Fight Page 8

something like that.”

  “Okay, let’s go now. I can’t hear shit like this right now.

  I need to be focused.”

  The drive to where ever the fuck we’re going isn’t too

  long, but I have no idea where we are. We pull up to what

  looks like an abandoned warehouse. There are a lot of

  vehicles here, and for him to be so secretive about it, there

  must be many people that are good with keeping secrets. Nathan gets out and walks around to my side as I scan

  the parking lot for any sign of what we’re doing and there’s

  not a damn thing to tell me what I’m getting myself into. I

  trust Nathan and know he wouldn’t put me in harm’s way. Nathan opens my door, holding his hand out to me so

  I can step down out of his massive truck. “Stay close, okay?” “Okay. Can you tell me now?” I ask, as we walk quickly

  to a door on the side of the building. There are two

  ginormous bouncers on each side of the entrance. I want to

  say so bad that the sun is bright tonight. I mean it’s ten

  o’clock at night and these assholes are wearing sunglasses.

  What the fuck?

  “I’m going to introduce you to my friend Derek when we get inside. When I leave, I want you to stay with him at

  all times until I return.”

  “Why are you leaving me? Just fucking tell me.” I’m

  starting to get pissed off now. How is he going to bring me

  to this creepy place and then going to leave me with some

  guy I don’t even know?

  “Do you trust me?”

  I search his face for a moment. “Yes. I do.”

  “Okay,” he says, as we walk through what looks like the

  entryway and over to a guy. If I had to guess, this must be

  Derek. He’s a big guy. He must be at least six–and-a-halffeet and probably weighs two-fifty. His bicep is the size of

  my head. He looks like he should be guarding the front door.

  People are everywhere. I can see a set of doors in front of us

  and another off to the side. A few men are walking in

  through the side door, but the rest of us are packed in here

  like sardines.

  “Brittany, this is Derek. He’s going to be with you for a

  little while.”

  “Nice to meet you, Brittany. I’ve been hearing things

  about you for what seems like years.”

  “Really? I hope good things, but if it was truly years

  that would have made me a teenager and that would be a bit

  creeperish,” I say, looking to Nathan.

  “I like her, dude,” Derek laughs. “Keep her around.” Nathan looks at me. “I’m trying.” He looks a little

  nervous suddenly. “I have to go now. I’ll see you soon.” He

  kisses me.

  “Good luck,” Derek says. Nathan gives him a nod and

  walks through the side door that I’ve been seeing men walk

  through.

  “Is he a stripper?” I ask. Derek dies laughing. “So, you mean to tell me he hasn’t even told you why

  you’re here?” he says, irritably.

  “Nope. I think he was scared I wouldn’t give him a

  chance if I knew. How long have you known Nathan?” I ask,

  looking around the crowded room.

  “Let’s see… I think about eight years now. I met him in

  my last year of college. We were both in business. He’s a

  great guy, if you didn’t already know. Don’t let this scare you

  off.”

  A man starts speaking into a microphone in the front

  of the room. I try to see who it is, but of course everyone’s

  taller than me. There is a break in the crowd and I recognize

  him. It’s Jeff, the man who wants Alex to renovate a building

  for him. The guy that Nathan warned me to stay away from.

  He’s wearing a suit with a fucking bow tie. A bow tie. He is

  a rather handsome man, but that tie makes him look like a

  fucking idiot and the funny thing is, the way he’s acting, he

  thinks he’s king of this shitty castle. What the hell is this?

  This just seems to get weirder and weirder. I may have to

  give Nathan a piece of mind after this.

  “Thank you, everyone, for coming tonight. You’re in

  for quite a lineup tonight. The doors to the left and to the right of me are opening now.” He motions to each side. “Please take your time filing in. We will not start until everyone’s inside. After all you’ve all paid good money for this. Am I right?” He laughs. I hate his laugh. It’s so phony.

  What a fucking douchebag.

