“You can’t say no, Olivia,” Maddi counters. “It’ll just be us and I’m taking you to one of my favorite places. I know the owner, the manager, the security—everybody. We can drink and have fun without any hassles, and besides, Selena really needs a drink right now.”
“Or two,” she adds meekly.
“Why?” I ask.
“Jackson and I are going through a bit of a rough patch and I kicked him out of our room.” She says it like it’s no big deal and quickly shrugs her shoulders.
My mouth drops open. Should I be offended I’m only finding out about this now? After Maddi? “You two broke up?”
She shrugs again, slumping into herself. “Yes—no—I don’t know. I don’t even know if we were dating in the first place.”
I step forward. “Sel, why didn’t you call me?”
“Because I thought he’d fix it by now.”
“Jackson has always been difficult,” Maddi says, slipping from her stool. “And he’s easily the most fucked up guy I know, but don’t completely rule him out. He’s also passionate and caring. He’d never do anything to hurt you on purpose, that I know for sure.”
“How do you know?” Selena asks, sounding hopeful.
“I just do, now come on, are we going to sit around and talk or are we going out?”
Maddi grins at me, her light brown eyes gleaming. How can I turn her down? She’s my sister-in-law after all, and I’m sure Seth won’t mind me hanging out with Maddi for the night. I can’t let Selena deal with this all alone, either. She needs my support and if that means hanging out at a bar against my will, then so be it.
I exhale and turn around. “Give me ten minutes.”
***
Seth
I chew my toothpick and twist a tiny piece of paper between my fingers, doing anything I can to distract myself from reaching over Matt and punching Don in the mouth. I keep my eyes on the table, ignoring all of the flashing lights and eager people. If there’s one thing I hate about going pro, it’s the attention. The odds of me saying or doing something stupid are high. One wrong word and I’ll be plastered all over newspapers and magazines—the internet, too. I feel Jackson close to my back. His tension is rolling off him in waves and I know it has nothing to do with our current situation. Selena kicked him out and clearly expects him to apologize first. I don’t know what happened between them, but I do know Jackson has never said the word ‘sorry’ in his entire life, even when he’s to blame.
“What do you think, Seth?” a husky, feminine voice asks.
Her voice is a lot like Olivia’s, and that in itself is enough to make me lift my gaze to the sea of reporters in front of me. I look at the girl holding her tape recorder the closest. Although she sounds like Olivia, she sure doesn’t look like her. Her hair is auburn and cropped at her ears, like a little pixie. She blinks at me, waiting for my response.
Fuck. I have no idea what she’s talking about. To buy time, I reach up and pull the toothpick from my mouth.
“Don called you out, bro,” Jackson mutters, kicking my chair.
I drop the paper I’m twisting in my hand and fiddle with my toothpick instead. “Don has no idea what he’s talking about.” The reporters snicker. “I made it here on my own. He made it here on my name, because he was the guy I beat to get here.”
“While that may be the case,” Don responds, “I still beat you last round, kid, and I’m sure you have the hurt pride to prove it—not to mention it was video recorded.”
I peer around Matt, my vision blurring a little red around the edges. If I’m not careful, I’m going to jump this table and beat his ass right now. “You cheated, and who the fuck are you calling kid, you motherf—”
“As you can see,” Matt interrupts, tapping a small white card against the table and cutting me off. I lean back in my chair and stuff my over-chewed toothpick into my mouth.
“Seth and Don still have a lot of stuff to sort out, and you can witness it all on July 16th.”
I grind the toothpick between my teeth and flick it with my tongue.
Matt glances sideways at me before he continues. “Seth is a little on the cranky side tonight. He found out earlier that he and Don will be training in the same center. This morning, Don was early for his session and walked in on an… intimate… moment between Seth and his wife, Olivia.”
The spectators ‘ohh’ at me and wolf whistle, like they have any right to be privy to that kind of information. Slowly, I turn my head in Matt’s direction. What has that go to do with anything?
