Linc (A Cocky Cage Fighter Novel Book 3)

by Hart, Lane

  Chapter Nine

  Linc

  "Let's go," I bark to Senn as I storm past the sofa where he and the redhead are sittin’. I don't pause even a second on the way out the front door.

  "Dude, what the hell?" Senn asks when he catches up to me out in the driveway. "Why are we leavin’ already?"

  "Cause I need to get the fuck out of here," I say as I head for my truck.

  "What happened?" he asks me after we both sit down in the dark cab.

  Tightly clutchin’ the steerin’ wheel with both hands, I debate whether or not to tell him. I'm so pissed I need to get it off my chest before I break somethin’

  "She fucked me."

  "Wow, that's such a goddamn shame." He laughs. "How dare a sexy as hell porn star do such a thing to you? Eve is an evil, evil, woman."

  "She only fucked me because she thought she owed me."

  "Oh. Sorry, man. But hey, at least you got fucked."

  My inner beast is furious, his ego demolished after he fucked like a champ and then found out it was all just an ordinary, nothin’ special, run of the mill transaction for her. That’s right, I remind him, since it’s so easy to forget when I’m with her. She fucks men on camera for a livin’, so why did I think I was any different?

  I should be happy that I know the truth about her and can move on. Her asshole manager warned me that she only fucked for money. I went off on him earlier tonight when he was talkin’ that shit. Yeah, maybe I thought about it before we met, but there's no way I would ever pay a dime to fuck her now that I know her. Apparently, she thought she still owed me from the four thousand I gave her at the strip club Friday.

  Instead of bein’ relieved that I know the real Eve, or Mandy, I'm pissed. Mostly at myself. I knew somethin’ was...off with her when she was leadin’ me up the stairs in a hurry. Her mood and demeanor had shifted from flirty to insistent, and I couldn't figure her out. But then when she grabbed my cock it sort of made thinkin’ difficult. And after my cock went into her mouth...well, I was too far gone. Now I feel like a fool for thinkin’ she wanted me. I was certain she did outside at the fight. But it was just quid-fuckin’-pro quo for her. The most fucked up thing of all is I don't regret bein’ with her, and that probably makes me an enormous asshole. Bein’ with Eve, dammit, Mandy, was beyond incredible. Best sex I've ever had and she didn't even want to fuck me! It was nothin’ more than an obligation to her, and yet, it blew my mind. At least I know the answer to the question I've been wonderin’ for years.

  The real thing is even better than the fantasy.

  …

  Claire

  Friday night after work I get sacked out in my bed, cozy in my warm flannel pajamas, indulging my pity party of one with a pint of Ben & Jerry's Boom Chocolatta. I consider holding the cold container between my legs to numb the ache, not just from overuse but because I actually miss having him inside me. Knowing that will never happen again, a few tears slip from my eyes, strays trying to catch up with their friends who evacuated as part of the mass exodus last night after Linc left Vito's house. There I was, lying naked in a strange bed after sleeping with a man for the first time, sad and dumped while being video recorded during every fucking second of the ordeal.

  No matter how many times I go through the entire night over and over again, it still feels like an unfinished painting. I swear something's missing but I don't know what. How could I have been so wrong about Linc?

  At the knock on my bedroom door I sit up with my back against the headboard, put down the carton of ice cream on the nightstand and swipe my fingers under my eyes to quickly dry them before answering. "Come in."

  I was expecting my sister not...him.

  "Get out," I tell James, who’s wearing the usual wrinkled dress clothes along with his trademarked greasy hair.

  "I just wanted to tell you how pleased Vito was with your...film," he says.

  Fidgeting with an unraveling blue string from the top of my comforter, I don't even have to look up at him to know that stupid smirk of his is on his face. His comment embarrassed me, just as he intended, making my cheeks burn.

  "Leave," I say again.

  "Vito wanted me to try and convince you to do a few more movies for him. Said he'd pay you very, very well."

  "Hell no."

  "That's a shame," he says, taking a few more steps into the room. "Because to act so innocent, you sure do know how to suck a big, fat cock like a pro. Must run in the family."

