One of the Guys (14 page)

“I, I didn’t mean it like that Cole.” She stammers out.

“Really, it’s fine. I don’t have time for a relationship either so consider it forgotten. Nothing more than a guilty pleasure.”

“Oh.” She replied quietly. A little too quiet for me, dammit I’m so fucking stupid.

She tries to smile but she’s doing a terrible job. Her eyes look like tears may spill over at any moment and it’s all my fault. The perfect evening we just had was ruined and just like that, she says she has to leave and says bye. I drag myself off the couch, grab the vase on the table and throw it across the room. Shards of glass fly everywhere but I don’t give a shit right now because I just screwed up the only thing I really did give a shit about. All I wanted to do was crawl in my bed and pray this was just a fucked up dream.

But it wasn’t a dream and I knew because she avoided me at all costs the next day. She did all her training with Trey and pretending I didn’t exist. And on top of all this, here soon I’d have to watch her get in the ring against a guy and pray she could hold her own. My heart felt like it was ripped out and shattered like that vase in my apartment but then, I shattered hers first.

Chapter 16

Sam

“Keep your hands up Sam. Whoever you’re against could throw a punch at any time and I can almost guarantee you it will have a lot more force behind it than any woman you’ve been against so far.” Wendy stood beside me and Trey watching us spar trying to offer any kind of advice she had.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous. It also didn’t help that the last night with Cole kept playing over and over again in my head. All I wanted to do was make sure he wasn’t going to t
reat me any differently and he broke out into his whole ‘I won’t be up your ass’ bullshit and ‘I don’t have time for a relationship’. Ugh. I could practically feel him staring at me. Is he trying to get my attention? I’m not giving it to him. I can’t believe I locked lips with him. I want to put my lips in a pot of boiling water and remove any trace he left on them; even if it was the most amazing kiss on this planet.

Dad and I actually had a decent conversation last night once I got home. I was completely grateful since my evening with Cole didn’t quite end how I wished it would have. I wish he’d want to talk about how he’s acted but I’m glad he hasn’t. Rehashing it isn’t exactly what I want to do. He asked what I’ve been up to and whether or not I wanted to pursue college. Maybe one day I told him, right now I’m just focusing on me which isn’t a lie at all. Dinner was even cooked and on the stove. It was only hamburger helper but it was a meal and those were pretty scarce since Brenda left. If I stayed home more often, I could cook for him but between training and the fights, I’m hardly here. That was the plan all along anyway.

I’m brought back into reality when Rocky calls me over to make sure I’m positive I want to do this. I can see Cole still staring at me scowling. He practically had smoke coming out of his ears whenever I blew him a kiss. If he wants to be an arrogant ass, then I can be a stubborn bitch. And here we go, round and round in a circle. A vicious circle only we choose to participate in because when it’s spinning in the right direction it’s absolutely amazing.

Rocky went in the office once he was done talking and Cole tried to walk up and talk to me. Before he could speak, I smiled innocently and quoted the great Britney Spears, “Oops, I did it again. I played with your heart got lost in the game.” Yeah, I went there and he got the point. His eyes could have started a fire with the flame behind them. He wants to be stupid, then ok. He wants to play with my heart? I can play right back with his. He tried to speak again but I immediately struck up conversation with Trey which made him fume even more.

“What are you doing tonight Trey?”

“Why? What are you up to Sam? If it’s cockblocking I’m out.”

My body shook with laughter as I remembered last night. He had that coming; I don’t know why he didn’t see that.

“I won’t do that. I promise. Let’s go get drunk and make bad decisions. You can be my partner in crime What ya say?”

Cole jumped in throwing his two cents in that no one wanted to hear. “Do you really think that’s a good idea Sam? You’ve got a big day coming.” He crossed his arms over his chest trying to intimidate me. That may work on other people but not on me.

Our eyes met and my expression turned cold. “I don’t care what you think Cole. Your opinion doesn’t matter. I’m nothing to you remember?”

Trey looked between the two of us and started laughing. I punched him and he threw his arms in the air. “You two seriously crack me up. Why don’t you just screw each other already?”

My face instantly began to flush and I tried my best to keep anyone from seeing. Cole mumbled something to him and stalked off towards Wendy.

“Good going asshole.” I mumbled as I punched his arm again.

“Damn, I wish I could say you hit like a girl but you don’t. That shit hurt!”

Smiling never felt so good, even if I was hurting inside because of Cole. I just want him to hurt like me. I know that sounds horrible. Wendy waved and told us bye. This was the moment I dreaded. Her and Rocky were leaving to go to a doctors appointment and Cole took this as his chance to leave too, but not before he walked back up to me leaning in where only I could hear and whispered, “I screwed up but don’t think this is over yet, I’m not done and I won’t stop until you’re mine.”

