by Nikki Ash
“Hey man, where are you?” he asks.
“Heading to your place now. What’s up?”
“Cooper and the guys are here and want to talk to you. I’ll see you when you get here.”
We hang up and I head straight to his place.
I knock and let myself in like I’ve done a million times. I’m so thankful he’s giving me a place to stay. I had no idea there was a room in the back of his house. The guys are all sitting in the living room watching a basketball game, drinking beer and eating what looks like take out from a local Chinese place. Eating healthy is a huge part of training, but most fighters will give themselves cheat days to stay sane. This must be theirs.
Cooper is the first to stand to say hi. “What’s up, man?”
“Nothing much.” I give him a handshake.
I glance over and see Kaden—Cooper’s trainer—and sitting next to him is Bentley.
“What’s going on?” I ask anxiously.
“You’re out of college for the summer, right?” Diego asks.
“Yeah, I’m considering taking a couple classes over the summer, but nothing major until August. Why?”
“Could you transfer to a different college?” Bentley chimes in.
“I guess I could if I had to.” I’m not sure what all the questions are about my schooling, but I’m getting kind of nervous.
“Diego told us you’re in the transition of moving out. We’re heading to Miami to do some promo shit and then moving to Las Vegas to train at my dad’s gym,” Cooper says.
I nod, but I’m still not sure where he’s going with this.
“Kaden and I both decided to purchase a home over there, which leaves Bentley living on his own. He found a three-bedroom place and plans to use one room for an office, but he’s looking for a roommate for the third bedroom, and when I mentioned it to Diego, he thought you might be interested. What do you think about moving to Las Vegas and rooming with Bentley? You can also train at the gym there free of charge.”
Are these guys fucking serious? It’s like they’re handing me my dreams on a silver platter.
“Umm… that sounds awesome, but I only have a few grand to my name. I don’t know how much the rent is, but I would need to get a job, and even then, with training and college, I don’t know how many hours I would be able to work…”
Bentley raises his hand to stop me. “Bro, chill. I’m good with paying whatever. I just want a roommate since these two pussies have decided they need to grow up and buy a house and shit. Pay or don’t pay… I don’t care. Just keep your space clean, if you eat my food, let me know, and if you have a female over, try to keep her quiet.”
This shit is too good to be true, but I’m not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I could tell him he won’t need to worry about me bringing any females over, but I would imagine that would raise questions, so instead I just say okay and thank him.
Coopers adds, “We’re leaving the day after tomorrow. A bunch of the guys from the gym are flying out as well. We’ll be in Miami for a few days and then we’ll head to Las Vegas. You’re more than welcome to join us in Miami.”
I look to Diego to make sure this is all legit and he’s okay with this. I trust him to steer me in the right direction. He nods and smiles, and I silently scream fuck yes! I’m getting the fuck out of here.
Chapter One
Caleb
Present Day
It’s December in Las Vegas, and while many would think it would be hot because well… it’s Las Vegas and Las Vegas is in the desert, it’s actually not. It’s freezing cold outside. I jump into my blacked out Dodge Ram, turn the key into the ignition, and put the heat on full blast. Fuck, it’s cold!
I go through the local coffee shop drive thru to pick up a couple hot coffees before heading to the gym. The coffee serves two purposes: one, to warm me up, and two, to wake me up. I didn’t get in until almost four this morning from work and I’m exhausted. I was only supposed to work until two, but between the call-outs and the private parties at the club, the owner, Matt, needed me to stay late. I’m definitely not complaining about the hours because more hours means more money in my bank account, but when you have to get up at seven in the morning to head to the gym to train for a fight, the sleep I’m lacking feels more important than the money.
I know I should quit my job. My dream has finally come true and I have a contract with the UFC, but what people don’t realize is, while a contract is definitely a step in the right direction, it doesn’t mean instant stardom or money. I am lucky my roommate Bentley barely lets me pay a dime to live here. I had no idea how expensive it could be to live in Las Vegas. The problem is I know it won’t be long until he moves out and I’ll have to find my own place and pay real rent. Luckily, I have been busting my ass and saving for the last several years since we moved out here, and I actually have a very good amount of money saved up.
