The Fight Club

by P. A. Jones

  I sat there on his bed thinking about what just happened. Was it just me? Was I the only one who felt that or did I do something for him a few seconds ago? I hadn’t felt that hunger, that arousal in ages. Really, what was it?

  Chapter 9

  Tristan

  For half the night, I kept staring at the fish tank and I spent the other half dreaming about Nikki. I was sleeping on the couch. I don’t know why, but I liked it there. Whenever I closed my eyes, I felt her hot breath touching my neck, her soft, but firm breasts pressed against my skin. Damn, it felt so hot and right.

  The naked encounter from last night was too much for my body; after all, I hadn’t had any action in the last six months. In one of the fuzzy dreams from last night, Nikki was naked, lying down on my bed, and when I tried to kiss her, she just disappeared and I fell hard on my bed. In reality, I fell off from the couch and it hurt.

  I was in a half-dreamy state when my phone rang.”Who the fuck was calling so early in the morning?” I glanced quickly at the phone, suddenly realizing it was eight thirty already.

  The call was from Trisha, and I quickly picked up.“Hey, Trisha.”

  “Hello, Tristan. Sorry to bother you in the morning, but I can’t open the book store today. I need to be with my mother in the hospital.”

  “Is she okay? Do you need any help?” I felt sad for the girl; she worked hard, with honesty, but still had many issues.

  “Yes, she’s fine. But I’ll have to take her for some extra tests. Sorry I couldn’t give you advance notice.” She spoke quietly, the sorry apparent in her voice.

  “It’s okay, you can take the day off. I’ll open the book store today,” I replied.

  I’d better get ready, then. This business was my bread and butter and I couldn't afford to lose customers because of my lazy ass.

  As I was walking to my bedroom, and I saw Nikki standing there in my living room, across from the fish tank, smiling at me, her chest bare. What the hell is happening to me? I remembered her firm breasts and hard nipples, the way her eyes danced when she was with me. I remembered her trembling in terror at that little spider, and I chuckled. I wanted to kiss her, I even lowered my mouth, but I couldn't just do it.

  She was different than all the one-night stands I’d had in my life. She was flowing with life energy and every time I was with her, I felt some strange vibes that she meant something more than I was looking for. I didn’t know her very well, but still, I could feel the mysterious aura surrounding her and whenever I tried to figure her out, it ended being an dead end.

  “What do I really know about her?” I asked myself. “Nothing.” I only knew that she was the daughter of a club owner and she wanted to train with me. But she still had never told me why.

  My thoughts were interrupted by a sound coming from the kitchen. I stretched my muscles and poked my head in. Nikki was standing in front of the stove, making something. Am I in some dream, sleep-walking? Oh, yeah, she slept in my bedroom last night; her car was in bad shape. Even though she had been present in all my dreams, I had literally forgotten that she was still in my house.

  The strong aroma of coffee stirred my nostrils. Coffee was boiling in the coffee machine and my lungs were filled with sweet aroma of it. How come my coffee never smelled this good?

  “Hi,” I said. I shook my head, wondering why I couldn’t think of anything else to say. It was still a little awkward after last night.

  “Hello.” She turned around with a smile like sunshine on her face. Her blue eyes were also sparkling, light seeming to come out of them. And beyond that, she was wearing my t-shirt that was definitely five sizes too big for her. I could only see her breasts poking out of it, but she looked incredibly sexy. My cock pressed hard against my boxers. I was afraid that she would notice it so I turned around, pretending to look out into the back yard.“Sorry, I was so hungry I had to use your kitchen. I'll get the coffee and some scrambled eggs for you. I hope you don’t mind that,” she said.

  “That's fine,” I said, my back still to her. My cock was on fire and I couldn't make it any different, no matter how hard I commanded it. If this is the case in the morning just by looking at her, then what’ll happen when I touch her? I’ll have to during training and feel the smoothness of her skin. Oh, my God, it's gonna be so hard for me.

