Fighting for Love

by L. P. Dover

  “Yes, everything’s going great,” I said. “Since you just got in are you going to try and get some sleep now?”

  She sighed. “That’s the plan. I was going to take a nice, long shower and lay down. I’m glad you called me when you did because as soon as I get in bed, my phone is going off.”

  “Well, I won’t keep you long then,” I told her. “I wanted to tell you I ran into Hayley the other day. She said she ate lunch with you and Janet a few weeks ago.”

  “Oh yes, she did. She’s such a beautiful girl,” my mother gushed.

  Yeah, only on the outside, I wanted to say.

  “Did you happen to bring up Matt Reynolds in the conversation?”

  “Hmm … let’s see,” she mumbled. “Yes, I did actually. I was telling her how I hated seeing you alone and that I wanted you to find someone like Matt. It’s uncanny how just after that you ended up seeing him again. Have you told him about …”

  “No, I haven’t told him,” I murmured sadly. “Things have been going good with us and I didn’t want to ruin it. I was about to yesterday until we got interrupted by my boss. I’m going to tell him tonight, though. He wants us to move in with each other and I know I can’t take that step without being completely honest with him. I’m just afraid that he won’t want to be with me anymore once he finds out.”

  “I know you’re scared, honey, but he needs to know. You were only trying to look out for him and his family. No one knew that he would be where he is today, and he might not have made it that far if you’d stayed. He’s going to be angry and hurt when he finds out, but as long as you tell him what’s in your heart you won’t go wrong. Don’t hold back, sweetheart. He needs to know exactly how you felt and that it was all in good intentions.”

  Tears streamed down my cheeks and I wiped them away with the sleeve of my T-shirt. “Thanks, Mom, I really needed to hear that. Why don’t you take your shower and get some rest? I’ll talk to you soon. I know you have to be tired.”

  “All right, honey. If things don’t go so well with Matt tonight make sure you call me. I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Mom.”

  We hung up the phone and I called Lexi to see how she was feeling. Unfortunately, she didn’t answer, so I left her a message saying I needed her to call me back before I tried my luck with Jace.

  He answered the phone on the first ring; I could always count on him. “Hey, Shels,” he greeted, “I don’t have long because we’re getting ready to start filming. What’s up?”

  Since he didn’t have time I figured I’d tell him quickly. “Matt wants to move in together,” I blurted into the phone.

  The phone went silent for a few seconds and I thought he might have hung up on me until I heard him say, “Wow.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”

  “What do you want to do? Do you want to move in with him?” he asked.

  The thought of not living with Jace anymore broke my heart because he’d been by my side for so long, but I loved Matt and I didn’t want to wait to start our life together.

  “I do,” I told him sadly. “I want to more than anything. I guess I was just worried about you and your family. What are you going to tell them?”

  “Shelby, don’t worry about that,” he said with a sigh. “There’s actually something I want to talk to you about when I get home. I would tell you now, but I’m running out of time. So what about the house? Are you going to sell it?”

  I hated it when he would say he needed to say something but didn’t tell me what. It drove me crazy when people did stuff like that.

  “I was going to leave that up to you. Whether you want to continue paying, or if you’d like, I can sell it to you. You decide if you want to stay here or not and we’ll go from there. How is that? There’s no rush, okay?”

  “You would do that for me?”

  “Of course,” I answered incredulously. “I love you, Jace, and I’m not going to put you into a bind. I’m going to miss you when I go, though.”

  “Tell me about it. I’ve lived with you for almost ten years now. I kind of grew attached to you.” The sound of someone yelling his name in the background came through the phone. “All right, babe, I have to go. Call me later, okay?”

  “Okay,” I said before he hung up.

  I’m glad he took the news well. There wasn’t a reason for him not to, but even I was sad knowing I wouldn’t have him around to talk to when I needed advice, or if I needed a shoulder to cry on. He would always still be around, except now things would be better; I would have Matt by my side.

  He was all I needed.