He walked off leaving me breathing ragged with a thousand butterflies swarming in my stomach. I hate this affect he has on me. Why the hell does everything have to be so damn complicated? What happened to all that bullshit he shoved down my throat and he’d act like nothing happened between us? What the hell was supposed to be over because according to him last night, nothing ever started?

Chapter 17

Cole

Wendy’s giving her advice as if she’s stepped in the ring against one of us before. She never has because I would kick her ass. No woman I know will do that, they have no idea the force men have in that ring. And of course, Sam practiced with Trey. She still wasn’t talking to me and when she looked at me, all I got was the sexiest smirk but I know she didn’t mean anything sexy by it. She was just trying to get me worked up and it was working.

I took my shirt off and walked over to the punching bags trying to get some frustrations out of the way. I know I fucked up last night. I should have never said any of those things to her but I was scared that she was pulling away from me. This girl makes me some kind of crazy. One minute she has me wrapped around her finger and when our lips touch, my hands want to travel up and down her body making her feel good inside and out. The next minute, she has me throwing my hands in the air wondering what the hell is going on. She runs too much. She won’t talk about anything. I still don’t know why she is here now that I think about it. I can’t get in close enough with her to even ask.

She blows me a kiss and I want to scream and punch the wall in but instead I keep the scowl I’m wearing in place. She knows I’m pissed and I hate that she’s enjoying it. That’s it, I’m not just going to stand here punching a bag trying to get my mind off her, I’m talking to her and she will listen to me.

But she completely throws me off when she looks dead at me with her doe-like eyes and quotes some Britney Spears lyrics. If I could shoot flames out of my eyes I would because now I’m more pissed than I was before.

She adjusted her ponytail and before I could try to talk again, she struck up a conversation with Trey asking if he wanted to go get drunk and make bad decisions with her. He wouldn’t dare try anything with her, I know him better than that and he knows how I feel about her but that doesn’t mean that some douchebag asshole wouldn’t try. They’d be all over her and if someone touched her wrong, I’d kill them.

I jumped in their conversation hoping to sway her mind. “Do you really think that’s a good idea Sam? You’ve got a big day coming.” My arms were crossed over my bare chest and deep down I crossed my fingers praying for a miracle that she would somewhat be intimidated by me.

She locked her eyes with mine and told me it wasn’t my business and threw my words back in my face when she reminded me that we were nothing. But dammit, I wanted us to be something. We were headed in the right direction until I fucked up and now we were back at square one. I hate square one.

Trey and his big fucking mouth screwed things up even worse when he suggested we just go ahead and screw each other. Fuck this, I’m leaving. She doesn’t want to listen to me and who knows? I may go out tonight and find some beauty in the bar I don’t know but make sure she knows my name before the night is over. But I’m lying I don’t want that at all, all I want is Sam.

Before I stalk off, I lean into her ear and whisper, “I screwed up but don’t think this is over yet, I’m not done and I won’t stop until you’re mine.”

I walked off wearing a grin knowing good and well she was standing there with her jaw on the ground. The sun was beginning to set, on the way home I mapped out my game plan. I wasn’t sitting home tonight. If she was going out with Trey, I was going to be there. Watching. Waiting to make my move because trust me I would have her whether it was tonight or some other night.

Walking into Joe’s, I scanned the crowd looking for her or Trey. Neither of them was here yet but I was willing to bet anything they’d show up. She wanted to make me jealous and I was here to burst her bubble. I wanted to be prepared with some sort of strategy but I had nothing.

The blonde girl from the other night walked up beside me flashing a Hollywood smile. “Hey, your girlfriend not here tonight?”

She practically spit the word out, it’s bad enough she said it with disgust. All I wanted to say was I wish she was my girlfriend, I’d change for her but instead, I met her eyes and responded rather coolly, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

She eased up and took a sip of her girlie cocktail drink. She looked easy and no doubt in my mind as I gave her a panty-melting grin I knew she would be the distraction from Sam tonight. And by the end of the night, I was right. But as I lay in my bed alone, I cursed myself for taking the blonde in the back closet of Joe’s and bending her over the boxes. It didn’t fix anything, it only made it worse.

Chapter 18

Sam

I swear to God, I’m scared I’m going to lose my shit. My nerves are unreal right now. It’s excitement on top of being purely scared of what’s going to happen. I really care not to see hamburger helper come up. It was leftovers from two days ago, but it’s all I could find in the house besides some Jell-O and saltine crackers. Dad hasn’t bought groceries in almost a week and all my money is going towards getting me the hell out of there. I know the police department pays better than that. Asshole.

