Broken #2 (The Broken Series - Book #2) (7 page)

Natalie
came to mind just then. I had been shocked to see her there, and sadly, her
presence―just knowing that she was there, had thrown me off my game
initially. I took a couple of pretty good hits at first, ‘
cause
she had arrived in my head, and I couldn't get her out. Trying to understand
why she was there clouded my thoughts. Was she there for me? That was all I
could think about initially. Had she heard about my fight, and wanted to come
and support me, without me even having to ask her? The thought sent my mind in
circles, until I got punched enough times to wake me up. It had been stupid; I
should have just ignored it, and focused on the fight, but I couldn't.
Thankfully, I regained my focus, and got my head back in the game, or I would
have been done for.

I
tried to look for her after the fight, and couldn't find her. She had left
without congratulating me, and that confused me even more than her presence at
the fight. I was starting to wonder if I had imagined the whole thing. Maybe
she hadn't been there at all, and I was just losing my marbles. It could be
true; I had certainly been obsessed with the girl for quite a while now.

There
had been so many girls out last night.
Swarms of them, all
over the fighters when we went to the bar.
I wondered if I would see
Natalie and Julie at the bar, but they never showed up. Maybe she had given up
drinking altogether. There had been this very pretty octagon girl who had gone out
with us last night, and seemed to never leave my side. I was relieved to find I
had not taken her home with me; my bed was empty. Craig had lost his fight last
night, so he had been swarmed with extra attention from the ladies trying to
cheer him up.

I
climbed out of bed and headed out of my room in search of food. Kyle was up
making breakfast, which seemed like perfect timing to me.

“Hey,
man, why don't you cook me some of whatever you have going on there, too?”

Kyle
laughed.
“Sure, no problem.
I guess bacon and eggs are
okay now that your fight is done.”

“Right
on; sounds awesome.”

I
headed to the fridge, and opened it to grab something to drink. Milk looked
like a good option, but I worried it would curdle in my stomach from all the
drinking. I went for a bottle of water instead, and brought it to the kitchen
table to drink. I downed half of it, not realizing just how dehydrated I really
was. I finished the bottle, and went back to get another one.

“A
little thirsty there, Jet?” Kyle laughed at the sight of me.

“Yeah,
I got hammered last night, man. How do you feel?”

“Not
bad, just tired mostly. It was a great fight last night; I'm glad I ended up
going.”

“Yeah,
it was good seeing you out doing something other than playing video games.”

“
Haha
,
real funny.”

“Seriously,
man, maybe you need a girlfriend.”

“Yeah,
right; don't be blasphemous.”

“Would
it be the worst thing in the world? All you do is play video games, man.”

“No
thanks. I prefer to have my women at night, and then be gone by morning.”

I
snorted. Kyle finished up with the bacon, and put it in a dish with a lid to
keep it warm. He put butter in a separate pan, and melted it for the eggs. He
went to grab the carton of eggs from the fridge, and set them by the stove.
Opening the carton, he took a few eggs out and cracked them against the side of
the pan. I was still thinking about what he said about girls, when the eggs
started sizzling.

“Hey,
man, did you happen to see Natalie at the fights? I saw her just before I got
in the cage, but then I couldn't find her after the fight. She just
disappeared.”

Kyle
was silent as he continued to cook the eggs, flipping them when they needed to
be. He hadn't responded to my question, and I was beginning to get annoyed.

“Kyle?
Did you see her?”

“Yeah,
I saw her, man. She was there with her whole art class or something. I think
they were there to take the pictures of the event.”

That
made sense―more sense than her coming to see
me, that
was for sure. I wondered what kind of shots she got with her camera.

“Did
you see her leave?”

“Jet,
what's with you and this girl? I don't get it.”

“What
do you mean?”

“I
mean why the hell do you care if she was there? She's this nothing little art
student who you banged a hundred years ago. Move on, already.”

“Are
you serious? Did you seriously just say that shit to me?”

“Whoa,
relax, Jet. I just don't get what your fixation with her is.”

“I
don't have a fixation.”

“Like
hell you don't.”

“Explain
yourself, Kyle, and please do it quickly.”

Kyle
took a minute before responding, probably to allow me to calm down before I
lost my temper with him. He placed a bunch of eggs on a plate, tossed a few
strips of bacon on it, and handed the plate to me. I didn't touch it. Instead,
I waited for him to speak.

“I
saw her talking to Brian; they were all buddy-buddy at the drink stand. He was
all over her, of course. She's nothing. I don't get where the interest is with
her. Why does she have all these guys in heat?”

“I'm
not in heat. She's a nice girl; she's different from the rest.”

“A nice girl?
Wow, that's new. Since when do you look for girls that are 'nice’?
”

“Kyle,
what is your problem? Why do you care who I spend time with?”

“I
care because she's just going to bring you down. Where are you going with
this?”

“I
don't know. But I assure you that Brian doesn't stand a chance; he’s hardly a
threat to me. I don't know if anything will come of Natalie and me, but I would
like to determine that for myself.”

“She
must have beer-flavored nipples, man, ‘cause there are hotter girls out there
than she is.”

“I
don't know about that. Natalie is stunning.”

Kyle
stared at me in disbelief. “She's not bad looking, but do you remember that octagon
girl from last night?”

I
nodded; I remembered all too well.

