Aubry said her “thank yous”while smiling gratefully.
Cece made another piece of beaded jewelry to match the one from Christmas. Aubry immediately put it on and looked genuinely excited about the small piece of art that my sister gave her.
Tweedledee and Tweedledum a.k.a.Tommy and Brandon, gave her a medium-sized bag. I was genuinely curious at what they got her because they had not consulted me at all.
When she opened it, she snorted in amusement. She pulled out a pair of black sweatpants and a first aid kit. She looked confused as everyone else did. She was definitely finding it funny, though.
“You know, since you get hurt all of the time!” Brandon said, laughing along with Tommy. “We figured that we’d get you something that you could actually use!”
Aubry giggled along with them at their explanation.
I truly didn’t know what’s the matter with these two idiots, and I snorted at their stupidity. “You two are idiots.”
“Well, thanks guys!” she said, still laughing. “I’m sure I certainly will get my use out of your gifts.”
“Wait! There’s something else in there,” Tommy said before she could put the bag down.
Aubry looked confused, but still looked in the bag again. Her eyes widened when she pulled out two separate fifty-dollar bills.
“No, no . . . This is way too much,” she said, shaking her head.
“Nah, it’s the least we can do, since you made Aiden stop smothering us!” Brandon joked.
I rolled my eyes and smacked him in the back of the head. Everyone else but Brandon laughed, who glared at me, while I simply smiled at him.
“There are no returns,” Tommy clarified to the girl who was already getting ready to give the money back.
She sighed. “Well thank you. I really do appreciate it.”
I was staring at her until I felt everyone else’s eyes on me. “What?” I asked.
“Where’s your gift to her?” Brandon asked, looking around.
“Oh no, he’s already done so much for me today,” she said instantly and shook her head. “All of you have.”
“I’m giving mine to her later,” I said, putting my arm around Aubry while smiling at her.
“Oooh Aiden, you naughty boy!” Tommy said loudly, making my eyes widen and Aubry’s cheeks go red.
“Thomas!” Mom and I admonished at the same time.
I rolled my eyes at his childishness.
“Anyways, we need to get going. We want to get a workout in before I take her to her next surprise.” I announced. “Thanks Mom!”
“You’re not letting her work too hard, are you? I know that she likes to train with you, but you better not be pushing her like you do B or Tom,” my mom asked in a careful voice.
“No Mom, I promise.”
“Seriously, he tells me to calm down all the time. It’s rather annoying,” Aubry defended me while hugging my mom.
“Thanks everyone for everything. Y’all have made this the best birthday ever,” Aubry said and hugged everyone around the table.
“Aiden, please stay out of trouble. And don’t let anything happen to her,” my mom said sternly. My mom trusted me to be responsible; it was part of what made my mom so cool.
“Yes ma’am.”
I guided Aubry out of the house and into the truck.
“You ready?” I asked as I began to drive away.
She nodded with a smile.
“And about the gift,” I said, wanting to clear that up.
“No, don’t worry about it! Like I said, you’ve done too much—” she started.
“Hush!” I cut her off, laughing at her expression as I told her to be quiet. “After the fight tonight, I have one more surprise for you. I am going to give you your gift then,” I said as I touched her cheek.
“You don’t have to give me anything,” she said slowly.
“I know, but I want to give you everything.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Wow
Aubry
I stared at him intently as he squared up, facing the man in front of him. His eyes were hard, and his lips were scowling. Aiden was ready to fight. I could see that his eyes were practically begging the announcer to yell out, “Fight!”.
The man was a few inches taller than him, but not muscular. He had a frown on his face, but nothing could compare to Aiden’s scowl. It was seriously scary. It showed how ready he was ready to attack.
I was nervous as hell. I knew that I shouldn’t have been. I mean, the dude was a beast when it came to fighting. I knew that the fight would probably end like mine had . . . he’d win, and the guy would get knocked out. Regardless of how many times I kept telling myself that it didn’t matter, I still didn’t want to see him get hurt.
You’ve already hurt him enough for eternity, the voice in my head sneered at me. I swallowed hard at my anxious mind that seemed to berate me so much.
“He’s gonna be fine. Quit worrying,” Tommy said, coming up behind me and rubbing my arm comfortingly. “He has done this a thousand times.”
I sighed and made myself relax. I was freaking out too much, especially when no one else was.
I just . . . I didn’t want him to get hurt.
Finally, the announcer yelled out for him to fight. I held my breath as Aiden sized up his opponent. Aiden moved so quickly that the man looked dazed when he realized that Aiden was in front of him. However, he quickly regained his composure and readied himself to throw a punch out. He looked Aiden right in his eyes as he raised his fist up slowly. Aiden smirked wickedly at the man.
Before the man even knew what hit him, Aiden punched him three times in the face. The man shook it off, but he was still a bit wobbly due to the impact of the punches. Aiden took his opening and punched again and again. The man stumbled back unsteadily.
Aiden watched him carefully, still in his fighting stance. He was ready to attack again if need be. The man went down like a ton of bricks, echoing loudly throughout the whole place.
There was a silence for what seemed like forever. In reality, it was only a few seconds.
