One Last Fight: Part One (The One Last Fight #1)

by Ava Ashley

  The hallway is long and dark, and I know someone is coming down it after me. They don’t have a reason to. I keep checking my back, but don’t see anyone.

  “Hey.”

  He’s in front of me. As soon as I look, he takes a swing. I duck and his fist clips the top of my head as I slam a hit into his gut.

  “He’s feeling feisty today!” Someone else laughs. I try to turn to fight off the new guys behind me, but there’s too many.

  “Ahh!” I launch out of bed, fists up, like always. Somehow, I know it’s the nightmare again instead of getting confused. I breathe heavy and lean over, fists on the bed, before remembering to be quiet for Lily. But she’s still sound asleep. Maybe I didn’t yell out loud.

  I pace in the bedroom until I decide that might wake her up. I pull on boxers and make my way out to find the liquor cabinet. Then I pace with a scotch.

  “What the fuck?”

  Why did the nightmare come back? I had thought it’d go away if I talked to Lily, if I figured this out. But it didn’t. It’s just her. Being around her makes it all come back.

  ***

  I’m cooking a green pepper, cheese, and egg omelet for breakfast when Lily comes out of the bedroom wearing a long T-shirt and leggings. Her hair is curlier and messy today from sleeping, and the shirt accentuates her figure, but I look away. After waking up during the night, I knew there was no way I’d be able to sleep. Or climb back into the bed with her. So I decided to shut down and put all this emotional shit on a back burner. I don’t need it and don’t want to deal with it.

  “You’re cooking.” Her face breaks into a wide, carefree smile. She comes around the counter, wraps her arms around my waist, and lays a kiss on the back of my neck. I know what it looks like. I shouldn’t have told her about the cooking thing. I just wanted a good breakfast today, and she’ll need it too.

  “I thought we could have breakfast before going back.” I keep my voice light. Last night was fantastic, but now I feel open to all the emotions that I worked hard to get rid of. She slowly lets go and steps back.

  “Rafe?” She sounds confused and hurt.

  I can’t deal with this, I remind myself. I have my own shit. I have things to clear out of my head. The omelet is done and I slide a serving onto two plates and take them to the table. “Come sit down and eat.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  I give her a blank stare, raising my eyebrows.

  “Guess not,” she says and looks down at her food. I wait for her to take a bite.

  “It’s going to be a busy day back at the beach house,” I tell her in between bites. “You’ll need the protein.”

  “Another challenge?”

  “Two actually.” I take another bite, not sure if I’m tasting it. I shouldn’t say anything, but I go ahead and tell her. “There’s a beach event where everyone tries to get bead necklaces from people on the beach.”

  “Like Mardi Gras?” Her expression is skeptical and a bit angry.

  “Not exactly. I’m not sure how you’ll get them, but I think it’s being left open. Probably flirt with people.”

  “Great.” She tries for a laugh. “And after that?”

  “Rock climbing.”

  Lily sets down her fork and slowly raises an eyebrow at me.

  “Not my idea,” I say. That’s all I’m going to say about it, or any of this. I hear the helicopter just then.

  “They’re here early,” she says, then looks at me, more questions in her eyes. I called and requested that they come early.

  “Well, like I said, it’s going to be a big day. Might as well get an early start.”

  The emotion drains from her face. She’s hiding. It’s what I’ve been doing too, so I don’t comment. I’ve been quiet on purpose. We get our things ready, and I put the dishes in the kitchen.

  The ride back is quiet. I wonder if I picked the wrong woman now. Sure, I found out the truth, but maybe it won’t help me. I make sure not to look at her. I don’t want to see if she’s crying. But Lily’s stronger than that. She’ll pull through.

  When we land, she gets out first and doesn’t look back at me. I almost call out to her, but she walks away quickly. Well, that’s that. I grab my bag and head out too.

  ***

  “All right, ladies!” Liam claps his hands as he and I walk closer. The women are gathered on the beach where they played volleyball. “It’s double elimination day. We’re upping the stakes.”

