by Tiffani Lynn
“I get what you’re saying, but there is a lot of pressure on me when it comes to Sam. My mom would want him to be taken care of.”
“You’re absolutely right, but she also wanted him to have as much independence as he can manage.”
Desi chimes in again as she crosses her arms. “Okay, let’s take a different approach. Is Sam getting paid a fair wage? Is he happy at the job? Does he like Keegan?” After she spits out those three questions rapid-fire, she pauses, awaiting my response.
“Yes, to all of those,” I admit, shifting restlessly. “I know I was wrong, it’s just hard sometimes. Now I owe the guy an apology and an olive branch. Guess I’ll have to find him and do that.” Apologies are not my strong suit. You’d think they would be since I have the temper of a typical redhead and have spent years having to face people after one of my angry volcanic eruptions, but they still make my hands clammy and my heart race. I wipe my palms on my shorts and take a deep breath.
“You’ll feel better if you say you’re sorry and figure out a way to get along with the guy. Grant will help keep an eye on Sam; sounds like he’s going to take boxing lessons at the gym, so he’ll be around. You know those Malone boys won’t let anyone mess with Sam.” She glances over at the group of ridiculously attractive brothers who are laughing and talking.
“You’re right, your husband and brothers-in-law will look after him, and that alone makes me feel better. It’s just so hard. It’s like the whole town is watching me to see if I’m doing as good of a job as my mom at keeping an eye on my brother and my dad. I can never really live up to my mom’s level of success at home and in the workplace, but I’m trying not to let her down. I keep waiting for her ghost to wake me up at night, angry because I missed something or screwed up.”
“Oh, Collins. Your mom was already so proud of you. She bragged on you all the time. Your dad is the same. Relax and be you. Enjoy being home amongst the people who’ve known you your whole life. The same ones who love and care about you. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Your family and friends are all proud of you.”
I leave the party feeling both lighter and more anxious. What Emerson and Desi said makes sense and I know in my heart I haven’t given Keegan a chance. There was no way I was going to admit that I already ran that background check on Keegan as soon as he hired Sam. Of course, to make me feel worse, he came up clean. I just didn’t tell her that because it would have made me seem like a bigger jerk. The anticipation of my apology will eat at me until it’s done. Will he even accept it or will he just think I’m a bitch and write me off? For Sam’s sake, we need to get along.
I decide to stop at the bar and have a drink before I call it a night. Being a Saturday night, it’s busy. I work my way through the room and am almost to the bar when my eyes fall on Keegan. Of course he’s not alone. Chrysanthemum, or Chris, as she calls herself these days, is snuggled up to him. My stomach dips and a little ache invades my chest. I knew that was the kind of woman he goes for. Why does that knowledge hurt so much? Sure, I’m attracted to him, but that doesn’t mean it should matter to me who he dates or sleeps with or whatever. He irritates me, so it really shouldn’t matter.
I take a couple more steps, determined to sit down and have that drink I wanted, but hesitate again. If I sit down and he sees me, he will think I’m following him and with everything else that has gone down tonight, I will look like a bigger bitch than I already do. If I go over to apologize now, there is no telling how he will take it. Crap. I need to give up on getting a drink and go home. I can find him tomorrow or the next day. I don’t want to be a witness to the Keegan and Chris foreplay show that looks about to start.
Two days later, before most of the town is up and moving, I head to the gym to find Keegan. I haven’t slept well and I keep telling myself that it’s because I feel bad for being so rude, but if I’m even a little bit honest with myself, part of it is because I keep picturing him in bed with Chris. The thought of that makes me so queasy.
My shift starts in an hour, so I need to get on with this and make amends for my brother’s sake. My stomach is churning a little bit and my hands are extra clammy. I was such a jerk that I’ll be surprised if he’ll even talk to me.
Now that everything is set up inside, it has the boxing gym vibe. The cavernous warehouse-type room is wall-to-wall cement. Not much different from the boxing gyms you see on television. There are two boxing rings on the far side of the room and two more areas marked off for future rings. On the side of the room closest to me, a guy lying on a bench grunts as he pushes a bar full of weights up, and I can’t see him to know if I know him or not. The guy leaning over him, spotting him, is Clint, the town gym rat. I grew up with him and although we don’t hang out now, we did in high school. He’s too focused to see me.
In the corner and up a flight of stairs to a loft, there are several different types of punching bags hanging up. Mounted on the wall next to the stairs on one side, are chin-up bars and using them are two guys I recognize from around town. They’re struggling to pull themselves up. I give them credit for trying though. Hell, even as fit as I am, I can’t do chin-ups with ease. On the other side of the stairs is the heavy bag Keegan was hanging the day I met him.
I continue to scan the room and find what I’m looking for. A room with windows that face the gym and a sign that says office. The door is wide open so I slide into the doorway and find Keegan seated at his desk, his brow furrowed in concentration as he stares at his computer screen. I clear my throat to alert him of my presence.
