"Like the mushrooms?" I grinned, and I received a weird stare back. But then Chanterelle and Bailey laughed. Unsure of what to do, I laughed with them, awkwardly standing with my belly button on show for all the world to see.
"Is she one of the new ring girls?" Chanterelle asked, matching Bailey's high octave. Did she say "ring girl"?
"She's Zach's friend." Whatever Bailey might have meant about it Chanterelle clearly understood.
Mushroom girl gave me and my outfit another once over before saying, "Oh." She sounded and looked put out by my presence.
"We gotta go," Bailey told her friend. "The guys are waiting. See you later." Bailey grabbed my arm and pulled me away from mushroom girl, who continued to glare at me as we disappeared into the crowd.
I had no idea who owned this penthouse, and what it looked like during the day. Tonight, it was dark, loud and filled with people. Every now and then, we would pass by sitting areas which were scattered around, and from my viewpoint, I could see three free-standing bars in different sections of the large open concept room. Outside the ceiling to floor windows was an outdoor living space, complete with an eternity pool that looked out to the city lights. People walked around the pool's perimeter, while others were in it, not exactly swimming as people should, but drinking, dancing and some making out.
A hand snaked around my belly, and I was drawn toward a hard body, which was starting to become a little too familiar to me. I noticed Bailey follow the movement with her eyes, and there was a slight hint of envy in them. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable, so I took Zach's hand off my stomach and hoped that he would take a hint. To my dismay, he moved both hands and rested them on my hips instead, while continuing to press me against his body.
"Do you want something to drink?" Zach asked against my neck, his breath hot against my skin.
"No, Zach, I don't drink," I answered, willing my voice to not falter. "And I'm underage," I added, just in case he'd forgotten.
He let out a low chuckle that tickled my skin. His grip on my hips tightened. "Maggie Stewart, always the good girl," he rasped against my neck.
"And sticking to it." I looked over my shoulder and leered at him through my lashes. "And don't you dare try influencing me otherwise," I warned, although I doubted it actually worked.
The music changed and based on the reaction around me, it was a popular song. Bailey started jumping in her high heels, and I was terrified that she would break her ankles or worse, fall over and break her neck. The whole crowd exploded and everyone danced.
Zach repeated his earlier actions, using both hands this time to wrap around my waist, and undulating the front of his hips against my behind. June never danced with me like this. June never danced with me at all. If it wasn't dark in the penthouse, Zach would see how red my cheeks were. There was a flutter in my belly. I should not be feeling what I was feeling, but I had had such a nasty month. This unexpected attention from another guy other than June thrilled me. I could use a bit of fun, couldn't I? The purpose of leaving Fresno was to forget the betrayal and hurt. Tonight, I was thrown into a situation that could do exactly that.
But I had to catch myself before I got lost in this fleeting attention. Zach was, after all, just another guy. And by the way he moved against me, I was reminded he had certain urges I wasn’t sure I could fulfill. I touched Zach's hand, and he refused to budge. I had to find a way to fight my unnatural urges.
"Maybe I will have a drink. Water? I'm thirsty." Weak, I know, but it was not easy to fight off a strong, alluring man.
Zach took one of my hands and led me away from our group. We walked sideways through the bumping and grinding crowd, and passed several couples (and a threesome) making out right in the thick of it. When we reached the bar, Zach caught the bartender's attention, and leaned over the counter to ask for our drinks.
"Water?" the bartender yelled and smirked my way. He turned away.
"Water isn't a popular drink in these parties," Zach informed me. "You look good, Margaret. I like what Bailey did to your hair." He twirled a lock around his fingers and gave it a little tug, much like what he had done when we'd been much younger.
I rolled my eyes at his use of my full name. Apart from my mother, Zach was the only one I'd ever allowed to call me that in public. "Yeah, she's really good." I had to shout to make sure he heard me even though he was only inches away.
The bartender reappeared and slid a bottle of Evian and a glass half-filled with golden brown liquid and a ball of ice to us. Zach took both and handed me the water.
