Hard Drive Boxed Set

by Tricia Andersen

  Lexi felt her cheeks heat up. “Speaking of Mark, we should go.”

  “All right. You two have fun. We’ll see you tonight.”

  Lexi and Logan waved good-bye before she helped him into his car seat. Her nerves calmed themselves as she listened to him babble. He had been her salvation. It took Logan being born for her to see how horrible Derek was. He was her shining light in the hell she was living in. That Mark seemed to love him almost as much as she did made the man that much better in her eyes.

  Mark was standing in the doorway as she pulled up to the curb. Before she could open the door he was standing there.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. She could hear the anxiousness in his voice. “I tried calling and texting a dozen times.”

  “Oh.” She felt her cheeks warm again. “I put it on silent while you sleep so my calls don’t disturb you. I guess I forgot to turn it back on.”

  His brow smoothed again. “That makes sense.” He opened the rear door. “Hey, big guy. Want to come in? Kinnick misses you.” He frowned again. “What’s with the mess in the bag?”

  Lexi shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I wanted to surprise you and make you dinner. Derek showed up out of the blue and knocked the bag out of my hand.”

  “Aww, Lex.”

  “I know the whole idea is stupid.”

  Mark opened her door and tugged her up into his arms. “It’s not stupid. You’re not stupid. I love that you thought of me like this. You’re my angel. But no dinner is worth your safety, baby.” He glanced back at the sack once more. “Is that pasta sauce?”

  “Yes. I wanted to make you lasagna.”

  It was Mark’s turn to blush. “I can’t have it. Not tonight anyway. It’s fight camp. I’m cutting weight.”

  Lexi felt her heart fall. “Oh.”

  “But if I replace the jar of sauce, can you make it Saturday night? I’ll have it for my cheat meal.”

  Lexi nodded. “Absolutely. I would love to.”

  “Awesome.” Mark dipped his mouth to hers and took it captive. The kiss made her heart skip a beat. Her hands wandered behind his neck to pull him closer. He deepened the kiss.

  “Mommy. Mark. I want to play with Kinnick,” Logan whined.

  Lexi broke the kiss with a sigh. “Sorry.”

  Mark chuckled. “No worries. I’m sure the fur baby will be calling for us pretty quick too. Should we go in?” He unfastened Logan and helped him out of the car, holding his hand tightly. Lexi laced her fingers between those of Mark’s free hand. The smile he gave her made her insides glow. This was exactly what she wanted, a family just like this. She just wished she knew how to keep it.

  »»•««

  There were only a few people left when Lexi stepped into Hard Drive. A couple of muscular guys, the type she would see preparing for a body building show, told her good night before they slipped out the door, each carrying a heavy duffle bag over his shoulder. She lifted her head as she heard her name called. Chloe stood above her hanging over the railing across from her office.

  “Kick off your shoes and get comfy. I’ll be right down,” Chloe called.

  Lexi nodded in response before taking off her shoes and nudging them under a bench. A couple more guys passed her and wished her good night. She stood alone in the cavernous gym. She gazed at the punching bags, the racks of gloves and other various pieces of equipment, the vinyl-covered mat that covered the floor and the pads on the walls. She blew out her breath slowly. Was she getting in over her head?

  The door behind her flew open. Avery rushed in, juggling her giant duffle with her. The bag had to be half the size of the woman. “Sorry I’m late,” she apologized. “Rico and I…well…”

  Lexi made sure to face her so Avery could read her lips. “What were you doing?”

  “Don’t fall into that trap,” Chloe warned as she descended the staircase from the office. Her feet still managed to make a soft ping with every step she took on each metal stair. “Rico and Avery just got married. They’re still enjoying their honeymoon. And they have no problem telling you each juicy detail.” She shivered for effect.

  “No one told you to keep your bedroom life private,” Avery responded with a pout.

  “Max and I are discreet. We don’t think any of you want to hear about our sex life. And yes, we do have sex. Frequently. A lot.” She cocked a grin when Avery squirmed uncomfortably. “See?”

  “Point made.”

  Chloe laughed as she waved Lexi over. “Come on, Lexi. Let’s find you some gloves and shin guards.”

