Raw Passion (MMA Sports Romance) (8 page)

Vanessa suddenly tensed up.  "Childlike wonder?"

"Did I say something wrong?" Colin asked. 

"It's just that my boyfriend...I mean my ex-boyfriend used to make fun of me for being childish," Vanessa admitted. 

"Damn, that's cruel," Colin remarked. 

"Yeah.  He could be that way sometimes," Vanessa said. 

"I'm not like that.  I wasn't being cruel.  I was actually paying you a compliment," Colin replied. 

"Oh yeah?" Vanessa asked. 

"Yeah.  It's rare to meet someone that's not jaded these days.  Not disaffected.  But you aren't.  And in this day and age, that's rare."

Vanessa meanwhile seemed to be caught up in another train of thought.  "Now that I think about it, my boyfriend was awfully cruel a lot of the time."

That comment seemed to come out of left field to Colin.  "Ok.  I'm not sure where that came from."

"Sorry.  I'm sure me complaining about my ex is the last thing you want to hear.  It's just that the break up is still so new and painful," Vanessa explained. 

"Trust me, I understand what it's like to have a grease fire of a break up, but--"

Vanessa then let her emotions get the best of her again and interrupted Colin.  "It just sucks, doesn't it?   I mean, you give your heart away to someone.  You start thinking that life can't get any better.  Then before you know it, your life can't get any worse when you catch the man you love getting it on with his assistant."

"Again, I'm sorry about what happened to you.  But maybe we should talk about something else," Colin suggested. 

"You're right.  Of course.  I mean here we are on our way to dinner.  It's time to press on forward," Vanessa remarked. 

"Now let's have a good time," Colin said. 

Vanessa smiled.  "I like the sound of that."

"I hope you're hungry," Colin insisted. 

"What's on the menu?" Vanessa wondered. 

"Ever been to Jake's Steaks?" Colin asked. 

Vanessa's reaction was decidedly less enthusiastic than Colin expected. 

"What's the matter?   Did I say something?" Colin asked. 

"No, it's not that," Vanessa replied.  "It's just that my ex-boyfriend and I used to go to Jake's all the time.  We loved that place."

Colin started to get frustrated.  "Wow, another mention of your ex-boyfriend.  Who would have thought?"

"You know what?   I'm not going to mention him again," Vanessa stated.

"Promise?" Colin asked. 

"I'm actually not usually like this," Vanessa replied.  "Normally, I've very well adjusted--happy, joyful, and all smiles."

"Well, it's never too late to get that spark back.  And what better time to do it than now?" Colin said. 

"I know exactly what you mean.  Now I'll tell you what, you're going to see a whole new me," Vanessa explained. 

"I can't wait to see that," Colin admitted. 

"So, what movie do you want to see after dinner?" Vanessa asked. 

"I was thinking 'The Comeback,'" Colin answered. 

Vanessa got really quiet again. 

"Uh oh.  What now?" Colin wondered. 

"Nothing.  Forget about it," Vanessa remarked. 

"It's something about your ex-boyfriend again, isn't it?" Colin asked. 

Vanessa nodded.  "My ex-boyfriend couldn't stop talking about that movie from the moment he saw the trailer."

Colin sighed.  But that wasn't the end of Colin's frustration for the evening.  The rest of the night went no better.  Despite Vanessa's assurances that her ex-boyfriend wouldn't crop up in conversation anymore, he was all too present in her thoughts.  Amazingly enough, despite the fragile state of Colin's heart, he looked well adjusted in comparison to Vanessa.  So it was with a sense of relief that Colin and Vanessa cut the date short before the wheels came off any further. 

***

After the date Colin just had, suddenly a morning of grueling MMA training didn't seem so bad.  He'd at least have an outlet to take out his frustrations on.  But his godmother was out gardening again, meaning there was no escaping conversation.   

"I heard you went on a date last night," Sarah said. 

Just the topic Colin was hoping to avoid. 

Still, Colin was surprised that Sarah knew about his date.  "How did you hear that?"

"Are you kidding?   It's amazing the things you hear when you go to tai chi," Sarah joked.  "Not to mention I'm friends with Vanessa Cambridge's mom."

"Don't bother getting excited.  It didn't go well," Colin said. 

"Really?   Because Vanessa's mother told me that Vanessa had nothing but nice things to say about you," Sarah replied. 

"Yeah, because I wasn't the one that spent the whole night talking about my ex," Colin said. 

"Ouch," Sarah replied. 

"Exactly," Colin said. 

"So I guess that means you're not itching to go on another blind date then," Sarah replied.

"You don't really have a blind date suggestion for me, do you?" Colin said. 

"No.  I was just joking," Sarah replied. 

"Oh thank God," Colin said. 

"I was thinking that you should try out one of those online dating sites though," Sarah replied. 

Colin couldn't believe it.  "You're suggesting online dating to me?"

"Oh yeah.  The 800 question survey they make you fill out when you join is a real pain, but I've had a bunch of interesting dates since I joined the site," Sarah revealed.  

"Wait a minute.  You've already been on some internet dates?" Colin asked, shocked. 

This was all news to Colin.  In her retirement, Sarah just seemed to exist to garden and do tai chi.  Who knew she had such a secret life going?   Besides, ever since Sarah lost her husband of twenty years to cancer six years before, Sarah had never brought up dating again.  Suddenly Colin had a lot of questions. 

Sarah meanwhile was completely nonchalant.  "Yeah.  Of course.  Nothing serious though.  I mean ever since Joe died, I can't imagine falling in love with another man again.  But I've had some good fun with some of these guys."

"Sarah, what else aren't you telling me about your life?" Colin wondered. 

