“Hey Xan, you comin’ to my fight?”
Johnny had entered the office without Xander noticing.
“Wouldn’t miss it. I’m even bringing a date.”
Johnny raised his eyebrows.
“Ah, that Molly chick you keep fantasizing about?”
“No, not her Johnny. And I don’t fantasize about her. I’m bringing that blonde, Cassandra, the one I met at the bar the same night I met Molly. Ring any bells?”
Johnny put a hand on his crotch and pretended to masturbate.
“Do I remember her? I remember her every night Xander boy. Those tits and that ass? How could I forget? Great. Now I’m gonna be the one distracted during my fight. Thanks a lot.”
Xander brought up his latest message from Cassandra—the one she sent him shortly after they got off the phone.
“Maybe this will help?”
Xander flashed a mostly nude photo of Cassandra.
Johnny tried to swipe the phone from Xander’s hand, but he wasn’t fast enough.
“You’re such a prick sometimes, you know that Xan?”
Xander put his phone back into his pocket and followed Johnny out of the office.
Chapter 34
Xander parked his Camaro and got out. He was almost halfway to the stadium when he realized he had forgotten his date.
Cassandra was still sitting in the car, arms crossed and obviously pissed.
Real smooth.
“Wow, what a gentleman you are Mr. Delgado.”
Xander took her hand and helped her to her feet.
“Sorry, it’s just that we’re late and I told Johnny I’d meet him out back before he went on.”
Cassandra put her arm around Xander’s waist.
“Don’t worry, honey. I know you’ll make it up to me later.”
Xander cringed at the slightest touch from Cassandra, but not wanting to be obvious, he put his arm around her shoulders.
The bouncers flagged Xander and his date through the ticket check.
“Okay, that’s where we’re sitting.” Xander pointed to the ‘Champion’s Area.’
“I’m gonna go out back and catch Johnny before he goes on. You can grab a seat over there and wait for me.”
Cassandra leaned into Xander for a kiss, but he turned away at the last second and left for the locker room.
Johnny was kicking his legs and swinging his arms, getting ready to go toe to toe with one of the biggest guys in his weight class.
“Don’t go pullin’ something, Johnny.”
Xander sat down and patted the bench beside him, telling Johnny to take a seat.
“You decided to show up after all. I didn’t think you were comin’ to be honest.”
“Yeah well, turns out that Cassie chick takes forever to get ready. How many layers of makeup do you need? I could chisel it off. Listen Johnny, this is your first big fight and I don’t want to see you out there makin’ rookie mistakes. Listen to your gut and trust that you know what you’re doing. You’ve been training hard for tonight, but your biggest mistake so far has been thinkin’ you’re a worse fighter than you really are. Don’t hesitate. Make a move and follow through with it. I’ll be there on the sidelines cheering you on.”
Johnny took the towel from behind his neck and wiped his forehead.
“Thanks Xan. I’m sweatin’ buckets. I didn’t think the nerves would get to me, but holy hell I feel like I’m gonna puke.”
Xander scooted the garbage bin over to Johnny’s feet.
“Okay, maybe not literally. Seriously though, Xan, how in the hell do you not make yourself sick before every fight? There are fifty million people out there and they all want to see someone get the shit beat out of them. How do you keep your nerves from taking over?”
Xander looked at Johnny.
“Lately I’ve been finding it hard to do that. Between the lashing out and the ... forget it. Point is, I’ve been on edge more often than not. What I’ll tell you though is that the worst thing you can do is think about the worst thing that could happen out there. Wanna know why? Because it won’t happen. You’re a strong fighter Johnny, every guy in the gym knows it and if that guy out there thinks you’re chopped liver, well, now’s your time to prove him wrong.”
The event organizer peeked his head in the door. “You’re up, Johnny Boy!”
Chapter 35
Xander walked out of the locker room and snuck around the back door so the audience wouldn’t see him. Making his way to the Champion’s Area, he saw Cassandra flirting with one of the boys from the gym seated a row behind her.
Yeah, some date she is. Whatever has two legs and a heartbeat, I guess.
“Oh, Xander. I was just meeting your friend Brad here. He’s so strong! Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone so strong. Except maybe you.”
Cassandra cuffed her hand around Xander’s biceps.
“Feel free to go sit with Brad if you want. He could probably use a good hug and kiss.”
Cassandra slapped Xander’s thigh, and then placed it back on his leg, working her way up towards his stomach.
“I think you could use a good hug and kiss, Xander. After the fight is over, why don’t we go have our own little wrestling match back at my place? I’ve got a few good finishing moves.”
Xander felt his cock getting hard. He pushed Cassandra’s hand off of his leg and moved himself a few inches further from her.
“Don’t do that to me. I’m not always looking to get laid, okay? You might be, but I’m just here to watch my best friend fight, alright?”
Cassandra scoffed and folded her arms under her breasts.
“Okay, Mr. Uptight, what’s got you so tense tonight? I don’t remember you ever turning down a good time.”
Xander spun in his seat, prepared to tell Cassandra to fuck off, when he stopped. He stared over Cassandra’s shoulder, moving her head slightly out of the way to get a better look.
