Brave

by Natalie Gayle

  Reed snapped and made the decision for me. “Right that does it. You’ve got two minutes to vacate the premises before I call the cops.”

  I really hoped that would be the end of it, but somehow I doubted they’d let it go.

  People sucked like that.

  * * *

  Eden

  The party looked to be in full swing by the time I arrived with Len. He seemed to be my shadow these days and it made me realise just how much I missed my own father. Over the last couple of months I think I’d managed to catch him twice between loads. He was working a gruelling schedule and was hell bent on earning as much money as possible to stash away before he retired in a few years. That was just another regret I had.

  I’d really hoped a modelling career would have given me the opportunity to better provide for my family. Instead the fire had created more bills and meant that mum had dropped out of working for almost two years to help me with recovery. That put a dent in their finances. One day I’d like to be able to help out a little more. They didn’t expect it, but I loved my family and I’d help if I ever could.

  “Guess we’re fashionably late, girl.” Len followed me into Onigashima. I headed straight to Xander’s office and popped my satchel in the bottom draw of his desk before I went to find Xander.

  I suddenly felt really nervous. Xander was the guest of honour and I was his girlfriend. I’d met some of these people before, one on one over the last couple of months, but never as a big group.

  “Well, let’s not keep him waiting. He’s been blowing up my phone wondering where we were.”

  “Sorry, Len. I just wanted to finish that review quiz.” I felt guilty for holding him up. Since Xander had left this morning I’d been camped out at his new table studying. His stereo system was kick arse and I loved the isolation and vibe his barn apartment had. It was so peaceful but homey now it had been spruced up and I was enjoying studying there. It was kind of like being close to Xander even though he wasn’t technically with me.

  “No problem. You had important stuff to do just like he has.” One thing I’d learned about Len was that he was very fair and practical. He was often gruff, but that was just him. He really had a big soft gooey centre. I walked over to join him at the door to the office. Len’s gaze felt assessing as I moved across the space. “Relax Eden, you’re amongst friends here.” I nodded and knew he was right.

  “I just want to make a good impression for Xander’s sake.”

  Len chuckled. “Girl, you got no worries about that. Anyone that spends thirty seconds in your company knows you’re top shelf, and don’t let anyone tell you different.”

  I could feel my face grow warm as we headed to the second studio and the party. “Thanks, Len. That’s very kind of you.”

  “I just speak the truth, Girl.” He winked at me and we headed in.

  The room must have had over a hundred people all milling around eating, drinking and boisterously talking. As to be expected, I found Xander in the middle of the room with a water bottle in his hand. He seemed to realise I was there before I even moved into the circle of people he was presiding over.

  His hand reached out and pulled me to him and he dropped his lips to mine briefly in a light kiss. “Hey, gorgeous. I was wondering if you were going to stand me up!”

  I grinned at him. “Nothing like that, just wanted to finish my practice quiz. Besides I’m sure you have lots of people that want to wish you well and spend a little time with you today.”

  He settled his arm around me and whispered in my ear. “True. But none I want to spend time with more than you!” My heart did a little pitter-patter flip-flop thing and I moved in a bit closer.

  Sophia and Tori walked over to join us with Adelaide. “Hey Eden, glad to see you finally managed to drag yourself away from the books!” Sophia dug at me like only sisters can do.

  “Exam week, Soph. I’m not intending to blow it now,” I said a little defensively.

  “Your boyfriend’s about to go to Vegas and step into the cage with “Lights Out” and you’re worried about exams?” She just shook her head at me and grinned at Xander.

  “Hey, lay off your sister. She’s got lots going on as well. We’ve got all this sorted between us. Her exams are really important.” Xander said it casually, but there was no mistake he was one hundred percent behind what I was doing and that felt good. I’d made a commitment to get good grades. I wasn’t about to change that because I now had a boyfriend who was far more of a celebrity than I first realised. I liked the fact we were a team now and he understood that I was committed to my own goals as well.

