by T M Kelly
“I—” Her words caught me off guard. “It was an accident.”
“Zoe, take this shit out on a heavy bag before you injure someone else.” Tyler helped Teryan to her feet. “That’s it for today.”
In a few months I had a rematch fight scheduled. The fight had been canceled already and I didn’t want to have that happen again. Which meant I didn’t have time to take breaks or only use a punching bag to keep on target. Tyler’s lack of compassion was starting to wear on me. Then add in the news I had just caught on the TV earlier, and well, I was the very definition of distracted.
“Hey,” Julian said and wrapped his arms around the heavy bag. “Need some help?”
I rolled my eyes and tried to bite my tongue. This was Julian, Tyler’s oldest brother. He was also my dear friend’s boyfriend. Lily and I were close, but I didn’t know what was okay to say and what wasn’t when it came to Tyler. I stepped back and threw a punch at the leather surface. “Thanks.” It was weird practicing with him. “Why are you over here?”
“Tyler can be difficult sometimes.” I stopped punching the bag and stepped back. “He means well, Zoe.”
I brushed a few strands of hair away from my face. “Does he? I haven’t noticed.” My words were sharp, so I knew I needed to back track. “I mean—”
“Your fight is in two months, right?”
“Yeah.” This day was shit. I started to remove my gloves. “And Vera is going to be relentless. She wants the belt back.”
Julian reached forward to help take my gloves off. “Lily mentioned you may need a change.”
“What are you offering?”
“I help you for the next two months.”
“Why?”
“I can see Tyler is distracted.”
There was a bench a few feet away. I dropped down to the wood surface and rested my arms on my thighs. “He’s distracted? Yet, he is worried about my off day.”
“Want to talk about it?” Julian sounded so professional as he sat down beside me. “Sometimes talking to an outsider helps.”
“There’s nothing to discuss. Just caught a story on the news that took my mind in a different direction.” I glanced up at him. “I was focused on the practice.”
“I know. I was watching.”
“I hope Teryan’s okay. It was an accident when my kick landed too high.”
“I know, Zoe.” He patted my leg. “When does practice start tomorrow?”
“Um, eight a.m. sharp.”
“Okay, I’ll be there.” He stood and walked away. “See you bright and early.”
I watched as he opened his office door and stepped inside. What just happened? Julian offered to help me train for one of the toughest fights I would experience in my career. When I was put on the fight card with Vera Kornikova six months ago, a small part of me doubted the possibility of taking control of the strawweight title. Then I won.
“Someone missed you,” Charlie said, out of breath as she ran up to me. “Are you done already?”
I wrapped Lucky up in my arms, needing the warmth. “For now. Tomorrow is a new day, right?”
“You okay?” Charlie grabbed my arm.
“Yeah, I think I need to go home and be with the fur babies awhile.” I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thanks for watching her.” I scratched Lucky’s head. “I think she should be okay to stay home tomorrow. I bought tons of puppy pads.”
“Well, if you need a puppy sitter, you know where to find me.” She winked and turned to head over to the front counter.
I carried Lucky with me back into the locker room to grab my gym bag. Since my locker was not far from the front entrance, it took me about one minute to get what I needed and head back out. The moment I stepped out, Tyler stepped out of the men’s locker room. I wanted to say something. Tell him sorry, but what was I sorry about? Or maybe just lay into him for how shitty he was to me. Somehow all the thoughts didn’t matter. If he cared, he would not be such an asshole. Instead of saying a word, I just left. It felt good being the bigger person.
I didn’t have time for bullshit in my life.
My place was about two miles from the gym. The moment I walked in the door, my phone started to buzz. I let Lucky down out of my arms and reached into my back pocket for my phone. On the screen was Tyler’s name. Well, my day was getting better and better.
Tyler: So you’re working with Julian now?
Me: He offered.
Tyler: Why didn’t you start working out with him several months ago?
