Torn - Part Four (The Torn Series) (3 page)

Pleasure and pain washed through me as the now-lukewarm water washed away the evidence of our passion. I needed to sit down. I felt her take a breath and I said, “No jokes.” I knew how she liked to lighten the mood after we climaxed so spectacularly but laughing might have killed me right then. I could barely breath as it was.

“Come on,” she said, drawing me behind her as she stepped out of the tub, “You need to lie down.”

I should have felt weak and pathetic as I let her help me dry off and step into a clean pair of boxers. But I didn’t. I only felt warm, and right.
Dangerous. You’re falling too fast again. Haven’t you learned anything?

Apparently I hadn’t. I let her tuck me in and stroke my hair. My head felt too heavy to argue. Sleep claimed me before I could even thank her for being there.

CHAPTER 3

I did feel pathetic when I woke up later that afternoon. She’d left a note - she had to go to work. I debated dropping in for a visit but my body protested when I dragged myself to my feet. My face was drawn and tired when I checked myself out in the mirror. She’d kill me if I showed up like that.

And she’d be right to do it. I needed to do what I could to recover fast. I’d already had to reschedule the fight with my brother twice and I didn’t want to do it again. If I took care of myself, if I was careful, I could be healed and ready by the time the big day rolled around after Christmas. I’d only waited four weeks before fighting again after Surly broke my ribs, and it hadn’t been enough. This time I had six. This time I’d be more careful.

I attended practice the next day, anyway. Not that I planned on doing much practicing myself but I could make myself useful around the gym.

And besides, I’d promised Surly. I wouldn’t pass up a chance to see him if he was willing to start talking.

Lee was on me the minute I arrived. “Shit, Mal, you look like hell,” he said, though the old man was grinning. “Glad you’re on your feet.”

“Of course I’m on my feet.” I shook his hand. “What’s a couple ribs?”

“You ain’t training today, are you?” he asked, looking me up and down. I was trying to keep the hunch out of my stance but I wasn’t very successful.

“No, no. I’m just here to see the guys and hang out if you don’t mind.”

“’Course not.” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t know the cops were gonna show up, Mal. Sorry, for what it’s worth.”

“Not your fault,” I said. I knew whose fault it was, but I wasn’t about to share that information with anybody. I’d deal with it myself in time. At least it was an unrelated guy who’d done it, not someone from within the gym holding a grudge.

“Listen,” Lee said, “After what happened, with all the money floating around on your fight with your brother, well, I’ve moved the match to Jersey.”

I groaned. It was the right move but nobody would like it. A good number of our fans wouldn’t be willing to travel that far despite the fact that it wasn’t actually that long of a distance. Some people just had a mental block against the trip.

But for whatever reason, it was more legit in Jersey. I was even allowed to get paid, so I sure as hell wasn’t going to argue.

Surly wasn’t there yet so I spent my time giving unsolicited advice to the newer members. It was better to annoy them than to let them hurt themselves, so Lee encouraged us to annoy the shit out of them.

“You’ll fuck up your shoulder if you keep overextending like that,” I told one young guy as he sparred with what looked like his twin. Were these kids starting to show up younger, or was I just getting old? It was hard to tell. I didn’t feel old, but my face was starting to look it.

Or maybe I was just tired.

Surly showed up later than he normally would. The poor guy looked about as enthusiastic and alert as I felt, which was to say, shitty.

I followed him into the locker rooms. They were quiet - most of the serious fighters were already out on the floors.

“How you feeling?” he asked, gesturing at my side.

“Fucked up,” I said. “I’ve probably got to lay off training for two weeks at least. No sparring for a good while.”

“Shit.” He knew all about the fight with my brother. It was a subject of much speculation amongst the guys, really. A few had even taken to calling us “Cain and Abel,” though hopefully neither of us would end up dead at the end of our match.

“Want me to watch you?” I asked. I might not be able to spar him but I could take notes and give him pointers. We had to function as each other’s coaches, after all, since we couldn’t afford professionals. At least, we had been before our little argument.

“Yeah,” he said, keeping his eyes down. “Thanks.”

I gave him a few suggestions as he beat on one of the bags that lined the gym, but there really wasn’t very much to say. Surly was in his prime. Despite the stress of the previous few days, he was nearly flawless.

He shook his head when I told him as much. “We can always be better. There’s always someone better.”

I wanted to ask him why he was so down but that wasn’t our way. Instead I said, “You sound like you need a drink. After practice?”

He considered it in brooding silence. “All right,” he said.

“Riley will hook us up with a free beer or three if we go to her place.”

“That fucking tiki shithole? I don’t think so.”

Coconut Cup where she worked really was lame as hell. I only went there to see her. Definitely not for the mixed drinks - they had so much sugar that your teeth would rot before you could even get a buzz going. “Okay, your pick, then.” I would just have to text her and let her know that I’d be out late, that I might not be able to see her.

I wanted to more than anything, but this was too important to blow off.

○●○●○●○●○

Later that evening I was parked on a stool at a quiet old-man’s pub with Surly to my right and nobody to my left. The place was nearly dead. Probably because the average age of the patrons was eighty and it was past their bedtime.

Exactly the reason Surly said that he liked it.
“People leave me alone.”

