I started to turn to leave, but he grabbed my hand. Then, I saw him wince. He seemed to be nursing his arm, but I didn’t notice an injury.
I should have pulled away—but I didn’t.
“Look, I’m not saying you gotta sleep with me or have a relationship with me or even like me,” Drew explained. “I just think you need a friend right now. I’m trying to give you that.”
Words were cheap in my experience with men, but there was one thing that he had right. I was in desperate need of a friend—someone to talk to. I had not been able to talk to my husband for years. Walking on eggshells was getting old.
“What’s wrong with your arm?” I asked, trying to avoid conversation.
“Just an MMA injury,” he muttered. “Don’t you worry about it. So what do you say? You need a friend or are you gonna bottle this all up and pretend nothing’s wrong?”
“Well, I could use a friend,” I murmured, sitting back down on the cushy sofa. “Plus, this couch is nicer than the one I have at home.”
He chuckled and leaned back.
“That’s the spirit. So you come to the library a lot, then?” he asked. “You go to the bar a lot too?”
My face flushed. I was not proud of my husband’s drinking.
“Well, Matt and I go to the bar a lot. I don’t really go by myself. Well, I don’t really go anywhere by myself—except here,” I replied. “I’ve got a lot to keep up with considering school and Jase and all.”
“You were by yourself when you came into my gym the other day,” he said, coolly. “He let you off the ball and chain sometimes, then?”
“Not often,” I admitted. “If I keep him updated, he does. He trusts me at the library—as long as I keep up the grades to prove I’ve been actually studying.”
Drew nodded.
“That makes sense. Don’t think it’s right, though. He shouldn’t be able to control you like that.”
“Well, he does let me out. It’s not like I’m his prisoner or anything.”
“But mentally, do you feel like you are?”
I looked down at the floor. I didn’t want to answer that question.
“That’s a yes,” he murmured. “That ain’t right. You know that, don’t you?”
I did know it was wrong, but I didn’t feel like explaining myself to him.
“My biggest concern is that he’ll hurt my son,” I admitted. “I want to be able to protect him. Once I get my degree, maybe I can give Jase a better life. I want to be a veterinarian, you know.”
“Well, I can help you with that part. It’ll take some work, but if anyone can teach you, it’s me. I’ve been doing MMA since I was a kid.”
I smiled at him.
“When’s the next class?”
He smiled back.
“Tuesday. Be there or be square!”
“I will be there,” I replied with a smile. “One more thing, though. What really happened to your arm?”
He sighed.
“Well, I didn’t lie. It is an MMA injury—from years ago. I can’t use my left arm at all. Guess it’s a blessing I’m a righty,” he muttered with a shrug. “My niece calls it my zombie arm.”
He let out a nervous chuckle. I could tell he was ashamed. He had no reason to be.
“She sounds cute. Thanks, Drew. I really appreciate you helping me for free and all. I’ll be happy to pay you what Matt gives me in cash, though. I really don’t mind.”
“Nope,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t take your money.”
I smiled again.
“Thank you. Really. It means the world.”
He nodded and patted my shoulder.
“Well, I’ve gotta go train for the tournament. You wanna come with or are you gonna stay here?”
I looked around the library. My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a reminder that I could go nowhere other than the library, unless I wanted to be caught.
“I think I’ll stay here for awhile,” I replied. “I actually could get some studying done.”
He nodded.
“Well, good luck. Be safe, alright?”
I smiled.
“I will.”
“See you Tuesday?”
I nodded.
“See you Tuesday.”
Chapter Five – Gym Meetings
When I first signed up for mixed martial arts, I thought that I would learn how to protect my son and nothing more. However, the more time I spent in the gym, the more I learned that MMA offered me so much more than that. I had my self-worth back.
“You’ve been doing really well,” Drew said, patting me on the back.
I was dripping in sweat, wearing nothing more than a sport bra and tiny shorts. Matt would hate me if he saw me wearing such an outfit in front of other men. However, I was learning that I didn’t care what Matt thought. I could stand up for myself.
“Thanks,” I breathed. “I’ve been working hard.”
He nodded and replied, “You need to work hard. You won’t be able to protect yourself or Jase if you don’t. You got that?”
“Got it, sir!” I shouted, taking a jab to the punching bag.
I took a few more jabs and he chuckled.
“Take a break, Aimee,” he said. “You earned it.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and leaned against the wall.
“I’ll be whooping Matt’s ass in no time.”
He laughed and patted me on the shoulder.
“That’s my girl.”
It had been a difficult day. Jase had spent most of the afternoon crying and Matt had spent most of the afternoon drinking. Between the two of them, I was at my wits’ end.
“Matt, have you seen the diapers?” I called to him.
I was frantically searching through a pile of baby necessities that Matt had drunkenly knocked off the kitchen table.
“That ain’t my job, bitch!” he yelled. “Find ‘em yourself!”
“Well, I thought maybe when you knocked over the baby stuff—”
“Knocked over what baby stuff?” he shouted, getting to his feet. “I didn’t knock over no baby stuff!”
