There’s a knowing look in his eyes and it’s clear what I’m saying is no secret. “I’m not having this conversation again,” he says before grabbing his phone off the table and storming out of the lunchroom. I watch as he walks in front of the glass wall, angrily typing away on his phone. If I was Cami right now, I’d be leaving my phone at home.
“Far out,” Caden chuckles as he sits at the table with his lunch. “Those two give me fucking whiplash.”
“I know,” I say. “I hear it from Cami’s side all the time. She’s so in love with him, it’s ridiculous that he refuses to start anything with her.”
“He’s terrified of hurting her,” Caden explains. “He’s so used to fucking around that he’s certain he’ll do something that will crush her, and she’s not the kind of girl who’d risk getting her heart broken a second time. Hell, I don’t even know if she’d survive getting it broken the first time.”
“I don’t know,” I muse. “Cami’s stronger than she looks.”
“Yeah, I guess,” he says. “I don’t really know her that well. I just wish they’d sort it out already. He’s having a hard time with Luke being deployed and it’s making him a fucking nightmare to deal with.”
“I bet,” I grin as I lean against the wall and cross a leg over the other. “Have you guys heard from Luke?” I ask.
He gives me a regretful smile. “Not as much as I’d like,” he admits. “We get the occasional email which is usually very undescriptive. Jace interprets that as it being much worse than he’s letting on so he doesn’t worry us.”
“Luke can handle himself. He’ll be alright,” I tell him, though there’s no conviction in my tone. Caden and I both know I’m just saying that to make us feel better about the situation. After all, Luke is in a fucking war zone, anything could happen. Anything could go wrong and what sucks is that it could take a lifetime for us to be notified if it does.
Shit, I mustn’t think like that. Luke is going to be fine, though, my mind can’t help but take me back to Luke and Jace’s last deployment where they nearly didn’t come back.
Caden nods. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?” he questions, changing the topic and not wanting to dwell on Luke’s situation any longer.
“Oh, um…” I think as I try to wrack my brain for the reason I’m here. “Right. Brandon. What the hell was going on at the beginning? He looked like he was possessed by the devil. I was worried about your punching bag for a moment.”
Caden chuckles to himself. “I was wondering how long it would take you to ask about that.”
“Well then, you better hurry up and answer the question,” I scold.
His chuckles quickly fade away and are replaced by a cringe as he looks up at me. “I sort of told him to think about his parents and go nuts.”
“What?” I shriek. “Tell me you didn’t? Do you have any idea how bad that is for his mental health?”
“See… I disagree,” he argues. “Yeah, it might have looked bad, but he let go of all the rage and was able to be a real kid after that.”
“I don’t know,” I say. “No matter who your parents are, picturing beating the living shit out of them is not doing any favors.”
“You didn’t see his eyes,” he tells me. “He was haunted at the beginning. When he was annihilating the punching bag, I could see all that pent-up anger fading away. He looked as though he’d been given a second chance and it felt pretty damn good that I was able to do that for him. Besides, I told him if he ever pictured another person after that, our deal was off.”
My heart swells hearing how proud he is of his achievement that I decide to let it go. While I don’t condone thinking about beating the shit out of your parents, I will support the fact that just this one time, this method was able to help.
“Deal?” I question.
“I’m training him to be an MMA fighter,” he explains.
“Huh?” I grunt. “I thought you were just teaching him a few things to help him gain his confidence and self-worth?”
“That was the plan until I saw the way he was watching Xander and Cole training. He wants it bad, he just didn’t have the confidence to voice it, so I did it for him.”
“Wow, ok,” I smile, feeling a profound joy come over me knowing Brandon now has something to look forward to and keep him motivated. Hell, just something to keep his mind off the bad things. “Thanks,” I say with my heart on my sleeve.
His beautiful eyes soften and his head drops in the smallest nod. “No problem,” he tells me. “I think when he’s not so jumpy, I’ll get Xander to do a session with him.”
The look in his eyes has my heart leaping out of my chest and I do my best not to run across the room and crush my lips to his. Shit, why does he have to have this effect on me? I’m supposed to be the strong girl who doesn’t get distracted by the smoldering man in front of me.
I’m about to tell him what a great idea a session with Xander would be when a familiar voice steals my attention. “What are you still doing here?” Cole questions from the doorway before he barges in and takes the uneaten apple out of my hands and bites into it. “Aren’t you supposed to be at your office?”
“Nope,” I say. “My last appointment rescheduled for tomorrow. All I have to do is write up my notes from today, but I can do that at home.”
“Cool,” he says before turning towards Caden. “How’d it go?”
“Good,” he grunts before launching into his spiel about the session.
“Alright, I’m going to get out of here,” I say, cutting them off before they get too far into the conversation. I step up to Caden and bend down to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks again for today,” I say. “I have a feeling this is going to be all he will talk about at our next session.”
“Well, I’m quite a remarkable person,” he teases, making me roll my eyes while Cole lets out an amused scoff.
“See you later,” I laugh before walking out of the room.
As I exit the gym, I walk past the main office with Jace sulking behind the desk with his fingers still madly typing out text messages. Watching the way the jealousy wraps around him, I have no doubt he’s really letting Cami have it.
