by Niles, Abby
“You can stay with me.” At the suggestion, his nose curled in distaste and she swatted at him. “Hey! What’s the problem with staying at my place?”
A chuckle came out of him as he slung his arm around her shoulder and dropped a kiss on top of her head. Even in three-inch heels her, she fit easily under his arm. “It’s not you, doofus.” When she raised a doubtful brow, he laughed outright. “Okay…maybe it is you. Julie, you’re my best friend. But we haven’t done close living quarters since we used to sneak in and out of each other’s bedrooms when we were kids. What if we end up killing each other?”
The memory made her smile. “Well, if all else fails, I guess we can make up over walkie-talkies.”
“Ah, shit, I forgot we used to do that.” He sighed, hugging her closer to his side as they walked toward her car. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t like imposing on you. I’ll find something.”
“Have it your way.”
He always did.
When they reached the car, Tommy let Warrior in the backseat, then climbed in himself. As she started the engine, he said, “I really need to feed Warrior. I always give him a big bowl of food after we run. Can we stop at a store?”
“I have some food at my house.”
Again with the nose curl. God, that drove her nuts.
“My dog will not eat that foo-foo shit you feed Lucy. He eats manly dog food, isn’t that right, buddy?” He scratched the dog behind the ear and earned a lick across the cheek.
“You do know your face is covered in soot and you smell like a campfire, right?”
“I could give a rat’s ass what I look like right now, Julie. Besides, I don’t have anything to change into anyway.” When she glanced over at him, he had the oddest look on his face, a mixture of disbelief, amusement, and confusion. “Jeez, I don’t even have a toothbrush.”
When he turned and stared at her with the same strange expression, she worried the reality of what had happened was about to truly hit him. The man had just lost everything he owned.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah. The unimportant shit is starting to pop up. Like the rib eye I bought last night.” He shook his head. “Why that would even cross my mind, after losing…” He inhaled deeply.
She took one hand off the steering wheel, reached over, and squeezed his hand. “It’ll be okay.”
He clasped it and squeezed back. “Yeah. It’s like, for a moment I forget, and nothing has changed. Then it hits me like a ton of bricks again. Kinda like it did after…”
“You lost the title,” she finished gently.
“Yeah. I guess it’s natural, right? I thought some weird-ass stuff after Mike booted me out. Every time I thought about heading over to the gym, I had to remind myself Mike had banned me, and why. I had to do that for weeks before the new routine finally took over and I stopped thinking about it. I can’t believe I’m having to do this all over again.”
“Well, at least this one isn’t your fault.”
He let out a shocked laugh and shook his head. “Ow! Damn, woman.”
She shrugged. Though she’d hated that Tommy had been banned from the cage and even his training facility, this was all part of the growing up he needed to do. As he’d gotten older, instead of settling down like most men eventually did, Tommy had only gotten wilder.
The man did love his women. As a consequence, he’d never had a serious relationship. In fact, in the twenty-three years she had known him, she couldn’t remember seeing him with the same woman twice. Well. She had seen him with two women at the same time, but, again, the actual girls never stayed the same.
Then there was his attitude. Thankfully, that had never been directed at her. He’d always stayed the same with her, but everyone else—including his training posse, especially after he won the Middleweight championship a little over a year ago—yeah, she understood how it had been easy for Mike to tell him to get the hell out.
Fighting hadn’t changed Tommy. He’d fought his way up since he was twenty. But the lifestyle that came with “hitting it big” had. The parties, the cockiness, the women, all of it. The man had become so wrapped up in everything and everyone else around him, he had completely ignored Julie. Hell, he hadn’t even noticed when she’d left.
She really didn’t ever want to meet that man again.
She just hated that his blindness had cost him the cage. And brought him to this.
No career, no future. And now, no home.
…
Tommy tucked a long yellow envelope under his arm as he walked out of the post office exit. Julie had been awesome, as always. She’d chauffeured him around all morning, stopping to let him buy some necessities. Thankfully, when he ran, he always carried a debit card, his license, and some cash, along with his phone, in his wrist wallet. That habit had kept him from being completely without access to money.
Too bad money wasn’t finding him a place to stay. A pet-friendly hotel was an option, of course, but he didn’t like the idea of his dog being cooped up in a hotel room for God only knew how long before he found a new place.
But Julie didn’t need him underfoot, either.
He had to see if he could make other arrangements. Unfortunately, only one other person came to mind, and he knew it would be a long shot. He dug out his phone, thumbed through his contact list, then hit the call button.
Dante “Inferno” Jones had been a good friend of his for a couple of years now. “Hello,” Dante answered.
“Hey, man. It’s Tommy.”
“Tommy! It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”
“All right. Keeping busy.”
There was a moment of silence. “So what’s up?”
Tommy rubbed the stubble on his jaw. He had never been big on asking for help. “Uh, yeah…I had a fire at my place. Looks like I’m going to be out somewhere to live for a bit, so I was wondering if I could crash over at your place.” He left out how bad the fire actually was, not wanting Dante to feel obligated.