Bentley and I have been roommates for the last seven years, but a lot of shit has recently changed. First off, he and his girlfriend, Kayla, who is one of my best friends, had a baby girl in June. Her name is Faith and she’s the cutest baby in the world.
I’m not going to lie; it took a little while to warm up to Kayla. I don’t trust women, but living with her allowed me to get to know a female who isn’t trying to use a man for his money or dick, and over time a friendship developed. She has also taught me women are human and make mistakes. Not every lie is vindictive and I need to remember that about my mom and sister. They didn’t lie to be vindictive, not like my stepmom did.
Bentley and Kayla are planning to get married soon which means they’ll be moving out to get their own place, leaving me in this expensive ass three-bedroom place by myself. Bentley has told me several times I can stay and he will keep paying the rent. Rich fucker! But we both know I can’t allow him to do that.
I pull up to the gym and grab my coffee and the other coffee I picked up. I swing the door open and head straight to the office, handing Liz the hot cup.
“Ooohhh! For me? You are the best!” she says, taking a long sip. She closes her eyes and moans dramatically. “This is so good! I needed this coffee fix.”
Liz is the office manager here at Cooper’s Fight Club, and married to Cooper. She’s another female I’ve gotten to know and adore. Those two women are definitely proof that not all women are gold digging, untrusting bitches. Once in a while I actually wonder what it would be like to meet a woman like Kayla or Liz. Then I remember my past. I can’t see myself ever trusting a woman enough to want to be intimate with her.
A while back Cooper’s dad passed away and left the gyms he owns to his son. All this took place shortly after Cooper found out he had a baby with Liz he knew nothing about. Remember the mention of our trip to Miami? Yeah, well, what happened in Miami didn’t stay in Miami. Without realizing it, Liz and her best friend Kayla wound up in Las Vegas as well—Liz pregnant with their daughter Bella—and a few years later they reconnected at a UFC fight, fell in love, got married, and recently had another baby. Their son’s name is Nathan, and he’s almost as cute as Faith.
After Cooper’s dad died and left him the gyms he decided to take a step back from fighting to run the gyms and focus on his wife and kids. Bentley is doing the same thing… well, not running the gyms. He has decided to be a stay-at-home dad. Kayla is a physical therapist at the gym, so Bentley is still around a lot, but he’s no longer fighting competitively. Yep! A lot of shit happens in seven years.
As for me, not much has changed since I moved here. I transferred to a local college and a few years ago graduated with my degree in business and finance. I haven’t heard from my dad or Gloria since I moved and I prefer to keep it that way. While I miss my dad, I know it’s for the best. I still find it hard to believe Gloria let me go so easily. For the first few years after I left, I held my breath waiting for her blackmailing to begin again, but it never did.
In the last few years I have won several fights and received a UFC contract, whic
h I am on cloud nine about. I work at the club at night, train during the day with Kaden—who took me and our friend Alex on, after Bentley and Cooper decided to take a break—and chill with my friends. Life is actually really good.
After giving Liz her coffee, I head to the locker room to change. As I’m turning the corner, I run straight into Hayley. My coffee slushes around inside the cup and some of it flies out of the small slit in the lid, not much but enough to stain her shirt.
“Oh, shit! I’m sorry,” I say, looking around for something to help her wipe up the coffee on her shirt.
She looks at me nervously, biting down on her lower lip. It reminds me of her face after the first and only time we kissed, when she realized I couldn’t give her anything more. The truth is we never even should have kissed that night.
“Let’s play a game!” Hayley shouts over the music. We’re at the club I work at celebrating Kayla and Bentley going out for the first time after having Faith.