  “Shin guards?” Lexi questioned. “Why do I need shin guards?”

  “Because it really hurts to get kicked in the shins.”

  “Kicked?”

  “We’re going to start with kickboxing.” Chloe mulled over the pile of gloves on the floor. She plucked two from the pile and then chose a pair of shin guards. She handed them to Lexi. “Here. Put these on. Avery can show you while I straighten this up.”

  “All right. Thanks.” Lexi hugged the equipment to her chest and walked to where Avery was settled on the mat. She carefully followed what Avery did as she strapped on the shin guards and gloves. Avery chuckled as she reached over and fastened a wayward strap around Lexi’s leg.

  They both turned as Chloe approached them, her own hands and shins covered. Behind her sat a row of perfectly arranged gloves on the rack.

  “They’re capable of cleaning after themselves,” Avery griped.

  Chloe shrugged. “Who needs kids? I have twenty or thirty fully grown ones I pick up after every day.”

  All three women laughed as Avery and Lexi stood. Chloe motioned to Avery to stand opposite of her. “I’m going to show you what I want you to do. Then you can try with Avery and I’ll watch. Okay?”

  “Sure,” Lexi agreed.

  Chloe faced off against Avery and dropped into her stance. She threw a punch slowly into Avery’s glove from her forward facing arm. It landed with a soft thud. “That’s a jab. This,” she said as she threw a punch with her other arm, the one on the side of her back leg, a little more powerful than the first, “is a cross. Right now we’re only working on the jab. If it looks good we’ll throw them together.”

  Lexi nodded as she traded places with Chloe. She didn’t know how long she kept throwing that one kind of punch. Each time Chloe would point something out to correct or even adjust Lexi’s arm. Avery had the patience of a saint to hold her arms like that for that long. After each jab she nodded and offered words of encouragement. Lexi’s muscles started to feel like lead weights. Chloe instructed her to try the cross but it could have only been minutes before she stopped her for the night.

  “I didn’t realize this was so hard,” Lexi mused as she tugged her gloves off.

  “You’ll be sore tomorrow. And the next day,” Chloe advised. “But you’ll get stronger and used to it. When you get the technique right, it’ll be effortless.”

  “Have you fought?”

  “No. Neither of us have. But we should be soon.”

  Lexi dropped to the mat to pull the shin guards off her legs. “Who taught you to fight? You’re so good. You must have been doing this for years.”

  Avery pulled a glove off and unwrapped her hand. “Our husbands taught us. Granted, I learned quite a bit when I was in the military. But for the most part, Max trains Chloe and Rico trains me.” She grinned at Chloe. “Wow. Look at us, Chloe. We’re not using our shin pads.”

  Chloe sauntered over to the two women. Like lightning she threw a leg kick at Avery. The sound of plastic striking plastic echoed through the building. “I like to be prepared.”

  Avery hopped on one foot for effect then pulled her shin pads off. She settled on the canvas beside Lexi and hugged her knees to her chest. Chloe sat beside them. “And I’m sure, when you’re ready, Mark will train you.”

  Lexi let loose a nervous chuckle. “I doubt I’ll ever be ready.”

  Chloe frowned at her. “I don’t mean to pry. How long were you and Derek t
ogether?”

  Lexi sighed. “Two and a half years. I thought he was charming in a bad boy sort of way. My parents hated him. Maybe that added to his appeal. At first we only were fooling around. But then I started to fall for him. We were hardly ever apart.”

  She crossed her legs beneath her and continued. “He became more possessive. He laid into me if a guy looked at me when we were out. He kept me from my family and friends. He started calling me stupid. He told me no one wanted me but him. He had his family and friends check up on me all the time. He tried hitting me a couple times. One time I stopped him. The second time I wasn’t so lucky. He blamed me for the way he treated me. And then…”

  “Then what?” Avery questioned.

  “We were having sex one night. The condom broke. I pulled away and told him we had to stop. I didn’t want to get pregnant. But…”

  Chloe rose to her knees and crawled to Lexi. She hugged her tight. A sob escaped Lexi’s throat. Chloe rocked her gently. “Let it out. I know how you feel.”

