Shifting Gears: The Complete Series (Sports Bad Boy Romance)

by Alycia Taylor

  “You know I will. After you make me dinner and show me a movie.”

  “Women, always with strings attached,” he said. “Do you like Mark Wahlberg?”

  “Yeah, he’s hot.”

  He made a face and said, “That wasn’t what I was asking, but thanks for sharing.”

  I laughed. “Sorry, but he is.” Trying to straighten the smile out of my face I said, “Why yes, Mark Wahlberg is an amazing actor. Why do you ask?”

  He rolled his eyes and said, “Have you ever seen The Fighter?”

  “Nope. What’s it about?”

  “Micky Ward and his brother who trained him…”

  “Who’s Micky Ward?”

  He was shaking his head at me. “I will never know how a girl who knows so much about boxing can know so little about it at the same time.”

  “So who is he?”

  “You’ll see when we watch the movie. I know you’ll pay attention because Mark Wahlberg plays him and he’s “Hot.” He said “hot” in a girlie voice. It was cute.

  He got the movie and we went back to my apartment. I took a shower and put on my comfy pajama bottoms and tank top while he cooked the dinner since he ordered me out of the kitchen. The first thing I realized when I got out was how good it smelled. As I came down the hall I saw him putting the plates on the table filled with brown rice and stir-fried vegetables. He left out the pork, but as it turned out, that was okay. After my first bite I was in love, both with the dish and the chef.

  “Oh my God, this is delicious.”

  He smiled. “Thank you. See, I could be a chef.”

  “I didn’t doubt it for a second. I think you can be anything that you want to be.” The last part just came out but he looked like he was touched by it.

  “What about an MMA champion? I go up against Trent in two weeks. Beating him is probably going to be the biggest challenge I’ve faced in the ring yet.”

  “Anything,” I said again. “Most definitely an MMA champion.” He was searching my eyes; I think to see if I was laying it on thick or if I really believed it. He looked satisfied by what he saw there and took another bite of his dinner. “Are you nervous?” I asked him. This fight was huge for him. It was what he’d been fighting towards all along.

  I’m not sure what I expected, but I didn’t think that he would actually admit that he was. I took it as a sign that we were growing closer when he looked me in the eyes and said, “I’m nervous as hell. I can’t afford to screw this up. I’m twenty-six years old. This might be my last chance.”

  Twenty-six was on the older side for a UFC fighter, but he was in outstanding shape and although I teased him about it, his form and skills were impeccable. “You got this,” I told him. “Just keep moving your feet.”

  He smiled and winked at me. We finished our dinner as I told him about my latest conversation with my mom and how well she was doing.

  “She doesn’t regret going in?” he asked me.

  “She doesn’t seem like it. She’s quoting things to me right out of the NA bible,” I laughed. “She is a little obsessive about things so I don’t doubt I’ll know as much about recovery as she does eventually. It’s good though, that way I can help her.”

  “It’s good that she has you. Someone else might have turned their back on her after all she put you through.”

  I shrugged and said, “I won’t say I haven’t come close a few times. But the thing is, no matter what happened in the past, she’s still my mother and I still love her.”

  He reached over and touched my face. “She’s lucky,” he said. I almost blurted out, “I love you too!” but I held back again. It still wasn’t time.

  After we finished eating we cleaned up the kitchen together and we moved into the living room to watch the movie. It was good and now I know who Micky Ward is. It was also good to watch an example of a family as dysfunctional as or even more so than ours. It’s nice to know you’re not alone, that was one thing that I never realized until recently. And just for the record, Mark Walberg is hot, but he’s no Paul Delport.

  *****

  Paul spent the night with me again and it was so nice to wake up in his arms. I was almost afraid that I was getting too used to it. We had a light breakfast together and then he went out for his run. While he was gone I took a shower and got ready to go see my mom. It would be the first time I saw her since she went in and I was a little nervous. I talked to her on the phone a lot and she sounded good, but I was going to worry until I saw her in the flesh. She had definitely passed on some of her obsessive genes to me.

  I put on a little bit of make-up after the shower. I don’t usually wear much during the day but I wanted to make sure the yellow of the old bruises didn’t show. I didn’t want to give her anything more to worry about than getting clean and learning how to stay that way. I threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and by that time, Paul was back.

  “Where are you going?” I hadn’t told him because I got the phone call and the all-clear from the facility after he left this morning.

  “To visit my mom,” I said. Her therapist said she could have visitors beginning today. She’s been doing so well. I’m looking forward to seeing her. Are you going to see Marie and Victor today?”

  “Not until later. I was going to take them dinner tonight.”

  “Oh, so what do you have going on today?”

  “I guess nothing since I wasn’t invited to go see your mom. You’re probably ashamed of me…embarrassed to introduce me to her…”

  I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Like I’d ever be embarrassed to introduce you to anyone. Everyone there would be jealous that you’re with me and not them,” I told him.

  “That’s a good answer,” he said. “I like that. How about I go with you and make them all jealous?”

  “Really, you want to go with me?”

  “I’d like to, if you don’t mind.”

  “No, I don’t mind. I’d love for you to go.”

