Torn - Part Four (The Torn Series) (7 page)

I threw punches and kicks at that bag until my lungs burned and my limbs ached. I ignored the pain in my side for a time - I knew the difference between soreness and injury and so far I hadn’t hurt myself worse. I was damp with sweat, though, beginning to breath heavily and slow down.

And Surly wasn’t even winded.

“Shit, dude,” I said, “What have you been doing, living here?”

“Just about.” He didn’t even pause to speak.

“What’s your secret?”

“Work until it hurts and then just keep going.” Finally he paused. “Not you, though. Not just yet. Take a breather.”

“No way.”

“Listen man, you’ve been idle for a while, of course you’re gonna feel tired faster. You’ll get back on top faster than you think.”

A pep talk from Surly? I thanked whatever gods were listening that I was on his good side again, finally.

“Hey,” I said, changing the subject so I could gracefully catch my breath, “What’d you think of Riley’s sister?”

He turned back to his bag. “Nice girl. Not for me.”

“Shame,” I said, though I’d sort of figured that out before the two had even met. “Riley will be bummed. She wanted to double date.”

“Gross.” He smirked when he said it, though, and I laughed.

“Okay,” he said, “I want you to take five more minutes. Then you get back up here and hit the bag for ten.”

“Yes, drill sergeant,” I said with a mock salute. “And thanks.” I’d worried for so long that we wouldn’t work together again. Obviously he’d done fine without me, though I understood that he’d been employing Lockett’s help. But I wouldn’t get very far without my co-coach.

No one could kick my ass back into shape like Surly could. I’d owe him big time after the fight.

“Following my rules is gonna mean spending less time with your girl,” he warned.

“She’ll understand. I have to win.”

“You will.”

○●○●○●○●○

Speak of the devil, Tony had left me a text while I was busy training. I found it hours later when we finally retreated to the locker room, sweating buckets and sore as all hell. It was the good kind of soreness, though, the kind that let you know that your muscles were alive and well. Just tired.

“Confirm Christmas” was all the message said. I cursed to myself. He was serious. I hadn’t attended a holiday in years and he hadn’t invited me in all that time.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what he was after. Or what my father was after - odds were, this was coming from him.

I was too tired to think it through, so I put my phone back in my gym back and figured I’d decide later.
I can always run it by Riley
. I had a feeling I knew exactly what she would say, though.

“You did all right today,” Surly said. He looked almost as tired as I felt, which was oddly satisfying. He wasn’t becoming some indestructible Greek god no matter how he looked at first glance - he was still human. Just one that was in better shape than me. But I could catch up.

“Thanks to you,” I said.

“Same time tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

I agreed. Hell, I’d be early. It was past time to get back on track and back into a routine.

○●○●○●○●○

I met Riley at the coffee joint she and Tyler had chosen for their little meeting. It was close to where he worked, of course. At least it wasn’t in Brooklyn. I didn’t have the energy for that back-and-forth, especially if I’d be training with Surly again the next morning.

“You sit at the bar,” she instructed. The place was set up like an old-fashioned diner. It made me want to order a milkshake. Hell, maybe I would.

Riley settled into a booth to wait. This wasn’t a subtle move on her part. There was no missing me where I was sitting, Tyler would know I was there as soon as he walked in. But if it made her feel better, so be it. I didn’t need the element of surprise for my part, though it would have made it more entertaining for me.

My fists clenched when he entered. I would have loved nothing more than to punch that beard off his face. I was in enough trouble already, though. I kept reminding myself as that, even as I pictured his broken noise in my head.

Even better, though, I realized he’d brought a girl.
That crafty motherfucker
. I wondered if it were a new girlfriend or something, but the way she trailed behind him, the way he ignored her and had only eyes for Riley as he crossed the diner, I realized it was something more complicated.

It was too perfect.

Riley’s smile was grim when he sat. She hadn’t been expecting him to bring a girl as far as I knew, but the confusion melted quickly from her face as she greeted them both. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but I could tell that she was tense. She’d decided against confronting him about alerting the cops to our fight. She didn’t want to cause a scene, she claimed.

I hoped that was it. I hoped it wasn’t out of fear of how he’d react. Though the type of guy that would call the cops wasn’t the type that would get violent. Not in public.

They were still deep in conversation when the door to the shop opened and Surly and Lockett entered. She didn’t spot them as they slid into a nearby booth, where they could see me, where they could wait for my signal.

We didn’t have to wait long. Riley fidgeted, and frowned, and chewed her lip as Tyler spoke, before finally nodding and looking defeated.
Caving again
. It wouldn’t matter. I would take care of this.

She stood, and I waved to Lockett. He and Surly got to their feet and approached the booth just as I did.

“Come on,” Surly was saying, taking Riley by the arm and pulling her toward the door.

“Why, what are you-” her protests were cut off when she caught my eye. “Mal.” She shook her head.

“Go,” I said. She stumbled a step and she let Surly lead her out.

Oblivious to the quick exchange, Tyler’s girl had gotten out of the booth as well. Tyler was about to follow behind her, but I slid in, pushing him back along the seat and trapping him on the inside.

Lockett did the same to the girl, crowding her into the opposite seat and sliding in next to her to block her in.