  "Get out!" I yell at him. I’m so pissed off at the shit coming out of his mouth that my whole body is starting to shake. Instead of leaving, he comes even closer to the side of my bed.

  "And the way you screamed and writhed when he was licking your pussy...mmm, mmm, hmmm." His hand comes down and grabs ahold of my calf through the comforter. He tightens his grip as he rubs his palm up to my thigh while his beady eyes stare at my breasts through my tank top. "You had all of us in the screening room stroking the fuck out of our cocks right then and there."

  My stomach flips violently, but I'm frozen in place. James is not only blocking the door so that I would have to get past him to escape, but he already has his hand on me, preventing me from going anywhere. For some reason, I don't think it will help if I try to bolt. Seeing my phone next to me on the mattress, I suddenly have an idea. I pick it up and quickly dial Mason from my favorites.

  "You remember our brother Mason, right? Really big MMA fighter?" I ask the asshole while the line rings, my voice only slightly shaking. "Let's see what he's up to tonight and if he wants to come over to say hello."

  "Hey, sis."

  I let out a sigh of relief when he thankfully answers, even though it's late. "Mason! What are you up to tonight?" I ask while narrowing my eyes at James in warning. "Want to come over and hang out with me, Mandy, and James?"

  The sleazy jerk rolls his eyes before he removes his hand from me. My call to my brother accomplished my goal of getting him to finally leave my room. As soon as his ass clears the doorway, I jump up to shut and lock the door.

  "Ah, you want to hang out right now? At almost midnight on a Friday night?" Mason asks. “I’m all the way up in a club in Raleigh with Senn and Nate from Havoc. Is everything okay?"

  "Now it is," I tell him. "Thanks...for answering." The flood of tears return in full force.

  "Are you crying? What's going on, Claire? You're starting to worry me."

  "Sorry. Just...bad day."

  He sighs heavily into the phone. "I’m on my way."

  "No! Mason, I'm fine now. I promise."

  "You sure? You don't fucking sound fine."

  "Yes. I’m sure."

  He stays quiet for a few seconds. "Does this have anything to do with Linc Abrams?"

  "No," I say quickly.

  "Liar," he calls me out. "Did something happen last night with him at Vito's?"

  "Nope." What's another lie on the ever growing pile?

  "Good," he says, which shocks the hell out of me. I figured my brother would be Team Linc all the way since he looks up to him and his successful MMA career. "Because you know I went over to Havoc today to get registered? Well, instead of coming out with me and his boys, he left the gym with some girl tonight." I choke on a sharp intake of breath hearing that Linc was with someone else. The night after he paid to fuck me on camera he's going on a freaking date?

  Mason sighs again, this time heavier. "Ah shit. Am I gonna have to kick his ass? Cause I will for you, sis, even if it means giving up Havoc."

  "No!" I exclaim. "Please swear to me you won't mention anything about me to him. It's complicated, okay, and doesn't matter. Promise me, Mason. This is a great opportunity for you so don't mess it up!" I'm not about to admit to my brother that I did a porno with the man.

  "I know you're hiding shit from me, but I can't make you spit it out. Just, let me know if you need anything, okay?"

  "Okay," I agree. "Thanks, Mason. I got a pretty good deal the day they were handing out baby brothers."

  "Yeah, yo
u did," he easily agrees. "Too bad they dropped Mandy on her head before they gave her to you."

  "Mason!" I chastise him.

  "Seriously, what are we gonna do about her? We can't keep this shit up, and neither can she." I understand exactly what he's referring to; the two of us constantly bailing Mandy out of her self-created problems. It never ends with her.

  "I know," I agree. "Let's work on trying to get her to go into another inpatient rehab program.” Two years ago she got accepted into a drug treatment facility for ninety days. It was enough time for her to detox, and she actually stayed clean for several months after she got out. “It’ll probably go in one ear and out the other like usual, but if we both stay on her, maybe she'll cave just to get us off her ass."

  "Deal," he says.

  "Now go have fun and I’ll talk to you later."

  "Love you, sis," he says before hanging up, making me smile.

