Fast & Loud

by Cheryl Douglas

  There were a few punches exchanged with mine hitting the mark while his mostly missed. I twisted his arm behind his back to contain him, but he tried to jerk out of my grip and I heard a sickening sound followed by a piercing scream. I watched him sink to the ground, grabbing his shoulder.

  I glared at Belinda before tossing her clothes at her. “Put your fucking clothes on and call an ambulance.”

  ***

  Cora

  I was disappointed when Dex texted to tell me something came up and he wouldn’t be able to see me as planned, but at least it gave me a chance to invite Cheryl for a drink so we could catch up. We’d talked on the phone and texted since the party, but there was nothing like a little face time over a few drinks.

  “So tell me everything,” she said, taking a sip of her dirty martini. “You and Dex. It’s back on?”

  I smiled. “Back on? I’m not even sure what that means, but I guess you could say that.”

  “I told you he’d changed,” she said, looking smug. “For the better, right?”

  If Dex were any better at some things I was pretty sure I’d stroke out. “He seems to have it all together,” I said, thinking about how much he’d matured the past few years. “He’s still Dex, of course. Jealous—”

  “You can’t tell me you don’t think his caveman thing is kind of hot.”

  I laughed, twirling the straw around my daiquiri. “As long as it doesn’t get out of hand. And honestly, he’s really been trying to get a grip on it, so there is that.”

  “You’re falling in love with him again, aren’t you?” She studied me carefully before her eyes widened. “You’re already in love with him.”

  “Is that so surprising?” In spite of the way we’d ended things, I didn’t know if I’d ever stopped loving him. “I’ve never felt about anyone the way I felt about him. And most of the things that were an issue for us during our marriage aren’t anymore.”

  I’d lost the urge to travel around the world showing off my culinary talents. Dex had lost the urge to prove his loyalty to his biker buddies. He had a business he was proud of and he’d finally settled down. Well, as settled as a man like Dex could be.

  “So what does this mean?” Cheryl asked, leaning forward. “You think you’ll marry him again?” She gripped my forearm. “Have gorgeous blue-eyed babies?”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said, trying to pretend her suggestion hadn’t given me a little thrill. “He did ask me to stay with him while the restaurant is being renovated. I haven’t answered him yet, but it might be a good way to test the waters before we decide to…”

  I frowned when I saw Belinda’s husband storm in and belly up to the bar. He was wearing a sling on his arm and he had a black eye.

  Cheryl followed my gaze. “Ouch. I wonder what happened to him?”

  “I don’t know.” I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach. “Dex was going over to their house today to give them a quote on a new pool house. He’ll probably tell me what happened to Josh, assuming he knows.”

  We’d all known Belinda and Josh a long time. They were regulars at the bar and we all wondered how the hell Josh put up with his demanding, flirtatious wife. Nothing was ever good enough for her and she constantly ridiculed her husband in public while chatting up other men.

  “I can’t believe they’re still together, honestly,” I said, watching Josh knock back one drink before tapping the bar for another. “He could do way better than her.” Josh seemed like a nice guy who’d gotten trapped in a bad marriage and was staying for the sake of the two children they shared.

  “I know, right?” Cheryl bit her lip. “I wonder what happened to him. Think I should go ask?”

  “You can’t do that.” Though I knew she would. Cheryl was bold enough to ask anyone anything.

  “I have to order us another round,” she said, standing. “If we happen to get to chatting, so be it.”

  I shook my head as I watched her walk away. She would no doubt return with the whole story.

  I dug my phone out of my purse and tried to quash my disappointment when there were no new messages from Dex. I’d kind of hoped he’d ask me to swing by when he finished whatever business he had to take care of.

  I didn’t want to seem desperate, but figured there was no harm letting him know I’d be open to a late night visit if he was game.

  I typed two little words, wondering if I’d get a response. Hey you

  He responded almost immediately. Hey yourself

  What are you doing?

  There was no response for a full minute, but eventually I saw the bubble that indicated he was typing. Getting a couple of stitches.

  What the hell happened?

  Again, a long pause before he replied, Got hurt on the job. Nothing serious.

  Is that why you couldn’t see me tonight?

  Yeah

  Why didn’t you say so? I could have come to the hospital with you.

  Didn’t want to spoil your evening. No worries. I’m good.

  At least it wasn’t serious. Miss you.

  Miss you too, babe. We need to talk.

  I felt a twinge of uncertainty when I replied, About what?

  Before I could read his response Cheryl returned to the table with our drinks. Not wanting to be rude, I set the phone down and reached for my glass. “Did you find out what happened to Josh?”

  Cheryl winced. “Yeah, but I’m not sure I want to tell you.”

  I glanced down at my phone and read his response. Can’t get into it now. Oh shit, this wasn’t good.

  “Just tell me,” I said, feeling the panic creep in.

  “Uh, Josh said he went home for a late lunch and found Dex there with Belinda.”

  “Yeah, I already told you he was there giving her a quote for their pool house.” I glanced at the bar and saw Josh downing another drink. Wow, he was really pounding them tonight.

