by Silva Hart
“She came in to help me with my cuts. I told her I didn’t need help, but she persisted. When I tried to push her away, she pressed up against me. That’s when you came in.”
“That’s what happened?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, she had a slightly different version of what went down with you grabbing her and forcing yourself on her and shit.”
I nearly choke. “She said that?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s crazy. I was trying to get her to leave. She only pressed up against me because she wanted to get back at me for rejecting her. I have a girl of my own.” I do have a girl of my own. It feels damn good to say.
He stares at me for a minute as if trying to see into my brain before continuing, “Well, what I’m trying to tell you is none of that matters. I took her out to dinner after the fights. When she went to the lady’s room, I snuck a peek at her phone. You wouldn’t believe what I found. The whole thing is filled with nothing but men. And the text messages … God.” He takes a long drink. “But I never woulda checked her phone if I hadn’t seen her with you. It never woulda even crossed my mind. I thought what we had was so great. So solid. But when I saw how she was pressing against you and everything …” He chugs his beer as if trying to drown the image.
“How did you know it was love?”
“What?”
“You said you loved her. How did you know?”
“I mean, look at her. She’s stunning. And God, what that woman would do not even you could imagine.”
“But how did you know it was love and not something else?”
He raises an eyebrow as if he just answered that. “Well, shit man, I don’t know. It was a feeling, like seeing her was the best part of my day. She made me happy. I mean, it didn’t matter what we were doing, I just felt happy being around her.”
I think about Lexi. She’s definitely been the best parts of my days for sure. I picture her smiling face. And, yes, she makes me happy, happier than anyone else. “Did you trust her?”
“Look, kid, I’m not here to get into a damn philosophical discussion with you or some shit like that. I said I loved her. I loved her, okay?” He finishes his beer and opens another then, as if he feels bad for snapping at me, says, “I don’t really trust people.”
“You trust One-Eyed Mike, right?”
He drinks, while watching a group of drunk college-age kids struggle to maneuver through the door into the store. “Yeah, I trust Mike. We go way back. He’s one of the good guys. Maybe the last of them.”
I nod, staring out the window at the blazing neon lights. “He was letting me sleep at the gym.”
Mac’s mouth drops open. “What? You mean you ain’t got no home?”
I reach for another beer.
“Shit, man. I didn’t know that. I’m sorry. I mean, I guess I shoulda known now that you tell me. But damn. That’s messed up. You ain’t got no parents?”
Why the hell I’m telling Mac my business, I don’t know except that the car is warm, the beer is cold, and I’m more dead tired than I’ve ever been in my entire life. “My mom chose her abusive alcoholic over me.”
“Ah, man. That sucks. Yeah, but I know what you mean there. Parents can be shitty assholes. They can mess you up something good. But you know what? You can’t let two people who shouldn’t have had kids but who did anyway ruin your life, you know? You’re here now, right? You got your whole life ahead of you. You gotta do what you gotta do to live the way you want, you know? To hell with carrying their shit around with you your whole life, man.”
I mull this over. He has a point. The scars Tony inflicted when I was younger healed, but did they go deeper than the surface?
“Tell you what, man. I’m gonna call Mike. Get this whole thing straightened out.” True to his word, he gets his phone and presses Mike’s number. “Yeah, Mike, hey … What? Yeah, I know what damn time it is. I need you to listen for a sec. … All right, already. Jesus Christ. I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t important. I just wanted to let you know that I’m gonna let Jett back in the gym, okay? I didn’t want you freaking out on him. … Yeah, I know your rules. But the thing is, she’s not my lady, so Jett didn’t break any of your damn rules. He’s a decent kid. He ain’t got nowhere to go and … What’s that? I’m sitting here with him now. We’re in his car in a Quickie Mart parking lot. You gotta let him back in. … All right? We good? … Good. Thanks, Mike. And, hey, I’m sor—” He looks at his screen. “That asshole hung up on me.” He puts his phone back in his pocket. “There, see? All better. We’re even now.”
I nod. If someone had told me Mac would be the one to save my ass, I would have taken that bet. But he’s not so bad after all. We all have our own shit going on. We just deal with it in our own ways. I don’t know what all he’s been through to make him the way he is. One-Eyed Mike has stood by him, and now I’ve just gotten a glimpse into how decent Mac can be. So that’s good enough for me.
The beers are empty. It’s 2:28. All I want to do is see Lexi, not to fool around but to see her smile and hear her voice. She doesn’t depend on me. She told me how she felt and what she hoped for and went on living her life. She’s smart, strong, and knows what she wants. She wanted to be captain of the cheerleader squad and worked to make it a reality. She wanted me and worked to make it a reality. I genuinely admire her.
Before I know it, I find myself sitting in front of her golden gate. This is crazy. I shouldn’t wake her up. I’m about to back up when the gate slides open. By the time I reach the front door, Lexi is standing in it, her golden hair flowing over her lavender, satin nightgown.
“Jett?” she yawns. “What are you doing here? It’s so late.”