  The doors open and people start walking in. Derek

  doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to walk in just yet, waiting

  for the crowd to thin before we start walking to the doors. I can finally see more of my surroundings. Besides the

  old, musty smell of the building, it’s dimly lit. The entire

  inside, just as the outside, is brick. I see pipes going up into

  the wall and there are a few fans for ventilation I assume. I

  don’t like it here much. It reminds me of the creepy building

  in those Saw movies. I probably would never have come to

  a place like this if I’d known ahead of time where we were

  going. I’ll probably have nightmares as it is.

  “Hello, Brittany.” Jeff says a bit too nicely for comfort,

  looking over my body. Derek grabs my arm as if he’s staking

  claim on me. I don’t like it one bit, but I understand why

  he’s doing it and I’m grateful. Of course, he’d remember my

  name. Nathan had warned me about him. Maybe I need to

  listen to him sometimes. I won’t tell him that, though. I need to be civil. Alex could make a good size profit off

  the job for Jeff. “Hello.”

  “I would have never expected to see you here.” Jeff

  replies.

  “Nathan invited me, actually.” I smile. At the sound of his name, Jeff’s face falters for a moment, but recovers

  quickly.

  ‘’Ah. Yes, I bet he did.” What the fuck is that supposed

  to mean? “Well, enjoy the show, my dear,” he says, walking

  through the doors.

  I hear Derek sigh, and then walks me inside. “Sorry about him. He’s a prick.”

  “I’ve met him once before at Rogan. He wants Alex to

  do some work for him so I needed to be nice. Nathan has

  already warned me about him. I didn’t get it the first time,

  but I do now. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me.” “Believe me, I didn’t either. He wouldn’t have done

  that if Nathan was out here. I guarantee you that.” He

  chuckles.

  There are a few stragglers still coming in, but the lights

  begin to dim. People settle down. It’s not as loud now and I

  can see a space up front lit up by fluorescents. I don’t know

  what’s there. I still can’t see a damn thing.

  Suddenly I hear a sound that I’ve heard a few times

  before. Fuck me. Really? This is what brings in so much

  money for Nathan and is the reason he didn’t have joint

  custody with Tonya? I’m not sure how I feel about this at all.

  I’m not sure I even want to stay. I turn to leave and Derek

  says, “Just give it a chance. He might surprise you.”

  The sound of the bell ringing, getting the crowd all excited for a fight. I don’t want to see Nathan doing that. What if he was to be seriously hurt? Does he not think about his son before a match? I can’t fucking believe this. I think I’d rather him
be a fucking stripper. I seriously want to leave NOW.

  Derek must sense my feelings about this or maybe it’s the look on my face. “Please, Brittany, he’s been doing this a long time. He’s really good and he hardly ever loses a match. Come to think of it, I think he’s only lost three or maybe four total. He’s been in dozens of matches.

  “Why this? Why does he feel the need to do this?” “I’ll let him tell you that. Just stay so he can. If you left now how would you get home anyway? There’s no cell service here and that would be a long ass walk.” He chuckles.

  I sigh in defeat. “Fine. I’m not watching him though.”

  “You should. I bet you’d like it. Most of the girls here.” He motions around the room. “Are here to watch him fight. When they find out he has you here for him, they’re going to be pissed. Now isn’t that worth staying for?” He raises an eyebrow.

  “It’s almost as if you really know me Derek.” I smile.

  “I told you, Nathan has told me so much about you. He likes you a lot.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, our first match of the night will be between Nate and Big Jim.” The announcer says.

  I don’t know if I can watch this. The man against Nathan is a bit bigger and it worries me. Now it makes sense when he came to work with a black eye, has had bruises and scrapes on his arms. How can he make that much money? I wonder how many people will benefit off my man winning this fight? How much will Nathan make if he wins? This is fucking insane.