“What the fuck is this?” Tyler asked. I dropped an arm heavily across his shoulders.

“Just buddies saying hello,” I said, shooting my most charming smile at the girl. She smiled back through her confusion.

“You’re really going to start something? Here?” Tyler asked, gesturing.

“Nope. Friendly visit. Like I said. Right, Lockett?”

“Very friendly,” he said, blatantly looking the girl up and down. “What’s your name, sugar?”

“Samantha. Sammy.” She turned to Tyler. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” I cut in. “What’d you think of Tyler’s ex-girlfriend? Pretty, right?”

“Did she make you jealous?” Lockett asked her, picking up on the situation like a pro, “’Cause I’m pretty sure you were supposed to make her jealous.”

Sammy’s face fell. “You said she was just an old friend,” she said to Tyler.

“Sneaky, sneaky,” I said. “You knew Riley wouldn’t call you on that shit you pulled if you brought a friend along.” I elbowed Tyler, hard enough to make him grunt. He glared back. “I’m a much bigger asshole, though. So here’s the deal. You leave her alone…”

“We leave you alone,” Lockett finished. He looked Sammy up and down again, smirking, really turning up the heat. “I don’t have to leave you alone if you don’t want me to, though,” he said quietly, leaning closer, speaking just to her.

She turned bright red. Lockett was irresistible to the ladies when he wanted to be. He’d left his jacket behind in the next booth, baring his muscular, ink-stained arms. Something about the dark tattoos made droves of girls wild and he knew it.

“You don’t want to lose another girlfriend to thugs like us,” I said to Tyler, “So keep the fuck away.”

“Are you threatening me?” he demanded, his eyes bulging.

“Do you feel threatened?” Lockett asked the girl. The man positively smoldered.
And I thought that I was the charming one
.

“No,” she giggled, hiding her smile behind her hand. I secretly rejoiced that Tyler had brought her along.

“You leave Riley alone,” I said, “You leave us alone. And you stay far away from our fights. No problem, then, yeah?”

Lockett winked. The girl turned redder.

And the fight went out of Tyler. “Fine,” he said, “Deal. Get the fuck out of here. Assholes.”

We let him have the last word. Silently, Lockett and I rose. I tossed a few dollars on the table to pay for their coffees - just for that extra layer of jackass - then followed Lockett outside.

And I swear to God, Sammy leaned out of the booth and watched Lockett leave.

Finally. A victory.

Riley knocked the wind out of my sails pretty quickly, though. She broke away from Surly at the end of the block and charged at me.

I caught her fists as they flew at my chest. There wasn’t much force behind them. She wasn’t a violent girl. But I was too sore even for her playful battering.

“What the fuck, Mal?” she shrieked. “What did you do?”

“Everything’s fine,” Lockett assured her. “We just talked. Check out knuckles, see?” He held his fists out for her. “No blood. No bruises. No problem!”

“I said I would take care of it myself,” she said, wrenching out of my grin.

Lockett laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. “See you at home, buddy.”

“See you at practice,” Surly said, walking after him.

“Thanks guys,” I called at their backs, and they waved. The last thing they wanted to deal with was an upset girlfriend, especially one that wasn’t their own. I didn’t blame them for fleeing. Part of me wanted to take off with them.

I ushered her in the direction of the subway, though we walked slowly as she fumed. “I said I would deal with him. What’s wrong with you? You didn’t trust me?”

“I didn’t trust him.”

“It was my problem, Mal,” she huffed, “I told him off.”

“Did you?” I asked quietly. She didn’t reply. “It became my problem when he called the cops on my fight.” She couldn’t argue with that. It was simple truth.

I took her hand. “You took care of me, remember? So I took care of this for you. It’s what we’re supposed to do for each other.”

“I suppose this is what I should expect, dating a fighter,” she mumbled to herself.

“Promise me you didn’t hurt him,” she said after a minute. “Promise he’s not going to find some way to retaliate.”

“We didn’t hurt anybody,” I said, “Want to check my knuckles?”

Finally she laughed. It was a pathetic strangled sound, but she did.

She’d cool off and see it was for the best. I didn’t want to step in where she didn’t want me but it was time for that shit with Tyler to end. It was past time for him to be out of the picture, and frankly he was lucky that she’d been so adamant that I stay out of it. If she’d given me free reign from the start, who knew what poor choices I might have made.

“I have to get up really early tomorrow for practice,” I told her when we reached the train station. One train would take us to my place - the other to hers. Living in opposite boroughs didn’t make life easy, that was for damn sure. If she didn’t have a shift, she’d come home with me. If I didn’t have to be up in the morning, I’d meet her when she got out of work.

I had a feeling there were many such nights coming up.

“This morning went okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. Surly’s kicking my ass.”
Surly’s on my side again
.

She smiled. “He told me he’d keep an eye on you.” I nodded. “I guess I won’t be seeing much of you now that you can practice again. Not until after your fight.”

“We’ll squeeze in some time,” I said. I dropped my head, looked at my feet. “My brother wants me to spend Christmas at our father’s place.”

She sniffed. Her nose was running. Why weren’t we having this conversation indoors somewhere? “Do you think you’ll go?”