“A game? What are we, five?” Kaden asks. Everybody laughs at his question, but of course all their drunk asses agree to play.
“Caleb, truth or dare?” Kayla asks me. I know I have to pick dare even though I don’t want to. If I pick truth, she’ll ask me a question I won’t want to answer. She’s always asking why I never bring females home. I can’t put myself in that position to have to lie to her.
I glare at her but go along with it. “Dare.”
Kayla looks over to her left, and following her line of vision, I see her glance at Hayley and then smirk. Don’t do it Kayla… but she does.
“I dare you to kiss Hayley.”
Hayley glares at her, clearly embarrassed. “You don’t have to…” Hayley turns to me and says. But without letting her finish, for the first time ever, I let my hormones control my actions as I pull her to me for a kiss. Her lips are soft and warm and she tastes like the sweet liquor concoction she has been sipping on all night. My tongue seeks entrance and soon we are full on making out in front of everyone in the middle of a nightclub. I can almost enjoy it, but then it hits me. Once again I’m kissing a woman against my own free will.
No, I’m technically not being forced and I wouldn’t compare it to what Gloria did to me, but we aren’t kissing out of love or even lust. I’m kissing her because somebody dared me to, and just like that it’s as if I’m being manipulated and used all over again. It’s like ice water being splashed on me. I end the now tainted kiss abruptly slightly pushing Hayley away from me. She gives me a confused, embarrassed look that turns sad, probably wondering if she did something wrong…
Since then Hayley has made it clear on several occasions she likes me, but I’ve continued to ignore all her advances. I know it’s been seven fucking years since I left Boulder and my past behind, but I can’t find it in me to be with a woman of my own free will. Every time I think about it, I feel like in some way or another it’s being forced on me. I don’t know how to change the way I feel.
And let’s say I do find a woman that I choose to touch. How do I know I can trust her? How do I know she won’t want me for all the wrong reasons or that she won’t cheat on me? I think about my sister and mom and stepmom, and how I trusted each one of them in a different way and what did they do? They all lied. I think about all the women I watched cheat on their husbands. I don’t know how to truly trust a woman, and I can’t imagine being with someone without trusting her, but then I think about Kayla and Liz, and while neither of them are perfect, I don’t believe either of them would do anything to deliberately hurt Bentley or Cooper. I trust both of those women as much as I am capable of.
And even if we get past all that trust bullshit, how do I tell her that I lost my virginity at fifteen years old to my stepmom who then blackmailed me into learning how to please a woman so she could pimp me out to cheating wives? Who the fuck wants to deal with that kind of baggage?
Attempting to shake myself out of my thoughts I see Hayley still standing there, staring at me, and fuck if she isn’t a naturally beautiful woman. I first look at her eyes because they’re wide open. They are light brown and remind me of the Werther’s caramels my mom used to buy me at the store when I was younger. Then my eyes drift to the rest of her face and notice she has cute freckles lightly spattered across her nose. She doesn’t wear tons of make up like most women do in Las Vegas. She looks like she has a bit of clear lipstick on because her lips are shiny. It makes me want to taste them. Forcing myself to look away from her face, I look at her hair. It’s brown with shades of lighter brown and blonde mixed in.
Her head is tilted just a little to the side, and my eyes go back to her mouth, which is curved downward. Her frowning does something to me. I want to make her smile. Is it crazy that I want to kiss that frown right off her face? Why is she just standing there staring at me? Shit! Remembering I just spilled coffee on her, I grab a towel off the towel rack and go to clean her shirt. My hand hits her breast and she jumps back, her face turning red with embarrassment. What the hell am I doing?
“I am so sorry!” I say once again, this time for touching her without permission.
She lets out a soft giggle and it’s got to be the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.
“It’s okay,” she says, taking the towel from me. She grabs her water bottle and pours some water on the towel and proceeds to dab the wet towel onto the stain. “I just wasn’t expecting you to do that.” Her face is bright red as she looks down at the spot to avoid looking at me. She’s so adorable.