Me: If that’s what you wanted, you should’ve spoke up. I didn’t realize I was that awful to work with?
Tyler: There you go whining again.
Me: Excuse me?
Tyler: Never mind. Good luck with Julian.
Me: Yeah…
I let my body fall onto the couch and rested my head back. Tyler was angry. What I couldn’t understand was why and what I did. Over the last several weeks, he seemed distant and frustrated. A part of me knew it wasn’t anything I had done. Hell, I didn’t even know the man. He was so closed off from everyone, even his two brothers.
Lucky hopped up into my arms and started to lick my face. “You need to be walked I bet.” I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “How do you feel about a leash, Ms. Independent?”
I wrapped my arms around my sweet puppy and stood up. Right as I was about to clasp the leash onto Lucky’s collar, my phone buzzed again. I looked down and noticed another message from Tyler. Rolling my eyes, I hit delete and headed outside. I needed some fresh air.
3
Zoe
“Is self-defense class done?” I said and sat down beside Charlie.
“It is.” She leaned over and kissed my cheek. “How are things with Tyler?”
“Let’s not discuss it.”
“That good, eh?” Charlie laughed and lifted her hand to wave. Jenny, one of the students for the self-defense class walked up beside her. “Hey, sweetie. Want to join the pity party?”
“Um, I don’t want to interrupt.” Jenny seemed shy and distant.
I reached over and patted her hand. “There’s nothing to interrupt. I’m just bothering Sunshine.” The moment my hand made contact with her skin, she flinched.
“Jenny, you remember Zoe, the current strawweight champion.”
“Oh, yeah,” Jenny said and reached out her hand to shake mine. “It’s wonderful to officially meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“I hope all good?” I teased and took the hand she offered. “So, you up for clubbing tonight?” I turned to Charlie who was guzzling some water. “I guess you are. It looks like you are getting prepared now by making sure you’re fully hydrated?”
“Ha, ha.” Charlie rolled her eyes and stood up. “Depends. Which nightclub?”
“Noir. Why? Does it matter?”
“There’s something off about that place. I just can’t put my finger on it.”
“Oh, Noir,” Jenny said, sounding a little curious. “It was voted one of the five best nightclubs in Las Vegas.”
“See, even Jenny’s interested.”
Just then Malik, who ran the self-defense class, and Devon, a trainer, stepped up beside us. “Where’s the party tonight?” Malik said, trying to keep his eyes in my direction and not on one particular person. “Are you going out with us?” That last question was directed at Jenny.
Jenny surprised me by reaching for her towel and walking away without a word. “Guess she changed her mind,” I said and watched her disappear into the women’s locker room. “Something we said?”
“It’s me.” Malik raised his hand. “Not sure what I did but it’s become a common theme whenever I appear.”
Malik at one time was one of the best heavy weight champions. He even won a belt in two weight divisions in the same year. Now he trained younger fighters and accepted a fight ticket about every two years. I missed watching him in an octagon. His power was magical.
“Sweetie, you know she has problems at home.�
�� Charlie patted Malik’s cheek. “Stop taking it so personally.”
Charlie’s words caught me off guard. If Jenny did in fact have personal demons, we really needed to convince her to go out with us tonight. I left the group without saying a word and made my way to the locker room. “Jenny,” I said and let the door close behind me. “You still in here?”
She peeked around the locker door that was swung open. “Um, yeah. What’s up?”
I sat down on a bench. “About the nightclub.”
“What about it?”
“Go with us tonight.”
She stuffed her workout clothes in a gym bag and sat down to tie her shoes. “I don’t know if I can.”
“What if I was having a special lady’s night? Could you go then?” I knew she had a husband who was unkind. Charlie never shared the details, but she didn’t have to either. I paused to let her think about what I was proposing.
Jenny sat up and turned toward me. “I…yeah, maybe I could.”
“Good for you. You deserve a night out.” I stood to head out. “Do you need me to pick you up?”