“Fuck, Tommy, I’m sorry. Of course you can stay here. I’m warning you, though, this place will be a madhouse for the next two weeks. We’ve got family coming in who decided to make our wedding a vacation trip. On top of that, Caitlyn is on edge. She’s pushing me to elope and call off the wedding. She’s so over the planning.” He chuckled softly. “But you are more than welcome to stay.”
Tommy grimaced. Yeah, he wasn’t doing that to Dante. “You know, don’t worry about it; you have your hands full now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Certain.”
“Well, just know the offer is open if you want to crash here.”
“Will do. I’ll talk to you soon.”
He went to hang up when he heard Dante’s, “Tommy. Wait a sec,” and he brought the cell back to his ear.
“Yeah?”
Muffled mumbling came across the line. He figured Dante had put his hand over the speaker. Then Dante came back clear. “Caitlyn just reminded me you never responded to the wedding invitation. She needs a final head count. Are you coming?”
Tommy grimaced. A wedding. The last place in the world he wanted to be. But Dante had always supported him, so he needed to return the favor. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“Are you bringing anyone?”
“Julie, probably.”
There was a moment of silence, where Dante’s mumbling came through again. “Are you her extra, then?”
“What are you talking about?”
“She’s already RSVP’d and checked the extra person.”
Tommy blinked. She hadn’t mentioned that to him.
“Well, put me down as attending.”
“And a date?”
He was sort of in between women right now. Not from lack of interest from them, just on his part. He wasn’t too worried about it. He figured he was still adjusting to the changes from the fallout. He’d get his groove back. “Nah. Just me.”
“All right, then. Looking forward to seeing you
, buddy. Been too long.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
They said their byes and hung up.
While Dante might be happy, Tommy knew his buddy’s wedding was going to be a bitch to face. He’d see people he hadn’t seen in months, which was why he hadn’t answered the invitation yet. He actually kept going back and forth about it. He’d been planning on bringing it up to Julie this week, but apparently she was already going, and with a date.
Good for her. The woman worked too damn hard and didn’t play enough.
It’d do her good to let loose a little.
After he returned to the car, he climbed in, tossed the envelope on the dashboard, and said, “Well, you’re stuck with me.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“I gave Dante a call to see if I could stay with him and Cait for a while. He said yes, but things seemed pretty chaotic with the wedding and all, so I figured I’d better not add to it.” He sighed. “I’d do a hotel, but—”
“Shut up.” She groaned as she shoved her fingers into her thick brunette hair. “I already said you could stay with me. As long as you want. So just. Shut. Up.”
“It could be a few days. Weeks, even.”
“What part of ‘as long as you want’ don’t you get?”
He smiled. Okay. He’d just try not to be in the way. “Dante told me you had a date.”
She sort of jerked back and peered at him. “A date?”
“For the wedding. I was going to ask you to go with me, but, you know, if you can get a little—” He waggled his eyebrows.
She shoved him, laughing. “Jesus, Tommy.”
“What? I can’t be excited about my best friend getting some action?”
As far as he was concerned, she needed to get more of it. With her long, dark hair, expressive, hazel eyes and easy smile, Julie was a beautiful woman. He had little doubt men lined up to take her out. Her problem was her inability to freaking relax.
“Unfortunately, I’m not getting any action. My date fell through.”
“Well, that’s a bummer.” He winked. “I won’t be as exciting a date, but you can go with me.”
She studied him for a minute, then shrugged. “You’ll do, I guess.”
He feigned hurt. “That was bitchy.”
“You said you wouldn’t be exciting, so what did you expect?”
Laughing, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’ll still make sure you have a great time. Promise.” He sat back and put on his seat belt. “You know, this does beg the question of dating.”
She shot him an uncertain look. “Dating?”
“With the fire and all, I’ll probably be too preoccupied to fool around with anyone, but you… Well, just because I’ll be staying with you, don’t think you have to be home every night with me. I want you to continue on like I’m not there, okay?”
Something flashed across her eyes that he couldn’t decipher. “Yeah. Sure.” She glanced out the windshield, and when she glanced back, the look was gone and mischief sparkled in her eyes. “But when I am home and I cook, you eat.”
“Woman, I just lost everything I own. Are you trying to take my life, too?” She just stared at him in that impish way he loved, and he started to laugh. “Fine. I’ll scarf down that god-awful crap you like to call food.”
“As long as we’re clear.” She cranked the car.
“Yep.” It wasn’t the perfect solution, but at least the only thing he’d have to worry about while he got himself resettled was a possible case of food poisoning. The less drama he had right now the better.
And Julie never came with drama.
Chapter 2
Tommy scowled at the one-story light blue vinyl-siding house as Julie parked her car in the driveway. Man, he was in a dick mood. None of it was Julie’s fault. She was just trying to help out a friend, but four hours ago he’d had his own place. His own possessions. His own life, dependent on no one. It’d been nice. His. And now it was all nothing but ash.
Hell, he’d even lost the hat— “Fuck,” he muttered.
“Tommy?”
“Hmm?” he murmured.
“Will you please tell me what you went back into the house for?”