“What’s up, man?” I finally asked, unable to contain my concern. Or my curiosity, to be honest. Surly was generally a morose guy but I’d never seen him like this. “Is it Dee?” I’d only seen the girl on a couple of occasions but I knew that she’d gotten under Surly’s skin in a short amount of time, and badly.
Just like Riley
. I also knew that the girl was trouble with a capital “T.” I could practically smell it on her the first time I met her.

“Sort of,” he said, staring straight ahead. “I haven’t spoken to her in ages. It’s… some people I met through her. Same guys who helped set up that fight for Lee.”

Bad news.
Underground gamblers, drug dealers… “What exactly are you wrapped up in?”

“Fights,” he said. “Dangerous ones. I really hurt a guy in the last one. Badly.”

I whistled. This was way out of my league. I was trying to go legit - I thought that was what Surly wanted, too. Instead he was digging himself deep into some underworld that neither of us had faced before? “What are you gonna do?”

“Do?” he scoffed. “After those cops showed up? Those guys won’t touch me with a ten foot pole.” He scowled down into his beer - the liquid was as dark as the expression on his face.

“That’s a good thing, right?” I asked. “This sounds shady as fuck. Don’t you want out?”

“Yes and no. I didn’t want to do what I did to that fighter. And I don’t want to end up like him, either.”

“So if they’re leaving you alone now, you should be thrilled. Unless they think the cops showing up was your fault?”

He shook his head. “It’s not that. It’s…” His voice dropped so low I could barely hear what he said. “They were my last connection to Dee. I’m out of ways to get in touch with her.”

“Shit.” I had no good reply to that. None that Surly would like to hear, anyway. “Man, you’ve been hung up on her for how long?”

“I’m not ‘hung up,’ I’m legitimately concerned.”

I squinted at him. “Didn’t she break up with you?”

“Yes.”

“So why the concern? Has she reached out to you for help?”

“No.”

I took a long swallow from my glass. The beer selection at this place wasn’t great but at least it was nice and cold. “You’re not gonna like what I have to say, so I won’t say it, but dude…”

“I know. ‘Time to move on, man,’” he said in a nasal voice, mocking the way I spoke.
Sorry if I add a little inflection to my words, you monotone asshole
. I grinned into my mug. Mocking me was a good sign.

“We’ll find you a girl,” I said, “Lockett and I. And hell, Riley’s got friends.”

He snorted. “More suburban college girls looking for their first bad-boy thrill?”

I elbowed him for that one, much as the movement pained me. “Fellow bartenders who can give you free drinks and show you a good time. Not at Coconut Cup, either,” I assured him as he grimaced. “Think about it?”

“Yeah. I’ll think about it.” I could tell by his tone that he wasn’t happy about the idea. But he did need to move on, and this was the only way I could think to help.

CHAPTER 4

“I want to meet your friends.”

“You do?” Riley beamed at me. It had been two days since we’d seen each other thanks to our work schedules. I’d gotten an easy gig scanning tickets outside a concert venue and it had tied me up on the only evening she was free.

We all had to make the rent, though.

“Yeah,” I said, “Those people you keep hanging out with. The ones with the nice apartment and the weed.”

We were taking a walk, against our better judgment. Winter was fast approaching. She swore she could smell snow in the air; I assured her that she was just plain crazy. But we weren’t the types who liked being cooped up when the sun was out, so we bundled up and went outside.

“They’d love to meet you,” she said carefully.

“Oh, I see. They don’t approve.” I slung an arm over her shoulders. “They had your back when I was on your shit list.”

“That’s… pretty accurate.” She bounced with excitement. “But they just have to get to know you, that’s all! I’ll let Shawn and Martin know.”

“No girls?”

“Why, looking for an upgrade?”

I stopped walking. “Riley.” She knew I hated that low self-esteem shit.

But she was laughing. “I’m joking! Yes, there’s a couple girls, why?”

“I…” How did I say this without sounding like a total dweeb? It wasn’t possible. “I want to play matchmaker for Surly.”

She clapped her gloved hands. “Yes! We’ll do it. You’ll meet Vanessa and Adele when we hang out. Not sure that he’d like Vanessa, like, at all. But she’s pretty. Adele might get along with him though. It’s hard to tell ‘cause he’s so like, mysterious and brooding…”

I laughed at her, then had to grip my side. The pain was getting better but it was still pretty intense. No practice yet, no strenuous physical activity. Unfortunately, no fucking. “All right, all right, calm yourself. He’s a weird guy. Just let me meet them first before we go setting up any blind dates, okay?”

“Blind dates!” She clapped again. “Adele does blind dates. She’s also a little crazy. Oh!” She stopped where she stood.

“What?”

“My sister’s coming to visit in a week or two, maybe. She should be on the list.”

“We’re making a list?”

“Of course! Hmm.”

“Hmm?” She was too fucking adorable when she was this excited. I wished I’d suggested this earlier.

“I realized I don’t even know my sister’s type. She hasn’t dated much. I guess we’ll just have to figure it out.”

We were on our way back to my apartment, lattes in hand, when my phone buzzed. I checked it and immediately wished that I hadn’t.

“Tony?” Riley asked when I frowned.

“Of course.” His text read, “What’s up, jailbird, I’m ringing your bell.” “He’s at my place,” I told her.

“Who does that?” she asked, her nose wrinkling. “Drop-ins are so rude.”

I stopped walking and pulled her against me. “You can drop in whenever you like.”