“She
was smoking hot. She was practically humping you in the locker room before your
fight, and then followed you around all night long. If I were you, I would have
bent her over somewhere and had my way with her. That's the kind of ass you
should be chasing. She would have been a good one to keep around for a few
nights.”

“I
wasn't interested.”

“You're
crazy. Did you see her face when you told her she wasn't coming home with you
last night? You broke the girl’s heart, to be sure.”

“She
will recover, I'm sure. She was probably on the next fighter after me. I'm a
dime a dozen in her world.”

Kyle
laughed. “Man, you are a real piece of work.”

“I
could snap my fingers, and a hundred girls like that would be by my side. It
gets old, man. Don't you find that boring now?”

“No
shot; I love it. I have no intention of settling down. I will take an octagon
girl home any day.”

I
chuckled. “Well you should have taken her home, then.”

“Yeah,
I wish. She only had eyes for you, my main man.”

I
started to dig into my breakfast feverishly. I was starving, and I was about
done with the conversation with Kyle. He had no clue what he was talking about,
and he was the reason girls like Natalie didn't trust guys like me. I was no
different; I had spent many years behaving like an idiot, too, and because of
that, Natalie may never spend any time with me. I hoped, however, to eventually
change her mind.

Chapter Nine

Natalie

“Julie,
you just have to leave, and that's that.”

“Come
on, Natalie, be reasonable. You can't expect me to leave after saying something
like that.”

I
laughed gleefully. “I didn't mean to get your blood pressure raised, but I had
to tell you in order to get you out of here.”

“Please,
let me stay. I will just peek around the corner.”

“Be
serious. If you want to see Jet without his clothes on, you just needed to be
at the fight the other night.”

“You
are so cruel.”

“I'm
sorry, but I can't have him here to draw with you drooling in the corner.”

“Are
you guys going to do the nasty after you're done?”

I
giggled at the thought. “Not likely.”

“Okay,
so how long am I expected to be gone this time?”

“I
don't know. Can I just text you? Are you going to be at the library?”

“Yeah, probably.
I
have an essay to write, that I was hoping to do in the comfort of my own home.
But I guess I will do it at the library.”

“Thank
you; you're the best.”

“No
problem.”

“Okay,
well I'm going to call him, and make sure he’s going to be here on time.”

“Sure,
you go ahead,” she had a small smile on her face. She was really enjoying
herself. I guess I couldn't blame her; she really did find my situation
amusing.

I
picked up my phone, and dialed Jet. He picked up right away.
 

“Hey,
Natalie, what's up?”

“Hi
Jet, I just wanted to make sure that you were still good to go for tonight?”

“Yes,
of course. What time do you need me there? I can come at any time.”

“You
are more than welcome to start heading over.”

“Sure;
do you think we could have some of that wine this time?”

I
laughed. “Sure we can. Actually, you're probably going to need it.”

He
laughed with me. “Great; now you're making me nervous.”

“No
need to be. I will see you soon.”

I
disconnected the call, and set my phone down. “He's on his way over, so get
going.”

“I
am so unimpressed with you. You're gonna get him naked eventually aren't you?
That's the end result, right?
The last drawing?”

I
smiled. “Yes, it is.”

“Well
tell me this then, Natalie; do you plan on drawing Jet when he's hard or soft?”

I
slapped her shoulder. “You're ridiculous! Stop talking like that.”

“If
I were you, I would get a little wood from him while you can.”

“Get
out!” I said, laughing.

I
went into the kitchen while she puttered
around,
collecting everything she needed to take to the library with her. She headed to
the door, and called over her shoulder, “Have fun!”

Reaching
into the cupboard over my head, I pulled out a bottle of wine. I grabbed a
bottle opener, and proceeded to open the bottle. I was willing to allow this
particular session to be a little more laid back, now that I had slept with
Jet. We were a little more comfortable together than the last time I drew him.
Plus, I was asking him to take off his clothes, so he would probably need to
relax.

It
wasn't long before I heard a knock at my door. I headed over to it, and swung
it open, finding Jet on the other side of it.

“Hi there.”

“Hey,
beautiful,” he came inside, and I closed the door behind him.

He
headed to the kitchen, where he found the wine bottle. “Do you mind?”

I
shook my head, and admired his form as he poured two glasses of wine. I walked
to the couch, and sat down, waiting for him to follow suit. He came to the
couch, and sat down beside me, handing me a glass of wine.

“This
is great stuff,” he said, admiring the wine he drank.

“Yes,
my roommate buys it. She knows her wine; I do not.”

“I
heard that you were at the fights, Natalie.”

I
stared at him, confused. “You saw me, Jet. You knew I was at the fights
yourself.”

“Yes,
you're right. That's what I meant. Why were you there?”

“I
had no idea your fight was that night. Had I known, I probably would never have
gone, but I had a photography class that night. We were essentially hired to
take the fight shots for the evening.”

“Yeah,
Kyle mentioned something to that effect. Can I see the photos? I would love to
see what you caught.”

“They
aren't ready yet. They have been downloaded to my computer, but I haven't had a
chance to work on them yet. So if you're asking to see them, you can't.”

He
stared at me. “Did you catch it, Natalie?”

I
wasn't quite sure I understood what he was talking about at first. Then it
clicked, and I smiled. “Yes, Jet, I got it.”

“Oh
my God, girl, you have to let me see that back fist.”