“Oh I didn’t mean—”
He was approaching me quickly. He wanted to hit me. I could see it in his eyes.
“That’s right you didn’t mean nothin’!” he shouted. “I didn’t do anything l-like that!”
My heart settled as he began to stumble away. Then he turned on his heel.
“At least I’m here with my goddamn kid,” he scolded. “At least I ain’t out going and studyin’ for a class I’m gonna fail anyway!”
It hurt, and MMA had taught me to stand up for myself. I took a chance.
“As a matter of fact, I’m the top of my class, Matt,” I retorted. “You wouldn’t know that because you’re never sober enough to listen to me, though!”
Then, he did it. He took a drunken swing at me. I thought I could block it. I thought he couldn’t hurt me anymore. But he did.
I fell to the floor.
I dreaded going back to the gym. I was supposed to be able to protect myself and I was going to show my face with a shiner. There wasn’t a drugstore concealer in the world that was going to hide my bruises. Drew would be ashamed of me and I would be starting from scratch. It felt like my life couldn’t get much worse.
I set my gym bag down and changed into my gear. As soon as I emerged from the dressing room, I met eyes with Drew. I hoped he wouldn’t say anything.
“Hell of a shiner you got there,” he noted right away. “You get that from an intruder?”
I held my head lowly. I did not want to admit that things were out of control at home again. Even though I planned on taking Jase away, it was hard, and it would take time. I wished Drew could understand that.
“Something like that,” I mumbled. “Look, I really don’t want to talk about it.”
He approached me with a dark glint in his eye. He shook his head.
&
nbsp; “Take me to your apartment. I’ll talk to him.”
“He’s at work,” I argued, crossing my arms. “It doesn’t matter. I’m learning to take care of myself.”
“Clearly not!” Drew shouted. “Jesus Christ, Aimee! I can’t just let him get away with this!”
I frowned.
“And then you’d go to jail for assaulting him. Good solution, Drew.”
“I just—I just can’t stand to see you hurt,” he mumbled. “He’s not good to you, Aimee. You deserve better. I just wish you’d see that.”
“Well, he’s the father of my child, Drew. There’s not much I can do about th—”
Before I could finish my thought, he pulled me towards him and he planted his lips on mine. I didn’t kiss back. I was afraid to.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “It’ll be okay.”
And that’s when I did it. I kissed him back. Not only did I kiss him, but I kissed him in a room full of my sparring partners.
“Get a room!” someone shouted.
He picked me up with his one good arm and took me to the small office, and for the first time in years, I actually wanted to make love. He pulled off my sports bra and unbuckled his trousers. As they dropped to the floor, I realized that I was exactly where I wanted to be.
He planted his lips on my neck and pulled my hips close to his. I gasped as he entered me. Matt had never made me feel so loved.
“That feels so good,” I breathed, as he moved inside of me. “Don’t stop.”
He smirked and pushed himself deeper inside of me.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he whispered.
I tossed my head back in ecstasy as he slowly moved in and out of me. Never had I felt like a woman during sex. I had always felt like a dishrag. Even in a cramped office space, Drew was able to make me feel like I was the only woman on earth.
“You’re beautiful,” he breathed into my ear as he pulled me even closer to him.
My fingers ran up the back of his shirt and I clawed his spine. He let out a loud groan.
Then, we were interrupted by the sound of my phone buzzing. I ignored it at first. I laced my fingers in his hair and lightly tugged as my eyes rolled back into my head. Then, we were interrupted again.
“It’s probably nothing,” I whispered. “Keep going.”
I tried to stifle a loud moan as he set me on the desk and continued to penetrate my womanhood. It was almost too much to bear, and that was when we were interrupted a third time.
“I-I should probably—”
“Yeah. Fine.”
He rolled his eyes and pulled out. He didn’t need to say anything. I could already tell that he was disappointed.
Nevertheless, I grabbed my phone. No sex was worth getting hit the second I got home. There were three messages:
im comin home early.
bringin pizza from work. what u want on it?
helllloooo? aimee??
My stomach lurched.
“I-I gotta go,” I whispered, pushing past him.
“Aimee! Wait!”
But I was already running back to the locker room. No matter how I felt about Drew, I was going to go home to Matt.
He chased me all the way to the front door.
I only knew this because I looked back. Where I had to be and where I wanted to be were two very different places.
Chapter Six – Off Limits
I held Jase close to my breast as I hurriedly grabbed my keys. Beer cans were strewn across the floor in both the kitchen and living room. Vomit stained the bathroom floor. He was coming after us both and I had to protect my little one. We would go to my mother’s. She would welcome us with open arms. I could go back and get my things after a few days. I was sure it would work.
It didn’t.
“Where you goin’, Aimee?” Matt asked, grabbing my arm. “Out for another so-called study break?”
He had been accusing me of cheating on him. It was just like all the other accusations—unfounded. The only problem was, this time it was true. I did my best to lie.