  “Good. Give me a few minutes to shower.” He kissed me and went to get ready. While he was doing that, I was thinking that this was a pretty big deal. He was not only willing to meet my mother, he suggested it. If he didn’t want me to fall in love with him, he was going about it all wrong.

  The rehab facility was on the West side of Los Angeles. It was in one of the older residential areas of the city and it just looked like a big old Victorian house. It was painted light blue with white trim. The day I took her, the therapist that talked to us told me that it was all decorated in what they called “calming colors.” Everything inside was painted a “calm” shade of beige or pale yellow.

  We went in and told the lady at the front who we were and who we were here to see. While we sat and waited for them to let us go back I said, “You remember what I told you about her the first time we talked, right? She’s not like other moms.”

  He smiled and squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”

  “I’m not worried,” I said, not exactly honestly. “I just wanted you to be fair warned. She’s going to ask you a bunch of silly questions and tell you how nice looking you are and…”

  “Okay,” he said, still smiling but interrupting my tirade. “I consider myself warned.”

  “For Lynn?” the nicely dressed lady from the front desk was calling us in. We followed her into a comfortably decorated living area. It had the old big windows surrounding it and letting the sun shine in on us. It had a nice “homey” feel to it and I could see why Mom liked it here. She was sitting in one of the window seats looking outside. She jumped up when she saw us come in.

  “There’s my girl!” she held her arms out and I went into them. She felt thinner to me but when I pulled back and looked at her face I could see that her eyes were clear and her skin was glowing.

  “Hi Mom. You look great. How are you? Have you been eating okay?”

  “I’m real good, baby. I eat fine. They serve healthy food here and I’m not eating take-out and fast food so I’m losing weigh
t. It’s good; I was getting a little fluffy. I like it here, but missed you terribly.” Then suddenly changing tracks, she looked at Paul and said, “You brought a friend…who is this?”

  Paul smiled at her and held out his hand. I could see in my mother’s eyes that it was love at first sight…but who could blame her? “Paul Delport,” he said.

  “Well hello Paul Delport.” She was using her husky, flirty voice. When I was a teenager it used to bother me a lot because she really was prettier than me and I never knew what she would do. Now, it’s a little embarrassing, but amusing at the same time. “It’s nice to finally meet the man in my daughter’s life. The real one,” she said with a sly glance in my direction. “Sit down, both of you,” she said.

  Mom and I sat on the couch and Paul sat across from us in a wing-backed chair. It was perfect actually…the sun was streaming in on his face and he looked like he was under a spotlight…which from the look on my mother’s face, I had a feeling he was about to be.

  “So Paul, what do you do, honey?”

  “Mom…”

  “I’m a fighter,” he said. “Mixed-martial arts.”

  “Well, I guess that explains all the muscles,” she said, again in a flirtatious voice.

  I decided to try and save him. “Mom, we came to see how you were doing. I don’t think Paul really wants to…”

  “How long have you been seeing my Jessie?” she cut me right off. She wasn’t going to be denied her interrogation.

  “Mom…” I tried again. This time I was cut off by Paul who looked at me and smiled. He turned back to my mom and said, “A few months…off and on.”

  “Off and on, huh? Why off?”

  “Mother!”

  “It’s okay,” Paul said, still smiling. “I’ve had some family stuff going on that kind of got in the way. I think we’re back on track now.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear on both counts. Family should always come first, and my Jessie needs a good man in her life.” I didn’t bother trying to get her attention that time. I just sat back and watched the train wreck happen. “So tell me, Paul…what is it that you like about my girl?”

  Looking amused he looked over at me and grinned. “There are so many things. I almost don’t know where to start.”

  “Like what?” she asked. She was a dog with a bone. Who asks these kinds of questions about their grown-up children?

  “She has really pretty hair,” he said. “And her eyes are gorgeous.” That made me feel warm inside. My mother of course had to take credit. Rehab does not a personality change.

  “Thank you,” she said. “She got those both from me.”

  “I can see that,” he said with one of his most charming smiles. He was good, I’ll give him that.

  “What else?” She wanted more that she could take credit for.

  “Her smile, I definitely love that smile.”

  “Me again!” And there you go!

  “Okay, well that was fun. Mom, let’s talk about how things are going here.”

  “Things are good, honestly. The people here are nice and I’m actually paying attention in group and individual therapy and I’m learning a lot about myself and why I do the things that I do. I’ve even made a friend or two and you know how hard that is for me. Female friends!” she seemed proud of that, so I smiled. Then she was back on a roll saying, “You know Paul; I wasn’t a very good mother…”

  “Mom…”

  “How’s is your relationship with your mother?” My head was going to explode.

  “It’s…complicated I guess I’d say.” Paul was doing so well with all of this; I was humiliated and proud of him at the same time.

  Mom laughed. “That’s a very polite way to put it. I can only hope Jessie is that diplomatic when people ask her about me.”

  “I give you only glowing reviews, Mom.”

  She laughed again. “Do you have your own place?” she asked him.

  “Um…yeah, sort of,” he said.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Sort of?”