“No,” she said and held up her hand. “Sorry, I meant, I can drive myself but thank you.”
“Okay, see you at eight tonight.” I left the room feeling pretty proud of myself. Whatever Jenny was experiencing in her life, she still deserved to have happiness in her day. As I was walking toward the front desk, I noticed Tyler from the corner of my eye, practicing in the ring. I stopped to watch as he threw each punch. The man looked angry even behind the padded helmet. What if he wasn’t pissed off at me? Maybe I was an easy target.
An arm snaked around my waist. I turned to see who was beside me. “Lily. Hey.”
“I heard practice is better these days?” She rested her head on my shoulder.
Her words caused me to laugh. “Yeah, I guess. Your man knows his shit.”
“He’s also determined to make sure you keep that belt.”
Julian wasn’t abrasive during practice. It was hard to get used to his gentle demeanor. When I started at Fight It Out, I was immediately assigned to Tyler. The way he treated me during practice seemed odd, but I figured that was the way all the brothers trained. Then I had to work with Brooks six months ago and discovered my theory was incorrect. Now, here I was training with Julian daily and knew it was just Tyler who needed an attitude adjustment.
“Yeah? I’m fucking determined to keep it.”
“Have you talked to him?”
I glanced over at Lily and saw her eyes were locked onto Tyler as he continued to train with Devon. “What? No. He wants nothing to do with me.”
“You sure about that?” Lily sounded off, which made me curious.
“Is there something you’re holding back, Little Punisher?”
She smiled and stepped away. “Tyler is a good man. That’s all.” Then Lily blew me a kiss and walked away.
If he was a good man, he sure had a shitty way of showing it. My body was still locked in place and facing the man on my mind. I didn’t know why I didn’t walk away. What was keeping me rooted to the spot? Tyler stopped fighting and pulled out his mouth piece. He was breathing heavily as his eyes made their way toward me. It was weird—we didn’t say a word, we didn’t move, just stood there staring at each other. Then something pulled me out of the trance and without a second glance, I turned to leave the gym.
If I wasn’t the cause of his anger, why did he make me feel this way?
What was he hiding?
“Did you have a good day?” I bent to pick up Sammy, my ten-year-old cat. The new puppy, Lucky, was hopping around my feet as I made my way down the hallway of my small apartment. “Are you both getting along?” I kissed Sammy’s head and let him down. Lucky leaped forward toward Sammy. I expected my cat to hiss and bat at the sweet puppy; instead, he fell to the floor and started to roll around with Lucky. “Well, shit, look at you both.”
I stepped into my bedroom to throw off my clothes and slide into something way more comfortable. Just as my hand clasped the hem of my tank top, the phone rang. My gym bag was resting on the edge of my bed. I quickly reached into the bag and pulled out my phone “Hello.”
“Yes, is this Zoe Alanis?”
“This is she.”
“Yes, Ms. Alanis, this is the veterinarian’s office calling. You have an appointment with Dr. Barker scheduled.”
“Yes.”
“We’re rearranging the schedule and just wanted to check in with you regarding moving the appointment to an earlier time?”
My alarm bells went off. I didn’t want to pry, but I was curious if the doctor was still missing. Normally I watched a little bit of news before I went to bed, but the last few days had been off, so I had no clue what was happening in the world. “Um, that’s fine. Is everything okay?” I didn’t feel comfortable saying any more than that.
“Yes, we have a new doctor that will be taking over most of the new puppy and kitten appointments.”
“Oh, okay.” We discussed the best time for the appointment and said our goodbyes. The moment we hung up, I felt curious, like something wasn’t right. Before I threw my phone back on the bed, I pulled up the local news app to search for Dr. Barker’s name. The page finally loaded and about three stories down, I noticed the same headline, Missing Woman. The article was brief, almost as if there were still no details available.
I silently said several positive thoughts in hopes they would help the doctor in any way.
My phone rang again, knocking me out of my thoughts. I looked down at the screen and was surprised to see Charlie’s name. “Hey.”