  I sat on the couch, thinking about my practice so I could ease out of my erotic feelings a bit. After a few minutes, Nikki came out with coffee and eggs.

  “How does it taste?”she asked, while looking deep into my eyes. I tried to search her face for any feelings about last night in those ocean blue eyes, but there was none. Like nothing happened ever happened between us.

  Nikki

  I woke up in a sweat from a bad dream. I was trying to kiss Tristan, but he refused to touch me. What the hell? Where am I? I woke up and saw a different bed. I was lying down on a bed exactly like the in Tristan’s home.

  Hell, I’m still at his house. Reality slowly sunk in. I remembered the shirtless man's chest and my naked breasts pressed against him. Why did I sleep here?“Oh, yeah, the storm warning.” Last night when I was about to call the cab, they issued a storm warning in the ,so Tristan insisted that I sleep at his house just to be safe. And here was I, sleeping on his bed. It felt weirdly good, and I fell back on the soft pillows, inhaling his scent.

  He was a gentleman to sleep out on the couch. Not that I would have minded him sleeping with me. The naughty thoughts about sleeping with him flowed through my mind, pushing my body into the swirls of heat. It had been a year since I’d touched a man. Was I getting desperate?

  I wanted to sleep longer, but my stomach was calling for food. I thought he would have something edible in his refrigerator, but the bachelor didn't have anything. A few eggs and a carton of milk were the sole contents of his refrigerator. “How does this man live?”

  What should I do? Call some home delivery? I went back to his bedroom for my phone, but it was dead and I didn't have my charger. So, finally, I had to cook something for me and as I was in his home, I decided to cook for him as well.

  Half an hour later, I served breakfast to Tristan and ate myself. I had lots of things planned that afternoon so, after I cleaned up the kitchen, I took a cab home.

  I called Carrie as soon as I got back to my room.

  “Hey, where have you been? Your phone’s been switched off since last night. I was worried about you,” Carrie rambled without a single break.

  “I was stuck with Tristan at his house. Are you free this afternoon? I have to do some shopping and was hoping that you would come with me.” I took a breath.”I'm starting training with Tristan today.”

  “What? Let me hear that again. You were at Tristan's house last night, for a whole night. Did you just say all night?”

  “Yes,” I said. I knew her mind must have been working in weird ways by now.

  “Did you sleep with him?” Her voice changed in the blink of an eye.“That’s huge, Nikki.”

  “No.” My eyebrows raised. If she’d been in front of me, I would have hit her on the shoulder for asking me such a stupid question.“I'm not sleeping with him and you know why.”

  “I...I just thought…”

  “My car had a flat tire and there was a storm warning for that area.”

  “Okay. That’s fine, I understand,” she said sarcastically.

  “I'll never you if you don't get your butt here in the next hour,” I said, laughing, and ended the call.

  I stretched, feeling a little sore, and realized I needed a bath. When I went into the bathroom and caught my reflection in the mirror, I realized I was still wearing his t-shirt. I lifted it to my nose, and it smelled like him very much. With that scent, the memories of his sculpted chest and six-pack came flooding back to my mind, my sex tightening in desire. We’d really had an erotic encounter last night, as brief as it was, and I knew I wanted another one.

  ***

  “Okay, tell me in detail what you did with him.” Carrie sat on my
bed, her expression full of questions. She was very curious about my night and she just wouldn't just let it go until I told her the truth.

  “Nothing happened, Carrie. I'm not sleeping with him and I didn’t. My tire went flat and I got wet. And beyond that a storm warning was issued for that area, so I slept in his bedroom.”

  She threw a pillow at me.“Woo-hoo. And he slept in the same bed, but then we were like kids so we just cuddled and slept after a sweet kiss.” She made a smooch face.“You expect me to believe that?”

  I giggled.“Nothing happened. We didn't kiss and he slept on the couch.” I threw the pillow back.

  She looked at me for a second.“I can see it went well, whatever happened. After all, it's been a while since I saw you blushing like that.” She grinned.