As soon as his head comes up, his eyes register the question, what am I doing here, and he leans back. His triceps, forearms and biceps all flex and bulge as he crosses his arms over his chest. He’s muscled eye candy for sure. Dear Lord, this guy is hot. I mentally slap myself. That is not something I should be noticing. I’m here to apologize for being a bitch. Hell, I don’t even like this guy.
“Hey,” I say more quietly than I mean to.
He doesn’t respond, but his eyebrows rise to his hairline and his head tilts. He’s not going to make this easy on me. Just spit it out and quit making it hard on yourself.
“Look, I’m sorry. I misjudged you. It wasn’t fair. I know that.” Still nothing from him. He’s loving this. I know he is, but I can’t help but continue. “To explain a little though, I’ve always been protective of Sam. Kids can be cruel, some adults can be even worse and well, I…” I stumble and search for more to say. It seems like it would be self-explanatory. Why isn’t it?
Finally, as I stand there uncomfortable and chewing my lip, trying to figure out what more I can say, he lets me off the hook. “I get it. Sam’s a good guy, but he’s trusting. Probably too trusting. I will work with him on that. I don’t want him to get taken advantage of either. But, I think I’ve proven so far that I won’t do anything to hurt him. In fact, it’s just the opposite; I won’t let anyone else do it either. He’s become a fast and loyal friend and I feel the same for him.”
“I know; it’s obvious, and I should have chilled out when I realized it.” Maybe he’s going to be cool about this. He seems to understand. “Can we start over?”
The corner of his mouth tips up and a dent appears in his cheek that’s too long to be considered a dimple, but is just as charming. “Sure.”
I’m rendered speechless with how handsome he is now that I’m not busy hating and questioning his motives. Obviously, I noticed earlier that he’s hot, and by pulling the blinders of hate off, he jumped up a few more notches on the sexy meter. After a few quiet seconds of me staring oddly at him, the awkwardness grows. Unable to stand it any longer, I take a step back. “Okay, well, um, I need to get to work, so I will, um, see you around.”
“Wait, Collins,” he stops me. “I planned to start teaching him self-defense this week. I want him to be able to defend himself, just in case. He likes his time walking around town by himself and it would make me feel better.”
“Do you think he’s capable of learning and utili
zing those skills? He’s not in the best of shape. Sam has the typical Down’s syndrome body—short and round with no muscle tone. Not ideal for physical activity.
“You and I both know self-defense is not about what shape a person is in. It’s how you react when someone attacks. If he has the skills, he has a better chance at helping himself, and yes, I believe he’s capable of learning and executing those maneuvers.”
“Okay, thank you. I appreciate it.”
“No problem.” He grins and that dent in his cheek forms again. I turn and leave before I do something stupid like reach out and run my thumb along that indent in his cheek.
Seven
Keegan
Collins Sutton will be the death of me. If it isn’t her attitude, it will be her round, tight ass and muscular little arms. That police uniform is ugly as sin but not the way she wears it. Women who are not only in shape but also intelligent and caring, are the ones I’m attracted to. Not to mention, I love her brand of sass. It was all I could do not to stand up and kiss her when she stood there struggling through her apology. You could tell she’s had to make amends for that redheaded temper more than once and it still makes her uncomfortable as hell. I almost laughed at her. What really got me though, was the softness in her eyes when I told her I’d teach her brother self-defense. At first it was fear, and then when realization set in, it was total sweetness. You don’t get a better combo than a woman who loves her family fiercely, but also has a soft heart underneath that tough exterior.
Two hours pass with me trying to work on marketing, which is almost fruitless because I suck at this sort of thing. Sam walks through the door with his usual jolly smile and greeting. After he punches in, he turns to me to do his handshake. “Keegan, I wore my other clothes so we could work out today.”
“I see that. Good job. I will be ready to start after you throw the load of towels in the washer and put out clean ones. Are you nervous?”
“No, I’m pretty tough.” You have to respect a man with confidence. I chuckle, because I believe him. He’s an adult with Down’s syndrome. I’m sure life hasn’t been easy, but he keeps on going with a smile on his face.
“Okay, great. Get to work and let me know when you’re done.”
Sam leaves the room and I turn back to the computer with a sigh. Not even five minutes later, Grady Malone shows up in my doorway with some black smudges on his face, sleepy eyes, and the faint scent of smoke coming from him.
“Long night?”
“Yeah, some kids partying on the edge of town started a brush fire and it took all night to contain it. But we got it. Around here you can’t be too careful.”
“Damn, man, that sucks.”
“Yeah, but it’s part of the job. I’m about to head home and catch some Z’s. I wanted to sign up to use the gym. You still talking about starting a boxing league?”
“Yeah, in the next couple of weeks.”
“I’m in. I’ve never boxed, except horsing around with my brothers, but I’m ready to give it a shot.”
“Sounds good. Let me grab your paperwork for membership. You can bring it back if you need to head home now.”