I hear Don chuckle. “Seth’s a lucky man…”
I know exactly where this is going. I clench my fists and tighten my jaw. The toothpick snaps in half between my teeth.
“…Olivia has quite the ass.”
I react without thought and push off of the table, throwing my chair back and launching to my feet. Don does the same, and all with a huge fucking smile on his face. Jackson’s arm comes up under my armpit and around my shoulder blade, the other around my chest as Matt rises to his feet. He angles his body towards me and extends his palms in a calming gesture. His hands get closer and closer and I shove Jackson off before shrugging away from Matt.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” I growl and it takes every fiber of willpower in my being to turn around and not knock them both on their asses.
I push past Jackson and storm down two small steps before pushing out a side door and into a hallway. Before the door closes, I hear the reporters go crazy, bombarding Matt and Don with excited questions. Of course they entertain them like fucking show ponies. Jackson follows me out and I begin to pace. Forward seven steps. Turn. Seven more steps. I’m lucky Darryl isn’t here. He’d be chewing my ass off this very second if he was… or maybe he’d be proud that I walked out without hitting anyone.
“Well,” Jackson exhales, leaning against the wall. He rubs the back of his tattooed neck. “That went a lot better than I expected.”
I stop pacing and frown at him. Jackson seems pleased with the outcome of the conference. His sparse upper lip is quirked, like he’s trying not to smile. Relax, I tell myself. You got out of there without hitting anybody. Quickly, my frown turns into a smile and I laugh under my breath as I unclench my fists “You thought I’d hit him?”
“Shit yeah, I would have.” He bends his leg at the knee and completely relaxes against the wall while I stuff my hands into the pockets of my jeans.
“Darryl is going to be pissed,” I say.
Jackson shrugs. “Nah, we managed to get out without costing you your MMAC contract so I think he’ll be happy regardless of what happened.”
I nod. “He’s playing us, you know.”
“Who? Darryl?”
I shake my head. “Matt. He’s stirring us up like wild dogs, knowing we can’t touch each other until we’re in the cage.”
“This is his blockbuster fight of the year, he wants it to be intense. I don’t know why he goes out of his way to piss you off, though. I mean, all Don’s gotta do is look at you and you want to throw down.”
I smirk, pulling my phone out of my pocket. “Yeah, well, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, right? He wants us to be at each other’s throats right up ‘til the fight.”
And I get the feeling that’s not going to be a problem. I glance down at my screen and see two missed calls and one text message from Olivia. I open the message:
FROM: OLIVIA. TIME: 6:26 P.M
Hey! I’m not sure when you’re coming home,
but don’t freak out if you arrive and I’m not there.
Maddi and Selena have kidnapped me for a girls’ night.
We’re at Salem’s, if you want to stop by. <3
“You’re frowning,” Jackson says. “What’s up?”
I lock the screen and drop it back into my pocket. I hope they know what they’re doing. Olivia and I have a formal dinner with the MMAC at nine.
“Maddi and Selena have taken Olivia out for a girls’ night.”
He rolls his eyes and pushed off of the wall. “So what are we doing tonight?”
Jackson is implying a lot with his words, but he’s out of his mind if he thinks I’m going out. I’m done with the club scene. What’s the point in it? I can get drunk, have sex, and save money in the comfort of my own home. Besides, there’s no way I’m leaving Olivia out in Vegas alone with my ex-stripper sister and Selena.
“We’re going to meet them at Salem’s.”
Jackson shakes his head. “Nah, man, things ain’t good between me and Selena right now.”
Normally, I brush off Jackson’s ‘Selena’ troubles, mostly because she’s irritating, but I’ll bite this time. “What’d you do?”
“What’d I do?”
I nod, half smiling. “Yeah.”
He shrugs and his stare falls to the ground. I watch him ponder for a second, working his jaw tightly. It won’t surprise me if he decides to pass on telling me. He’s not one to really share his problems… not until Selena, anyway.