  “I'm not blushing. It's just…” I was stuck. I didn't have anything to say to her.”“I'm taking a bath. We can head out to go shopping after that.”

  ***

  Half an hour later, we were driving in my Camry, my back-up car. Being the daughter of a multi-millionaire did have its perks. Before heading to the Bway shopping center, I took my car to my dad's other house, the one on Cherry Street near East Broadway. Piece of my heart was living there, although I hadn’t spent much time there lately.

  I stopped my car just outside the house. It was a small penthouse, but full of security. It was dad's private property where he did all of his business deals.

  “Why did you bring us here, Nikki? Isn't Stephen locked in his house?”

  I hit the steering with both hands, “Yes, and that's why I need Tristan. Someday, I'll get in there, grab my Stephen and run the hell away from here.”

  “I need to ask you a serious question,.”Carrie said

  “Sure, but only if it's not about last night.”

  She held my shoulder and turned me to her.“Why are you training with Tristan in the first place, and what role does he have in this fight between you and your dad?”

  I looked at her with hollow eyes. She should have understood how it feels for a mother to be away from her only child. How it feels to know where her child is and yet not able to meet him. How it feels when you are unable to hold your child next to your heart.

  “I miss him, Carrie.” I burst out in tears.“I miss my son and I will do anything to get him back. Even if I have to sleep with Tristan to make it happen.”

  Carrie sighed and looked up at the penthouse. “Don't worry, sweetheart. Everything will be alright one day.” She hugged me tightly.

  “But when? I haven't seen him for the last six months. My heart is dying for him. My eyes are dying to see him, just once. But no, my dad is the devil and he won't allow me to see him or hold him to my heart.” I took a deep breath as my nose was stuffy because of crying. “I haven't seen him six months.” I looked up at the penthouse, shaking my head slowly. “I wonder if he’s forgotten me.”

  I missed Stephen so much that I would do just about anything to see him. But the security was so tight that there was no way I could get in myself. And my dad warned the staff that if they allowed me, he would kill them with his bare his hands.

  “I hope you have given a thought about the consequences if your dad knows about your plan.” Carrie looked outside.

  I squeezed the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white.“I'm ready for anything, Carrie. I can handle anything if I have to, but I'll meet Stephen. And soon.”

  “I'm so sorry to break this to you, Nikki, but we have to get out of here. Chase is heading to the car and if your dad finds out that you know about this place, he’ll move Stephen somewhere else.”The words spilled out of Carrie's mouth as she stared at Chase moving toward his car and pulled her sunglasses over her eyes.

  I wiped my tears away It had taken lots of effort to find the place where my dad was hiding Stephen and I wasn't going to give up my advantage just like that. I pressed hard on gas and sped away before Chase could see us.

  Chapter 10

  Nikki

  “Thanks for dropping me off,” I waved good-bye to Carrie. She had helped me in shopping for last three hours. I needed those three hours to channel my anger into something I liked.

  “Anytime, ”she shouted and drove away. She was getting late for her date.

  “Welcome,” Tristan said, as I hopped into his house from the backyard window. I could have just knocked on the front door, but I liked this way better.

  The sculpted man was already in his boxing shorts and t-shirt, doing some push-ups. He smiled at me and pushed down, still looking in my eyes. His biceps expanded and then contracted, mesmerizing me in the process. I felt heat warming my body as I looked in his deep black eyes. My mind drifted to last night and my sex tightened automatically. I remembered his touch across my nipples and my back; I remembered his hold on my waist. I breathed hard; he was going to touch me again while training and that felt naughty…and I couldn’t wait.

  “You can change in my bedroom,” he said, still doing his push-ups.“Don’t worry. There aren’t any spiders.” He gave me a mischievous smile. Maybe it was just a one-time thing for him, but he invaded my dreams with the small accident that happened last night. I wondered how the night went for him, was he disturbed at all?

  In a few minutes, I had changed into track pants and a sports t-shirt. When I went back to exercise room, he looked at me, his jaw dropping. I had wondered if my t-shirt was too tight and now I knew it was, according to where his eyes were stuck.