“Nah, sounds like my wife was up all night, writing songs and listening to the scanner, so I don’t want to wake her too early when I get there.”
“What’s it like being married to a famous singer-songwriter?”
“Awesome, best decision I ever made.”
“I bet. She’s got a great voice, that’s for sure.”
He sits down to fill out the paperwork at the little desk on the back wall of my office as I go back to researching marketing ideas. When he’s done, he comes up behind me.
“What’re you working on?”
“Trying to find some marketing ideas for the gym. I need to figure out how to bring more people in. Get more people interested in boxing in general. MMA has stolen some of boxing’s thunder in the last decade and I need to make it more appealing to the general public. It sucks. I’ve never had to worry about this kind of crap before.”
“That would suck. Not my forte. I’ll ask my wife if she has any ideas. She’s pretty creative.”
“I couldn’t ask that. She’s busy.”
“Nah, it’s no big deal. She may not even be able to help, but it’s worth a try.”
“Okay, cool, you can bring her by if you want. Thanks, man. I’ll take all the help available.”
I have another frustrating half hour before Sam returns. “Okay, Keegan. I’m ready to fight.”
I can’t help but laugh out loud. “We aren’t going to fight anyone. I’m going to teach you how to defend yourself in case someone tries to hurt you.”
“I can just punch them in the head.”
“No, that hurts and is probably not very effective. Have you ever had to do that before?”
“Once in first grade. I got in a lot of trouble, but he was being mean.”
“Did he get in trouble for being mean?”
“Yeah. When am I going to learn to do the boxing too?”
“You want to learn to box?” I ask, surprised.
“I don’t want anyone hitting me, but I want to have a power punch like you.”
“Well, if you pay attention and work hard during our self-defense lessons this week, I will start you working on using the heavy bag to develop your own power punch.”
His grin is huge and I know I’ve made him happy. I don’t think his motor skills are good enough for the speed bag, so maybe teaching him proper technique with the heavy bag will do the trick.
The next two days pass in a blur of new clients, many of whom want private boxing lessons, and me working with Sam. He’s learning and getting better every day with the self-defense skills I’m teaching. I love working with him. He’s so damn resilient, strong-willed, and determined to be the best student I’ve ever had. By Monday, I’m going to have to start working with him on the heavy bag like I promised, because once he gets something in his mind, he’s relentless about getting it. He’s asked me no less than ten times a day for the last three days to get started on that.
At lunchtime, I walk with Sam to the diner where he meets Collins every week. If I’m being honest, I chose to meet Grady and his wife here at this same time so I could get a glimpse of Collins. She’s been on my mind since she showed up at my office to apologize, and I think maybe I’ve built her up to be something more special than she is. I know she’s pretty, but not so pretty that I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Maybe it’s because she’s not throwing herself at my feet. Whatever it is, I can’t stop thinking of her.
Sam enters first and heads straight to the same booth I sat with them in before. Though I spot Grady and his wife over in the opposite corner, I pause at their table to greet Collins and Wade.
“How’s work today?”
“So far, so good,” Wade answers with a grin. He offers his hand to shake and I take it before making eye contact with Collins. “Make sure Sam tells you about all the stuff he’s learning. He’s a great student. This guy is tough as nails.” I playfully and lightly punch Sam in the shoulder.
“Watch out, Keegan. I have moves to drop you now.” We all bust up laughing. Most things for Sam are literal, so when he cracks a joke, it’s funnier.
“We’ll see. Just keep up the hard work and don’t get too cocky!”
“Thank you,” Collins mouths over his head so he can’t hear. I lift my chin and stride toward the back corner, replaying the shape her lips took when they formed the word you. What I wouldn’t give to feel those lips against me in various places right about now.
I slide into the booth opposite of Grady and Dylan, where Dylan has an iced water and a pad of paper in front of her. Both greet me with smiles and an introduction to Dylan. I’ve been in the presence of hundreds of celebrities—you wouldn’t believe the following boxing has amongst celebrities—but none just face-to-face in a friendly, laid-back way like this. Dylan is sexy in a rocker chick kind of way. She has a little bit of an edge
to her, but only an idiot would deny her beauty and instant charm.
“So let’s jump right in. I’m working on writing music for a new album and want to get back while I’m feeling the flow.”
“You didn’t need to break to meet with me. Your album is much more important than this little thing.”
“No way. I needed to stop and see my husband for a little bit and get a bite to eat. Besides, their patty melt is to die for and I’m hungry. So, I don’t know a ton about marketing and advertising, but I know a little. First, I think I should ask, are you wanting everyone in town to work out there or just the people looking at boxing?”
“I wouldn’t mind it being more than a boxing gym, but I’d like to keep my clients in line with that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I don’t want one of those multi-level, upscale workout gyms with a bunch of people in matching workout gear trying to get as much attention as they can, rather than a quality workout. But I would like it to be used for more than just boxing. I was thinking of hiring a kickboxing instructor for cardio classes, and I’m starting an amateur boxing league.”