When she removes the towel, the area is soaking wet and I can see right through her white button up shirt to her white lacy bra. From the cold water, her nipple is poking through, and for the first time in God knows how long, my dick is twitching of its own free will. I bring my eyes back up to her face and try to discreetly adjust myself. I’m obviously not discreet enough, though, because Hayley looks at my face, down to my hard-on, then back to her soaked shirt.
If it’s even possible, her face goes redder and I can’t help but laugh at the awkwardness of this entire situation. How did I not notice how fucking adorable this chick is? She pouts at my laughter and covers her wet shirt and pointed nipple with the towel, making me laugh even harder.
“Are you laughing?” Kaden comes over and pats my shoulder trying to assess the situation.
He glances back and forth between Hayley and me. “You must be hilarious because I don’t think I have ever heard Caleb laugh.”
Hayley’s eyes go wide and she mutters something along the lines of, “I need to go find a new shirt,” as she hightails it away from us with the towel still covering her chest.
“What was that about?” Kaden asks, watching Hayley as she walks away.
“Nothing. I spilled my coffee on her by accident. Ready to go workout for a little bit?”
He studies me for a second. “Yeah. If you want to be ready for the fight in a few months we need to start training hardcore. You ready for that?”
“I was born ready.”
We begin warming up and a few minutes later I notice Hayley walking out of the locker room with a new shirt on. She walks over to Stephen, another fighter, and begins feeling his fingers. He must have hurt them somehow while training. I know she’s the onsite doctor here at the gym ,so it’s her job to touch the fighters to see what’s wrong, but something I’ve never felt before hits me as I watch her touch him—jealousy maybe? I’m not sure. Then he says something to her causing her to break out in a full grin. Her head goes back and she laughs. She might have been giggling with me, but it wasn’t anywhere close to the reaction he’s getting from her. She might be adorable with her shy giggles, but when she laughs… she’s downright fucking beautiful.
Kaden catches me watching her and clears his throat. When I force my eyes off her and look at him he’s got a smirk on his face looking like he’s about to comment.
I ignore him and walk to the ring ready to train. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me but I need to focus on fighting. Sure, her laughter
does something strange to my insides, and yeah, she looks hot as hell with her body full of curves and toned legs that go on for miles in her high heels and skirts. And on top of all that I know from experience, she can kiss. Everything about Hayley is a complete turn on, but at the end of the day she is still a woman, and like I’ve said before and will continue to say, women, for the most part can’t be trusted, and I doubt Hayley is an exception.
We get into the ring and get our gloves and gear on, when I hear someone call out my name. I scan the area and see Marco running over to me. Marco is twelve years old and part of the Youth MMA program Cooper is running for kids who want a safe place to practice and train. As often as I can, I teach the class. Cooper and Liz’s almost six-year-old daughter, Bella, is part of the program as well. She swears one day she’ll become a UFC fighter. I don’t doubt it. That little girl is beyond determined.
Earlier this year, Marco started coming into the gym. He wanted to be a part of the class, but his mom couldn’t afford it, so Bentley opened up a scholarship program for kids whose parents don’t have the money to pay. It allows them to train at a discounted rate. In Marco’s case, he trains for free.
The truth is, nobody has ever seen Marco’s mom except for me. After getting excuse after excuse, I followed him home one day and saw he lives in section eight housing in a shitty area. When he went to school the next day I knocked on the door and found a woman who looked like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.
She confided in me that Marco’s dad was killed in a drive-by years ago. She recently had another baby by some other guy and is between jobs. I could tell she was strung out on drugs but knew better than to bring it up. The sure-fire way to piss off a drug addict is to call them out on it. She would most likely just lie anyway. I had her sign for Marco to join the program and told her if she needs anything to let me know, not because I want to help her but because I want to make sure Marco is okay. She is another example of an untrustworthy woman, choosing drugs over her own children.
