Fight It Out Series Box Set

by T M Kelly

  “Oh, he so should,” he teased and reached his hands out to force Tyler to move in even closer.

  I could tell by the look on Tyler’s face he wanted to laugh. “What did I do?”

  “You were a very bad boy,” I whispered.

  “So bad,” Stephen said.

  Tyler shook his head. “You both are causing a scene right now.”

  I knew Ty didn’t want this relationship plastered all over the news. “We’re not done with the conversation, though.”

  “I had a feeling.” He leaned in and kissed me. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  I rested my head against Stephen’s shoulder and watched Tyler step out of our embrace. Never in my wildest dreams did I image myself with two men. Hell, I didn’t see myself with two people, man or woman. Then Tyler stepped away and I craved his body. I wanted him back in our cocoon we created. Whatever was happening between us, I had almost a week to absorb the reality of the situation. After going through every emotion, my mind still always came back to the word curious.

  I did want to know more.

  13

  Zoe

  “Hold on,” Tyler said and placed his hand over his free ear. Whoever was on the other line must be talking really low or maybe it was bad reception. “Andy? Are you okay?” I heard him say.

  I looked up at Stephen and back at Tyler. The call sounded serious. Stephen was still holding me close, which I was thankful for at the moment. With all the missing persons popping up lately, Tyler’s phone call sent a chill up my spine.

  Seconds later I watched as he threw his phone down. “Piece of shit.” He pulled his keys from his back pocket. “We need to get to the gym now.”

  I reached down to retrieve the mangled device. “Want me to call your brothers?” He only nodded as he started the engine. When he didn’t wait for us to close the doors or buckle up, I knew the situation was much worse.

  I quickly sent text messages to Julian and Brooks and let them know I was the sender. Before they could respond, I made it clear they needed to get to the gym immediately. I sat back in my seat and reached for Stephen’s hand. I glanced his way and saw the worry etched on his face, too.

  It had been a couple days since I noticed a notification from the news app about any missing persons. The last notification that came through was letting the viewers know the body of the latest victim had been found. I didn’t know the man; he had gone missing about a week after my veterinarian. From what the article showed, the guy was found in the same condition as my veterinarian who was killed. When I read that message, I remember feeling afraid. Of course, it was during my five days of solitude, so to be fair, anything freaked me out.

  Within minutes we had arrived at the gym. Tyler threw the vehicle into park, jumped out, and ran toward the building. I threw open the door and screamed, “Tyler, wait.”

  “Why? I need to help my friend inside.”

  I pulled my phone out prepared to call 9-1-1. “What if it’s a trap? What if whoever is taking these people is in there right now?” I knew my words sounded crazy, but there was a pattern starting with the missing persons. “You need to wait for the cops to arrive.”

  He walked back over to me. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  Stephen stepped in between us. “She’s not the bad guy here. Calm down.”

  I watched as Tyler sighed. “I’m sorry. I need to go in there, though.”

  “We’ll go together.” I had no idea what I was saying. That was an insane idea.

  “No, I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to either of you.” Tyler reached for our hands. There was a sound of tires on gravel, and at the same moment he dropped our hands. “Just stay out here, please,” he said and ran over to the full-size pickup that had just pulled in.

  I could see Julian’s frame through the window and quickly looked over at Stephen. “The story is we’re a couple. Ty is our friend,” I whispered and could see my words cut deep.

  Stephen scowled. “When is he going to tell them the truth?”

  “We’re not going to discuss that right now,” I quickly said and ran over to Lily who was walking around the truck. “Lils.” I reached out and gave her a hug. “Do you know anything?”

  She was glancing toward Stephen and then back at me. I was waiting for her to say something, but she didn’t. “No, we jammed over the moment after you sent the message.”

  I could feel Stephen directly behind me. “This is Stephen.” I reached for his hand to tug him closer. “Stephen, this is my friend and fighting partner, Lily.” They shook hands and kept the pleasantries to a minimum.

  “Call 9-1-1,” Tyler screamed from the entrance of the building and ran back into the gym.

  I didn’t hesitate. As I pulled my phone from my back pocket, I could hear sirens off in the distance. Who else called 9-1-1? The phone rang twice, and then I was patched through to dispatch. I waited for them to say hello. “Yeah, I’m not sure if you have an ambulance heading here already.” I gave the address and could hear her clicking away on a keyboard. She let me know cops had been called to the scene because of the security system that was going off. My brain completely forgot about the alarm system. “I can hear sirens now.” She let me know an ambulance was also on the way and asked me to stay on the line until it arrived. Several minutes later I saw the white of the truck round a corner. “They’re here. Thank you.” The moment I hung up, I started to pace in between our vehicles.

  “Zo, Zo, are you okay?” I heard Charlie say from behind me, and then she plowed into my back.

  “I’m okay. I think somebody’s hurt inside, though.”

  Brooks glanced my way and ran toward the building. “Yeah, sounds like it may be Andy. Julian just sent me a cryptic message.”

  “What? Andy?” I tried to process that bit of information. “He’s harmless. Who would want to hurt him?” Then I thought about my veterinarian and realized what I had just said sounded absurd. “Who is doing this?” I resumed my pacing. “Why would someone want to hurt innocent people like this?”