  Lexi’s brow wrinkled as she looked at Chloe. It made a stray tear slip down her cheek. “You too?”

  Chloe shrugged as her eyes glistened. “Prom night.”

  Lexi hugged her back just as hard. She smiled as she felt Avery embrace them both. Lexi didn’t know when they let go of each other. She just knew her arms hurt worse.

  “When did you marry him?” Chloe asked quietly.

  “Shortly after we found out I was pregnant. I don’t know why but I was still in love with him despite what he did. I thought maybe being with me would change him. We ran off and eloped. My parents were devastated when I moved in with him. But then Logan was born and I realized the little guy needed me to protect him. And the biggest threat to his safety was his own father. After a huge fight I moved back in with my parents. Derek lost it. He grew even more violent.” Her voice grew silent for a moment. “He almost beat me to death. I was in the hospital for two weeks. He was arrested and I filed for divorce.”

  “Lexi, I’m so sorry you went through all that,” Chloe murmured.

  “I try to keep it in the past, especially now that I’m with Mark. But I’m scared he’ll be the same way.”

  “Oh, Lexi. Trust me. We both know him and he’s not. He is the sweetest, gentlest guy you’ll ever meet. He’s even so gentle Max questions putting him in the octagon. Fortunately, the big teddy bear turns it on when he gets in there.”

  Lexi’s eyes grew in panic. “You won’t tell him, will you? I think I’ve told you more than the therapist he took me to see.”

  Avery hugged her again. “Of course not. That’s your conversation to have with him. Thank you for trusting us enough to share with us.”

  Lexi squeezed her back. “I’m glad I did.”

  Chloe stood and offered her hands to pull the other two to their feet. “It’s getting late, you two. Let’s go grab a bite to eat. I’m starving and I’m not in the mood for salad. Which is probably what the guys are eating.”

  Avery laughed. “Probably together at my apartment. And they’re griping. So let’s go get pizza.”

  “Sounds great,” Chloe chimed in.

  “Let me call my parents. They’re watching Logan. I’ll see if they can watch him later,” Lexi replied.

  “Let’s go get him and bring him with,” Chloe suggested. “It’ll be fun.”

  “Okay.”

  Lexi watched as the other women returned to their bags to pack their things. She felt her heart glow. It had been so long since she had friends, she had forgotten what it was like. It was nice to have a couple again. She tossed her things in her duffle, toed her shoes on and hurried out the door after Avery so Chloe could lock the door.

  Chapter Eight

  Lexi gripped Logan’s hand in hers as they strode up the sidewalk to the townhouse. She took a deep breath as she shrugged the shopping sack up her arm. Her shoulder ached in response. She had met Chloe and Avery again at Hard Drive to work on her cross. An hour of practice was followed by twice as long in conversation. She felt like she had known the two women all her life.

  She knocked on the door and Kinnick barked in greeting. She laughed as Logan’s eyes grew wide in excitement. “Kinnick,” he cried happily.

  The door opened and Lexi lost her breath. It wasn’t that Mark was wearing anything special. He was just in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans, but she was starting to realize just how good looking her boyfriend was. Kinnick had already weaved his way around the both of them and was affectionately licking Logan’s face. Mark ushered them inside and closed the door behind them.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he welcomed. He winked at Logan. “Hey, big guy. I’ve been looking forward to this all day. I just need to get rid of the riff raff.”

  “Riff raff?” Lexi questioned.

  Mark opened the door further. Dan was sprawled out over the love seat, his long limbs dangling over the arm of the sofa. A video game controller was tight in his hand and his glasses rested on the tip of his nose. As soon as he saw them he bolted upright and shoved his glasses into place.

  “Sorry. I better go,” Dan apologized as he reached for the game console to flip it off.

  Mark thumbed to him. “We’ve been playing all afternoon.”

  Lexi looked from one man to another. “You don’t need to stop playing. There’s plenty for everyone.”

  “I don’t want to mess up your date night,” Dan protested.

  “We have Logan. There won’t be much of a date night.”

