Authors: Skyla Madi
I stroll to Dad’s office, wishing I was back in bed sleeping. I step in and close the door behind me. Dad’s office is his sacred place and I feel uncomfortable being here surrounded by memorabilia of his favorite martial artists and boxers in glass cases on the wall. Mom wouldn’t let him have a ‘man cave’ at home, so he started one at work. Sometimes I worry he takes things too far.
“Hey, Dad.” I say, dropping into a comfy chair opposite his desk.
He rises from his chair and shrugs on a jacket. “Olly, I need a favor.”
His words leave an unsettling feeling in my stomach, or maybe it’s the use of my nickname. Yuck. “...okay.”
“I need you to keep an eye on the gym for me today. Derrick is away on holiday and I have no one to run this place. I have a few doctors’ appointments for random tests.” He flicks his wrist like it’s no big deal and suddenly I become concerned. “But I should be back in a few hours.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is fine. Your mother is just worried about my health.” He rolls his big, puppy dog eyes and I smile.
“Sure, I can do that for you.”
“You’re a good kid.” He stretches his arms out to me for a hug and I jump into them. His arms wrap around me and I’m engulfed by that typical father smell. I don’t even know how to describe it. Regardless, it’s comforting. “I’d never put this stress on you if your brother was here.”
“It’s not stress, Dad. It’s only for a day. I think I can handle it.”
He hands me a long list of all the things I need to do—things that he refuses to hire people to do when he opened this joint up when I was little. Things like; wiping down the equipment, collecting towels, emptying spit buckets, evaluating machines and loads of other bullshit jobs my dad shouldn’t have to do. He adjusts a photo of my brother and me as children before placing a soft kiss on my cheek. “Thank you.”
I follow him from the office and as we cross the gym floor to the front door, I see Seth.
He’s here.
He unzips his black hoodie and throws it onto a vacant chair. His fingers curl around the hem of his plain, white t-shirt and he pulls it over his head, exposing a delicious, never ending amount of muscle. His lips are pursed into a thin line as he takes to the bag bare handed. The way his fists connect with raw power and anger has me thinking something is wrong with him. He shows his teeth slightly each time his fists slam the bag and his brows are wrinkled, aging him. Pushing him to the back of my mind, I continue to walk Dad to the car and I wave him off before re-entering the gym. My phone vibrates and I pull it from my back pocket.
FROM: BLADE 8:59 A.M.
This is the last time I’m warning
you. Stop seeing that guy.
Wow. There’s nothing like a text from an ex telling you how to live your life to put you in a bad mood. I feel my face frowning and it hurts. I hate frowning.
TO: BLADE 9:00 A.M.
Leave me alone.
I feel my phone vibrating over and over in my pocket, but I don’t answer it. I have shit to do. It’s only nine a.m. and there are already a few towels littering the equipment. I do a quick circle of the floor, picking up towels and wiping down damp equipment. Soon, I’ll have to spray them so they’re clean and sterile for the next person.
Joy.
I purposely left the training rooms and boxing area for last. Secretly, I’m hoping Seth will be finished by the time I have to go to that section. I don’t want to feel...whatever I feel when I’m around him. I’m not that kind of girl, but he makes me wish I was… and I hate it. It makes me feel cheap and… dirty.
Reluctantly, I enter his area. I do a quick scan and thankfully there are no towels. I turn on my heel, smiling. I think it’s time for a well deserved break in Dad’s office.
“Wait,” Seth’s deep voice calls out to me and I freeze as dread slithers through my stomach.
I turn to face him and his expression would be completely sexy if the look in his eyes isn’t so unreadable. The white towel he holds in his hand falls to the ground. “You forgot one.”
I glance at the towel and then back to Seth’s stern face. I have no idea what he’s doing or what game he’s playing. Slowly, I make my way over to him. His face is unapologetic, as usual. I frown. There’s no lip twitch or warmth to his gaze. He must be
really
pissed off. Unfortunately for him I don’t feel like doing what he says—not today. I’m pissed off, too. I might have picked up the towel if another male hadn’t already demanded me to do something—or to stop doing something in Blade’s case. I stand before the huge, hunk of muscle and I’m in no way suddenly immune to the authority that’s pouring off of him, but I don’t like the way he spoke to me. I press my index finger against his hard, moist chest, doing my best to ignore the electrical current shooting through the tip of my finger and I produce my best ‘fuck you’ smile. “Pick up your own damn towel.”
I don’t walk away, even though I planned to in my head. I can’t and I have no fucking idea why. He’s in my personal space again and I don’t think I’m going to be able to escape this time. Our eyes stay locked, keeping each other in place. His hand finds my hip and my breath catches in my throat as he grips it, pulling me toward him. I’m breathless over his touch and he doesn’t seem the least bit affected by me. It feels like my chest is about to explode as my heart stutters, stops, then picks up again at an erratic pace. I stare at his lips, knowing exactly how they feel against my own skin. His face is still mad, but a hint of pleasure flares in his dark eyes as I go with his hand and step a little closer to his body. The finger I had on his chest flattens so my whole palm presses firmly against his flesh and I can feel his heart beat, pounding as fast as mine is. The silence between us is charged with electricity and a tingling begins at the center of my stomach, radiating south.