He exhales and lets himself fall back against the wall. “She told me she loved me.”
I inhale sharply, making a noise one would make when they’ve cut their finger. Suddenly, I feel bad for Selena, but surely she has to know that Jackson isn’t the kind of guy to get heavily involved with a girl… hasn’t he told her that? Hasn’t he set up clear lines to define the type of relationship he originally wanted with her? He wants sex. All he ever wants is sex.
“I just looked at her, Seth, like a deer in headlights and barely nodded.” He slaps his hand over his face and groans. “How could I be so stupid?”
“Do you love her?” I ask and I feel a small bubble of excitement in my chest.
Jackson, my best friend, my brother, and the best man at my wedding, deserves to be happy. He deserves to be in love, to be filled with the same passion Olivia fills me with every day. Not the broken shell that bitch-whore woman, Amelia, left him as.
He begins to shake his head then stops and cringes. “I don’t even know what that means anymore.” He keeps his eyes on the floor, deep in thought. “Do I care for her? Does she mean a lot to me? Yes. I don’t want her to get hurt and I don’t want to share her with anyone else… but at the same time, I look at you and Olivia and you two are happy together. It kind of makes me sick.”
I scoff. “Fuck off.”
He laughs, extending calming palms to me. “All I’m saying is, I don’t think I’m capable of making her as happy as you make Olivia. I’m happy just existing… and I don’t know if I’m happy doing it alone, or with Selena. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” He bites his lip before saying, “I’m still trying to let go of—”
“I know,” I say before her name falls from his lips. “Her.”
He swallows hard. “I haven’t told Selena the full story. She knows there was a girl and that it didn’t work out… but she doesn’t understand how I’m still stuck where I was… with her. I loved her. I gave her everything, I bent to her wishes, molded myself into the man that she wanted—completely losing myself in the process… and I can’t do that again.”
I fold my arms. He doesn’t have to explain anything to me. “I get it… but I don’t think she will.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” He exhales, pushing off the wall for the second time. “But I’ll figure something out.”
He always does, but for now I need his company. If the girls are drunk, I can’t carry all three of them home. “You know you have to come to Salem’s with me, right?”
He starts towards the door at the end of the hallway and chuckles. “Yeah, I know.”
***
‘Salem’s Lot’ is a biker bar. Of course Maddi would drag the girls here. My sister has always had an unhealthy obsession with fast motorbikes, tattoos, and leather, so it makes total sense that she’d find the biggest club in Las Vegas advocating her favorite things.
I exit my car and slam the door behind me. To my left, I hear a woman gasp and I look in the direction of the noise. A man and a woman lay suggestively on top of a Harley Davidson. To my… unfortunate surprise, the woman doesn’t manage to cover her nipple in time for me not to see the dragon tattoo that surrounds it. I look away and laugh. “Jesus Christ.”
I love tattoos, but the thought of having one carved into my nipple makes them suck into themselves.
The rock music that pours from the establishment is loud, but not loud enough to drown out the horrendous laughing and drunken stories from the occupants inside. I’ve decided, in the little time that I’ve already spent here, that Olivia, my sister, and Selena will not be staying another minute.
“Watch yourself, Seth,” Jackson shouts in my ear as I grab the handle to the front door. “This is the last place you want to get into a fight.”
He’s right. A fight here would (probably) be a very bad move for me. Who knows what kind of crazy shit these guys are into? I pull the door open and step inside. Immediately, I make my way through crowds of people, careful not to brush against anyone’s leather. Not because I’m scared, but because I’d hate for the smell to stick to my clothes. Thankfully, when I get in deep enough, the smell of stale beer and peanuts overbears the scent of leather. As I push toward the bar, I let my eyes scan over the patrons, scouting for brightly colored short dresses and high pitched giggles. The girls are way out of their usual zone tonight. Every other female in here is wearing some variation of leather and shiny buckles. They’re covered in tattoos and piercings, and most of them sport a half shaven head. Beautiful? Some. Scary? Fuck yes.