Billionaire's Game

by Summer Cooper

  Rachel grabbed her out of nowhere and began pulling her towards the dance floor. Michelle hopped in on the action and the three ladies began to shake their groove and tear up the dance floor. After a few minutes Shelby was starting to get the old fun feeling again that she used to have. Sometimes it just took her crazy girls forcing her to be a little crazy and loosen up.

  Shelby caught the glancing eyes of several guys lined up on Hawkers Row, which is what women secretly called the line of horny guys who stood in the corner watching all the girls dance like creepers and hoping eventually to ingest enough liquid confidence to have the nerve to ask one of the girls to actually dance with them. This “asking” was usually just a guy coming up from behind the girl and grinding on her, hoping she didn’t kick him away. It was beyond pathetic, but it was also laughable. Shelby loved to be sexy and it was a powerful feeling to turn a man on just by something as silly as dancing with your girlfriends.

  There he was.

  Aaron was standing on one of the upper levels of the club that had a bar and a group of tables. The downstairs was mostly just a bar and a huge dance floor. If you wanted to sit down with your drink, but you didn’t want to sit at the bar then you went up there.

  Aaron had noticed her and he was looking at her with a sexy smile. Had he come expecting to see her? Was he hoping to just score with some random club skank? Somehow she didn’t think either was true. It appeared that he had planned to come to Sky bar anyway and had simply invited her to hang out with him. That was interesting…

  “What is it?” Rachel asked her.

  “It’s that guy!” Shelby replied.

  “What guy?”

  “The one I told you about. He told me about this place.”

  “Oh, yeah! Where?”

  Shelby pointed him out.

  Rachel glanced and gawked at Aaron, completely being obvious and stupid. Shelby tried to look away but she caught Aaron’s laughing face as he noticed. Damn. Now he knew she had been thinking about him. Oh, well. The game could still continue.

  She grabbed Rachel and pulled her closer to her, enjoying the dancing and the closeness. It had been too long since she and her girls had done this. It was just so hard to get out of the house and force yourself to go.

  Michelle moved up on Rachel as a few guys made their way over to the group. They blended in slowly and began to dance in close proximity to them, without going into a touchy touchy bump and grind scenario. Michelle and Rachel were both just drunk enough to split up and start dancing with the guys. They were pretty cute, but not Shelby’s type. They looked to be about twenty-two, which apparently didn’t matter at all to Rachel and Michelle. Those girls were hopelessly lame, Shelby thought as she walked back to the bar.

  She sat down at the bar. She didn’t really want another drink, but the bartender sat another vodka tonic down in front of her. She gave him props for remembering but had to take points away for assuming. That sort of thing kind of pissed her off, but the drink immediately took the edge off.

  She watched as Rachel and Michelle were living it up with the college boys. The boys were all up in their business now, and they probably thought they both had a shot at getting lucky tonight. Shelby loved to see how her girls made guys squirm. Those guys were going to buy them lots of drinks and then go home alone.

  “I’m tired of dancing too.”

  The voice came from her left and she spun to see who was speaking with her. Aaron was standing there, drinking a beer.

  He was looking very calm and nonchalant, barely glancing at her, so they were both turned around watching the crowd on the dance floor.

  “I haven’t seen you dancing,” Shelby replied.

  “You just haven’t been watching close enough,” Aaron replied.

  Shelby smiled. He was playing the game and she liked that.

  “So how was work today?” Aaron asked.

  “You want to know how my work was today?”

  “Yeah, I was just curious.”

  “What kind of work do you think I do?” Shelby asked.

  Aaron stepped in front of her and looked her up and down as if trying to decide something very precise and delicate.

  “You teach Karate to rabbits.”

  Shelby laughed so hard her drink almost came out her nose.

  “That’s very close, actually,” she said. “I’m a writer.”

  “Wow, that’s way more interesting. What do you write?”

  “Whatever people pay me to write,” she replied. He looked at her inquisitively. Shelby clarified. “I’m a freelancer, so I basically write a bunch of different things for a bunch of different clients.”

  “Very interesting…”

  “How about you?”

  “No, I’m not much of a writer. It’s far too dangerous. All those paper cuts…”Aaron joked.

  Shelby slapped him playfully.

  “I meant, what do you do?”

  “Oh, well I train fighters.”

  “Really? What kind of fighting?”

  “Mixed Martial Arts.”

  “How did you get into that?”

  “I used to be a fighter, but now I pass my knowledge on to others.”

  Shelby looked at him carefully and realized he did have the body of a fighter. He was athletic and lean, but obviously very strongly built. She found herself getting a bit hot and bothered admiring his rippling physique beneath his tight fitting shirt.

  “So were you a good fighter?” Shelby asked flirtatiously.

  “Well, I won a lot more than I lost.”

  “Well, that’s good. I would have liked to see you fight sometime.”

  “There are still a bunch of my fights on YouTube.”

  Shelby’s interest was now piqued. “I will definitely check that out.”