  MY BAG WAS PACKED TO go to Matt’s for the weekend, and I printed off several pictures of houses for sale that I thought would be perfect for us to go look at; especially, one that I had put stars on, marking my favorite. Once I turned off all the lights in the house, I was ready to go. I locked the door behind me, and by the time I put my bag in the car and had sat in the driver’s seat, Lexi pulled up in her black Jeep Cherokee.

  I didn’t know she was coming by. I glanced down at my phone to see if I missed a call or a text, but there was nothing.

  Getting out of my car, I waited on the sidewalk by my front steps for her. When she finally got out, I knew something was wrong by the way she ran toward me; her blonde hair was a tangled mess and she was dressed in a pair of Hello Kitty flannel pajamas. Eyes red, cheeks flushed, she rushed over to me and flung her arms around my shoulders, bursting into tears.

  “Lexi, what’s wrong?” I asked, holding her tight. Out of all the years I’d known her I had never seen her so upset.

  “Shelby, I have to talk to you, now! Please, we have to go inside, we’re running out of time,” she shrieked.

  She let me go and rushed up the steps to my door with me on her heels. “Lexi, you’re scaring me,” I said, fumbling with my keys to get the door unlocked.

  As soon as the door was opened, we went inside and I turned on the lights. All the while, dread settled in the pit of my stomach. The way she stared at me with heartbreak and devastation written all over her face was a look I had seen only one time before, and never wanted to again.

  With my heart pounding in my chest, I held onto the kitchen counter and swallowed hard. “Lexi, please, you have to tell me what’s going on. You’re really scaring me right now.”

  “I’m pregnant,” she blurted out.

  Gasping, I closed my hand over my mouth in surprise. Out of all the things she could’ve told me that was the last thing I was expecting. Her and Will were getting married within the next year, but I couldn’t understand why she would be so upset unless they were trying to rush and move the wedding up.

  “That’s great, isn’t it?” I asked, trying to smile. “I’m taking it that you just found out?”

  Shaking her head quickly, she closed her eyes and cried some more. “No, I’ve known for a few weeks. I just didn’t know how to tell you because of … of what happened to you. I didn’t know how …”

  Oh, no! She’s worried about me?

  “Lexi,” I shouted, making her jump. She tried to open her mouth to speak again, but I cut her off, “Hey, I’m sorry, I don’t want to interrupt you, but you have to stop. Are you saying you’ve kept this to yourself because you were afraid of it making me upset?”

  She nodded in reply, her chin trembling. Her sorrow made my heart break and I broke down with her.

  Reaching for her hands, I pulled her in for another embrace. “Oh, Lexi, the last thing I want is for you to be scared to tell me these things. I’m your best friend. We’re supposed to share the joys and sorrows together. Yes, what happened to me still hurts my heart, but it’s life and it happens. One day I’ll get another chance.”

  Sniffling, she hastily backed out of my arms, her eyes wild. “I know, but that’s not what I’m upset about,” she exclaimed. “You have to let me get this out without interrupting me.”

  Gasping, I held up my hands and backed up. “Whoa, calm down,
it’s not healthy for the baby to be getting this upset. I’ll listen, okay?”

  She was so wound up I didn’t know what to do other than sit down and stare at her with my mouth gaping wide open. What I wasn’t expecting were the words that came out of her mouth next.

  “Hayley knows,” she cried loudly. “She called me and told me everything that happened between you two, and that she also knew about the baby … Matt’s baby.”

  Almost instantly the blood drained from my face and I thought I was going to pass out. That information in the hands of Hayley and Kyle would destroy me … and Matt. “How does she know about that?” I shouted, jumping out of my chair. “Did you tell her?”

  “No,” she hollered back. “I didn’t tell her, not intentionally. She overheard me talking to Will a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Why were you and Will talking about it?”

  Fisting her hands in her hair, she dropped to her knees and doubled over on the floor. “Because I thought I was going to lose my baby, too,” she wailed. I sucked in a ragged breath and rushed over, falling to my knees beside her. I couldn’t bear to see her go through what I did.