Damn it. Leave it to her to pick up on the only thing that came close to making him want to break down. He refused to cry like a fucking girl in front of Julie.
“It’s gone now, Julie, so it doesn’t matter.” He cursed the hoarseness in his voice and fumbled with the handle.
Her hand clamped down on his arm. “It matters to me. Warrior was safe. I can’t imagine what else would’ve pushed you back into the house.”
Groaning, he closed his eyes and leaned back against the seat. The joys of having an almost quarter-century friendship with someone? She was way too comfortable pushing shit because she knew he’d fucking tell her. “It was my box.”
“You can replace that. I can’t replace you.”
“Yeah. The box. Not what was inside it.” Opening his eyes, he turned his head. “The Atlanta Braves cap you gave me for my sixteenth birthday was in it.”
Shock widened her eyes as she placed a hand to her mouth. “You still have that?”
How could she think he’d get rid of it?
“Jesus, Julie, I have everything you’ve ever given me, including that horrible mix tape of Vanilla Ice and New Kids on the Block. It was all in that box.”
“You ran into a burning building to save the cheesy presents I’ve bought you over the years?”
He scowled at her. “They weren’t just presents. They’re memories. Our memories, Julie. You’re the only family I have. That box meant a lot to me.”
“Oh, Tommy. I-I…” She paused, brows pulling together in thought.
Ah fuck, she was going to say something to make this worse. Before she could find the words she was searching for, he waved his hand. “It’s gone now. Let’s just leave it at that.”
Out of everything he’d lost, that hat had hit him the hardest. Which was crazy, really. He never went into the box of mementos he kept of his and Julie’s decades-long friendship. But knowing it was gone, it felt as though someone had torn his guts out.
Grabbing the envelope, he opened the door and moved to the back of the car. Thumping the top of the trunk, he waited for Julie to pop it. After he grabbed the shopping bags, he strode up the walkway.
When it came right down to it, Julie was his family. His only family. He didn’t have any siblings. Had no clue who his father was. His mom had been worthless—an alcoholic who’d marched men in and out of the house like it was the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. The only good thing that woman had ever done for him was rent the house next door to the one Julie’s family moved into.
Julie was all he had. And he’d just lost every single memory of their friendship that he’d kept buried in the back of his closet like a goddamn treasure chest. Fisting his hands around the shopping bags, he shook off the thought, focusing on reaching the front door and not the torrent of emotions that was threatening to take him down.
The house was small, as was the front yard, and it was perfect for Julie. In the spring, the now-dead garden beds in front would no doubt overflow with colorful annuals that she’d plant when she got spring fever—which she got like clockwork each April. She’d sit on the swing hanging on the front porch reading a book, sipping a glass of Merlot. She’d mow the lawn in her ratty tank top, cut-off jeans, and the MMA baseball cap he’d given her a few years ago. A small smile came to his lips.
Maybe being here wasn’t such a bad thing.
Warrior raced past him up the stone path to the front door, not even needing a leash to keep him headed in the right direction. The dog was probably excited about their new living arrangements. Tommy spoiled that dog rotten, but the one thing he didn’t have was a doggie door. Julie did, and even though her pup was miniscule in comparison to his, she’d bought a larger opening so Warrior could follow Lucy around since they spent so much time over h
ere. Now his dog would be able to run around the spacious fenced in backyard whenever he wanted.
As he climbed the steps to the entry, he heard Lucy yapping and clawing at the door on the other side. When Julie unlocked the door, the white fur ball bolted through, and she scooped the Pekinese up in her arms.
“Someone’s glad to see you,” Tommy said.
She smiled. “She’s always happy to see her mommy. Aren’t you, sweetie?”
The tiny tongue flicked out across Julie’s jaw. Then Lucy noticed Warrior. She struggled against Julie’s hold, and when Julie placed her on the ground, the two dogs danced around, pawing playfully at each other. It always amazed him how well those two got along, considering the size difference. The way Warrior towered over Lucy never intimidated the little dog. She gave as good as she got.
Just like Julie.
As she started to walk into the house, he grabbed for her hand. Squeezing her fingers, he said, “Thank you…for letting me stay.”
Her eyes softened. “Anytime, Tommy. Really.”
After a quick squeeze of her own, she released his hand and waved him and the dogs inside. When he crossed the threshold into the living room, he stopped. The house overwhelming him in a way it never had before, reminding him that he now owned nothing but the few shopping bags he gripped in his hands. The living room was completely decked out. A matching sage couch and loveseat with plush striped pillows sat before a brick fireplace. In the corner was a large flat-screen television sitting on a light oak entertainment center that matched the hardwood floors.
Pictures in black frames of her parents, sisters, and him hung on the wall. His heart tightened as it always did when he saw his picture included as part of her family.
Proof that he was just as important to her as she was to him. Thank God for that. He wouldn’t know what to do without this woman.
A gentle touch landed on his bicep. “You okay?”
He blinked and looked down at her. “My photos are all gone, too.”
“Tommy. I’m so sorry.”
“All I can do now is move forward.” He nudged her with his shoulder. “A wise woman once told me that.”
