shoulder. “I have a message for you from some person named Colt. He said he’s running a few minutes late.”

“Thanks, Josette,” he responds to her and then turns to me. “Start warming up now,” he says and then, under his breath, whispers, “You’re gonna need all the help you can get.”

Garrett marches off, muttering something about nothing going right and that he needs a vacation. I’m trying to make out exactly what he’s saying when Josette inches closer to me.

“This is weird, right?” she asks in a hushed tone. “When you said you worked at the gym, I had no idea it was this one. I don’t know why I didn’t put two and two together. It was Randy who got me this job, too. God, I’m such an idiot sometimes.”

“Well, you were a few drinks in when we got there. No harm, no foul.” I hope she doesn’t get embarrassed again.

“At least I’ve got a friend already. Here I was freaking out I’d only know the dummy twins and would be stuck talking to them all day. Now I have you.”

“You should come over to celebrate when you get off. I’ve gotta spar with Colt whenever he decides to show up, but I’m usually out of here by six.”

“Sure, give me your address,” she says, pulling out her phone.

“I live upstairs.” I point up and she shakes her head.

“No wonder you were worried about being late. Kinda hard to not be on time when you live where you work.”

“I’ll pay for it later.” No doubt Colt’s going to give me a run for my money, but hell if it’s not worth it to not be proven a lying douchebag like the other guys I’m sure she meets.