  “Yeah. I better switch up the war game to something else.” Dan punched a couple of buttons on his controller, and an animated race track with cartoon cars quickly replaced the bloody battlefield. Logan cooed in awe.

  Dan cocked a grin at the little boy. “Have you played this before?”

  Logan shook his head silently. Dan continued. “If it’s all right with your mom, I’ll teach you.”

  Logan’s gaze shot up to his mother, and Lexi laughed. “Of course. Go play.”

  Logan scampered across the living room to Dan and sat next to him. Kinnick squeezed himself into the only empty spot left, not wanting to be left out. Lexi was still giggling as she made her way to the kitchen.

  She opened cupboards until she found the fry pan. She took out the hamburger and set it in the pan. Nudging it around, it started to brown. She gasped as a strong pair of arms wrapped around her and lips wandered down her neck. Panic raced through her for a few moments too long. She took several breaths to get her heart in check.

  “Sorry about the night,” Mark apologized.

  She set the spoon down, turned toward him, and pressed a kiss to his lips. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. I’m glad Dan is here. He’s your best friend and I haven’t had a chance to get to know him. And Logan has really taken to him.”

  “Well, that’s because Dan is a big kid.”

  “Like you?”

  “Hey now.” Mark kissed the tip of her nose. “I resemble that remark.”

  Lexi laughed as she held him tight, snuggling into his embrace. She heard his voice rumble. “Do you want me to take care of this?”

  “No, I’ve got it. Let me get this assembled then I’ll come cuddle with you.”

  “Hurry. I’ll be waiting.” Mark pressed one deep, passionate kiss to her lips before he strolled out of the kitchen. Lexi watched the empty doorway for a long silent moment before she shook herself to her senses. She quickly pulled out a pot and filled it. Setting it on the stove she flipped on the heat beneath it. Her pace picked up as she layered the cooked pasta, sauce, cheese, and hamburger in the casserole dish. I don’t want to be in here. I want to be out there with the guys.

  Finally she slipped the lasagna in the oven and closed the door. She washed her hands and walked out of the kitchen. A smile spread slowly across her face. Mark sat on the couch with one controller. Dan sat with Logan on the loveseat. Kinnick was still squeezed in the only empty spot on the cushion. Logan’s arms wove around as he tried to use the controller. Dan reach
ed around him gently to help guide the little boy, then let go when Logan was back on the right course.

  Lexi sat beside Mark and laughed. “You look outnumbered.”

  Mark shot a glance over at the loveseat as he hit the buttons on his controller. “Yeah. Uncle Dan and Logan even recruited my dog. Man’s best friend my hiney.”

  They all laughed as Mark and Logan kept playing. Once the game was over, Mark handed the controller to Dan. He settled back on the couch and pulled Lexi into his arms. “You guys play. I’m going to cuddle.”

  “Dan, we still play?” Logan pleaded, his little bottom lip out.

  Dan smiled. “Of course, bud. Do you want to play something else or this?”

  “Something else.”

  “Okay. Let me pull up the menu and let’s find another game.”

  Logan leaned on Dan’s arm as the two of them stared at the television screen searching for a game. Lexi snuggled against Mark and heaved a sigh.

  “What’s up?” he asked as he brushed a strand of hair from her face.

  “Just…this,” she murmured.

  “I can ask Dan to leave.”

  “No. He’s part of this. This life. My life has been such violence and chaos. This life is peaceful. It’s warm and loving. It’s a real family. Logan has men he can bond with who care about him. It’s perfect. I don’t ever want to let this go.”

  Mark tilted her chin up to stare into her eyes. “Baby, you’ll never have to. I promise you, I’ll spend my life giving you this peace and love.”

  She smiled as he kissed her. One kiss followed another. Somewhere she could hear a chorus of “eww, kissing” from both a child’s and an adult’s voice. It only made her hold Mark tighter. She didn’t know what the future held for any of them. She just hoped Mark kept his promise. She never wanted any of this to end.

  The timer finally interrupted their embrace. Pulling free from Mark’s arms, she stood and hurried into the kitchen to pull the lasagna from the oven. She didn’t know she was followed until she nearly collided with Mark.