  Not one to be easily swayed, Sophia continued on her path. “Well, don’t let her get too buried in the books. Make sure she has some fun in Vegas.”

  “You can count on it. Once the fight’s done Eden and I are going to have a good time for a week or two. I think we deserve it.” I hadn’t really thought past the fight. In fact, I was trying to keep my head firmly focused on the next couple of weeks and my exams. At this stage, I couldn’t let all of Xander’s hype affect what I was doing. Once my exams were done, then I was free from uni for about three months. I really needed to see if I could pick up some work. From time to time, I did a bit of virtual personal assistant stuff. I could do some more of that and maybe some web site administration, bookkeeping or that sort of thing. There were a few sites that I’d used in the past to get some casual work. I probably needed to let them know I’d be available in about a month.

  A few moments later, Seth sauntered over. He was a rugged cocky sort of guy and I realised immediately who his target was given he spent at least half of his time with Xander at the moment. It certainly wasn’t my boyfriend.

  “Hey, everyone,” he said brightly but I didn’t miss that his eyes spoke mainly to Sophia. She glanced at him then turned back to us. Was she playing hard to get?

  “So, where are you two going after the fight?”

  I had no idea. Xander on the other hand brushed it off. “That’s for me to know and for Eden to enjoy the surprise when the time comes.”

  Sophia squealed a little. “Oh, I’m so jealous. You’re so lucky, Eden.” I could tell her excitement was genuine.

  “Why don’t you come on over Soph?” Seth suggested.

  I could see Sophia’s eyes light up at the suggestion, then reality hit. “I’d love to but I have a new job and I can’t just blow it off.” Good. I was glad to see my little sister’s head was still planted firmly on her shoulders.

  “There’ll be other times. Besides I need someone to let me know that everything is still running here as it should be.” Xander had organised for Linc and Owen to run the place in his absence, but I knew he was still nervous about not being around. Onigashima was his “baby” after all.

  Another tall lanky guy approached our group and the first thing I noticed were the tats that covered both of his arms. Sure, a lot of the guys and a few of the girls here at Onigashima sported tats, but this guy had some serious sleeves. He had brown hair that was a little longer than most of the guys’ as well. The guys all tended to have really short styles. Whereas this guy’s hair looked like it had been purposely left messy for the day.

  “Hey, just wanted to wish you all the best man.” The guy held his hand out for that weird handshake thing they did.

  “Thanks, Jarryd,” Xander said with a nod and dropped his fist. “Hey, this is my girlfriend, Eden. Eden, meet Jarryd.” I held out my hand and he shook it gently. His eyes moved across to my face and I met them. I didn’t feel any discomfort. It was getting easier.

  “Nice to meet you, Jarryd.”

  “Likewise Eden.”

  I felt his eyes subtly drifting over my scars and I figured this was very much due to Xander having talked to him about the possibility of putting some ink over them. I’d been giving it a lot of thought. I liked the idea, I just wasn’t sure what I wanted.

  The guys talked about the fight for a bit longer. Sophia, Tori and Adelaide had drifted
off and were talking to a couple of people on the other side of the room.

  Xander leant over and whispered quietly, “Will you be okay for a second? I just need to check on something and I’ll grab you a drink on the way back.”

  “Sure.”

  Seth and Xander walked off leaving me with Jarryd.

  I wasn’t sure whether Xander had planned this or not, but I decided to take the opportunity. “So what do you think?”

  Jarryd looked at me thoughtfully and I could tell he knew exactly what I was talking about. “I’d need to see the rest of the scars. But if they’re similar to those, I can’t see any problem. I’m not sure you’d want decorative ink up your neck and on your face but cosmetic is certainly something to think about. Xander mentioned it’s down your side. That’ll hurt but I doubt you’re any stranger to pain.”