Knowing she must be feeling pretty shit right about now, I pull out my phone and dial her number, hoping I can somehow cheer her up. “Hello,” she says as she answers my call.
“Hey Cam,” I say as I push through the door for Rebels Advocate. “I heard you have a date. Tell me all about it.”
She instantly perks up and launches into her story about how a guy who works at The Dark Room with her is setting her up with his brother. She’s nervous but excited at the same time.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m pulling up at her place and barging through the door so I can help her chose out an outfit and make sure Jace doesn’t show up to ruin it for her.
God, he’s a fool. Cami is an incredible woman and I think he’s making the biggest mistake of his life by keeping her at arm’s length. She may appear fragile on the outside, but on the inside, she can handle just about anything the world wants to throw at her.
I help to loosen her up with a glass of wine before sending her on her way, looking like an absolute goddess in a red halter dress and black killer pumps that I’m going to have to accidentally steal the next time I’m here.
Cami and I walk out of her place and she locks up her house behind us. “Thanks for coming,” she says. “Jace was an ass and I can’t believe I was actually considering not going.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I say as I walk over to my stupid rental car and unlock it. “Have a great night,” I tell her. “I expect to hear all the juicy details in the morning.”
She gives me a beaming smile. “You bet,” she says before ducking down into her car and driving away.
Chapter 10
Imogen
Having yesterday afternoon off was probably the best thing to ever happen to me, especially as it was a Friday. I spent my night pampering myself. I di
d my nails, washed my hair, hell, I even shaved my legs. If I had my shit together, I would have booked into a spa for the afternoon and had someone else doing the pampering for me, but I’m not quite that organized.
It got to a point by about eight at night where I’d run out of things to do and I thought about calling Caden to come over for a little entertainment, but something stopped me. Maybe it’s the way he’s been looking at me lately, or maybe it’s the way I’ve been liking it. I don’t know, but it’s creeping me out. I mean, why can’t he keep looking at me like a piece of meat? Why does he have to look as though he’s imagining me with his baby in my guts?
So, I sat up all night thinking about what he could be doing to me before I went to bed and did it myself.
I got to have a massive sleep in this morning, that was until Izzy came barging through my door, demanding my attention. “What are you still doing in bed?” she demands as she jumps on my bed and has me gasping in shock at the sudden intrusion.
“Go away,” I moan. “I’m sleeping.”
“No, you’re not. Get up,” she says. “It’s past ten in the morning and it’s a beautiful day.” Damn it. The thought of getting out of my warm bed makes me want to cry. “Come on,” she says as she grabs my hand and hauls me up to a sitting position. “I’ll make you a coffee while you shower. I want to go and find a dress for my brother’s engagement party.”
I let out a groan, but realize that I should probably be tagging along for that one. The party is next weekend and I know I won’t get another chance to go shopping before then. “Fine,” I say as I groggily get to my feet.
Izzy grabs a shirt and jeans out of my closet and throws them on the bed before rifling through my underwear drawer and pulling out the smallest little thong and matching bra. I roll my eyes as I leave the room and head into the bathroom.
For as long as I can remember, Izzy has always had a lingerie obsession. She doesn’t believe regular cotton knickers should exist. I guess she’s a man’s version of a perfect woman. Everything is either silk or lace. Oh, and no mismatching allowed. I’m pretty sure she has a few weird views on socks too, but I can never remember her rules there.
I get into the shower and close my eyes under the water as it runs down my face. Izzy’s right, it is a beautiful day. I feel well rested and ready to kick ass today. I find myself wondering how Cami’s blind date went and make a mental note to stop by her store during our dress shopping. Actually, we should probably start there. Cami always has beautiful things in her store, we could probably knock out two birds with one stone.
I get out of the shower and trudge down to my bedroom. I pull on my lingerie and can’t help but feel a little sexy. There’s something about wearing hot lingerie that makes me feel alive. Like I could go out and conquer the world.
I get my ass dressed and find my coffee ready and waiting for me in the kitchen with a piece of toast to go with it. I scoff it down before suggesting we head over to Cami’s shop. Izzy greedily agrees with the idea as she absolutely idolizes Cami’s shop.
We get in her car and before we know it, we’re heading on in. I find Rylee here, leaning over the counter as Cami animatedly discusses her night. “Hey,” Cami smiles as she watches us walk through the door.
“Hey, to you too,” I smile as we make our way over. I give them both a quick hug before explaining we need dresses.
Cami points out all her latest collections and Izzy and I get busy picking out what we like. “How was the blind date?” I call over the top of the dressing room curtain.
“Oh, my god,” Cami groans as she passes through another dress she thinks I’ll like. “It was awful.”
“Do share,” I grin as I look over the strapless beauty Cami has just passed me and work on slipping it on.
“Well,” she starts. “It started all good. He was a complete gentleman, you know, pulling out my chair for me and ordering us a bottle of their best wine. And then he started talking.”
“What do you mean?” Izzy questions with a chuckle from the room beside me as I come out into the hallway to show off the stunning dress which has already gone straight to the top of my list.