  The bell rings again and I see the men moving around the ring throwing punches and jabs and whatever else they do in these matches. I glance up a few times. Nathan is much faster than the other guy. I’m glad. I don’t want him to be hurt. I don’t want to have to whoop Big Jim’s ass.

  Nathan won his match and the crowd is going crazy. I could hardly watch it. I was so scared he was going to be hurt. I can see him standing in the ring with a huge smile on his face and he doesn’t seem to have a scratch on him, or any blood.

  Jeff walks toward us. “Brittany, how did you enjoy the match?” The grin on his face makes me want to throat punch him. I wonder what he’s getting at exactly. Did he think I’d be pissed or would leave?

  “Wasn’t he amazing!” I say excitedly. He looks over my face with disappointment.

  “That he was.” He sighs. “I wasn’t sure how you’d react once you found out he was an underground fighter.”

  “It’s pretty awesome. I will admit I was a bit worried, but I know he can handle his own. After all I have seen him naked. I know what he can do.” I wink. The look of utter disgust across his face is priceless. Derek chuckles behind me. He knows exactly what I’m doing.

  Jeff doesn’t reply. He turns and walks away but not before looking over my body once more. It sickens me. How can such a handsome man be such a snake. Nathan was absolutely right about staying away from him.

  “That was freaking hilarious.” Derek laughs. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jeff speechless. You totally got him.”

  I bow for effect and laugh. “Thank you.”

  “Come on. Let’s go congratulate your boy.” He takes my arm and leads the way. As we get closer, I can see a bunch of little groupies gathered around Nathan. Oh, hell no. I walk right through them. Some of them give dirty looks and that’s exactly what I intended to happen. One even calls me a bitch. She’s not wrong so I just smile and stand beside Nathan. He glances at me and then smiles that smile that melts my panties.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he says, searching my face for anything that might show that I don’t approve of his extracurricular activity.

  “Hey,” I say, smiling to show him I’m okay. I guess I’m okay. It’s definitely better than him doing porn. He leans in and kisses me. I can hear some whispers around us. I know they’re coming from the jealous bitches surrounding us. I pull him in closer and deepen the kiss.

  Nathan pulls away. “What did you think?”

  “Well, I was a little bit scared for you, but I think I’m okay with it.”

  “Really?” he says relieved. “I’m so glad to hear that. I was so worried you’d leave when you figured it out.”

  “I did think about it. This is intense and you could be hurt, Nathan. You’re not Superman.”

  “No. I am Batman,” he says mockingly and chuckles. I can’t help but laugh and smack him. “See if I can handle you, I can handle anyone.”

  “Always full of jokes in a serious situation.”

  Nathan looks to Derek. “Thanks for staying with her. man.”

  “No problem. It was quite fun.”

  Nathan frowns. “Oh yeah? How is that?”

  “I’ll let her explain it to ya. I’ll see you round man. Let me know when the next one is and I’ll be there. I need some more extra money.” He laughs, slapping Nathan on the back before walking away.

  “So, what’s Derek talking about?”

  “I’ll tell you on the way home.”

  “Okay. Are you ready to get out of here?”

  “Fuck yes I am.”

  Nathan chuckles. “Okay. Let me go collect my winnings and we can leave.”

  I follow Nathan down a narrow, dim hallway. The lighting in this place is horrible. A couple of them are even flickering. It’s so creepy. We reach the door and Nathan knocks.

  “Come in.”

  We walk in and Jeff is sitting behind a desk with stacks of money piled on top.

  “Good job tonight,” he says, not looking up from the money he’s counting.

  “I may have some conflicts with the next few fights. My ex-wife died and I’m hoping to get custody of my son. I’m not sure how it’s all going to work out just yet.”

  “Well, I need you here. Get it figured out.”

  What an asshole. He doesn’t even give his condolences or anything showing that he might care about anything other than the money.

  “I see how important the money is for Jeff. I can help in any way with Kayson,” I say, scolding Jeff. He looks up, not realizing I was even here.