He closed in on me, tucked my hair around one ear and said, "Let's go find a quieter place." He loved dragging me around. I figured this when he grasped my hand again and pushed through the crowd away from the bar.
We walked along a hallway, where more people were sucking each other’s faces, and I could imagine they would start undressing each other very soon. We turned right and almost tripped over a couple on the floor. This party reminded me a little too much of the high school parties I used to go to, but this was much bigger although just as wild. I'd only gone to those parties because June had asked me to, and it had always been important for him to go because he was the star quarterback. I'd never been comfortable in any of them. That hadn't changed through the years.
Zach and I ended up in what I guessed, from its size, the master bedroom, which was surprisingly empty. It was probably the only empty room in the penthouse. When I asked Zach if we were allowed in the room, he answered with a half shrug. We plopped down on the king-size bed after putting our drinks on a side table. Zach turned his body to me, bending his elbow and propping his head on one hand, while the other rested on my naked belly. I might have stopped breathing.
He raised that hand and tapped a finger on my nose. "This brings back memories, doesn't it?"
I stared at the ceiling and nodded as a reply. We used to lie in my room like this, except my ceiling had glow in the dark stars stuck to it for years.
Thinking of what Zach had gone through during those years to which he referred made my stomach queasy. I placed a calm hand over it, ignoring the fact there could be other reasons behind the queasiness, of course.
I turned my head to face him and focused on his deep-set eyes. "Where did you go?" It was a question I'd wanted to ask since he'd spotted me outside the bar. His eyes were hooded, almost sad. A muscle twitched on his jaw. Did I cross the line by asking the question?
Zach inhaled deeply before answering. "Everywhere." He turned on his back, bringing an arm over his forehead and continued, "Ma and I stayed in Fresno for a while. We stayed in a shelter for at least a month. Then she got scared, and we headed to Modesto to stay with her cousin. But every month we went to a new place whenever she got a bit paranoid."
"That must have been hard." My heart broke for that little boy and his mother.
Zach scoffed. "I got used to it."
We stayed quiet for a while as I thought of what he'd said. I couldn't imagine living that kind of life. I'd had my mother and Nica with me, and we'd stayed at the same house where I’d been born. What would it have been like not to have a proper home?
"So... What do you do now?" I asked to lighten the mood. "You must be popular if the paparazzi are hounding you? Are you an actor or something?"
Zach knitted his brows, and then laughed. "An actor? I can't act if my life depends on it. I'm with Harcwick, the pro fighter."
"Pro-fighter?" I had no idea what he was talking about.
"MMA," he added to which I raised a brow. "Mixed Martial Arts?"
I furrowed my forehead. "Oh. Like fighting-fighting?"
"Yes, like fighting-fighting." Zach chuckled.
"You fight people for a living?"
"Yes, I get paid to fight." He proudly smirked at me.
I was shocked. Due to his past, his chosen profession, if that was what I could call it, seemed bizarre. I decided to let it go for now. I didn't know what else had happened to him to get pushed into this. "How d
id you get into that?"
Zach shrugged. "How does anyone get into anything? Ma tried to keep me out of trouble, but I kept finding it." He shook his head at his own ridiculous description of himself. "When we ended up in Vegas, I became harder to control. When I turned sixteen, I got into underground stuff. That's where I hit the jackpot. Someone discovered me there after two years of fighting." Zach turned to me, raised a hand and tugged at my hair. "What have you been up to?"
"Not much. Graduated high school. Applied at a community college, and taking classes I don't really like." Got engaged... Got left at the altar... Possibly got pregnant before that.
The rest wouldn’t come out of me. It shouldn’t. It didn’t have to as it would only serve to hurt me.
Zach made a rolling motion with his hand. "And..."
"And that's it."
"Maggie, come on. It can't be just that. Do you live here now? In this city?"
"No, I'm visiting my sister. I still live with mother in Fresno."
My phone buzzed in my jeans pocket interrupting our conversation. I pulled it out, read my sister's name, and groaned. She'd called three times before I bumped into Zach. I shut it off like before and slipped it back into my pocket.