  I detect a few nervous looks. Except Mel. She’s smiling at me like we have some secret together. Luckily, I’m wearing dark sunglasses. I don’t feel like making eye contact with them today, not after last night. Specifically, I didn’t want to make eye contact with Lily. She’s near the back of the group.

  “We have staff at the beach entrances right now, handing out necklaces to everyone coming on the beach. Your objective today is to get as many of those necklaces as you can. The two with the most necklaces win immunity tonight.”

  There’s a giggle and wave of questions.

  “And how do we do that?” Heather asks, crossing her arms. They’re all thinking the obvious, I’m sure, and I wouldn’t put it past Liam to have them taking off their tops for necklaces, either.

  “We’re leaving that up to you,” he says with a big grin.

  “But,” I say, stepping forward, “this isn’t New Orleans and we’re not doing some Mardi Gras thing here.” I give him a sideways glance. He doesn’t skip a beat even though that had to piss him off.

  “Like I said, you can do whatever you want. Use your charm, beauty, or persuasive skills. Rafe needs a beautiful woman, and this is your chance to prove just how gorgeous you are.”

  The women start to break up and Liam yells, “Wait! You’ll need to get ten necklaces in the next two hours to stay on the show. In addition, the bottom two will also get booted off.”

  “What do you mean?” Kara asks. “How many is that?”

  “It all depends... and now you have under two hours...”

  The women turn and leave while Liam laughs. Then he turns to look at me over his sunglasses. “So how did last night go?”

  “It went.” I shrug.

  “Hmm. It looked like it went very well from what I saw.”

  I turn to him and remove my glasses. “And what did you see? I thought you were keeping the cameras to a minimum.”

  “Oh, we did.” He holds up his hands in mock defense. “But we caught the dinner and how you carried her off to the bedroom.”

  So they heard her confession. I had actually forgotten about the cameras for a while.

  He steps closer like he wants to discuss it. I don’t.

  “That’s great,” I say in a flat voice and walk away to the chairs that are set up for us under shade. I’m not going to think about it. Not now.

  There’re drinks in ice buckets and food like always, but I realize there’s not much point in me sitting here and waiting. They probably want to tape me watching, but you can’t even see much of what’s going on from here. The women scattered.

  I get up while Liam is talking to Mike and make my way back to my house, and from there I drive to the gym. Every day I feel stronger, and today, I start light upper body weights. It puts a strain on my ribs after two sets, so I reluctantly give that up and move on to legs and then stretching. On the way back, Quentin gets me on the phone to discuss my progress. It’ll be a while before I can do serious training, but it’s on both our minds. As soon as I get off the phone with Quentin, it rings again. Liam.

  “Where are you? We’re wrapping up.”

  “Ahh, I’ll be down in just a few.” I hang up. I’ve made it this far without thinking about my night with Lily or how today’s events will change things.

  They’re waiting for me when I arrive.

  “And here he is, our man of the hour!” Liam calls out as I join him. I try to get into the moment.

  “It’s time to count up your necklaces!” he announces. “Does everyone have ten
?”

  It gets real quiet.

  “If you have over ten, step this way,” he says. Most of the women move over to the shade tents, leaving Justine and Bree.

  “I have nine!” Bree holds them up.

  “I’m sorry, Bree, but that’s one short.” He turns to Justine, and I remember she’s the quiet and shy one. She seems to have even less. “And I’m sorry, Justine. It looks like you two are going home today. You can go gather your things now.”

  I don’t like this part. It’s like breaking up with someone when I never even took them out. Both women come to say good-bye, and I hug them and thank them for being on the show.

  Liam waits it out and the cameras tape that part, and then a staff member takes them up to the house. Next Liam goes down the line, having each woman tell him how many necklaces they have. Twenty-two. Fifteen. Thirty. Wow, that was Heather. She must have some charm that she hasn’t used on me. Lily has eighteen. She’s somewhat in the middle. The bottom two women are ones I haven’t gotten to know that well. We go through two more awkward good-byes.