  Wasn’t that the truth in more ways than the obvious. “I may not be a stranger to pain, but I can’t say I enjoy it all that much,” I joked a little. Strangely I wasn’t even completely freaked out about having someone else see my scars. Jarryd just had a very “comfortable” manner about him. I was certainly interested in what he’d mentioned about the cosmetic. I hadn’t realised it was an option.

  “Haven’t met too many people that truly enjoy it,” he said with a chuckle.

  We stood in silence for a moment, but it felt surprisingly comfortable. Jarryd seemed to be one of those deep reflective types of people.

  “Have you thought about what you might like?”

  I shook my head no. “That’s the problem. I like the idea of having something beautiful on me rather than the scars, but I don’t know what I want.”

  He didn’t say anything just nodded thoughtfully again. We talked for a few more minutes about a whole range of stuff. Jarryd was one of those quiet, easy people to be around. Then we both noticed Xander at the door to the studio talking to a few students over there. This seemed to prompt him into action.

  “Why don’t you let me draw a few things up? I’ve got a few ideas from talking to you and what Xander has told me.” He made the offer casually, but I could tell he meant it.

  “Thank you, that’s very kind, but I don’t want you to go to any trouble. What if I don’t like them?”

  He shrugged. “I’ll have spent a little bit of time doing what I love to do—draw. I don’t really see that as a hardship. You never know, you just might like what I have to show you…” There was a quiet confidence in his voice and his strange green eyes seemed very knowing.

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  He passed me a business card. “Give me a call in a few days. I’ll have something for you.”

  Xander moved up to me and passed me a bottle of juice. He looked between Jarryd and me. I knew he’d guessed at what we were discussing, but he said nothing.

  If, and it was a big IF, I’d be making that decision.

  Chapter 26

  Eden

  Another week zoomed past in a frenzied fashion. I’d managed maybe an hour this week with Xander; our joint schedules were just that busy. That hadn’t stopped us from texting and messaging all the time though. As Xander had suggested I’d stayed off social media as more and more buzz and hype about the fight swirled around.

  The impromptu press conference from last weekend seemed to have earned some favour with the press for Xander. They seemed to have been satisfied with the answers he gave them, but it had also left them hungry. Now they seemed to want to know everything. His profile was going nuts. The number of Facebook fans and Twitter followers he had was growing exponentially every day. He’d been posting once a day as he’d promised the PR people. Usually, it was just a pic snapped at training and a little message about how he was going or some sort of inspirational message.

  I might not have been keeping tabs on social media, but Beth had been spending hours trawling through the web keeping tabs on everything. She said it was her duty as my best friend. I told her I didn’t want to know. It was safer that way. What I didn’t know couldn’t hurt me, could it? But it didn’t seem to dissuade her. Beth had far too much time on her hands and nothing to do. Me, I just wanted to focus on my exams and enjoy today. I’d worked my arse off for the last few weeks, so I had a clear day today. It was the last full day I’d have with Xander before his six am flight tomorrow morning. Tomorrow, I’d be back at the books. Today we were going to make the most of it.

  And so far the day was good.

  Right now I had a view that I knew thousands of woman would probably pay excellent money for. I had a front row seat at a Xander Todd training session—the most private type. To avoid press and a whole heap of fuss we’d decided to stay in today. So training for him was in his home gym. He’d pulled a section of the sofa from in front of the flat screen around and I was sitting watching him. Yeah, not too much of a hardship really, I decided.

  “So let me ask you this. How exactly did you manage to blow off Reed today? He’s been stuck to you like glue for the last six weeks.” I couldn’t say Reed was my favourite person. I found him brusque and often rude. How he was married to a sweetheart like Carmen was one of those mysteries of the universe. One thing he was however, was protective of Xander and for that I could almost forgive his attitude towards me. If he got my guy to the cage in the best shape possible and helped keep him safe through the fight, then I could put up with it.