"Avoiding someone?" Zach asked, with too much curiosity in his voice.
"Sort of."
Zach worked his bottom lip between his teeth. It wasn't easy to ignore it or get affected by it. Zach had that natural charm. "Boyfriend?"
Ha! If he only knew. "No. Nica gets pretty protective. She's kind of suffocating me. That's why I went out for a walk."
"And bumped into me. If that's not destiny..."
I couldn’t help but laugh. "You still believe in that?"
"How can I not? I don't live here. We are doing promotions the entire week. We just happened to be coming out of a random bar to go to this random party that one of the girls got invited to. And there you were walking on the sidewalk." I shrugged. "If that's not destiny, then it's a miracle. I've been wanting to contact you for a long time."
"You have?" He nodded. "I’ve wondered about you too." My phone buzzed again. "I think I should go back to my sister's. I don't want her to worry too much." I took my phone out of my pocket and saw a new name on the screen. Mother. I bolted right up. If I answered, my mother would force me to come home. I wasn’t ready for that. I turned it off again. I could only avoid her for so long. Eventually, I would have to stop acting like a child and return to Fresno. Or she would come here, and that would just be a disaster. "I really should go."
Zach sat and picked my phone up off my hand. He studied the photo of Aimee on it, entered info into it, and then gave it back. "Now, you have my number. Call me. Text me. I'm here for another four days, and I want to see you again, please."
I nodded, staring at his phone number on my screen. I moved off the bed, and he followed me to the door. His hand warm on the small of my back sent shivers up my spine. It thrilled and scared me at the same time.
We side-stepped the people making out in the hallway and made it back to the group we came in with. I said goodbye to Bailey, and the rest of the guys, but I didn’t bother with the other girls, not that they even looked my way.
"We should hang out again." Bailey hugged me, and I was so awkward that I ended up propping my chin over her head, and she had to press her face on my chest. If I had bigger breasts, I would have suffocated her.
Zach and I rode the elevator down in complete silence. I clasped my hands together in front of me, and he leaned against one of the walls. I stared straight at the shiny elevator doors where I could see that Zach stared at me the entire time. He pushed off the wall when the door opened, and we walked to the building entrance. We faced each other, and then he pulled me in for a tight hug.
I heard his breathing match mine. His body was toned, and I could feel the hard planes of his chest and the contours of his arms, but I was comfortable wrapped in his warmth. I didn't want to let go. I wanted to stay in his arms where I felt safe, where there was no hurt from an ex-boyfriend and a sneaky ex-best friend. But the buzzing in my pocket reminded me once again that I had to face the real world, aka my sister and my Mother.
"I have to go," I muttered, my head leaning on his shoulder.
He hesitated but let me go. "Wait, how are you getting home?" Zach asked the question which hadn't even entered my mind. I had no car or money, and I had no idea what part of the city I was.
"Wow, good question. I guess I'll catch a cab somewhere."
Zach huffed. "No way." He took out his phone and dialed a number. "Bennett, can you bring the car around. My friend needs a ride."
"No, Zach." He raised a hand to silence me.
"We're out front." He returned his phone in his pocket and looked at me. "He's just around the corner. Where does Nica live?"
"Pacific heights."
He whistled. "Rich town. Maybe I should go with you."
"No!" He grinned widely at my outburst. "I mean, not tonight. It's going to be hard to explain you to her."
"I'm kidding, Maggie. Relax. Here you go." He nodded to the car which stopped by the curb.
We stepped out, and Zach opened the back door for me. I swung my legs in. He reached forward and kissed me on the cheek. Heat rushed up my neck and cheeks. I kept my hands planted on the seat before they did other things they shouldn’t, like pull him down for a longer kiss.
"Call me, okay? Promise, Beanie?" He stroked my cheeks with the pads of his thumbs.
"I promise."
Zach closed the door, and I gave my address to Bennet. I rolled the window down and waved at Zach as the limo pulled away. I had a feeling that tomorrow, my cheek muscles would be sore from the stupid smile I had on my face the entire way back to Nica's.