  “I’m looking for a new place right now,” he said. “I had to move from the last one sort of unexpectedly.”

  “You weren’t evicted were you?”

  “Mom!” She acts like she never was. I can’t even count the times.

  “No ma’am. I had to leave because of the traveling I was doing to help out my family.”

  “Oh, well that’s too bad but I’ll bet they’re glad to have you. What kind of money do you make boxing or fighting…whatever you call it?” I sighed, loudly and rolled my eyes. Paul still looked amused.

  “It’s mixed martial arts,” he told her. “And I guess it just depends on the bout. We get paid a percentage of what the tickets bring in and then we have to split that with our managers or trainers or both. It’s not a lot at first. You have to do a lot of tournaments to make a living at it. But, for UFC fights, the non-televised ones the winner makes around fifteen grand and the loser gets about half that much. If you’re really good and you gain one of the titles then you get endorsements and things like that and make a lot more.”

  “MMA, isn’t that the one that does all that pay-per-view stuff?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Have you been in one of those fights?”

  “Not yet ma’am, but I intend to be someday.”

  The rest of the visit, the entire hour went about like that. My mother’s questions got even more intrusive and embarrassing. The worst was when she said, “You two are being careful…not making babies yet, right?”

  “Jesus, mother! That’s it. No more questions.”

  “I’m just getting to know Paul. Isn’t that why you brought him?”

  “Yes mother but you don’t have to know everything in one sitting…and some things you never really need to know.”

  She looked like she had no idea what I was talking about and went on with her line of questioning. The good news was that Paul handled them like a champ. He was great at giving her an answer without too much information. I could tell that it made my mother feel good that he was listening so intently to her questions and then actually taking the time to answer them. I was impressed with how he handled it. He didn’t even break a sweat. I did though when she said, “So do you think you and Jessie will be ready to move in together?”

  “Mom, please! We aren’t even close to that point yet. You’re embarrassing him.”

  “Am I embarrassing you, Paul?”

  He looked at me and said, “No ma’am, but your daughter’s face is awfully red. I think she might be a little embarrassed.”

  Mom looked at me and said, “Yeah, but Jessie embarrasses easily. I’ll bet the first time you two did it she made you leave the lights off.”

  “Mother! That’s it! Enough!”

  She laughed heartily and said, “That one was a joke, honey. I really don’t want to hear about your sex life.” I saw her wink in Paul’s direction as if they shared a secret. He winked back. I rolled my eyes…again.

  When we got ready to leave, Mom hugged me and thanked me for coming and for “everything,” she said. Then she whispered, but not in the least bit quietly, “He’s hot baby and I like him. He’s a keeper, I think.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Paul Delport, give me a hug,” she said. Paul obliged and when he pulled back she said, “Thank you for coming to meet me today. I hope it’s not too weird for you to meet Jessie’s mother in a place like this.”

  “No ma’am. It wasn’t weird at all. It was really nice to meet you. I wish you the best of luck.”

  “It was wonderful to meet you. In case you wondered, I approve Jessie’s choice of a boyfriend. I think you just might be what the doctor ordered for my girl. Take care of her for me, will you?”

  “I will do that,” he said. He looked a little sad then and I suspected he was thinking about Mitch. I didn’t think of what that creep did to me as his fault, but I think Paul was carrying around a lot of guilt over it. I hoped that Mitch didn’t get out
for a long time mostly because I was so afraid of what Paul was going to do to him when he did. I wouldn’t care what he did if I wasn’t worried about what the consequences would be for Paul. The last thing I wanted was for him to ruin his life defending me.

  When we finally broke away from Mom and I left this week’s payment at the front desk, we stepped out into the sunlight and I said, “Thank you for today. Thank you for being so good to her. She doesn’t experience men who treat her with respect very often.”

  “She’s nice,” he said. “I can see that she really loves you. It was what always “saved” my mother in my eyes, I think. I didn’t understand why she lived the way she did, or let my dad treat us the way she did, but I knew she loved us. I used to try and tell her that she needed to have more respect for herself and then Dad wouldn’t find it so easy to disrespect her. Anyways, I think that’s probably your mother’s only problem. She needs to learn how to like herself and then more people will like her in return.”

  “Wow, you should have been a…” We were walking across the small parking area. I stopped talking and stood completely still listening. I didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. I had a strange feeling though…”

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I just got a weird feeling,” I told him, honestly.

  “Weird how?”

  “Like someone was watching me,” I said. I shuddered. It was probably just my PTSD.

  Paul was so used to looking over his shoulder that he didn’t just shrug it off though. He looked around and walked with his hand on my arm until we got to the car. I saw him glance in the backseat of the car before he opened the door and even into the car next to his. Neither of us saw anyone. I was sure now that it had been my imagination, but I still appreciated that he didn’t just shrug me off. Mitch was in jail, who else would it be?

  We were a few blocks from the rehab when Paul said, “I need to stop for gas and then if you want we can grab some lunch.”

  “Lunch sounds good,” I told him. “How about that new Thai place by the gym? I’ve wanted to try it.”

  “Sounds good.” There was a Chevron on the corner near the stoplight and he pulled into it and stopped at the pump.