  “It was last week,” she began. “I’m ten weeks right now and the morning sickness has just recently started giving me problems. It took all I had to pretend that nothing was wrong. Anyway, only Will and I knew, and he’s been so happy about the baby. When I started bleeding all I could think about was you and how devastated you were when you lost Madelyn. I told him I had seen what it did to you back then, and that I didn’t want to go through that. Little did I know that Hayley was right outside the door, listening. I told Will it was Matt’s baby.”

  Lifting her head, her cheeks were red and stained with tears. “I didn’t know she was listening,” she cried. “I also didn’t know that she was the one helping Kyle. She said it was all perfect timing; one minute she finds out about you and Matt through your mother, and then about the baby through me. I’m so mad at her for what she did to you. She said she was sorry and that she told Kyle she wanted out; she didn’t want to be involved or help him with his schemes anymore.”

  Could this really be happening? It was like the universe wanted to work against me for one mistake I made in the past. I didn’t realize it would take a full ten years to blow up in my face all at one time and tear everything away from me.

  Frozen in place, I could feel the numbness spreading throughout my body, preparing me for the blow that was about to destroy everything I longed for. I had a feeling I already knew the answer to my next question, but I had to ask it anyway.

  “Does Kyle know about all of this?” I asked hesitantly.

  Closing her eyes, she nodded. “Yes, he knows. Hayley told me the plan was to tell him right before his and Matt’s fight, but now that everything is out in the open he wants to tell Matt before you can. He’s on his way to him right now,” she whispered, her voice quivering.

  “Oh my God,” I choked, struggling to catch a breath. “I’m going to be too late.”

  I should’ve told him when I had the chance last night. If he heard it from Kyle he would never forgive me. Our dreams of living together and building a life were going to disappear.

  He’ll never speak to me again.

  THE WHOLE WAY TO SANTA Rosa I tried calling Matt, and even texted him, but no response. Please, God, don’t let me be too late. I prayed that he was still at the gym working out and that was why he wasn’t answering his phone. That has to be it, I told myself. I had to believe I still had time.

  Hayley called me while on the way, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk to her. She was the one heartless enough to give Kyle a piece of raw and heartbreaking information to use and exploit against me, a situation so delicate I knew Kyle wouldn’t break to Matt easily. Matt would find out in the worst way possible.

  Matt’s truck sat in the parking lot when I pulled up at Carter’s gym, but it wasn’t alone. With an evil leer on his face and leaning against his car, Kyle waved at me as I came to a screeching halt beside him. His hair was covered with a red baseball cap and his eyes were shielded by a pair of sunglasses, but it was definitely him dressed in a pair of navy blue track pants and a white, wife beater tank top showing off his tattooed arms.

  “It’s about time you got here,” he sneered as I got out of my car. “I knew Hayley would go running to her sister as soon as I left. I figured Matt would be here and I was right.” He took a step toward me and held out his hand. “Shall we go in and say hello.”

  “You are one seriously messed up human being,” I growled. “What gives you the right to come here and do this? It’s none of your damn business.”

  Nonchalantly, he shrugged and lowered his hand. “You’re right, it’s not. However, I want my title back by any means necessary. If that involves by spilling your scandalous little secret to throw Matt off his game, then I’m going to do it. So what was your reasoning anyway for not telling him?”

  “I don’t have to explain anything to you,” I hissed low, turning on my heel. Knowing I didn’t have much time, I rushed off. Hoping I could get inside before he followed me, I ran straight into a wall, but it wasn’t a wall … it was Matt. Sweaty from his workout, the heat from his body engulfed me as he put his arms around me. I breathed him in deeply, knowing it could very well be the last time I ever got the chance, and forced the tears away.

  Matt laughed and said, “Hey, what are you doing here so early? I didn’t expect to see you until later.”

  As soon as I looked up, his smile disappeared when he caught a glimpse of Kyle not far behind me. Quickly, he glanced down at me, confused and seething, before glaring back over at Kyle.