I circle myself around in the mirror taking in all the different angles of the dress as Cami goes on. “I asked him what he did for work,” she explains before pausing for dramatic effect. I turn to her and wait patiently for whatever she’s got to say. “He directs short films,” she says.
My eyebrows furrow. “Short films?” I question. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“His short films are porn,” she says bluntly.
“Oh,” I gasp before Izzy and I burst into laughter with Rylee listening on from her position on the counter, obviously already having heard this part of the story, but that doesn’t stop the amused grin from cutting across her face. “You’re not kidding, are you?”
“I wish,” she groans. “It was awful. He wanted to show me some of his work, right there in the fucking restaurant.”
“Oh no,” I murmur.
She nods her head with a horrified look on her face. “That’s right. I spent my night watching a girl get screwed by two massive black guys. Did you know there was such thing as double anal? Because I tell you. I had no fucking idea.”
“Double anal? I question. “As in…?”
“Yeah. Like double. As in at the same time. Two willies in the poor girl’s butt.”
“But… how?” I ask equally as horrified as Rylee continues to chuckle by the counter.
“Trust me,” Izzy calls from within her dressing room. “It’s possible.”
“What?” I shriek as I throw back the curtain of her stall and gape at her, but luckily, she’s already dressed in a gorgeous dress, that if I wasn’t so horrified I’d be busy telling her to buy. “You haven’t? Tell me you haven’t.”
“Oh, god. No,” she gasps before giving me a proud look. “But I’ve seen it.”
“Ugh,” I groan. “I don’t want to know.”
“No, you don’t,” Cami laughs. “It looked painful.”
“I bet,” I murmur.
“At least Jace will be thrilled to know that I won’t be seeing him again,” Cami comments as she heads over towards her rack of shoes and picks me out a pair of heels that would work magically with the dress. “God, I’m so angry at him,” she says. “I would do anything to go down there and kick his ass right now.”
“Well,” Rylee cuts in. “I’m not busy right now. We could go down there to kick some ass. Besides, Cole forgot his house keys. I have to go down there anyway.”
“I’m in,” I announce with a raised hand.
“Count me in too,” Izzy says.
“You guys aren’t serious?” she questions. “We’re all just going to go down there and give Jace a piece of our minds?”
“Sounds about right to me,” I say as Rylee gives her a nod.
“Besides,” Izzy adds. “Do you have any idea how hot all the fighters are down there? It’s like a steamy sausage fest.”
A brilliant smile comes across Cami’s face and just like that, she’s giving her shop assistance instructions on what she wants done for the day and we’re all piling into our cars.
We pull up at Rebel’s Advocate and stand out the front looking like the biggest bunch of badasses. Well, that is until Cami starts to look sick at the tasks she’s about to do. “Don’t you dare back out,” Rylee warns her. “He needs to hear it.”
“I know,” she groans before taking a big breath and storming forward.
We follow behind and make our way into Rebels Advocate. The first thing we notice is all three of the boys are in the middle of training clients. “Damn,” Rylee grunts. “We didn’t quite think this through.”
Cole notices us from across the room and gives us a curious look before focusing back on the kid in front of him. “Come on,” I say. “We can wait in the studio.”
We pile into the studio and I flop down on one of those big Pilates balls, I think it’s called a Swi
ss ball, but I could be wrong. I bounce up and down on it as Izzy heads over to the room length mirror and pulls out her hair before braiding it.
We sit in silence. My eyes are busy looking out into the gym watching Caden with his client. Rylee is looking at something on her phone and Cami is focused intently on the floor, probably going over what she plans on saying.
“You know,” Izzy says as she watches me through the mirror. “I saw this thing on YouTube where these two people would get those balls and run full steam ahead at each other. Last person standing wins.”
A gin rips across my face as I look around the room and find another Swiss ball by the door. “I’m keen if you are,” I tell her.
She grins back at me. “You’re on.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Rylee says, stopping Izzy who’s already halfway across the room on a mission to get the other ball. We stop and stare at Rylee, waiting to know her issue. “I want to call it.”
“Ok,” I laugh as she points out positions for both me and Izzy to start.
Rylee holds her hands up to her face as though she’s holding a microphone. “In the left corner, please make welcome, all the way from her apartment, Imogen ‘The Deadly Ball Demon’ Lewis,” she announces as if we’re about to face down in the ring, the same way they do for the professional fights. I crack up as she continues. “In the other corner,” she says as Izzy holds her hands up for her non-existent audience. “She’s fast. She determined. She’s the best goddamn ball handler in America. “Izzy ‘The Ball Buster’ Vincent.”
Cami cheers for us and I’m sure the noise of our laughter is heard throughout the whole gym. Rylee points to me. “Ball Demon, are you ready?” I nod my head before she turns to Izzy. “Ball Buster, are you ready?” Izzy grins and nods.
“Alright,” Rylee says. “Get ready. Get set. RUN.”
I take off with a cringe, terrified I’m about to go flying back onto my ass, but Rylee put way too much dedication into her introduction that I can’t back out now. Izzy comes storming towards me and looks as though she’s about to wet her pants with laughter. We each hold the balls in front of our stomachs and I feel as though time has slowed.
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