Chapter Six
Zach
Maggie Stewart. Wow. Who knew? Maybe my luck had turned around after all. Patton should be happy. What were the chances she'd appear like an apparition on that sidewalk tonight?
After saying goodbye to her, I returned to the party and searched for the gang. I saw Rick first, sandwiched by two girls. He looked every bit uncomfortable, mostly because he was probably afraid they were young enough to be his kids. I smirked at him and shook my head when he mouthed the words, "Help me."
He wouldn't get in any sort of trouble, not as long as I was around. I'd make sure of it. He had given me sound life advice since we'd met. From a mentor to a friend. I considered him to be one of the best men I knew in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. There was a certain type of brotherhood between us fighters. We might pound the shit out of one another, but outside the ring, most of us were good friends.
I spotted Travis the Hound, with a girl pressed against the window, and two other girls were watching them intently. He could mack it out. No doubt about it. I hoped he brought protection. Stone was the last person I found, nursing a drink by the bar. No one dared go near him, and there was a wide space between him and the rest of the party. He was actually a stand-up guy once people gave him a chance. He was also sweet, or so I'd been told. He was the quietest one in the Harcwick group, and the largest guy in the bunch.
I nodded at him and sat on the empty stool beside him. I asked the bartender for a beer, and I got it right away.
"What happened to your girl? Why did she have to leave?" Stone asked.
My girl Maggie. I liked the sound of that. I felt an unfamiliar tug in my chest.
"Had to get home. Her sister called her twice. I sent her with Bennett. I hope you guys don't mind. I didn't want her cabbing it." I tilted the beer bottle to my lips and took a long pull.
Stone grunted which was easily a no or a yes, either way, it was a response. He rarely showed emotions which was why he’d garnered the name Stone. "She seems like a nice girl. From back home?"
"Yeah, can you believe it? I've wanted to get in touch with her for years." Just thinking about her made me grin like an idiot. I chugged my beer and enjoyed the crisp taste down my throat. Whoever threw this p
arty did not do it cheaply.
"I believe anything happens when you want it to." I nodded. Stone was pretty insightful too. Like I said, the guy was actually one of the good ones.
Bailey came out of nowhere and sidled up next to me. I gave her a quick shake of my head. It wasn't hard to figure out what she was after. If only I could have a do over, I'd certainly have gone home by myself that one night we spent together, rather than regret it for the rest of my life. Good thing she hadn't announced it to the world. Only Rick and Bai knew about that night. Rick had to pick me up from her hotel room. Thank god, he'd kept quiet about it, but every time he saw her make a move on me, he would give me that knowing smirk.
Although as far as girls I'd hooked up with go, Bai was not the worst of the bunch. That crown belonged to Kenzie. That girl was a walking mistake if I'd ever seen one. Stupid of me to allow my dick to make the decision for me.
My throat itched at the thought of her. Thankfully, she had left me alone for a while. But Kenzie was like an annoying fluff that I had to flick off over and over again, until one time it just completely detached itself. Although, as soon as I'd look away, that stupid fluff would fucking come back and stayed glued to me for as long as it wanted.
I finished off my drink, pushing away any ugly thoughts of Kenzie. I didn't want to think of her. I wanted to think of Maggie, wondering if she thought of me too.
It should not take too long to get her home. I forgot to ask Bennett to text me once she was at home so I pulled out my phone and found out whatever I could. Bennett informed me that Maggie was home safe in what he dubbed "her mansion." I didn't doubt the place was huge. I knew so little about the man her sister married other than that he had money, old money at that and old French money to boot. If that wasn't rich, I didn't know what was. Maggie's sister, Veronica was several years older than us, and I'd never been around her much to know what kind of person she was. But from what Maggie had said, Veronica was a protective sister.
"I hope she calls me," I muttered before I caught myself, not believing that I had turned into one of those guys who said such things. I hadn't been in this position ever. The relationships I'd had before had always been one-sided or served only one purpose—the physical fulfillment sex afforded.
When He Falls Page 6