  “Apparently there was a little more than that going on when he got there,” Cheryl said, wiping the condensation from her glass with her fingertip. Her eyes were fixed on the action like she was enthralled.

  “Like what?”

  She sighed before sinking back in her chair. “God, I hate being the one to tell you this. But she and Dex were…. I mean… she was… naked!” She covered her face with her hands when I gaped at her. “Don’t kill me. I’m just the messenger.”

  “That’s what happened to Josh?” I asked, staring at him. “He got into it with Dex?” That’s why the poor bastard looked so bad… and why Dex needed stitches. He hadn’t hurt himself on the job at all. The fucker!

  “Apparently.”

  I stood, tossing some money on the table.

  “Where are you going?” Cheryl asked, grabbing my wrist.

  “To find out what the hell’s going on with my ex.”

  Chapter Ten

  Dex

  By the time I got home from the hospital I was bone tired. I just wanted to sink into bed and forget this shitty day ever happened. Not that the entire day had been shitty. My little lunch break with Cora had been pretty amazing.

  I reread the text messages on my phone, trying to figure out how the hell I was going to break this to her. It didn’t look good. I knew that. I’d left her with a raging hard-on, only to go to a woman who’d made no secret of the fact she wanted me. Even when Cora and I had been married Belinda had been relentless about flirting with me at the bar. The woman had no fucking boundaries.

  And for her husband to walk in on what he did… I cringed. How would I explain to Cora that I’d stood there like an idiot, too stunned to move, while she stripped for me?

  The doorbell rang and I checked the time on my phone. 12:42 a.m. A visitor at this time of night couldn’t be good.

  I opened the door and my heart clenched. Fuck. My girl had been crying.

  “How could you?”

  “Baby,” I said, reaching for her.

  She took a step back. “Don’t touch me. I just want to know
why.”

  “Why what?” I knew what she was asking, but I needed time to decide how I was going to defend myself. If our situations were reversed I wouldn’t be standing here talking to her. I’d be hunting the motherfucker who touched her down.

  Her eyes drifted down to my bandaged hand. “Why you lied to me, for starters.”

  I opened the door wider. “Just come in here so we can talk about this. Please.”

  She hesitated but eventually stepped inside, careful not to touch me as she slipped past.

  “How did you find out?”

  She glared at me, crossing her arms. “Why? Were you going to try and keep it from me? I’m guessing that was the plan since you lied to me about how you hurt your hand.”

  “I didn’t lie.” I was grasping and we both knew it. “I said it happened on a job and it did. Well, a prospective job site anyway.”

  “Are you even listening to yourself right now? You’re trying to justify the fact that you’re a lying sack of shit.”

  I took a step forward and she took a step back. The dance of avoidance. We’d done this one too many times before and I hated it. “Fine, I’ll admit it,” I said, raising my good hand. “But I couldn’t tell you what happened in a text message.”

  “Would have told me at all?”

  “I said I wanted to talk to you, didn’t I?”

  I was being short with her, but it wasn’t Cora I was mad at. It was Belinda… and myself. I should have known better than to put myself in this position with a woman who was a known predator. She’d devour me whole if she could.

  “Fine, talk now. I’m listening.”

  At least she was giving me the chance to explain myself, in spite of the fact I had kind of lied by omission. “So, I got there and we talked about the job a bit before she, uh, kind of came on to me.”

  “She kind of came on to you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “What did she say? That she wants you? We’ve all known that for years.”

  “She started questioning me about us. Apparently one of her friend’s was at Cheryl and Jared’s party the other night.”

  “That bitch has friends?”

  I let that comment slide because I knew she was already pissed and there was no way I was going to fuel the fire by defending Belinda. “Uh, anyway, she started, um, taking her clothes off.”

  Her eyes were wide as her jaw dropped. “And what did you do?”

  “I tried to dodge her when she made a grab for my junk but—”

  “She what?” Cora shrieked.

  This was going from bad to worse real quick and I knew I had to do something before this motherfucking train derailed taking the best thing in my life with it. “Baby, I told her I wasn't interested. I swear to you I never even touched her, except to put some distance between us.”

  “Why didn’t you just get out of there?”

  That was the million dollar question. I should have walked out as soon as she started undressing. I was twice her size. It’s not like she could have kept me there against my will. “I was just so shocked. I didn’t have time to react. Then her husband walked in and before I knew it fists were flying.”

  “You didn’t have time to react,” she repeated, looking me up and down.

  I still had Josh’s blood on my t-shirt, a fact that probably didn’t help my case.

  “Or did you?”

  “What?” I had a sinking feeling I knew where she was going with this and I wasn’t going to like it. Neither was she, if I was completely honest with her.

  “You had a beautiful woman strip naked for you and what…? Stroke your-?”

  I held my hands up. “Hey, it was never out of my pants, I swear. It never went that far.” Shit, poor choice of words. “I mean—”

  “I think I know what you mean.” She turned around and took a few steps in the other direction before facing me again. “I’m trying to imagine all of this the way you described it to me and I’m not getting it. You’re telling me this woman got naked and made a grab for you and you just what? Stood there and tried to reason with her?”