  Aaron smiled at her. A few minutes passed without them saying anything to each other, just the casual glance. Shelby had to admit that she was becoming a bit more intrigued by Aaron. He was very comfortable with himself and was obviously very proud of his accomplishments. She admired a man who was dedicated to a passion like she was. He was somebody who might just understand her a bit.

  “I admire a woman who likes to watch sports.”

  “Well, I don’t really, but animalistic aggression like that is pretty hot,” Shelby said. She had not meant to say it that way and she was aware of how naughty it sounded.

  “Is that so? Well, I hope you are able to control yourself if you watch my fights,” Aaron said. He was almost unable to get it out without laughing.

  Shelby felt embarrassed and lashed out with a playful jab to his shoulder. Aaron pretended to be really hurt for a second and continued laughing.

  “Maybe you should be a fighter. You’ve got some pretty strong moves.”

  “Think you’re pretty funny do ya? Think you’re pretty slick?” Shelby joked.

  “I’ve been told I can crack a joke or two,” Aaron replied.

  He flashed her that grin that made her blush. She turned her head and took a long sip of her drink to hide it. He wasn’t going to get her that easily.

  “So, what are you doing for dinner tomorrow?” Aaron asked.

  Shelby looked at him for a few seconds before answering. She was debating what lie to tell him to keep him guessing about her. She was hoping to find something that was a bit off beat and not the usual run of the mill lies that women used to shake a guy.

  “I’m not sure yet. Why do you ask?” Shelby replied.

  “I was just wondering,” Aaron said before he turned and slowly walked away.

  Shelby couldn’t hold back the laughter. This guy was definitely smooth. That was the type of response she was looking for.

  Chapter Three

  Shelby stepped out of the shower, dried off quickly, and put on her bath robe. Coffee was calling her name ever since she opened her eyes. She was surprised that she had the fortitude to shower before bothering to go downstairs and make the coffee, but she wasn’t even awake enough to do that yet. So
metimes a hot shower was what the doctor ordered just to initiate the waking up process.

  She stumbled downstairs and started up the pot of coffee. She was all set to begin making her breakfast when the doorbell rang.

  She answered the door, mildly annoyed that somebody was ringing the bell on a Saturday morning. If they didn’t get throat punched they should consider themselves lucky. She pulled the door open angrily and saw no one. She stepped out and looked around.

  She was about to go back inside when she saw a gold envelope glistening in the morning sun. Picking it up she continued to look around to see who might have left it there, but the person had vanished like a ghost.

  Shelby walked back inside her home and opened the envelope. Inside was a piece of paper with some fancy writing on it. She read the message carefully several times.

  Meet me at the park at noon. Take a chance, unless you’re scared.

  Scared? Shelby Wilkes was never scared. Although, right now she was a bit creeped out. It had to be Aaron. She didn’t know him well, but she knew that he loved to play games as much as she did and it looked like she had finally found a worthy opponent. How did he get her address? The internet most likely. That would be really creepy if that were true, but she had told him her full name and he knew the neighborhood she lived in. She had never seen him around there except that one day, so she was thinking that he had to live at least a couple blocks down the road from her. Greenway Park was a fairly good sized community.

  Her phone buzzed just then.

  It was a text from Michelle. “Worst hangover ever!”

  She replied back to the text. “That sucks. I just got an envelope from that guy, Aaron, left on my doorstep. Creepy. How does he know where I live?”

  Michelle’s text replied. “Because I kind of told him.”

  Shelby dialed Michelle’s number. She answered on the second ring sounding like death.

  “What do you mean you told him?” Shelby asked.

  “I saw him at the club last night. He is so fine! I was a bit drunk and felt like you were being ridiculous with these games you are always playing. I didn’t want to see you chase another great guy away with this crap.”

  “What are you talking about? I wasn’t chasing anyone away. And that is a huge invasion of privacy. It’s weird. I almost had a heart attack when I saw that letter.”

  “Why? What did it say? Something kinky?”

  “You are so perverted. No, he wants me to meet him at the park at noon.”

  “Sweet, I’ve never done it in a park before. Well, not since high school, but I was really drunk.”

  Shelby burst out laughing. “Michelle, you are disgusting. Really, you truly need help.”

  “I know this. I’m not going to get any.”

  “I don’t know what I should do,” Shelby said.

  “What? Are you nuts? You are going to meet him and you are going to have fun. You are going to let down that mega bitch guard of yours and let someone in. It is going to be sweet.”

  “I am not a mega bitch!”

  “Yes, you are. This Aaron guy is totally hot, and totally into you. Give him a chance!”

  Shelby thought for a second.

  “Ok, mom. I’ll go.”

  “I think you still need a mom telling you what to do,” Michelle replied.

  After she hung up with Michelle she poured her coffee and sat down to do some reading with breakfast. She was thinking about the date she had with Aaron. Maybe Michelle was right. She had been keeping guys at bay and always afraid to let anyone in.

  Well, Aaron Davis today is your lucky day.

  She arrived at the park about five minutes late. She was dragging her feet to this thing, but she knew that she needed to just let go and enjoy herself. Aaron was standing there in a grassy open spot with a picnic basket and a large blanket. The whole gesture was far more romantic than she had imagined and she was touched by the sweetness of the idea.