  Lily, Kara, Mel, and Samantha are all still on, along with the others who I haven’t gotten to know. Liam gives a little speech and turns to me. What the hell am I supposed to say?

  “Thanks for sticking it out this far. I love my time with each of you, and I hope to get to know each of you more.” I grin and wink in their general direction.

  “All right, you have half an hour, and then we’ll meet in front of the beach house.” Liam has the staff brief them more. They’ll need to be properly dressed for rock climbing, but they won’t know what they’re doing until we get there. Except Lily knows. And she’s deathly afraid of heights.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lily

  I tell myself Rafe is just having doubts and working through things. I have to believe that. I can’t push him right now, even if I want to. I laid a lot on him last night. He had no idea the Olympic committee had written. He had no idea I called the police and betrayed him, and ruined that dream.

  But we made love. I’m not sure I should call it that, actually. We were like two wild animals going at each other. And then, when I was falling asleep, he said he understood. So why did he get so distant in the morning? Did he think about it and decide he should be mad? That doesn’t sound like Rafe. I have no idea what’s going on with him, and that makes this next event even more dangerous for me.

  We’re riding the bus out to the rock climbing event. Everyone else is making guesses about what we’re doing.

  “Rafe didn’t tell you, did he?” Kara asks. “No, he wouldn’t.” She doesn’t even wait for my answer. A minute later, she murmurs, “Where are we going? Is this some kind of desert survival challenge?”

  I watch with dread as we near a large rock structure jutting up out of the sand. Everyone is talking as we get off the bus. The staff is waiting with extra crew members today to handle the technical aspects of this. My stomach tightens even more when I see the gear waiting for us. We’re instructed to take a number out of a bucket. I get ten, so I’ll be the very last to climb. Kara draws number one. I almost wish I could get it over with right away, but I shake just thinking about what’s ahead.

  By now, they’ve figured out what we’re doing. Heather looks stoked about it.

  “All right, time for your crash course in rock climbing!” Liam greets us. The cameramen close in and everyone is quiet. “Raise your hand if you’ve climbed before.”

  Several hands go up, including Kara’s and Heather’s. It’s not looking too good for me today. I glance around and find Rafe standing back with the staff, wearing dark glasses. I can’t see his eyes or read his expression, but his arms are crossed and his legs are set in a hard stance. He might see me watching him, but he doesn’t respond in any way.

  I listen to the instructions and hope they help. Then Kara is suited up and on her way. I peek around, trying to tell if anyone else is as nervous as me. Maybe Mel. That’s funny. She looks back at me and just about sneers. Kara makes pretty good time going up the wall and quickly hits the bell at the top.

  We have a white board today and a staff member jots down her time. I watch everyone make their way up the wall, my chest tightening with each passing second. I can do this, I keep telling myself.

  Kara stays in the lead through three women until Heather goes and beats her by a minute. Mel goes next and comes in half a minute slower than Kara. The next two contestants are slower too. Kara must have really known what she was doing. There’s just one woman before me—Sam. She looks nervous too, and I have trouble watching her fumble her way up. She finishes with the slowest time so far. Now everyone else has gone...

  I’m up next. I put a helmet on while a twenty-something woman helps me into the straps. She seems friendly, so I ask, “Can you go over it again?” I hate the way my voice quivers.

  “Sure thing.” She shows me some tips and explains things again. “And remember, this is a short wall, and you’re perfectly safe. See this safety rope? Just don’t look down. Focus on placing your hands and making it up, and then we’ll help you down.”

  I try to hide my fear as I go up to the cliff and start climbing. With each additional step up, however, I know I’m climbing higher. I hear a few encouraging cheers from Kara and the staff as I climb. I’m slower than the others. I know that already. I just have to make it to the top, so I don’t look like a complete wuss.