“What are you getting at, Matt?” I asked, tears running down my face. “Please, not when I have Jase—”
“Why should I listen to anything you say?” he spat. “You’re a lying bitch!”
“B-because he’s your son!” I screamed.
Jase was crying. I had to get the door. I had to get out.
I bolted for it.
“Where you runnin’?” Matt hollered, chasing after me.
He grabbed the baby bag as I opened the door. I let go of the bag and slammed the door behind me. He tried to get out, but I locked it behind me. It would at least give me a second to get outside. It was the middle of the day. He couldn’t attack me in public.
Without the baby bag, I rushed to the elevator and pressed the button to go down. Just as the doors opened, I saw him emerge from our apartment. I gulped and rode the elevator all the way down.
As soon as we stopped at the main floor, I took Jase and I ran outside. There were some bushes in front of the building. He was still crying, so I cooed at him until he calmed down. I crouched down into the bushes, my heart pounding, and waited for him to emerge from the building.
Finally, he did.
He looked around for a moment, before stopping an elderly passerby.
“Hey, you seen a redhead with a baby?” he asked. He held his hand up to his chest. “About yea high?”
The little old lady shook her head, confusedly. He groaned and ran towards the parking lot
“Thanks anyway, lady!” he turned around to yell.
And with that, he got in his truck and drove off. I let out a sigh of relief and came out of the bushes. Jase let out a soft cry and I held him close to my chest.
I thought about calling my mother.
In the end, I decided not to bother her.
Still shaken up, I sat on the stoop of our apartment building, Jase in my lap. I knew I needed to go back inside and get his carrot mash, but I was so battered and frightened. I couldn’t even move.
Then, a strange vehicle pulled in the parking lot. Matt and I had lived in the same place for years. I recognized almost all of the vehicles that came and went. This one was different. It didn’t belong here.
After parking, the driver opened the door and stepped out. My eyes widened.
It was Drew.
“What the hell happened?” he yelled as he approached me. “Did he do this?”
“No,” I hissed, holding Jase close to me. “Look, you need to leave.”
He shook his head. I could see the anger in the lines of his face.
“No way,” he spat. “When you didn’t show up to the library, I knew something was up. Where is he? I’ll kill him!”
I got to my feet and stepped in front of the double doors of the apartment building, shaking my head.
“He’s not here,” I said, hurriedly, “and you better go before he gets back.”
“But he did this to you—”
My passing neighbors were staring. We were making a scene.
“My apartment building is off limits,” I hissed. “Matt’s onto us. We need to cool it, and you need to go. Unless you want me to get it worse when he gets back, you need to go. Now.”
He looked around. He seemed to notice the neighbors staring too.
“Someday, you’re gonna have to leave. If not for you, for him.”
He gestured Jase. I sniffled.
“I know.”
“It could be today,” he urged. “You could come stay with me for awhile.”
It was a generous offer—one that I couldn’t accept.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “But you need to go.”
He sighed and nodded.
“Alright. I’ll uh—I’ll just go then.”
And he did.
Chapter Seven – Assault in the Strip Joint
Drew would not stop texting me. I never thought I’d regret writin
g my number on that signup sheet.
I miss you. Can we talk?
Why haven’t you been showing up to practices?
I’m sorry about what happened.
I need to talk to you. I might have my issues, but nothing like your husband. I can help you.
Please. Let me help you.
Each and every text pained my heart when I read them, but I had to delete them immediately. Matt narrowed his eyes every time he heard my phone buzz. I learned to silence it and keep it on me at all times.
“I’m going to The Pink Room,” Matt grunted. He chugged another beer and tossed the can onto the floor. “You seen my keys?”
He didn’t need to be driving, but it didn’t matter to me anymore. If he died, Jase and I were free. Perhaps it was morbid, but some days, it seemed like that was the only way out.
“Right here,” I replied, picking them up from the coffee table. “Here.”
He grabbed them and lit his cigarette. I hated when he smoked around our son.
“I’ll be back late. Don’t wait up.”
As instructed, I didn’t wait up. Instead, I went to bed around eleven and prayed that Jase would stay asleep.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t Jase that woke me up. It was Matt, and he was infuriated.
After he drunkenly slammed the door behind him, he started screaming for me. I pretended to be asleep and hoped that he would calm down. Then, he started slamming cupboards. Jase began to cry.
“SHUT THAT BABY UP!” he yelled. “AND GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!”
I rubbed my temples and got out of bed. I did not want to face him. I knew he would take it out on Jase if I didn’t, though. It was my responsibility to protect him.
“Coming!” I shouted, slipping on my robe.
I walked out the bedroom door and started looking around. Finally, I found him. He was in the bathroom, going through the medicine cupboard. I wondered if he was looking for the rubbing alcohol again.
“I’ve told you a hundred times, Matt. You can’t drink that,” I grumbled. “Stop.”
Romance: SPORTS ROMANCE: The First Half (Bad Boy Alpha Male College Football Romance) (New Adult Contemporary Pregnancy Romance) Page 5