  Stephen grabbed my hand and pulled me close. That was the first time since everyone had arrived at the gym that he made any type of contact with me. I flung myself into his arms and wrapped my body tightly around him.

  “It will be okay, Zo.”

  Without losing contact, I carefully lifted my head and looked up into his eyes. “Zo?”

  “Sorry, I—”

  I smiled and leaned up on my tip-toes to kiss him lightly. “I like how it sounds when you say it.”

  “Yeah?” he said and brushed a finger down the bridge of my nose. “Well, maybe I need to say if more often.”

  “Maybe you do.” I winked and rested my head on his chest. Julian, Tyler, and Brooks walked out of the building, looking concerned. I grabbed Charlie’s hand. “This can’t be good.” She wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her head against mine. “This all makes no sense.”

  She sighed into my ear and whispered, “We’re going to need security twenty-four-seven now.”

  All three brothers walked over. “So,” I said and released my hold on Charlie.

  “There’s sign of a struggle,” Tyler said and shook his head. “Blood, but no body.”

  “Are you sure it was Andy?” I knew my question sounded dumb.

  “Yeah, it was him. He was begging for my help,” Tyler ground out. “My phone dropped the call right when he needed me.”

  “It’s not your fault, Ty,” Charlie said and reached for his hand.

  I had been watching this weird case from afar. Now it was too close to home.

  We spent close to three hours at the gym while the investigators combed every inch of the building. Stephen made sure I was okay if he called a taxi to go home, which of course I was. I knew he had to work in the morning.

  Julian and Brooks walked over beside us. I watched as Brooks glanced around. “This was supposed to be a safe place to come.” He paused for a beat. “Having security
here is going to change all that.”

  “What other choice do we have,” Julian said and reached for Lily to pull her close to his body.

  “Was there any evidence that showed why they would come here or even hurt Andy?” I said and leaned my body against Tyler’s chest.

  “They’re still looking,” Tyler said and wrapped his arms around me. “We all need to get some rest. The investigators insisted we go home.”

  “Yeah”—Brooks interjected—“if they find anything, they’ll call us immediately.”

  After saying our goodbyes, Tyler placed his hand on the small of my back and led me toward his vehicle. “I think I need to get home. Lucky and Sammy could be revolting against me by now.”

  “You sure? You can stay with me.”

  I loved how protective he sounded. “You really want two crazy animals at your place?” I was teasing of course.

  “Sure,” he said and hopped up into his SUV.

  “What?” I knew I had to have heard him wrong.

  “Let’s get them and bring them over to my place.”

  I sat there with my mouth agape, trying to find my words. For two years I fought with this man. Two years. Now I was sitting in his truck, and he was basically offering his home to me and my furry kids. I shook my head, trying to take it all in. “That’s very sweet of you. I think I need to go home.” I paused. “My home. Alone.” I needed to process all that had transpired tonight. Stephen and Tyler. Andy. My emotions.

  I thought about my feelings for both men and really needed to think long and hard about what was happening. Was I prepared to give my heart to two men? That question caused me to smile so I looked away. I didn’t want Tyler to ask what I was thinking about. That was the last thing I needed.

  Caring for one man was hard enough.

  Two men. Was I prepared to feel those emotions?

  14

  Zoe

  One week later…

  “Turn your body to the right,” I yelled and bent forward to take Charlie down to the mat. “Never mind.” I burst out laughing.

  “Bitch,” she said with her back flat on the mat. “You need to give me a chance to move to the right when you say it.”

  “Do I? Or do you need to be quicker?” I went to step around her and grab my water bottle. She surprised me by grabbing my ankles, causing me to fall forward. “Oh, now who’s the bitch?”

  Charlie burst out laughing. “Not moi.” She threw her hand to her chest.

  We had been practicing for ninety minutes, and my body was screaming for a break. I sat up and crossed my legs in front of me. Before I said anything, I glanced around to see who was in earshot. “Question.”

  “I may have an answer or may not,” she joked and sat up.

  “It seems impossible to care for two men.”

  “Is that a question or a statement?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Zoe, do you care about two men?”

  “Well, one week ago I thought I was going to be having my first threesome.”

  “Hot damn. Why didn’t you?”

  “Andy went missing.”

  We both stayed silent for a moment. The investigators had not located our friend’s body yet. They were encouraging us to not give up hope. Every day that passed made it harder to hope, especially with all we knew about the other bodies that went missing.

  Charlie reached for my hand. “I thought Stephen scared you?”

  “I thought so, too.” I glanced over to where Tyler was punching the shit out of a heavy bag. “Then we talked and my body reacted.”

  “Don’t do this just because of how he makes you feel sexually.”

  “I know.” She was right. Then I thought about how his lips felt, and I lost my train of thought.

  “Zoe,” Charlie said and started waving a hand in front of my face. “Earth to Zoe.”

  “Yeah, I know.” My eyes were locked onto Tyler. He had turned his body so he could watch me as he threw each punch against the leather surface. I knew Charlie was still talking to me. Instead of acknowledging my friend, my body was pulled in the direction of Tyler.