  The food he had prepared was amazing; he had chicken salad sandwiches, potato salad, some fresh fruit, and a few beers. Shelby ate until she was stuffed beyond the telling of it. Every breath now hurt as her belly pushed food against her diaphragm.

  “That’s how a woman is supposed to eat,” Aaron said. He seemed proud of her as if she had just finished first in a disgusting eating contest. She supposed it was cute.

  Actually, the more time she spent with him the cuter everything he did seemed to be. She loved the way he set up his jokes, and the way the punch line was always something seemingly unrelated to the joke until you thought about it for a while. She loved the way he was genuinely interested in her and not staring off into other directions when she was speaking. And she loved how focused he was on her, so much so that when two sexy looking girls walked by and gave him flirty glances he completely ignored them.

  They spoke at length about their lives up to this point. He told her about growing up and exactly how he had gotten into fighting, and how he had been forced into early retirement due to a shoulder injury.

  “You want to see the scar? It’s beautiful to look at when you’re eating,” Aaron joked.

  “I’ll pass. I can just take your word for it that it is a beauty,” Shelby said.

  “Ok, just let me know if you change your mind.”

  “So, what happened after you got hurt?”

  “Well, I was really bummed when the doctor told me that I would never be able to fight again or else I’d injure the shoulder permanently and have limited use in my left arm. I had to make a choice.”

  “Wow that is so tough.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty hard to deal with when you are suddenly told that the very thing you’ve dedicated your whole life to is something you can’t do anymore. It’s a tough pill to swallow that’s for sure.”

  “I don’t know what I’d do if I for some reason wasn’t able to write anymore. I don’t know how to be anything else,” Shelby said.

  “That’s awesome that you are dedicated to a craft like that. You can understand kind of what I went through then with my own ordeal. So many people wander through life not knowing who they are or what they want out of life. They just exist. I’ve never seen how anyone could just do that and not go for it, you know?”

  “Absolutely. You can’t drag me away from the keyboard most days. I just love what I do and I only want to do that. People don’t get that. It’s why my relationships keep failing.”

  “I can understand that. I’ve been in love a few times, but it ended up not working out because the other person couldn’t understand my dedication to my craft.”

  “I totally get that,” Shelby said and she really did. She was actually enjoying this conversation and getting to know Aaron almost as much as she enjoyed writing. That never happened.

  Walking back to her place she had a newfound appreciation and feelings for Aaron Davis. She didn’t want the date to end and she was already thinking about the next time she was going to see him. As she stood on her doorstep and said goodbye, Aaron grabbed her suddenly, but gently and leaned forward planting his lips on hers. He tasted good, and strong. She felt his warmth and his presence.

  “I’ll call you,” Aaron said.

  “Ok, great.”

  Shelby ran into the house to call Michelle and Rachel. She was so happy that she couldn’t stop giggling.

  Chapter Four

  Aaron hit the heavy bag, circling it around and around between jabs and hard right hands. He threw in the occasional front kick and a spinning back kick, plowing through the bag and his imaginary opponent. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, his body covered with sweat, and his mind was focused solely on the task at hand. He had to destroy this opponent or it was going to destroy him.

  With a spinning back fist he knocked the heavy bag so it recoiled high in the air and slammed down towards the ground on its chain, where it bobbed and weaved as the vibrations tapered out of it.

  Aaron leaned against the bag and rested a few minutes. He felt like he
was about to drop. He wasn’t sure how long he had been at it, but his workout had gone far beyond even his physical fitness level. Even though he didn’t get to hop in the ring anymore and fight he still demanded himself to be in top physical condition. He was still a fighter. He was just retired.

  That was how he liked to think of it. He loved coaching and being a trainer. He loved running his own gym his way and teaching the techniques of the sport to the younger generation so he could help them avoid the pitfalls that he had fallen into a time or two on the way up as a young fighter.

  He took off his gloves, grabbed his water jug, and emptied it into his mouth. The cold water was so refreshing after a hard workout. He had a problem of remembering to stay hydrated at times. He would have to make sure he drank a bunch of water and Gatorade that night to compensate for it.

  In the shower, while surrendering himself to the soothing warmth of the water spraying over his body, he thought about why he had pushed himself so hard today. There was a definite limit to what he could do and what he wanted to do, and he had crossed it. He had trained as if he was fighting again and had a match coming up.

  He found himself actually thinking about Shelby. She was amazing. Ever since he had told her about himself, his past, and his career he had been on this adrenaline high that was causing him to push himself harder than his capabilities might allow. Last night he had woken up with a vicious shoulder cramp and almost passed out because the electrolytes in his body had not been replaced. When this happened his injury acted up. And he had been going all out on the heavy bag, allowing the momentum from his punches to vibrate back into his arm and up into his shoulder. It was hurting so bad the past couple of mornings so he’d had to ice it all morning. But here he was at it again. Maybe he was crazy.

  He suddenly felt a pair of hands around his waist. He jerked quickly almost knocking the person to the ground. Had they not belonged to another fighter they would have fallen quickly.