Molly? No. That can’t be her.
In case it was her, Xander took the hand he had used to move Cassandra’s head out of the way and slyly grazed her cheek, pretending he was really just taking in her beauty the whole time.
“I’m sorry, Cassandra. I’ve been stressed out lately and I invited you here so I could have a good time. You do make it hard to say no, if that makes you feel any better. I want nothing more than to take you in the back right now, but I have to be here for Johnny.”
Cassandra’s frown disappeared, “Oh, Xander, I was starting to wonder if maybe you were gay or something.”
Xander dropped his hand from her cheek. “Gay? What do you mean g—”
A tap on his shoulder stopped Xander midway.
“Xander? Can we talk for a second?”
Looking over his right shoulder, Xander saw Molly standing in the aisle right outside of the cordoned off VIP area.
She looks stressed. But this Cassie chick is hangin’ off of me and I can’t exactly explain to her who this person is.
“Who are you? Journalist? I’m not fighting tonight, Miss, I’m just here to watch my buddy. Find me another time.”
Xander saw how badly this hurt Molly, but as he looked around, he saw all of his friends who were listening in. Only one of them knew about Molly and Ryan didn’t know any details, just that Xander had probably slept with her.
Molly slung her purse over her shoulder and pulled her dress further down her legs.
“Come on, Xander, you know exactly who I am. I’m serious, this is really important. Please? Can we talk? Honestly, it’s the least you can do after ... you know ...”
Cassandra tilted her head to the side and looked quizzically at Xander.
“Xander, do you need me to take care of this annoying bitch?”
Oh God. Here we go.
“Sorry Ms… whoever you are. I don’t think you heard Xander, but he doesn’t know you and he doesn’t want to. He already has a woman, okay? She’s standing right here and she’s not afraid to tell you to back off of her
man.”
Jesus, I really wish she hadn’t say that.
Molly put her hands up, surrendering to Cassandra and more importantly, to Xander.
“Xander, let me know when you’ve grown a pair and then maybe we can talk. You’ve got my number.”
Molly turned on her heels and walked through the crowd. Xander could see that she had come to the fight with Elodie, but they weren’t sitting down any longer. They both gathered their things and left the stadium.
“Hey Cass, what the fuck was that? I didn’t bring you here so you could tell off strangers. Plus, you’re not my woman, okay? What makes you think you are? I didn’t propose to you or some shit, I just wanted to bring a date to my buddy’s fight. We’re not an item now or whatever it is you think we are. Just ... look maybe I should just drive you home… this isn’t working.”
Cassandra put her hand up to smack Xander across the face, but reconsidered.
“You know, normally I wouldn’t let someone speak to me like that, but to be honest, I was way over it the moment you forgot me in the car. I’ve been eyeing some other man candy. See you never, Xander.”
Cassandra pulled her shirt further down and adjusted her bra for maximum cleavage.
“You’ll regret watching me walk away, ‘Beast’, or whatever it is they call you.”
Not as much as I regret talking to Molly like that.
Chapter 36
Two rows behind, a group of fighters from Spitzer’s gym was sitting with their beers and popcorn. Cassandra was sitting on the lap of one of Spitz’ senior fighters. He looked at Xander and shrugged his shoulders, putting his hands in the air and mouthing ‘sorry Bud,’ before making out with Cassie. Xander recognized the guy, but instead of being furious, he felt nothing but relief.
She’s your problem now, dude.
Johnny was having a hard time staying on his feet. His competitor, a six foot heavyweight, was tossing him around like a rag doll. Xander was trying to come up with solid advice to give Johnny during his break, but so far his sage wisdom had summed up to nothing more than unintelligible fighting jargon that would only work to confuse his friend.
It took everything he had to not run after Molly when she left the stadium.
What could she possibly want to talk to me about? It has to be important, otherwise why would she ever want to see me again?
Chapter 37
Molly and Elodie were sitting in Elodie’s car.
“Fuck him, Mol. How does he get off treating women like that? You’re better off without him. You don’t need garbage like that in your life, or in your baby’s life.”
Molly reflected on all of the articles she had read about solo-parenting. About how hard it would be for her to find work and reliable childcare, not to mention how mentally exhausted she would be when her baby didn’t sleep, or eat properly.
“Elodie, how the hell am I supposed to care for a baby by myself? This will ruin my life. Free time? Gone. Becoming a teacher? Done. Everything I’ve worked for—everything I know and love will crumble around me. I can’t do this alone. I just want my life back.”
“I think if we get Xander in a position where he isn’t around his friends, he won’t be so cold toward you. He’s probably just acting macho in front of the guys. I know it sounds crazy, but what if we follow him home? The fight’s almost over and you’ll have a better chance talking to him if he isn’t surrounded by his people.”
Molly reached over and turned off the headlights.
“There he is. I don’t want him to see me. Okay, we can follow him home, but please, please, please, don’t let him see us. Stay like, four or five cars behind him if you can.”
Elodie started her car.