I go to her and take her in my arms, pressing her comforting body against mine and breathing in her reassuring scent. Everything crashes down on me at this moment. The roller coaster of everything that’s happened overwhelms me. I’m physically and emotionally depleted and, for the first time since I was five, tears leak from my eyes.
Feeling my sorrow, Lexi draws back, searching my face. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” With concern, she gently reaches toward my fresh bruises.
I shake my head and bury my face in her neck.
She wraps her arms around me. “What’s wrong, baby?” She kisses me. It’s simultaneously tender and insistent as if she wants her lips to soak up everything that’s hurting me. She cradles my face in her hands and stares at me, into me, with those endlessly blue eyes. “I love you, Jett Dixon,” she whispers.
Her words buoy me up from the free-falling void I’m floating in. They anchor me. She anchors me. Lexi is steady. She’s always there for me. I don’t know what I did to deserve it, but she’s mine.
I want to be there for her the same as she’s been there for me. I don’t want to keep blocking love. I want to let it wash over me. Feel it. Experience it. Live in it. Anna was right. Love is the greatest thing. And, for the first time in my life, I finally fully know what it is.
My guard is dropped, my defenses down. Part of me has been holding back, still protecting. But now I’m finally laid bare, raw and open before her.
“I love you too, Lexi Moore.”
Epilogue
Eighteen months later …
I’m standing in the corner of a ring wearing black satin boxers with “Moores Beer” stamped across my ass in red letters. Mac is massaging my shoulders to keep me loose. One-Eyed Mike is smearing Vaseline over my eyebrows and across my cheeks.
I glance to my right to find Lexi’s shining face beaming from the front row. Love, admiration, and desire all in one radiate from her eyes. Filling me. Bolstering me. Her mom and dad sit next to her. Dan is eyeing up everyone in the packed gym as if assessing fresh business contacts. Jocelyn looks bored with her legs crossed and a hand dangling over one knee.
“This is big, kid,” One-Eyed Mike is saying. “You got interested scouts in the audience this time. Remember to keep changing it up and you’ve got this
. You’re going to win, Jett. No doubt about it.”
He’s so sure. I nod. He slides my mouth guard in and the announcer calls us to the center. The guy I’m fighting is some thin-lipped, Irish-looking guy. He’s stocky, not too wiry but not a hulk either, and I’m not sure what to expect from him.
The bell rings, and we dance around either other. I want to see what he has before I go blasting in. He cocks his fist back. I step in and give him a hook to the ribs through the opening. I could have driven the Mustang through that one.
He keeps advancing, trying to get me on the ropes, but I’m light and loose. He can’t corner me. His fist draws back wide again, and he receives another body blow. The guy has tells that could be seen from the window of an airplane. How the hell did he get this far in the series?
Retreating backward to the corner, I set him up to rush me. And he does, as I knew he would. Sidestepping, I give him a blow to the kidneys as he hurtles past. He whirls, his face contorted with rage. And now I have him. That rage will make him stupid.
His coach sees it too and yells at him from the corner, but he’s beyond listening. He keeps charging me, and I keep dealing body blows. He manages to land a blow above my left eye, and now I know how he got this far. The guy hits like a damn pneumatic gun. That single blow makes my vision swim. Thankfully, the bell rings, and we go to our corners.
“You’re doing great, kid. You got this. He doesn’t stand a chance,” One-Eyed Mike tells me as he sprays water into my mouth. I nod and spit into the bucket.
Round two, he must have gotten some input from his coach because he’s calmed down and circles cautiously now. I test him by reaching out a glove. He takes the bait, swinging at me, opening himself up. It’s my chance, and I take it.
Stepping into the gap, I swarm him with an intense flurry of hooks and uppercuts. He swings, clobbering me on the cheek so I see stars. How the hell can a mortal man hit that hard? I can’t let him land anymore if I have any hope of staying on my feet.
I renew my attack. He retreats, stumbling. I get him on the ropes and pound his torso. He’s weakening. Bending my knees, I spring upward with a vicious blow to his chin. His head snaps up. He spins and lands on the mat. The ref stands over him.
The fight was easier than I thought it would be. But I know if he’d landed any more of those punches, that would have been a different story altogether.
The ref holds my arm up in victory. Lexi ducks through the ropes, runs to me, and flings her arms around me. I’m dripping sweat and bleeding a little, but she doesn’t care. We kiss in front of the roaring crowd before making our way down the aisle to my room with One-Eyed Mike and Mac trailing behind.
In the room, while One-Eyed Mike calmly tends to my eye, Mac is all jumpy adrenaline as if he’s the one who won the bout. “Man, you played that perfect. That guy could hit too. I saw him land that one in the first round and didn’t envy you none.”
I give a wry smile. “He hit harder than you do.”
Mac knows it’s a compliment and visibly puffs as he unwraps my hands.
The Moores soon join us. Jocelyn hangs back, letting the men have their moment. When she saw Lexi and I had become inseparable, she ceased all interest in me.
“You made that look easy, slugger,” Dan says, slapping my back. “How’s it feel to be legit?”
“Not bad.”