Beside us, a woman clears her throat and I jump, unaware that I’ve completely lost track of where I am. Seth’s jaw tenses perceptibly when he shifts his gaze to her. The girl is blonde and beautiful, definitely supermodel material. Her tight blue dress clings perfectly to her build and accentuates her medium sized fake boobs. Yep. She’s definitely here for him. She bats her long, black eyelashes at him, but even I can see the blue eyes that glower at him from underneath them. I look at Seth, but he doesn’t remove his hand from my hip and now that she’s here I decide it’s making me uncomfortable. I pry his fingers from my hip and he drops his hand back to his side. I turn away from them and try my hardest to appear casual as I stroll out of that section. He speaks in a low tone to the girl and she replies in a voice that is so winey and sugary it makes me nauseous. My casual steps turn fast as I move my legs as fast as they’ll go—without calling it running—all the way to my dad’s office. Once I’m there, I close the door and lean against it. Never in a million years would I have thought Dad’s creepy MMA shrine office would bring me comfort. I feel pressure on my hip, like his hand is still there and it’s radiating pleasure through my entire being. I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. When I regain my composure, I make my way over to the window. Seth is walking toward the shower room with his clothes in his hand and the girl is leaving the gym with lines of mascara running down her face.
Poor girl.
I truly feel sorry for her and the one that came in for him yesterday. I never want to be one of those girls. Does he even make it clear beforehand that he doesn’t want anything to do with them after sex—assuming that they’ve even had sex? I shake my head. Of course he’s had sex with every girl that has come in for him so far. Seth seems like a very sexual person and probably has a sexual appetite that I would never be able to sate. I fall into my dad’s chair and place my feet on his big, oak desk. I ponder what I’m going to do tonight when I leave here. Selena isn’t going to want to sit around watching movies again. Even last night she was finding it difficult to sit in one place. I normally spend my nights waiting for Blade or with Blade. We usually watch movies and cook together. Sometimes, we’d play cards or a board game… I realize I’m stuck in a comfort zone—a routine. The thought of going home to nothing terrifies me. It makes me anxious and so I decide to do something completely uncharacteristic of me. I can’t break my ‘Blade routine’ at home by myself. I need to go out. I pull my phone out of my pocket and clear all the missed calls from Blade off my notifications bar. Then, I text Selena.
TO: SELENA TIME: 9:40 A.M
.
Be at mine at 10 tonight.
We’re going out!!
She replies instantly.
FROM: SELENA TIME: 9:40 A.M.
Shit yeah! Count me in!
Love you, O.
Xo
At the gym, I stayed in Dad’s office until he returned. We didn’t have many people come in today so nothing was out of place. Seth left after his shower and I managed to pay a young boy seven dollars to wipe the machines down with an environmentally friendly antiseptic while his mom ran the treadmill.
“Thanks again, Olly.” Dad says as I open the door to leave his office.
“Anytime, Pops. You know I’m here whenever you need me.”
I go to exit the door, but his voice stops me. “Have you thought about dinner on Sunday?”
Crap.
It’s awkward when someone takes you up on an empty gesture. I want to go to dinner at my parents house, I do, but I don’t want to deal with them both teaming up on me to move back home just to fill their empty nest.
“I promise I won’t harass you about moving back in.” He says, stuffing his hand into the pockets of his sweat pants. “I can’t speak for your mother though. You know how she is.”
I sigh. “Okay, I’ll come to dinner, but tell Mom that she doesn’t have to go all out and a small dinner will be fine. Also, if you could tell her to keep the childhood movies boxed I’ll be more likely to show up.”
Dad smiles. “I’ll see what I can do. Love you.”
He turns to look out the window.
“Love you, too.” I say as I close the door behind me.
***
I hate clubbing. The last time I went clubbing was Selena’s (real) birthday six months ago and because I don’t usually go clubbing my range of sexy, short dresses is limited. I have to choose between a black halter neck and a coral off the shoulder cocktail dress. Personally, I’d rather not wear either.
I throw both of the dresses on the floor and fall back onto my bed with a loud sigh. The sun went down an hour ago and Selena is meant to be here three hours from now. I wonder if she’ll hate me if I cancel. A knock on my door pulls me from my thoughts. I throw a dressing gown on over my black, lacy underwear and I stroll to the door. When I open it, I see Selena’s make-up free face—that’s a first for her. She doesn’t need make-up, she has one of those naturally beautiful faces. You know, the ones that have thick eyelashes, high cheekbones, plump lips and a flawless complexion to boot.
“You’re early.
Very
early.”
She shrugs. “I got too excited about tonight. Stop staring at me. I’m hideous.”
I choke on a laugh as she pushes past me. Selena pulls along a small, purple suitcase behind her.
“Did your dad finally kick your ass to the curb?” I ask, closing the door.
“No, this is for tonight.” Selena wheels the suitcase into my bedroom and I follow closely behind her. She takes one look at the dresses on the floor and smiles at me. “Thank God you’re not wearing either of those.”
Feigning insult, I demand. “What’s wrong with them?”
“They’re from last year. That’s what.”
She unzips her suitcase and pulls a short and no doubt tight, red dress from it. I see it and the only thing that comes to mind is:
WHORE.
“I
am not
wearing that.”
She pouts. “Why not?”
“Because it’s too outrageous... I want to have fun and talk to boys not wind up in a ditch by the end of the night.”
She rolls her eyes. “God, you sound just like your mother.” I open my mouth to protest, but she raises her hand. “You need to relax. This is tame compared to what other girls will be wearing, trust me.”
Selena holds the dress out in front of her and on closer examination I may have over-exaggerated. It isn’t that bad. I mean, the small cut out in between the breasts wasn’t too exposing, I suppose. And I assume Selena isn’t really giving me a choice. I took the dress and drop my dressing gown.
“Look at you, you hottie!” Selena giggled. “Going to the gym is really paying off. You’re so fit and you’ve managed to keep those big ole’ boobies of yours perky! Maybe I should start going to the gym.”
She steps forward, her hands outstretched to touch me and I swat her away, unable to keep a laugh from my lips. “You’re such a lesbian, stop it.”
I slide into the dress and have Selena zip it up. When it’s on and I do a little twirl, her mouth drops open and she clasps her hands over her chest.