"Colin, this isn't about me.  It's about you.  And I think you should really give this internet dating a try.  You'd be surprised who you'll meet," Sarah insisted.  "For example, my next date is taking me spelunking."

Chapter Ten

Julie

Julie had been avoiding online dating.  Even though she had a few friends that had met guys online, Julie always thought it was a last resort.  It just seemed so unnatural to have a computer algorithm play matchmaker.  Generally math equations didn't tend to be a recipe for romance in Julie's eyes.  But how much worse could a dating site really do?

Still, it was one thing to sign up for a dating site.  It was another for Julie's sister to walk into Julie's room as she was doing it.  

"What's up?" Melissa asked. 

Julie nearly jumped she was so startled.  She hadn't even seen her sister approach.

"Just messing around on my computer," Julie said, as she closed her laptop so Melissa couldn't see the screen. 

Melissa chuckled.  "Remind me to never ask you to keep any secrets."

Julie furrowed her brow.  "Why?"

"Because you'd be awful at it," Melissa said.  "Now, what's on your computer that you don't want me to see?"

"Alright, just don't laugh," Julie replied. 

"Damn, this must be good," Melissa joked. 

"I'm being serious.  Don't laugh, alright?" Julie asked. 

"Ok," Melissa agreed. 

Melissa then opened up her laptop again, revealing the dating site. 

"Seriously?" Melissa said, shaking her head. 

"I know.  I never thought I'd do it," Julie admitted. 

"No.  I meant seriously, this is what you were embarrassed about?" Melissa asked, unfazed. 

"You're reacting a lot differently than I thought," Julie said. 

Melissa then pulled out her phone and loaded up her online dating profile.  

"That's because I signed up a couple of days ago," Melissa admitted.

Julie couldn't believe it.  Not just that Melissa had already signed up, but also that she'd kept it from Julie. 

"Look at you, getting all sneaky on me," Julie said. 

"Like you said, it's embarrassing," Melissa replied.  "But it's a lot less embarrassing now that you're doing it too."

"They say great minds think alike," Julie said. 

"I think it's more like desperate minds think alike," Melissa replied. 

"Let's just go with what I said," Julie insisted. 

"Yeah.  I like your reasoning better," Melissa admitted. 

"So, any bites yet?" Julie asked. 

"None that get me crazy excited," Melissa said.   

"Well, that hardly inspires confidence," Julie replied. 

"It's still early though," Melissa said.

"Yeah.  If there's one thing I've learned about life, it's that anything can happen," Julie replied. 

***

Julie couldn't get the conversation she'd had with her sister out of her head.  It was amazing the twists and turns Julie's life was taking recently.  She found herself doing things she never thought she'd do--like signing up for an online dating site.  Then again, what else was she suppose to do?   Her love life was in shambles.  She was trying to recover from back to back bad break ups.  She was in a dead end job.  And she lived at home with her mom and sister.

It was almost unfathomable to believe that Julie thought she had life figured out just a year ago.  She used to be so confident, but now humility had become a huge part of Julie's life--although it wasn't by choice.  The life lessons started piling up for Julie in short supply, and it was clear she was still trying to figure life out.  More than anything, one thing was becoming increasingly clear--the older Julie got, the more it seemed like the rules to life were being rewritten on the fly. 

At least she wasn't alone.  She had her sister to talk to.  And together Julie and Melissa tried to piece together their lives.  They sat on the back patio and ruminated about the future.  

"Do you ever wonder what our lives will be like in ten years?" Melissa asked. 

"Are you kidding?   I don't even want to think of what surprises tomorrow will bring, no less what will happen a decade from now," Julie answered. 

"Oh come on.  You may meet someone at random today, fall in love, and live happily ever after," Melissa said. 

"I'd be afraid if I ever put my head that far in the clouds I'd never be able to pull it out again," Julie replied. 

"Still, there has to be someone out there for us...right?" Melissa said, with shaky confidence at best.

"Well wherever he is, he can feel free to show up anytime now," Julie replied.

"Patience Julie," Melissa said. 

"Are you kidding?   You know that's not my strong suit.  Besides, I'm twenty-six years old.  Almost everyone I'm friends with is already married.  Some even have kids.  I think I've waited enough," Julie explained. 

"We've both waited long enough, but the world obviously has different plans for us," Melissa said. 

"I know.  Wouldn't it be nice if our plans matched up with life's plans just once though?" Julie asked. 

"No argument here," Melissa said. 

"I'd prefer no argument at all.  I'm ready for joy anytime now," Julie replied.

"Isn't it funny to think that when we were younger, we thought we had life figured out?" Melissa laughed. 

"Hey, it's easy to act like you know everything when you've never had your heart broken," Julie said. 

"True.  Still, I just always thought I'd know a little more about life at my age," Melissa joked. 

***

That night Julie had another dream.  In the dream, Julie was being pleasured by a serious hunk.  She'd found the man she'd been looking for.  Her dream had come true.  And with it, her wildest fantasies were being fulfilled.  Julie felt complete.  And she couldn't have been happier.   

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," the Dream Man said, giving Julie the kind of kisses that took her breath away.    

"I didn't think it was possible for you to get any sexier, but you've just found a way," Julie replied. 

"You know, when I look at you I feel that my life can't get any better," the Dream Man admitted. 

"I have one idea to make it better," Julie suggested.  She then whispered in his ear. 

"Wow.  I like the way you think," the Dream Man said, with a smile. 

"Feel free to add some thoughts on your own," Julie said. 

The Dream Man then gave Julie a deep kiss. 

"Or, just improvise," Julie said.  

"Sorry.  I can't help myself around you.  I've never felt like this before.  Can't you feel it?" The Dream Man asked.