Ever since Lexi and I started dating exclusively, her dad’s done everything he can to get involved in my boxing and take it to the next level. I resisted him at first, but when I saw how serious he was and how much it could help One-Eyed Mike, I accepted everything he wanted to offer. I introduced them, and they negotiated a deal. The first thing Dan did was buy the building next to the gym so One-Eyed Mike could expand.
With all of his business connections and salesmanship, Dan turned out to be a natural at putting promotions together. All the work is a win for him too since he gets to plaster the entire gym with his beer advertisements in front of a beer-drinking audience.
I towel off as One-Eyed Mike handles the scouts at the locker room door. After I’m dressed, the Moores and I slip out the back door. I’m glad I have him to handle that kind of stuff.
Lexi gets into the Mustang with me. “Oh my God, Jett. I am so coming to the pool house tonight.” She leans over, wraps her arm around me, and trails her tongue around my ear, sending shivers chasing down my spine. Her plan sounds fine to me. Better than fine. I can’t get enough of this girl.
At the mansion, we make a show of saying goodnight to each other in front of her parents and heading our separate ways. But everyone knows exactly what will happen as soon as the lights go out.
Lexi heads upstairs to her room like a dutiful daughter. And I go to the pool house that they’ve converted into an efficiency apartment for me in exchange for taking care of the pool and landscaping. It’s a sweet deal. They even pay me plus invite me to eat with them all the time.
The white vinyl-sided cottage has a kitchenette consisting of a mini-fridge tucked under an L-shaped countertop that holds a sink and a toaster oven. A compact bathroom is in the back corner of the room. There’s not much furniture aside from a futon bed with a side table, a dresser, a television, and an overstuffed recliner that Lexi and I squeeze into when we want to watch something together. It might not be much by some standards, but I can honestly say it’s the nicest, most comfortable place I’ve ever lived.
Throwing my clothes into the hamper, I get a shower. When I get out, I see I have a missed call from One-Eyed Mike.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Hey, you’re not going to believe this one, Jett. But there was a Calvin Klein modeling director there tonight. She wants you to go to their office for a photo shoot. If it’s good, they want to sign you. If I were you, I’d jump on this. You don’t want to keep taking punches if you don’t have to.”
“Modeling?” I’m still not sure I heard him correctly.
Lexi lets herself in. My pulse speeds as it does every time I see her. Her eyes sweep over me and the towel hanging low on my hips. Desire flames in her eyes as she mouths, “Oh my God, Jett.”
“Yeah, come by the office tomorrow and I’ll give you the info. This could be your lucky break, kid.”
I’m still not sure about the idea. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Hanging up, I toss the phone onto the side table.
Lexi slinks toward me and runs her hands over my torso.
“Hey, doc,” I say, gazing down at her with all the devotion I feel. Ever since we graduated high school, she’s been attending college to become a pediatrician. And, yeah, Jett Dixon graduated high school after all and received an official diploma. I have to smile every time I wonder how many people lost money on that bet.
I relay what Mike said, ending with, “Isn’t that weird?”
“Of course it’s not weird. I mean, look at you, Jett. It was bound to happen sooner or later. You’re hotter than positively anyone.” She presses herself against me. “And you’re all mine,” she whispers as she kisses me, her hands trailing over the ridges in my back.
I haven’t been with another woman since committing to Lexi. I may have a nice place to live now and good food to eat on a regular basis for the first time in my life, but none of that even matters. Love is everything. It’s the only thing. And Lexi is love. Wrapping her in my arms, I bury my face in her hair, inhaling the familiar scent of this woman who consumes me so completely.
“I’m yours, Lexi Moore. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
WANT MORE WHY ME?
Want to know what Jett Dixon spending the rest of his life with Lexi Moore looks like? Yeah, me too! Get a glimpse into their happily ever after marriage and find out how Jett reacts when Lexi tells him she’s … pregnant.
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DEAR READER
This book came from my life-long love of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. While most kids groaned at required school reading, I was instantly and endlessly fascinated by this band of boys with their unshakable love and loyalty for one another. My paperback copy became worn and dog-eared as I read and re-read, imagining myself in their world.
I LOVE a strong, slightly-grumpy, loner hero with a walled-up heart of gold and a sassy, sunshiny heroine who is convinced she can break through that wall and win that heart.
I hope you loved Jett and Lexi as much as I did. If you did, please feel free to leave a gushing review raving about my writing chops on Amazon, BookBub, and Goodreads.
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Thanks for reading and sharing with your friends, family, and perfect strangers!
I think you’re wonderful!
XOXO,
- Silva Hart
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Silva Hart grew up with a pair of teacher parents and no television. With this combo, who wouldn’t become a greedy reader?
She loves spending hours penning scenes that fill her with emotion. She knows she’s succeeded when sweet, sexy Sir Silva tears up while she reads her stories to him.
Elephants are her spirit animal, and she’s convinced that every reader receives a trumpet of joy somewhere in the world every time they say good things about a Silva Hart book.
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SILVA’S TITLES
One Hour Sweet and Steamy Standalones