  “That’s so nice of you, Brittany. See, Nathan, you’re covered,” he says, his eyes not leaving my chest.

  Nathan slaps his hand on the table in frustration at seeing Jeff gawking at me. “Okay. I need my money so I can take Brittany home.”

  Jeff hands Nathan a large roll of money. Nathan doesn’t count it. He puts it in his pocket and turns around taking my hand and leading me out the door without saying goodbye.

  “He’s a dickhead,” I say as we leave the warehouse.

  “Yeah, if the money wasn’t so good I probably would’ve quit by now.”

  “You didn’t even count it. How do you know he isn’t ripping you off?”

  “I guess I don’t. It’s hard to try and keep up with the head count of spectators and then the bets, too. I just leave it to him.” He shrugs.

  “Well you warned me to stay away from him, that he can’t be trusted then you’re basically trusting him with your winnings. Kinda makes no sense, Nathan.”

  “I don’t trust him with you. That’s what I meant.”

  “You’re right. I don’t like the way he gawks at me. It makes me feel gross.”

  “What was Derek talking about earlier?”

  We’re now in the parking lot, walking to his truck. I look around for anyone who could be listening. “He just said that you were good and it seemed like he wanted me to be angry that you fight. I simply told him I ‘ve seen you naked and know what you are capable of.” I grin.

  Nathan dies laughing. “You’re too much. You know that? I wish I could’ve seen his face. Did he say anything?”

  “Not a word. He just walked away.”

  Nathan helps me into his truck, making sure to grope my ass in the process.

  “So, do you want to go home?”

  “Where else would we go?”

  “Back to my house,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.

  “I don’t have any clothes to wear to work tomorrow. I didn’t know you wanted me to. I have no
thing. I don’t even have my birth control pills.”

  “Oh. Well yeah you need to go home then.” He chuckles.

  “I wonder how Jessa is doing with Kayson?”

  “I’m sure she’s fine. He was asleep when she got there. I’m sure he hasn’t even woken up. If I had to guess, I bet she’s asleep, too.”

  I laugh. ‘’You’re probably right.”

  “Y’all sure are close. Aren’t you?”

  “We are. I’m so glad I ran into her that day. If I hadn’t her and Alex wouldn’t be together and she wouldn’t be my best friend.”

  “Everything happens for a reason I guess.”

  “I believe that, too. How does that work with us?” I ask.

  “Well. If I hadn’t worn you down, we wouldn’t be enjoying our time together. You’d probably still hate me.”

  “You think you wore me down?” I giggle.

  “Absolutely I did. I mean I am a loveable guy. You just needed to realize that.”

  “Wow. You’re awfully full of yourself. I guess you’re kinda right though. I was thinking the other night that maybe if you hadn’t been so fucking annoying we could’ve possibly been together longer by now.”

  “Then you have liked me for a while then huh?”

  “I wouldn’t go that far. I’ve always thought you were hot, but you always drove me crazy. Jessa’s the one that told me I needed to stop being such a bitch and give you a chance. It didn’t take much longer for me to realize that for myself.” I shrug.

  “So I guess I owe Jessa a thank you then. Do you really think she’s asleep?”

  “I don’t know. I could text her and see. Why? I’m sure Kayson’s fine. She would’ve called if anything went wrong.”

  “I was thinking of coming in for a little while if you want me to?”

  “I don’t know. I think you need to get home and shower. You stink.” I crinkle my nose for effect.

  “Thanks, Brittany. I love you too.” It goes extremely quiet suddenly. Time seems as if it’s standing still.

  I look at Nathan and he’s as white as a ghost. He sneaks a look at me. “I didn’t mean.”

  I cut him off. “I know what you meant, Nathan. It’s okay. Breathe.”

  He releases the breath he’d been holding. “I have no idea what to even say after that.”

  “I said it’s fine. You should see your face. Have you ever seen that movie Powder?”

  “Yes. I have. Why? Oh. Never mind. I hate you.”