After it was clear that the man was not getting back up, the crowd roared loudly. Aiden slowly straightened back up when he realized that he had won. The announcer announced that he was the winner, and he smirked widely with his fist in the air.
All of us cheered loudly from the side. I was excited for him; he truly was amazing.
Aiden’s eyes found mine quickly, and his smirk became a full-blown smile. It was one of those smiles that met his eyes and made them sparkle which I absolutely adored. His eyes ran up my body, and I shivered in pleasure; just his look made me feel excited.
He exited the platform from the stairs where I was standing by and immediately engulfed me in a hug. The hug took my breath away as I clung to him tightly.
When he finally let me go, I smiled at him once again. “You did amazing!” I yelled excitedly to him.
“Did I look as sexy up there as I always do?” he asked huskily, making me blush a bright red.
I was speechless as we looked at each other. The way he looked at me made me feel like it was only the two of us in the entire place, however, we were quickly interrupted.
“Sexier,” Brandon answered with a laugh, causing Aiden to give him a death glare.
“Congratulations,” a voice that came from our side said, silencing all our banter.
My hand found Aiden’s quickly, and he pulled me closer to him.
“Thank you, Trey,” Aiden said with no amusement in his voice.
“Still fighting as good as ever. I’m glad to see that your fighting hasn’t taken a toll since taking on your new . . . project,” Trey stated, coming closer to us. He stopped only a few inches from me. Aiden’s grip around my waist tightened in response.
“Nope,” Aiden said simply with warning in his voice.
“And Aubry, you’re beautiful as ever. I am beginning to think I’ve been underestimating you. I mean, that fight looked more
like a game to you rather than an actual fight,” Trey said, smiling politely at me.
“I’m glad you’re realizing that,” I said with a shrug, smirking at his surprised expression.
“Hmm . . . Maybe I’ll have to put you up against one of your friends. After all, we want to be sure you’re going to be ready for the tournament,” he said, narrowing his eyes, trying to intimidate me.
I stood my ground and looked back at him with a void expression.
“Not me. I’m still recovering from our little sparring session yesterday,” Tommy said, holding his hands up like he was surrendering. His face had deep bruises on it.
Brandon scoffed and smirked at me. “I’m game.”
“Oh please! She’ll flatten you like a pancake!” Aiden said while chuckling at Brandon.
I did not though. I was focused on the man still eyeing me only inches away.
“Hmm, you and your boyfriend seem like a decent pairing in a fight,” Trey said, smirking at Aiden’s hardened expression.
He turned his attention to me and stared me down; he was trying to get under my skin. I just looked at him with a slight smile on my face.
Aiden’s hand gripped my waist tightly, and he breathed in deeply.
“If that’s what you think then we won’t argue,” Aiden said, surprising both me and Trey.
Trey looked at me again.
“Really? That’d be cool. I’ve been trying to get him to fight with me for a bit now. He won’t budge though,” I said, smiling at Trey.
He seemed thrown off by my eagerness. “Well, I would hate to fight you as well. I wouldn’t want something to mess up that pretty face of yours,” Trey said, grasping my chin forcefully. Aiden growled in response, and Trey let me go abruptly.
“Anyways, it was just a thought I had. We’ll see what happens. Enjoy your night.” He kissed my cheek with a smirk, much to both mine and Aiden’s displeasure.
I watched him walk away to his office. When he got to the door, he turned around and looked at me, giving me a wicked smile. I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes, trying to get his creepy face out of my mind.
I tried to wipe the kiss away and cringed. I leaned into Aiden, and he hugged me tighter to him, rubbing my back reassuringly. The two men stared at each other until Trey finally walked all the way into his office, closing the door behind him.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Aiden whispered into my ear giving me chills.
I smiled and nodded eagerly.
“We’re going to head out,” he called to the others behind us as he led me out of the grimy place with his arm firmly around my waist. We got to his truck, and he began to drive silently.
I looked out the window and watched the dark scenery around me, memorizing the path we were taking.
“Where are we going?” I asked quietly as we took a road I had never been down before.
“It’s a surprise, somewhere very special to me,” Aiden said with his eyes never leaving the road.
We stayed silent as we drove further down the road and turned down another one.
I stared at his profile intensely, trying to find a flaw, trying to find something for me to focus on, so I could tell myself not to fall for him. Still, I couldn’t find one. He was perfect to me. It was like he was meant for me, and it pissed me off to no end because I wasn’t good for him.
“It’s not polite to stare,” Aiden said with his eyes still glued on the road.
“I can’t help myself,” I said, shrugging while still staring at him with a goofy smile. “You really are beautiful, you know?” I said without thinking.
I blushed at my own words and rolled my eyes at myself. I was sure that guys didn’t like being called ‘beautiful’. However, that was the best word to describe him. He was absolutely beautiful, inside and out.
He chuckled slightly and grasped my hand gently. “Not like you Aubry,” he said with conviction.
I blushed deeper at his words.
We continued to hold hands as I stared out the window absent-mindedly. I watched as the truck rolled on slowly down the uphill dirt road. I was seriously interested in where exactly we were going.