  Chapter Ten

  Linc

  It has to be close to midnight, but I'm not ready to head home yet. After the homecoming game that Abby convinced me to come to, all of us from the Cary High class of '08 decided to stick around and hang out on the bleachers, knockin’ out a cooler of beer while we rehash an infinite number of stories from the glory days. Talkin’ and laughin’ with Ryan and Jason for the first time in years has helped take my mind off the thoughts of a gold-diggin’ porn star which fill my every wakin’ minute. God, I still feel like such a fuckin’ fool for bein’ so damn cocky and stupid to think Eve actually wanted me.

  "Oh shit," Ryan mutters with a grin. "You remember how trashed Jason got the night we graduated? We couldn't find him because he had gone next door and jumped in his neighbor’s pool fully clothed." He has to pause in the story until he stops shakin’ with laughter. "Then when the cops showed up and pulled him out, they asked him what he thought he was doing. He reached down and said 'Freeing Willy' with his cock in his hand."

  Everyone laughs, including myself, even though I missed seein’ the events firsthand. As soon as we graduated, Abby and I left for Myrtle Beach, in a hurry to get a jump on the senior ritual, and ready to jump in bed without parents, friends, school, trainin’ or anything else gettin’ in our way for a few days. It was during that week that I first asked her to marry me. Yeah, I knew we were young, but that didn't matter to me, not when I loved her and wanted to be with her forever. What we had was the real deal. Not only was she my best friend those three years we were together, but regardless of the fact that we were each other's first, we burned up the sheets learnin’ every position in the Kama Sutra and inventin’ a few of our own. The sex was always scorchin’ hot. We collided like we'd die if our bodies weren't joined within seconds of bein’ left alone together. And now here she is in my life again, sick, possibly terminally, movin’ back to town with her parents because she's gettin’ ready to have her first chemotherapy treatment in just a few days.

  Sittin’ sideways two bleachers down, Abby's eyes catch mine on her. Tonight she's bundled up in layers, a sweater, hoodie, and overcoat even though it's not that cool out in the September night. The rest of us have on thin jackets or just long sleeve shirts. Her long braid hangs over her shoulder, restin’ on her full chest, tauntin’ me. The tease is multiplied when one of her eyebrows inches up and she flashes me a smile that asks, You're thinking about fucking me, aren’t you pervert? I return her smile and shrug in the What can I say? I have an elephant trunk for a cock and he never forgets response.

  She shivers either out of arousal or because of the temperature. I still can't believe she has cancer since she looks so healthy. But right now, at this moment, I can see the fragility in her that's more prominent than ever before. And the worst part that squeezes my heart, the fear of an unknown future in her sad eyes that never disappears even when she smiles.

  The five or six beers that I've had are meltin’ my icy block of coldness toward her. Each droplet that lands in the surroundin’ puddle seems to take some of the anger and hurt along with it. Of course I haven't completely forgiven her, but I'm workin’ on it. Maybe I never will, but I can stop bein’ a dick long enough to show her that I'm tryin’ to let the past go. Abby already has so much on her that it would be petty of me to make her feel even worse.

  Givin’ in to the urge to prove that I'm...tryin’, and hell, maybe even soothe my recently bruised ego, I scoot down the bleachers until I'm next to her. I wrap my arms around her shoulders, pullin’ her to my chest to warm her up. She fits against me the same way she always did. "You okay? Need to go?" I ask.

  "No," she says, lookin’ up at me with those brown eyes that I once would do anything for. "Are you okay? You've been chewing a hole in your bottom lip all night."

  I scrub my free hand down my face, noticin’ the scruff that I didn't shave off today. Distracted is not even close to describin’ the zombie like state I've been in since leavin’ Mandy last night. Instead of shruggin’ it off, I decide to tell Abby the truth. "Last night I made a fuckin’ fool of myself, so now I'm tryin’ to figure out how to pick my stupid self up off the canvas with what dignity I have left."

  "You mean, like with a woman?" she asks, way too perceptively.

  "Uh-huh." I don't bother denyin’ it.

  She laughs. "You, the recently named Sexiest MMA Fighter in the World struck out? I find that very hard to believe." When she throws out the ridiculous magazine title the corners of my lips inevitability lift just a tad. I've had fun rubbin’ that shit in Jude's face since he came in third behind his brother, Jax.

