The Fighter (The High Rise, Book 1) (3 page)

Since our dad
raised us to be proud assholes, Aaron was embarrassed about their
situation and told no one, taking it upon himself to try to pay off
the debt himself. He ended up making a deal with the loan shark,
who just so happens to be one Edward Kyle, superintendent of The
Estates and who also operates an underground fighting ring in the
basement of the apartment building. He told Aaron if he’d fight for
him every weekend, he’d knock off five-hundred each month along
with moving the interest down to fifteen percent, but Kyle would
keep all gains from the fights. He also informed him he was to
throw the fights if instructed to do so, to which Aaron agreed.

So after
making the deal, my kid brother starts showing up to the sites,
face beat all to hell, ribs sore, hardly able to move on a couple
of occasions and tells me he and some friends joined a gym and were
fighting, it wasn’t any big deal, he just needed it as an outlet. I
understood since I was a bit of a shit in high school which carried
over to college, so to get that extra anger and energy out, I’d
joined an MMA club which meant I got to beat the shit out of other
guys for the fun of it. It’d been great. So Aaron having a new baby
and all, along with trying to manage their finances, it just made
sense.

So we’re going
along, baby Isabelle is doing great, going on two months old,
things seem to be fine until I get a call in the middle of the
night from Kam to get to the hospital, Aaron’s in bad shape, he has
a collapsed lung and multiple internal injuries. I’d been
mid-coitus with Jessica, a woman I’d been seeing off and on the
past couple months, only answering my phone the third time it rang.
After getting the news about Aaron, I’d left Jessica in my bed and
sped to Cedars-Sinai only to find my brother in a medically-induced
coma with a breathing tube hooked up to a goddamned ventilator.

I’d found Kam
and when she’d told me what he’d been doing, I’d let her have it.
That didn’t go over well with her dad but I didn’t give a flying
fuck. My brother could’ve died. The doctors had kept him in the
coma for two days, telling my parents and me the good news was he
didn’t need surgery for his lung but that they were monitoring his
spleen.

Christ.

When he’d come
out of it, when he was finally able to talk, he’d given me more
details. As much as I wanted to wring his neck, I’d wanted him and
his family safe more, so I told him I’d take care of it by taking
his place in the ring. Yeah, I could’ve paid off his debt (digging
into some annuities and shit or selling my cabin on Big Bear Lake)
but I wanted to check out what he’d gotten himself into. I also
felt it wouldn’t hurt getting to beat the shit out of someone while
I was at it.

And now a new
piece of the puzzle has been added, wrapped in a fucking sensuous
as hell five-foot-five auburn-haired beauty. What’s worse is
there’s a pull between us, like our bodies know we’re destined to
collide. I’ve never had this feeling before, being drawn to someone
so forcefully and it’s pissing me off.

I roughly
scrub the shampoo into my scalp reminding myself that this chick is
just one more complication I need to take down.

I frown when I
think of her shaking her gorgeous ass as she waited for the doors
to open while also singing way off key. Then our talk in the
elevator which was entirely unconventional with her telling me she
knew I was a player and basically blurting that she thinks I’m an
asshole. And then there were the earbuds. I can’t help but huff out
a laugh at how ridiculous she looked removing nonexistent buds. Did
she think that shit was cute?

Even though it
was
fucking cute.

I rinse my
hair and continue washing myself picturing that ass of hers in
those damned Nike race shorts.

Just thinking
about her smoking hot body has me hard but I move the washrag down
ignoring that shit as I lather up my balls which I know have gotten
tighter with my arousal. Goddamn it.

I tell myself
my body’s only reacting this way because it’s been almost a month
since I’ve gotten laid. I’ve been so busy managing the building of
the pain in the ass dance club that’s gone in across the street
that I’ve neglected my needs. Yeah. That’s all this is. As I
continue running the cloth over myself, I can’t help imagining that
perfectly-shaped mouth of hers wrapped around my cock.

Fuck it.

I drop the
cloth to the floor and wrap my hand around my length stroking
slowly, closing my eyes and picturing her firm, round ass in those
shorts. I now see her naked here with me, her hand moving up and
down my dick, those luscious breasts of hers swaying with each
glide of her hand, the firm peaks of her nipples just begging me to
suck on them, maybe tease them a little with my teeth.

Putting my
hand out in front of me against the tile, I groan as I pump my
other hand faster, envisioning her with her back against the wall,
her legs wrapped around me as her tight, wet pussy takes all of me,
every thrust making her gasp in a breath. When she moans my name
imploring me to fuck her harder, I lose it, shooting my seed
powerfully against the wall then upon opening my eyes let out a
deep growl at the fact that she’s not really here.

“Fuck!” I
hiss, angry at myself for using her, the enemy, as my fantasy.

I’ve had
plenty of women and any one of them could’ve played the starring
role but for some godforsaken reason it was her green eyes that I
saw, pleading with me to fuck her faster, harder as she took me
deep.

Jesus.

I wash off then
get out of the shower irritated with myself for not being more
focused on what I have to do
.

Three

“Do I come across as a
bitch?” I ask Dani when I call her at lunch
.

“Not normally.
Why?”

“Because HTG
and I rode the elevator up together and at first he was nice but
after I introduced myself he suddenly got all weird like he was mad
at me or something.” I don’t tell her about the magnetism or
whatever it was between us. That’s something that I’ll totally be
ignoring.