  Xander was over on the mats skipping. He just had on a pair of those loose MMA shorts…oh my. I could feel my mouth starting to water and my body starting to tingle. The rope was slapping under his feet rhythmically, but somehow it didn’t even appear as if he was doing anything else. Then he started to get a little fancy, doing a couple of rotations of the rope, hopping on one foot then repeating it on the other.

  “Carmen told him to be home today or else don’t bother coming home. She may not look it, but that woman can be scary fierce when she needs to be.”

  That made sense. “I dare say she has to be with Reed. The guy is a serious hard arse.”

  “Yeah, he is. He’s the sort that thinks there’s only one way—his. Mostly he’s right, but times change and so do people.” It was disgusting, he’d been skipping for near on fifteen minutes and he wasn’t even breathing heavily.

  “How long can you do that for?”

  “What skip?”

  I nodded.

  “I don’t know, as long as I need to I guess.” Then as if to prove a point he started to do some fancy steps with the rope and crossed his hands over with an expertise that was mind-boggling. Yeah, he’d done this once or twice before! His tempo was getting faster and faster, until the rope was no longer visible—just a sensation breaking the air. His feet flew, but barely looked like they were touching the floor.

  “Wouldn’t be showing off by any chance, would you?” I teased.

  “Not at all…” he said straight-faced.

  “Because if you are, it’s working.” I ended on a suggestive giggle. What woman wouldn’t be getting turned on watching her incredibly fit and sexy boyfriend put on a private show for her benefit?

  “Good to know!”

  He twirled his rope for a few more minutes and kept sending me suggestive little looks. Yeah, he was watching me squirm. I was onto his game.

  Finally he stopped and put the rope aside then dropped to the mats and started to do push ups. But not just ordinary push-ups—the one handed type. He made it look so easy it was disgusting.

  “How can you be so damned fit?”

  He laughed but never broke his form. “And I thought you’d been paying attention for the last six weeks.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Come over here, Gem,” he called. I got up from the sofa, a little wary. What was he up to?

  Then he lowered his body to the mats, till he was flat. “Want to help me out, gorgeous?”

  “Sure…” I wondered what he was up to with this little game.

  Xander read my caution but went on. “Won’t hurt, I promise. Lay down
on my back very still.”

  I got down on the mats beside him glad that I’d pulled on yoga pants and a T-Shirt if I was going to have to do something other than watch.

  I hesitated, not quite sure. “Come on, Gem. Hop on my back.” That was all the prodding it took. I stepped over him, and faced his feet. I sat down over his butt and lay back, shoulder to shoulder.

  “Okay, good. Now put your legs on top of mine and relax. I’m the one doing all the work here. Count em for me, Gem.”

  I did as he asked and then suddenly, we were rising up and then lowering down.

  “One.” Every muscle in his body was rock hard under me. “Two.”

  What sort of strength did it take to be able to do this? “Three.”

  Up this close and personal, I could smell that spicy cologne he wore with the light smell of sweat mixed in. It was a big turn on for me. “Four.”

  I wondered how many he’d do. He passed ten and kept going, his breathing was more laboured now, but the movement no less perfect. “Eighteen.”

  “Two more,” he gritted out as he completed the set.

  Rather than collapse to the floor like most people did on their last rep of a set, Xander lowered agonisingly slowly and I could only imagine the burn he must be feeling in his muscles.

  “Twenty…Good job,” I added for good measure. It was what Reed often said to him after he’d finished an exercise or a set of something.

  He rolled me off and I ended up on the mats looking up at him. “So you’ve decided to take over as my trainer for the day?”

  “I was just sitting over there minding my own business. You were the one that asked me for help,” I reminded him.

  “Right. Just sitting over there…not checking me out at all.” He dropped a kiss on the end of my nose.

  “Well, I might have been. But I thought that was one of the fringe benefits of being your girlfriend.”

  “Sounds fair. You up for another exercise?” There was a mischievous look in his eyes.