I could see Cole across the room watching me with both concern and a hint of a smile. His baby blue eyes were burning a hole into me. I’m glad he was standing over there. He was bound to either get me more wound up about my fight or just wound up in general.

I was glad Rocky was my trainer. He fully understood my situation and why I showed up at Lou’s Gym when I did. He had truly seen something in me that day, or at least that’s what he told me. That’s where I first met Cole, and sometimes I wish I hadn’t. He had my heart cutting flips most of the time but I forced myself to shut him out. I don’t have time for that right now in my life.

I can’
t believe we kissed again the other night. Dammit Sam, what is wrong with you? Without meaning to, I had nearly broken every rule I had set in place. He said he would treat me like nothing happened, it broke my heart but he wasn’t keeping his end of the bargain. He was taunting me with everything he had. Things probably could be a thousand times better if he kept his word and left me alone. It would kill me though to see me there everyday, but I wasn’t paying to go to Lou’s for a relationship.

I continued to look around the small room where many people stood wall to wall ready to see some good fights. The lights were so bright I could barely make out the ring where I would soon be taking out all my anger and frustrations in hopes of earning a little more money to tuck away inside my shoebox. Not much more, that’s what I kept telling myself. Rocky just finished helping me secure my gloves as I got ready for my fight. I have no idea who I’m up against which is what I find to be the most exciting. That’s part of the reason my nerves are so bad. I just know I’ll be in the cage against one of the male fighters.

I’ve fought against a few of the women and so far, I’ve won all but one. Marley was one tough bitch and I admired her for that. Rocky knew I wanted more and I was capable of handling more, shit I practically knocked him on his ass when we were just practicing. And I know he came at me full force, he didn’t take it easy on me and treat me like some sort of princess. I’ve never fought against one of the guys but I figured me of all people could take a hit from a man. That is, if they were lucky enough to get a shot at me. There was also more pay involved if a woman could beat a man. Most of them didn’t care to even try. They were more than happy with the normal. I was more than willing to go against a guy.

Blaize’s voice broke through my thoughts again when I heard my name over the speakers. “Tonight, we have our own Sam Montgomery doing what very few females do. She will be going up against one of our male contenders. I love seeing women kick ass. Can I get a hell yeah?”

The crowd erupted into one big hell yeah and a few even hollered my name. I’ve become a bit of a favorite here. Blaize looked at the clipboard in front of his face and a big grin spread across his face. Shit, he sees who I’m up against. Rocky and I made our way closer to the ring so he could finish prepping me. When he was done he pulled me in for a quick hug.

“Good luck Sam. Just remember what we’ve practiced and keep your hands up. Don’t let the bastard get a shot in. You got this.”

I grinned and replied, “Don’t worry Rocky; he won’t know what hit him.”

The crowd suddenly got quiet as Blaize set the clipboard down and placed the microphone back to his mouth. My nerves took over shaking me to my core. I didn’t think that was possible. I knew what was coming, I agreed to this. I was already nervous to begin with but slowly this was becoming reality. My reality. “Ok, I’m super fucking stoked about this match up and I think you guys will be too. We have the best of the best going at it tonight and for once, I’m not sure who to place my money on. So without further bullshit, our Sam Montgomery will be facing off against our own Cole Johnson. Fuck yeah, I can’t wait to see this one.”

The entire crowd began cheering and it was so loud I could hardly hear myself think. Did he really just say I was up against Cole tonight? No. I can’t do it. I can’t fight Cole. Who makes these lists? This has got to be a joke.

I felt my face turn pale as every ounce of blood evaporated from my pores and I looked to meet Cole’s eyes. His face was as pale as mine if not worse. I just kissed the guy last night and now, I would be getting ready to take him on in the ring. I’ve seen him fight, he’s the best there is around here and he’s fucking ruthless. I’ve never seen him lose a match.

Oh God, I can’t do this. I need a way out. Now. The walls are closing in as I hear our names being chanted throughout the building. I could handle fighting any other man in here, just not Cole. All eyes are on me and I suddenly feel as if I can’t move. Thank God we aren’t the first fight of the evening or I’m not sure I’d be able to escape and I’d have to face the inevitable. I know this because after Blaize called our names, he continued to call out every other pairing of the night and we were set to go last.

Jack Miller and Trey Jones just stepped into the ring and their fight had begun. I could easily take one of them on with nothing to hold me back. Jack used to train with us but he moved when his wife took a new job in Dallas and obviously joined a new gym. It was pretty crazy to seem them actually fighting in the cage and not just playing around. Both of them were good and it was hard to predict who would come out on top. But with Cole, it was different. Cole liked me, he’d made that clear on more than one occasion and I just, I can’t do this.