  “Shall we start, if you’ve finished with your measurements?”Now it was my turn to tease him.

  He looked away, his face turning dark. I giggled.“If you are going to be so conscious about my body, then how are you going to train me?” I pushed him further. I wanted him to be normal and teach me the best he could.

  “I'm sorry.” He looked back at me, but this time I could see the strict instructor in him, “Let’s start. How is your physical fitness, overall?”

  “Try me.”

  “Hit the ground for fifty push-ups,” he said with a wicked smile, like he was sure I couldn't do it.

  It was hard. I'd never done that many push-ups at one time, but I had to do it that day. After twenty-five, I was all sweaty and panting heavily, in pain. My shoulders were shaking like anything and my chest was heaving in a way it never had. And beyond that, my hands were completely sore.

  “If you take a break now, you won’t make it to the end.” His tone had changed; he was surely mocking me.

  I took another breath and then started again. I was going to prove to him that women are tough, too.

  “Forty.” I paused for a while.“Ten more.” I pushed myself again. Now I couldn't feel my hands anymore.

  “Forty-five.” I went down, and while coming up I lost my control. The next moment I was face down on his carpet.

  “Come on, you can't be weak now. Just five more.“ He cheered me up. his tone had changed again, and this time he sounded sincere.

  A few moments later, “Forty-nine.” I got down and again I couldn't come up. Then I felt his hand below my stomach; he was supporting me.

  “Come on, Nikki, one more.”

  With all my might, I pushed myself up on my hands and then down, and I dropped in my own sweat. I laid down with my hands in V shape to my body and my one cheek resting on the ground. I was exhausted and drained of energy. I felt like my hands were not attached to my shoulders anymore.

  “Come on, get up. Don't just show me your ass,” he shouted at me.

  I rolled on my back, looking at him. He was stretching himself on a medicine ball.

  “Are you kidding me? Do I look like an Amazon like in the movies?” I had no energy left to do any more push-ups or even stand on my own two feet. My lower back was hurting like a hundred-pound man had just danced on it.

  “You know why your hands are hurting more than they should?” He placed his hands to either side of my shoulders and looked into my eyes… I was drowning in his alluring eyes again.

  “Why?” My lip
s parted without my brain registering what he meant.

  He dropped on his hands over me, his lips were just a few inches away from me. If I'd lifted my head by just a few inches, I could have easily kissed him.

  He jumped in the air, still being in plank position and landed next to me. His sculpted triceps were pumped up and every cut of his muscles was visible.

  “Because you were doing it wrong.” He pushed himself down and he went back up. He did fifty push-ups quickly, and his body moved like none I’d ever seen. It was like a musical note becoming visible while coming out of the piano, but this time it was the perfect body of a man. With an utter ease of motion, he was going down and then coming up.

  His dark black hair was tied into a ponytail and his face was straight ahead, looking at the ground. He didn't move his eyes from that single spot until he was done with fifty push-ups. His back was straight and his legs were fixed in one straight line. It was like watching someone doing exercise on a television show.“Now stand up. I'm going to teach you a basic kick today,” he ordered.

  “I can't, I don't have the strength.”

  He jumped to his feet, bent over me and, with ease, pulled me up by holding my shoulders.

  “Ridiculous,” I whispered.

  “What?”

  “Am I so light that you can pick me up like a feather”

  “Nope, it’s the technique. I’ll teach you that someday.”

  I was exhausted, but his touch sent tingles through my body, like a musician’s hand plays a tune with his instrument, a divine tune. With great effort, I stood on my own legs and tried to balance myself in one position, but it was harder than I expected. I couldn’t believe that my own legs and lower back were betraying me. My body was screaming in pain.

  He stood in front of me, looking at me up and down. He sighed, and said, “I know you are done for the day, but you have to learn this one kick before ending our session. Just follow me.” He balanced himself on his left leg and stretched his right leg away from his body and then, folding his leg in at the knee, he kicked sideways.