  "I didn't exactly strike out," I reply. Bein’ with Mandy, despite the circumstances, was more like a fuckin’ grand-slam, home run. "She just doesn't have any plans to see me again or give me a real chance."

  "Well, she's an idiot," Abby says, and then softer, "And I would know."

  Followin’ the silence that surrounds us after that statement, I figure we should call it a night. Anything to avoid divin’ into those shark infested waters.

  "You ready to go?" I ask. Abby nods, so we say goodbye to our old friends and walk back to my truck. Her car is still sittin’ at Havoc since she stopped by and asked me to go with her to the game. I caved, needin’ the distraction from replayin’ the night before.

  We climb in the cab, and the doors barely close before she unfortunately starts in now that she has me in a contained space. "Can we please talk?" she asks. "Will you give me just five minutes to explain what happened that night? That's all I've ever wanted, Linc but you've never given me that. Please."

  Starin’ out the side window, I keep my eyes on the empty parkin’ lot, instead of her face that is guaranteed to soften me. "Don't think that's a good idea, Abby."

  My whole body tenses up when her soft fingertips unexpectedly make contact with the side of my turned face, caressin’ my scruffy jawline. Her gentle touch is way too...intimate than I'm prepared for or comfortable with, when she says again, "Please."

  I shake my head and grab her hand to peel it away from my face, tellin’ her the honest to God truth. "I could go the rest of my life and never talk about that-" I pause mid-sentence when the stadium lights hit a tattoo on the inside of Abby's wrist. I pull it closer to see if it's what I think it is. A small, simple black outline forms a pair of angel wings, connected in the middle by three cursive letters, "TLA." The ink is lightly faded, provin’ that she's definitely had it for a while.

  "There's no expiration date on my mourning, either," she says softly. "I was hurting just as much as you, but I couldn't take another second of the guilt...seeing the pain on your face and everyone else's...You blamed me. I know you did. I thought it was my fault, too."

  My chest tightens and throat burns seein’ the reminder she permanently inked into her skin. The drastic contrast between the proof in front of me and the belief I've always had that she was so happy and relieved throws me completely off balance. I might be sittin’ down, but I still feel the foundation of the past start to shift underneath me. All because of a tattoo.

&nb
sp; The asshole in me says it could be nothin’ more than a way for her to try and get attention or sympathy, but that's not somethin’ the Abby I used to know would ever do. If that's all it was then she would've shoved it in my face the other day when she saw my necklace. I assumed she never looked back, but I was wrong.

  Still holdin’ her hand in both of mine, I brush my lips over the memorial and finally give her the small concession that I couldn't honestly give her the week everything went to hell. "It wasn't your fault. Chromosome abnormality. That's what the medical records said caused it."

  My parents and I had ordered all the hospital records, because they drew blood from me and Abby to use for genetic testing to see what exactly had gone wrong to cause a miscarriage in the second trimester of the pregnancy. At the time, a part of me even wondered if he was really mine or some other guy's baby after the night in Greenville. The results left no doubt about the paternity, and made it clear that there was nothin’ anyone, even the doctors, could have done to prevent the miscarriage.

  "We didn't know that at the time. Not until weeks later...when the tests came back," she says through sniffles. "No, I wasn't ready to be a mother...not when I first found out I was pregnant. But I still loved him and wanted him."

  Those are the words I would've given anything to hear before she ran, but she didn't say them, not even once.

  "That's what I wanted to believe. It's why...that's why I followed you to Greenville, because I was worried about you blamin’ yourself. Then when I found you fuckin’ cheatin’ on me-"

  "I swear, Linc, I wasn't cheating on you-"

  "Bullshit!" I yell so loudly it echoes around the interior of the truck. I finally let her hand go at that bald faced lie. "You were in bed with him!"

  "Charlie-" she starts, and just hearin’ his name makes me groan. "He was just a random guy who lived on my floor. He heard me crying when he was leaving the shower and came in to check on me. Everyone had gone home for break and he was the only other person on the entire hall that night. There was nothing else going on!"