“Hi, hon. Will you hate me if I can’t make it tonight?”
“Hate is such a strong word. Dislike maybe, but not hate.” I struggled with holding back my laugh. “No, silly. If you can’t go, it’s all good. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just exhausted.”
“Then enjoy the night relaxing. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
“Not bright and early.”
I had set up with Julian for an afternoon training session. “Oh hell no. I need my beauty rest.”
“And a little bow-chicka-bow-wow.”
“You really didn’t just do that, did you?”
Charlie burst out laughing. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“So the skies the limit.” I sent an air kiss through the phone and hit end. It was already six, which meant I needed to start getting ready for the evening. So much for comfy clothes. A part of me wanted to stay in and eat bon bons while watching reruns of Supernatural. Then the thought of an empty house flashed in my mind, and I walked to my closet to grab the perfect dress for the evening.
4
Zoe
“Hey, gorgeous,” the guy at the door said and waved me inside. “Be good tonight.”
“You’re no fun.” I winked. From outside it seemed quiet, and then I pulled the main door open and immediately felt the pounding of the bass through my chest. I glanced around looking for anyone familiar. At the end of the bar, Jenny and Lily were huddled together talking with drinks in their hands.
When I was about two feet away from them, Lily lifted her head. “Zoe,” she said and ran over to give me a hug. “How is it we arrived before you?”
“I love to be fashionably late,” I teased and shrugged my shoulders.
“Well, you’re looking hot, girl.” Lily grabbed my hand and spun me around. “What’s this all for?”
“You never know, the man of my dreams could be here right now.”
“And you’re locked and loaded with this get-up.”
I touched my finger to my nose and pointed at her. “Now where is my drink?” I walked closer to Jenny. “It’s good to see you.” I bent to kiss her check and whispered in her ear. “There are a pair of eyes staring right at you.”
Jenny lifted her head and looked around. “What? Who?”
I patted her forearm. “Relax. His name starts with M and ends with K.�
� The bartender leaned my way. “Can I get a dirty martini? Extra dirty.” I leaned my elbow on the bar and glanced toward Lily. “Did Julian join you tonight?”
“No, he’s not into the club scene.” She paused for a beat and then continued. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I am either.”
“You’re not leaving already are you?” I was a little bummed by her words.
“Soon,” she said and took a sip of her cocktail.
The nightclub was always dark. Some nights it was hard to see two feet in front of me. The neon lights provided minimal lighting and always fucked with my eyes. In the center of the room was the dance floor. There was a DJ on a stage to the right of the dance floor. He had headphones on and was bobbing up and down to the music. Noir nightclub played a good mix of music. Most nights I wanted to let my emotions out with some serious moves. The problem was, dancing alone wasn’t my thing.
I grabbed my dirty martini the bartender had just set in front of me. When I turned back, I was the only one standing at the end of the bar. There was a small table tucked away in the corner of the bar. Jenny was holding her drink with both hands and looked extremely uncomfortable. Lily was chatting it up with Malik. I noticed the look on Lily’s face and quickly headed over to them. “Is there room for one more?” I sat down beside Jenny. “Need a refill?” I pointed to Jenny’s glass.
“What? No. Thank you, though.”
Lily leaned over and tried to whisper in my ear. It was more like a loud whisper. “I’m going to head out. You need to enjoy the dance floor for a bit.”
“Um, am I missing something?” Then I looked over at Malik and caught his eyes locked onto Jenny. “Oh, reading that one loud and clear.” I took a huge sip of my drink and stood up. Lily was encouraging me to dance alone, yet I hated the idea. My eyes caught site of a man in the center of the dance floor. For a moment it felt like he was the only person in the bar. As his body swayed to the music, I felt my body being tugged closer to him. When I was only inches from the mystery man, something came over me, and I placed my hand on his side. Instead of stepping away, he turned toward me and pulled my body close.