I snapped out of my thoughts as Cole inched closer to me. Shit. What does he want? Does he just want to gloat about how he’s about to throw my little body across the cage? I’ll fucking drag him to the ground now; I’m not in the mood.

He reached out to touch my arm and I jerked it away trying my hardest to get away from him. Far away if possible.  My breathing became ragged as I tried to figure out what I was going to do. Could I even beat him? Or would I become the laughing stock of this place?

“Sam, I’m freaked out about this too. I won’t go hard on you, ok?” Fucking unbelievable.

My blue eyes shot up to meet his and I scowled, “Are you serious Cole? Don’t fucking treat me like a porcelain doll. I’m not breakable ok?”

“Stop Sam, I don’t mean it like that. You know I don’t like the idea of you even wanting to fight a man in that damn ring. Why do you want to?”

“I’m sorry who are you? Don’t act like you can give me advice or tell me what to do. It’s my business not yours.”

Shit. What I said just hurt him. I can see it in his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that on any day would definitely be sparkling and full of life. “I care about you. You know that. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Tears stung behind my eyes as I walked towards the door to get some fresh air. Trey just won his match and the next pair was getting ready. Cole followed closely behind me and I wished like hell he wouldn’t have. I’m not ready to face him; I just want to get away.

I leaned against the brick wall, breathing in the cool November air. A lone tear slid down my cheek and I quickly brushed it away as Cole stood in front of me with his arms crossed over his bare chest.

“I’m a big girl Cole. I don’t need you to protect me. I’m good out there; you know it so quit giving me a hard time.”

“Sam, most twenty one year old women are in the bars, not fighting. I just want to know you, to figure you out. That’s all I’ve ever wanted but you won’t. Come on, we need to get back in there soon; Rocky and Blaize are going to be looking for us.”

I swallowed the rest of the tears that threatened to come up.
I can’t break down in front of Cole, I refuse to.
“I’m not most twenty one year old women Cole. There’s nothing to get to know, what you see is what you get.”

“I won’t hurt you in there. I swear I won’t.” His sincere voice sends a chill down my spine because I know he’s being honest. For once I wish he would just lie.

I started removing my gloves and dropped them to the ground. Cole looked at me with a confused look on his face. “You’re right. You won’t be able to hurt me in there because you won’t have the chance. I’m not going back inside. I’m leaving.”

I bent down to grab my gloves and he still stood there not knowing what to say. I started to walk away and he grabbed my arm. I tried hard to ignore any tiny bit of electricity that his touch sent through me. This time when he grabbed my arm, I didn’t pull away.

“Sam, don’t go. We’ll tell them to pair you with someone else.”

I stood there offended by what he just said. Was he serious? “Yeah, so I can look like I can’t handle the great and mighty Cole Johnson?” I pushed his chest so hard, he actually moved back. Rocky was going to be pissed at me, no doubt about that. I was leaving though and not even Cole with his baby blue eyes could stop me. I was a fool for starting to fall for him, my brain clearly wasn’t thinking. He didn’t know how I felt and it needed to stay this way. Forever.

“Whatever Sam, have it your way. Run away from it all. You could just talk to me you know. Tell me why you’re so uptight all the time. Tell me what’s going on with you. Tell me how to fix you. I can do that you know. I can be there for you in whatever way you need me.”

His eyes were pleading with me but I couldn’t listen to them. Instead I chose to pull the worst out of the situation and insert my foot a little more.

“Stop trying to get in my pants Cole, it’s not going to happen. You can’t fix me either, so quit trying. Give it up, this is all you get.” I shoved past him and began walking. Home was a few blocks or so away but I didn’t care. The sooner I got home, the sooner I got away from Cole. The sooner I got away from Cole, the sooner I would be able to try to forget any of this happened tonight. I stop for a second remembering my truck is here, why the hell am I walking?

Cole wasn’t one to give up easily, I already know this. He’s had his eye on me since I walked into Lou’s. He made snide remarks about me being a girl wanting to learn to fight until my fist connected with his jaw. I didn’t have time for his stupid ass comments. Then he shut up and slowly began trying to make advances at me. I shot down every single one of them, well until we kissed. The last thing I heard before I walked away was him yelling to me, “Dammit Sam, you know it’s not like that. Come back and talk to me.”

But I didn’t go back and talk. I kept walking away from him and the cage. Walking away meant I made no money for the night, but at least I saved myself from possibly embarrassing myself or ruining things with him. Fuck it. I’ve had enough of this bullshit. I don’t need any of this anymore. I can get by; no I
will
get by without Rocky and most importantly without Cole.