  “So that conversation is over I guess,” I could hear Charlie say as she was laughing from behind me.

  “Hey,” I said and wrapped my arms around the heavy bag to steady it for Tyler.

  “Hey yourself.”

  It had been exactly one week since the restaurant incident. I had not talked to Stephen and marginally avoided Tyler. There were parts of my days where I had to train with him, but I tried to workout with Charlie and Lily more often.

  “Training for a fight?” I asked as he threw another punch against the bag. The blow forced me to take two steps backward. “Or letting out some pent-up energy?”

  He stopped and dropped his hands to the side. “Are you worried?”

  “Worried?” I had no clue what he was talking about.

  “We haven’t heard from you all week. Now you’re concerned.”

  I knew he could see my scowl and I didn’t care. “Wow, that’s a bit harsh.”

  “Is it?” He leaned in closer and whispered, “What we did at that restaurant over a week ago was not between three strangers.”

  I stepped back, feeling a little surprised by his words. “I never said it was.”

  “Well, that’s the problem, you never said anything.”

  I threw my hands up in frustration. “Maybe I needed to absorb the gravity of the situation. This is breaking new ground for me.”

  Tyler quickly walked up beside me. “You think this is only new for you?”

  I stopped and looked at him. “It’s new for you, too?”

  “Yeah, Zoe. Why do you seem so surprised?”

  “I—”

  “You figured this was my M.O.”

  “No, that’s not it. I don’t know, you both seem so comfortable.”

  “Because of you.”

  He left me with those three words and stormed into the locker room. I wanted to follow behind him. Force him to talk to me. Instead, I grabbed my towel and headed into my locker room. I sat down on the bench and dropped my head. Tyler was right, I should’ve called. Going silent was always easier than looking at the truth. What was the truth, though?

  I stood up to go answer that question.

  “Tyler. I was just about to go see you.”

  He smiled. The moment I saw his lips curve up, my body relaxed. “You took too long.”

  “Guess that’s a habit I need to break.”

  He took a few steps closer. “Maybe we both need to work on a few things.”

  “Maybe.” I cleared the distance between us. “We can do it together.”

  He brushed his hand through my hair while grazing the side of my face. “With Stephen,” he whispered.

  “With Stephen,” I repeated.

  “Here.” I grabbed Sammy from the floor of the closet. “Hold him tight. I’ll grab that small carrier.” I was pointing at a corner of my closet where I stored everything. Tyler lifted Sammy up into his arms. Immediately he found himself wrestling with a ten-pound cat. “Oh, he hates snuggling.”

  “You’re telling me that now?”

  “Well, I didn’t want you to show fear. Sammy knows my every emotion. He’s one smart cookie.”

  Tyler held the struggling fur ball out in front of his chest. “Where is that damn carrier?”

  I was trying not to laugh as I dug the thing out. “Here.” I carefully pushed Sammy inside so I could zip it up. “You’re okay, Buddy. We’re going to go for a little ride.”

  Lucky was hopping around our feet as we worked to get Sammy locked up for the trip. “Does this crazy one need a leash?” Tyler bent to scratch behind her ears.

  “Oh yes, she will probably run and want to meet everyone in the neighborhood.”

  After Tyler and I talked at the gym, he insisted we get my fur kids and stay at his place for a few days. I knew going home with him would look odd. Especially since I spent five days locked in my bedroom hidi
ng from reality. As I watched him wrangle up my puppy, I knew what I wanted. I had spent too many days already telling myself no.

  I realized in a split-second life was too short.

  I was going to stop telling myself no.

  Stop being afraid of what others would think.

  “Did you call Stephen?” I said and threw a pair of jeans in my duffel bag.

  “He’s going to meet us at the house.” My body reacted at his words. Tyler stepped up beside me. “Is that okay?”

  I turned and placed my hands on his chest. “More than okay.”

  “Zo, tell me now if you’re not ready? If this is all too fast?”

  “No.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “No?”

  “I want this, Tyler,” I admitted. “Is it too fast? Fuck yeah. But maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be. We can’t choose when we start to care for each other.”

  He let out a deep sigh. “I fell for you the moment I met you.”

  I burst out laughing. “And you had a shitty way of sharing those feelings.”

  “Hey, how was I supposed to know you would be willing to date two men?”

  “Ask.”

  “You make is sound so easy.”

  “It is easy.”

  He bent and captured my lips. “Shut up.”

  “Make me.”

  “I can right here if you want?”

  “Stephen would be sad.”

  Tyler pushed me backwards, and my body fell onto the bed. “What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him.”

  I crossed my legs and covered my mouth. Under my hand, I mumbled, “Nope, I’m saving myself.”

  He attempted to crawl up my body when his phone rang. “Saved by the bell.” He stood to answer it. “Hey, were your ears ringing?”

  “Stephen, you need to come save me,” I yelled.

  “No, she’s fine. What? No I wasn’t going to.” He sounded like he was fighting with Stephen. “Fine, give us five minutes.” A minute later he hit end. “You ready?”

  I got up on my knees on the bed and wrapped my fingers around the waistband of his jeans. “Is someone angry?”