  Is Rafe actually watching? He was off to the side, so I try to glance that way.

  A big mistake. I see the ground and how high I am. My hand slips. I cry out, then bite my lip. My feet and other hand are solid. I got this. But I can’t find a grip for my free hand. I search around, panic rising.

  “Lily, just breathe.” It’s Rafe’s voice. I close my eyes for a few seconds and hear him again. “Take your time and feel for a grip.”

  I open my eyes, and this time, it takes about three seconds to find one. I reach up with the other hand and keep going, focusing only on moving my hands and feet. Then the bell appears. I did it.

  I ring it and feel like crying, but of course I don’t. Rafe cares. He must care. But does he want me?

  I let them lower me down, and suddenly, it doesn’t even feel like the bell was that far up the cliff.

  The staff surrounds me as I touch down and helps me out of the gear. Kara is waiting there to hug me. I’m so thankful she’s here. I spot Rafe, but Liam steps between us before I can motion to him or try to read his face.

  “Okay, ladies, great job today!”

  Heart pounding, I turn toward the board and scan the times. I’m not the slowest. By some miracle, I beat Samantha by a little over a minute. Maybe because she’s so short? Or maybe she’s more afraid of heights than me? I’m so relieved it’s hard to feel sorry for her. I have to keep myself from looking at her face, knowing I will feel bad.

  Liam walks to the board. “Ahh, Samantha. You did great, but unfortunately you have the slowest time... And Lily, you’re the second slowest.”

  Everything stops.

  “What?” I’m shocked, but somehow I still notice Rafe jerk his head to look at me and back at Liam.

  “Someone has to go home, someone from the two slowest climbers today.”

  My earlier relief turns to fear.

  “Rafe, take a minute to decide, and then we need your decision.”

  The only noise is the wind brushing the cliff beside us. Rafe didn’t know about this. Why did Liam surprise him? He’s giving Rafe the opportunity to kick me off, when it really seemed like they wanted to keep me for the extra drama. Why the change of heart?

  Rafe must have put his foot down and said he could kick me off if he wanted. He just might do that now. I’m suddenly so nervous I shiver. This is worse than trying to climb up that rock wall.

  I turn to Rafe. He won’t return my look. Why now? Does he really not want to talk to me anymore?

  He was just cheering for me. That’s why I didn’t come in last. Why would he cheer
for me if he wanted to kick me off? I’m so confused my head is spinning.

  “Samantha...” He takes a few steps toward her and my heart stops. It completely drops out of my chest, a sinking feeling that make me physically ill. He’s choosing her. “I’m sorry,” he adds, and I suck in a breath. “It’s your time to leave.”

  I’m dizzy with relief and hope my breathing doesn’t give it away.

  We’re quiet as she hugs Rafe and then is escorted away. That’s gotta suck. It was almost my turn today. I hope I don’t ever have to face that. And more importantly, I hope I don’t have to walk away and not see Rafe again.

  I might not have beaten Samantha if Rafe hadn’t cheered for me. He did that because he cares. And then he kept me on the show. Last night must have meant something to him. Does he think we have a chance? Maybe he wants to work on things. I turn around and catch his eye. If he’d just take those damn glasses off! If he really wants me off the show, he wouldn’t have cheered. But he’s not smiling now either.

  What did I do wrong? I did the right thing. I told him the truth. He deserved that.

  “Okay, ladies, let’s head back to the beach house for a pool party!”

  He doesn’t announce anything for the winner, and Heather vents about it as we load back onto the bus. Maybe we’ll hear more back at the house. There’re only nine of us left now. Leaving eight other women I have to beat out in the coming weeks.

  The bus starts to pull out and we pass Rafe and Liam. Rafe looks up and waves at us as we go by. I’m pretty sure everyone but me waves back at him. And I swear Rafe is looking right at me, but he doesn’t smile. What is going on? He didn’t kick me off, but instead of feeling relieved, I’m even more confused about any chance of a future for us.

  *****

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