“He doesn’t have that blonde bimbo with him anymore. I wonder what happened.”
Molly watched as Xander got into his car.
“Okay, pull out after a couple more people leave. I feel so creepy doing this, El.”
The drive to Xander’s house was short. He lived not too far from the gym, down a dirt road where only a couple of other houses could be seen.
“We’re here already?” Elodie parked the car a block away from Xander’s house.
Molly could only see the driveway entrance, an iron gate leading down a long and winding driveway. Why would Xander choose to live here of all places?
“I don’t know about this, El. I pictured his house being a lot closer to the road. It’s so far away, I can’t even see it, and what if—uh, look, I’ll just go tomorrow, by myself, during the day time. I’d feel a lot better if I could actually see what I was getting myself into. This is too weird for me.”
Elodie turned the headlights on, and put the key back in the ignition.
“Is it really because his house is far away or is it because you’re scared to face him one on one?”
Molly reclined her seat and put her arm overhead.
“I’m tired. I’ll just come by myself tomorrow, okay?”
“Whatever you say, Mol.”
Chapter 38
Molly woke up sweating. Her sheets were stuck to her legs and her hair was damp. From what she could remember, her dream ended in a confrontation with Xander.
Today’s the day.
Molly wasn’t sure which was worse—the possible oncoming anxiety attack, the stomach pains from stress, or the excitement she was feeling at the idea of going to see Xander.
“Hey, Mol? Sorry, I thought you were up already. You must have been sleep-talking again. I heard Xander’s name a bunch and then some weird gibberish. Need a pep talk?”
Elodie crept into Molly’s room, carrying a rather large mug of coffee.
“Every time I think about telling him, I’m not sure if I’m going to puke, laugh, or run. What do I even say?”
Elodie handed Molly the coffee and took a seat on the windowsill adjacent to her bed.
“You look him straight in the eye, Molly Tompkins, and you tell him that his stupid little baby makers got your eggo preggo.”
Molly rolled her eyes at Elodie.
“Isn’t that from a movie or something? Preggo eggo? Okay, so what if he denies it ever happened or slams the door in my face? What then?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Regardless of what happens, you have to tell Xander that there’s miniature version of him growing in your belly.”
Molly thought about her walk in the park, how excited she had been thinking of the possibility that Xander would take the news well, and maybe even want to start a family with her and the baby.
“Help me pick out something to wear, would ya?”
Molly nodded toward her closet. Elodie walked over to the clothes rack and held out a black maxi dress that she had given Molly the year before.
“Last time you wore this we called it your ‘lucky dress,’ remember? I bought it for you the night before our big exam and we swore that the only reason we aced that test was because of this dress. I think you should wear it, even if it’s all just mumbo-jumbo.”
Molly crossed the room to her closet, wearing only her underwear and a tank top.
“I guess if I’m going to be pregnant, I might as well get used to wearing stretchy outfits anyway. Floor length dresses and fat pants here I come.”
She slipped into the dress and closed the closet door, checking herself out from head to toe.
“Huh, not half-bad. I kind of look cute, actually. This one will go in the totally-acceptable-to-wear-while-pregnant pile.”
Elodie looked worried all of a sudden.
“El? Something wrong?”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you, Mol? I can be there as your personal cheerleader and body guard.”
This is what she both loved and disliked about Elodie. Being an only child, Molly didn’t have any older siblings to answer to. Most of her friends growing up had brothers and sisters who acted as a second set of parents, always creating rules and doling out punishment when they saw fit. She couldn’t imagine having
someone else in her life who was as overbearing as her mother and father, but then Elodie came along and started seeing Molly as a little sister to take care of.
“El, I’m grateful for how much you love and want to protect me. I really am. But, I have to do this alone. I’m crossing my fingers that everything will be alright, and if it isn’t, I’ll call you.”
Before Molly and Elodie left Xander’s street the night before, Molly opened a map on her phone and dropped a pin at the location. Now, Molly opened the map and hit the ’direct me to here’ button, and a lady with a sultry voice calculated the fastest route.
“You will reach your destination in five minutes.”
Five minutes doesn’t seem long enough. Maybe I’ll take the longer of the two routes.
Molly clicked on Route B, and the sultry robot lady came on again and announced that this route would tack on an additional minute.
Like that’ll make a difference.
Molly dropped her phone into the cup holder and backed out of the driveway.
Chapter 39
Xander’s house was at the top of a hill overlooking an overgrown field of blue bonnet flowers and farm land. A heavy iron gate embellished with golden leaves was partially closed, leading the way up a long and winding driveway. There were Victorian-age street lamps scattered few and far between along the pavement, and Molly could see small stone statues of Greek gods and goddesses mounted on pedestals.
I know them. Ares—the God of War, and Eros—the God of Love.
The house looked ominous from the street below. Most of the homes around this area were as large if not larger than Xander’s, but none of them had the same medieval looking architecture. Where theirs were held together with wooden beams and plastic siding, Xander’s fortress was built with a hard, gray stone where moss had clung and grown new tentacles over the years.
Lieutenant Commander Stud Page 32