  Pretty much. But that made me sound like an idiot. Or a guy who wasn’t too anxious to get out of there. “It all happened so fast.” I raked my good hand through my hair as I tried to scramble to find some way to make her understand how this shit went down. “It’s not like I was there for twenty minutes while she was parading around naked in front of me. It was more like five while I tried to—”

  “It takes ten seconds to say, ‘I’m getting the hell out of here’.” She fisted her hands on her hips. “So, what were you doing the other four and a half minutes? Admiring the view?”

  She had a point. It would have taken me a few seconds to leave. So why the hell didn’t I? “I was trying to tell her that I wanted nothing to do with her and—”

  “I think she would have gotten that message if you left.”

  “You’re probably right, but she’s a client and…” I let that trail off when she glared at me.

  “So, you still consider her a client?”

  “No.” I shook my head emphatically because even as drained and confused as I was I knew there was only one right answer to that question. “No way would I ever work for her again. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “I’m not worried about that,” she said, studying me. “But I am worried about a whole lot of other things right now. Like whether I can trust you.”

  The last thing I wanted was for her to question whether she could trust me. I knew if the trust was broken there was no chance we could rebuild a relationship. “Babe, listen to me.” I advanced on her, curling my hands around her shoulders even though my sore hand was screaming in pain. “I don’t want anyone else. I don’t give a shit who strips naked and propositions me. It’s you I want. Only you.”

  “Why did you beat up Josh like that?”

  “What?” How the hell had she seen Josh? In fact, how had she learned about this? I’d been so busy trying to defend myself I never even thought to ask. “Where did you see Josh?”

  “At the bar.”

  “What the fuck were you doing at the bar?” I took a step closer, towering over her. “Who were you there with?”

  She threw her head back, fake laughing. “That’s funny. You’re pissed at me because I went out for a drink with a friend, but I’m not supposed to be pissed that a client got naked for you and grabbed your package while you stuck around to enjoy the view? Oh, and beat the shit out of her husband, let’s not forget that.”

  Okay, maybe I wasn’t in a great position to start questioning her about her whereabouts tonight. But I would find out. Later. Assuming she was still talking to me later.

  “I asked you a question,” she reminded me. “Why did you beat up Belinda’s husband?”

  “He came at me. What was I supposed to do? I had to defend myself.”

  “He came at you because he thought you were fucking his wife!”

  “That doesn’t mean I was. Things aren’t always what they seem, you know.”

  “Okay,” she said, walking into my adjoining living room where she started pacing in front of the fireplace. “So, let’s say you walked into my place and there was a contractor there to give me a quote.” Her eyes lit up in challenge. “Bryan, maybe. And he was stark fucking naked. How would you react?”

  My good hand curled into a fist. “I’d kick the shit out of him.”

  “So, how did you expect Josh to react when he walked in and found you with his wife?”

  “I would have expected him to react exactly the way he did.” None of this was Josh’s fault. I got that.

  “Then why did you dislocate his shoulder?”

  I winced when I realized the extent of his injury. “I was acting on instinct and adrenaline, baby. The way I grew up, someone comes at you and you make them sorry they did. You don’t consider who’s at fault or try to pull back. You knock their fucking teeth out and ask questions later.”

  She shook her head, looking appalle
d. “Well, I don’t think you knocked any of his teeth out, but I doubt he’ll be fixing any cars for awhile.”

  Josh owned a body shop and he had a couple of guys working for him, but putting him out of commission had no doubt hurt his business and I felt pretty shitty about that. “I don’t know what you want from me. I’m sorry, okay?”

  “Were you turned on?” she asked, her eyes sweeping over my body.

  “What?” Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was the last question I wanted her to ask.

  “You heard me. When she got naked, did you get hard? Is that why you stuck around? Because you’d had a serious case of blue balls all day and thought maybe she could help you with it?”

  “I didn’t want her to touch me.” That much was true, but I could tell Cora wasn’t convinced.

  “Were both heads in agreement about that?” she asked, gesturing to the bulge in my pants. “Or was the little head trying to overrule the big one?”

  “I don’t see what that has to do with anything. The point is I didn’t touch her.”

  “And the fact that you would even say that proves to me how clueless you are!”

  “Fine,” I said, spreading my arms. “Clue me the fuck in then.”

  “Let’s go back to my previous scenario. With Bryan.”

  “Let’s not.” Why did she have to keep using that fucker as an example?

  Ignoring me, she said, “So, you walked in and found him in my unit. Naked. Aroused. I swore nothing was going on but you found me soaking wet. What would you do?”

  Bust him up, that’s what I’d do. I’d take her arousal out on him because I couldn’t punish her. “I already told you what I’d do to him.”

  “How would you feel about me?” There was grim twist to her mouth and it seemed she was weighing her words. “Would you trust me when I said I wasn’t tempted to let him fuck me?”

  “Oh my God! I wasn’t tempted to fuck that bitch! I can’t help it if my body reacts to the sight of a beautiful woman getting naked for me. That doesn’t mean I’m going to…”