“Maybe he has
an ex named Laney. Remember that guy I met last year who, when he
said his name was Dwight, I froze up?”

“Oh, yeah. I
didn’t think about that.” I frown. Huh. “I kind of miss Dwight,” I
divulge.

“Stop,” she
snaps.

“Sorry,” I
reply feeling guilty for what just slipped out.

Dani and
Dwight had broken up last year after having dated for almost two
years. He’d cheated on her with someone in his office and it had
gotten ugly. But he’d been funny and had been a nice guy (except
for that one major misstep) and I kind of missed the goof.

“You know he
cheated on me,” she needlessly reminds me.

“Yeah, I know.
Again, sorry.”

“It’s okay.
But it’s awesome that you got to meet HTG!”

“Uh huh,” I
reply dubiously thinking “awesome” wouldn’t quite be the word I’d
use for it. “Oh, his name is Heath Noble.”

“That’s a cool
name.”

“I guess,” I
semi-agree scrunching up my nose which makes me wince since it’s
still hurting from earlier. And, yeah, it might be a cool name but
I’m not so sure I’d say the same of the man himself.

“I’ve gotta go
to Sephora. Chastity said I can buy that eye liner I like and put
it on her account! How amazing is that?”

“Pretty
amazing! That’s really nice of her,” I state.

“Well, she
said it’s a payback for last week when she yelled at me for not
reminding her about a meeting with a casting director and producer
for a soap opera. I didn’t even know about it! Anyway, the eye
liner will absolutely make up for it.”

“I hope so. I
hate that she yelled at you, though.”

“Wasn’t the
first time and won’t be the last. But it’s mostly good so I’m not
complaining too much.”

“You sure
you’re good working for someone like that?” This is probably the
thousandth time I’ve asked her this.

“Yes, Lane,”
she says not bothering to keep the mild annoyance out of her voice.
“I love my job. It’s exciting. I get to meet actors and directors.
If I ever stop loving it, I’ll get out.”

“Promise me
again.”

I hear her
sigh because I’ve made her promise a thousand times too. “Promise.
‘Kay! Gotta go! Oh! Maybe you should do an apartment check for
Heath so you can, you know, get to know him better,” she
teases.

I laugh
humorlessly. “Nah. I’m good. Have fun at Sephora!”

“I will! Love
you! Bye!”

I work in Kyle
Properties’ main office building which is in the Kyle Tower near
the Century Plaza Towers, about two miles from The Estates.

Today was like
any other day with me calling people to schedule viewings and then
going on three already-scheduled ones. When I got back to the
office I had some spare time and instead of using it wisely, I
ended up daydreaming about Heath—how good it’d felt when his hands
were on my waist… how hot he’d looked with his shirt off… how hot
he’d looked with his shirt on… how big his hands were which told me
that something else on him must be big too—

“Earth to
Laney,” Diane calls and laughs when I snap out of my reverie. “He
must be something else. I called your name five times.”

I feel my face
flush and answer, “No, no. I was just thinking about the movie Dani
and I watched last night.”

“Was it a
porno ‘cause the look you had on your face was definitely rated X.”
She laughs again which annoys me because it always sounds fake. I
don’t think I’ve ever seen her let loose with a truly genuine laugh
and it makes me sad for her. She stands in front of my desk wearing
her perfect business suit with her perfectly coiffed hair and her
perfectly done makeup at six o’clock in the evening. I’ve never met
anyone so uptight in my life. Jeez.

“Ha. Yeah.
That’s funny. Well, I’ve gotta get a ride,” I tell her grabbing my
phone and pulling up my Uber app to request a car. I like most
everyone I work with but Diane’s sneaky and has stolen clients from
me, so I’m not too fired up to get buddy-buddy with her.

“Goodnight!”
she says before sashaying out the door.

“’Night,” I
mutter collecting my things getting ready to leave.

Tonight since
I feel like making my dump pan of veggies and turkey sausage on a
cookie sheet for dinner, I have the driver drop me off at the small
market down the street from my apartment.

Inside, after
grabbing a cart, I have to stop and admire the small display of
potted flowers set up at the front. Dani’s always rolling her eyes
at me for buying plants and flowers because my green thumb is more
like brown. Believe me, I’ve conducted many a funeral at the
garbage disposal for the fallen foliage, but they’re always so
beautiful in the store I can’t resist, and I end up placing a sweet
little grouping of dahlias and gerbera daisies in my cart. Maybe
they’ll last long enough for me to put on the patio and brighten it
up a bit since spring is almost here.

I’m heading to
the organic vegetables section when I’m sidetracked yet again by
another display, but this one is much more dangerous than the
flowers.

Cupcakes.
Yum.

And holy crap,
there are a ton of them in several varieties of flavors in
six-packs and by the dozen. I spend way too long deciding which
I’ll buy, but finally end up with a half dozen German chocolate
because I know Dani likes them too and I won’t end up eating them
all. But I figure I’ve worked hard the past three days to merit
one… or three. Just as I go to put them in the cart, I hear a deep
voice behind me.

“Those’ll make
you fat. And in that skirt, you can’t afford much more.”

I turn to see
none other than Mr. Charm himself, Heath Noble.