After a few more moments, we came to a stop. I looked around carefully as we both got out of the truck. The chilly air hit my exposed skin harshly. It was cold but not freezing, so being outside wouldn’t be too bad.
We were up on a beautiful cliff overlooking the river. It was very high with at least a hundred or so feet up. It would have easily killed someone if they fell. The truck was stopped just about twenty feet away from the edge.
My eyes took in the scene in front of me. It was dark, but not too dark—thanks to the full moon above us. And the stars . . . the stars were absolutely breathtaking. They were twinkling brightly; it was like seeing heaven. There were new flowers trying to grow all around despite the cold, and I could faintly hear the water from the river rushing from below. It was peaceful.
“This is beautiful!” I said, looking and twirling around to take in the entire beauty of it all while smiling at Aiden. “How did you find it?”
“Driving around aimlessly . . . after Dad . . . I needed time for myself, and I’d just drive around for hours. One day I just happened to stumble upon this place; it very quickly became my place.” He paused and looked around. “I was going to bring you here for the sunset, but my family has the whole birthday dinner tradition, and we had the fight. But one day, I’ll bring you here for you to see it. It’s the most beautiful thing that I’ve ever seen.” He smiled and then looked at me directly in the eyes. “Besides you.”
My eyes widened and cheeks flushed. “Stop it,” I whispered, looking down.
“It’s true,” he said, tilting my face up to look at him. “Nothing compares.”
I shook my head but didn’t argue. It was pointless to do so with him.
He grabbed a couple blankets out from his truck and laid one down on the ground carefully. He sat down on top of it and motioned for me to sit next to him. I did so and gazed out over the beautiful scenery.
“I’m going to give you your present now,” he said slowly, grabbing my attention.
I looked at him expectantly as he reached into his back pocket. He slowly brought out his phone and a small rectangular piece of paper. He put both of them down in front of me with an apprehensive look.
I looked at him very confused. “This is your phone,” I stated as a matter-of-factly, all while studying it intently.
“Yeah . . .” He opened the piece of paper up for me and pointed at it. A number was scrawled on the paper, with the name “Kelsey” written underneath.
I still looked at it, confused.
“It’s your sister’s number,” Aiden whispered slowly. “I found it on the internet. I thought that maybe you’d like to call her.”
I stared at the phone and piece of paper, completely speechless.
“I-I mean, if you don’t want to call her, that is completely and totally fine. I . . . I just . . . I just thought that maybe you’d like to call her. B-Because you said that you’d like to talk to her one more time. So . . . I just, um . . . I-I saw how worried you were . . .” he trailed off and swallowed nervously.
I stared at him as I felt tears prick my eyes. I couldn’t believe that he had done something so meaningful for me. I just stared at him dumbfounded since I had no idea what to say. I never thought that I’d ever get the chance to talk to Kelsey again.
“Y-You don’t like it. I’m so sorry. I j-just . . . the way you talked about her made me think . . . I’m so sorry.”
I pulled him into a tight hug and held onto him. “I absolutely love it, Aiden. I can’t believe that you found her number for me. That must have taken you forever. I never thought that I’d be able to hear her voice again.”
I let him go slowly and stared at the phone. “Isn’t it kind of late? She might be sleeping,” I said, trying to make up an excuse. I was just so scared to call her. I mean, she got away from me for a reason.
“California is two hours behind us. It’s almost nine there,” Aiden answered.
I nodded and held my breath as I slowly dialed her number into the phone. I sat there for at least a full minute, debating on whether or not to press the green button. I took a deep breath when I finally convinced myself to press the button and held it to my ear.
On the first ring, I felt like I was going to throw up from my nervousness. On the second ring, I felt like I was going to cry. On the third ring, I thought maybe she wasn’t going to answer. By the fourth ring, my stomach wasn’t flipping anymore, and I wasn’t about to have a panic attack.
She wasn’t going to answer.
“Hello?” Her voice filled my ear.
I recognized her voice as clear as day . . . even after almost four years.
She was alive.
It was the only thought that was playing through my head. Thank God, she was alive.
“Kelsey,” I rasped.
It wasn’t a question. I knew it was her.
There was a long pause filled with silence. This was a mistake . . . she didn’t want anything to do with me. I just needed to know that she was okay.
“Aubry?” she said with her voice cracking. She was crying because of me. This was a mistake. “Oh Aubry, I’m—”
I cut her off suddenly by hanging up on her.
I just wanted to make sure that she was alive, nothing else. She obviously didn’t want me to know anything else. She didn’t want me in her life. So . . . I wasn’t going to make her explain why or tell me to leave her alone.
She was alive, that was all that mattered.
The phone began vibrating in my hands.
I looked down and saw the same number that I had just dialed. It was her. Kelsey was calling.
But why was she calling me back? She wanted nothing to do with me.
Pity and guilt.
I knew that was what it was all about. She felt bad for leaving me, and my voice reignited her guilty conscious. I wasn’t going to put her through having to explain anything to me. It didn’t matter anyways.
She owed me nothing. She made her choice when she left and kicked me out of her life. I needed to respect that.
Fighting For Life Page 42