  Clenching his teeth, Matt put his arm protectively around me. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he shouted.

  Sidestepping out of his grasp, I faced him and frantically pushed against his chest, hoping to get him back inside the gym before Kyle had a chance to speak. I had to get him away from Kyle before he said something.

  “Matt, please, let’s go inside,” I begged, pushing him toward the door. “You have to trust me and keep moving.”

  He kept his gaze on Kyle, but he complied with my pushing and moved toward the door. “Why are you in such a hurry, Shelby?” Kyle called out. “Are you afraid I’m going to tell him something he should know?”

  Matt stopped mid-step and scoffed, narrowing his green gaze in contempt. “You do realize you’re wasting your time, right? I’m not going to believe anything that comes out of your mouth.” Not paying Kyle any more attention, he looked down at me and said, “Come on, let’s go inside.”

  I knew not to breathe a sigh of relief until we got inside the doors, and we were so achingly close. My heart pounded with each step, and with each step I was on the verge of losing it. We almost made it there, Matt’s hand on the door, before Kyle said something that I knew would catch Matt’s attention. From there it all happened so fast I couldn’t stop it.

  “Don’t you want to know the real reason why Shelby dumped you back in the day?” Kyle asked with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “I have to tell you, it’s pretty fucked up. Even I felt kind of sorry for you after I found out.”

  Matt opened the door and paused, letting it fall back shut before turning around, his gaze focused on Kyle and nothing else. He didn’t even budge or acknowledge me when I pulled on his arm; all he saw was red and Kyle’s face right in the middle of it. His breaking point had finally come and there was nothing I could do to stop him.

  Quickly dropping his gym bag, he took off after Kyle with such speed and determination I didn’t even see the first punch until Kyle’s head snapped to the side and blood flew out of his mouth. Luckily, Matt stopped with that one punch, but he was coiled so tight that I was afraid to even touch him or say anything.

  Kyle righted himself and laughed, showing off his bloody teeth. “So, anyway,” he continued as if he didn’t just get punched, “I thought every guy should be told when he’s going to be a father. I guess she was
too ashamed to say she was pregnant with your kid.”

  “Do you think I’m stupid?” Matt thundered furiously. “Why would I ever believe that shit?”

  Grinning, Kyle turned his evil leer my way. “Because it’s the truth. Why don’t you ask her? I may have lied about the part of her being ashamed to have your baby, but I didn’t exactly get the whole story.”

  Out of the blue, Matt struck again and grabbed Kyle by the neck, slamming him into the side of the brick building. “If you don’t leave right now,” he exclaimed, “I’m going to break both of your fucking legs and you can forget about ever competing for a title again.”

  Kyle’s face had started to turn red and he choked, gasping for air. Matt let him go and Kyle fell to the ground, immediately grabbing his neck and coughing. Marching to his bag, Matt picked it up and grabbed his keys out of the side pocket before turning to me.

  “You’re coming with me,” he commanded, grasping my elbow firmly. He led me to his truck and opened the door, pushing me in quickly before shutting it.

  I had never seen him so angry before, not even when he saw the pictures of me and Kyle. The level of rage I could feel emanating off of him was so intense I was scared to even breathe without having the fear that he would blow up. There was no way he would understand anything I told him being that way.

  When he got in the truck, he wouldn’t even look at me; he just drove. It felt like the walls were closing in all around me and I couldn’t breathe. My hands shook and my teeth chattered in the silence even though I was burning up and on the verge of a breakdown. The look in his eyes scared me even though he was staring at the road and not me. There wasn’t only anger in those green eyes I loved so much, but complete and utter despair … and I put it there.

  Taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off by saying, “Not now, Shelby. Just … don’t talk right now.”

  I pressed my lips together, hoping it would keep my cries silent, but I failed and he heard me, wincing as my pain became evident. A lone tear fell down the side of his cheek and in that moment I knew he realized that all Kyle had said was true.