Her Anchor (30 page)

“However, I got that name because I’m a guaranteed loss. Easily slain I suppose. With the last name ‘Lane,’ it was pretty simple for them.” He looked down at the ground and shook his head. A man in a suit walked over and called out to him using his full name. He looked up and turned to Melissa. “I’ll be right back.”

Melissa watched as Thomas strode away. She found it hard to believe that someone his size could ever lose. He was easily a few inches over six foot and couldn’t be considered a heavy weight. He had long arms and she could tell that his legs were steady like tree trunks.

He leaned down to listen to what the man whispered into his ear and he nodded. Melissa watched his face fall as the man walked away. Thomas made his way back over and brought over a server with him. He stood in front of their whole group and got all the girls’ attentions.

“Ladies, this is Freddie. He’s always been my server, he’s the best in the business. Your drinks for the rest of the night are on me, so don’t worry about that.” He turned to Sarah. “Enjoy your last few nights as a single woman. It’s a shame to see you go before I even got to meet you.” All the ladies loudly swooned.

He then turned to Melissa and handed her a piece of paper. “I’m sorry to cut off our chat. I’d love to see you later tonight.” Melissa nodded and looked down at the piece of the paper. The name of a bar and a phone number were written on it. Sarah leaned over and read it as well.

“You should go.” Melissa shook her head and put the paper inside her pocket.

“No, I’m here for you. Not some random guy.” Sarah playfully slapped Melissa.

“That’s not the Melissa I know and love. You go and have fun. You’ve already done your part to make this evening great.” Melissa laughed and they hugged. Melissa stood up and chased down Thomas as he went to leave. She reached out and grabbed his arm, slipping hers under it.

“Mind if I join?”

****

It seemed like wherever they went there were always a few people who threw a smile or a thumbs up in the direction of Thomas. He didn’t seem to be too bothered by it, but it was obvious that it affected him a bit.

He led Melissa in silence off of the strip and they ended up at a small bar that seemed like only the locals would know about its location. She had to imagine that this was exactly why he liked the place. He held the door open for her and they entered together.

Melissa was greeted to a round of cheers as Thomas walked in. She turned to see his reaction and he played it off as if this was the usual response he got whenever he walked in. He held up two fingers for the bartender who nodded and reached down to grab two glasses out from beneath the counter.

Thomas’ strong hands led Melissa to a booth in the corner by the small of her back. She didn’t like when men did this, but with Thomas it seemed different. It seemed almost as if it wasn’t an order, but a strong suggestion. They sat down and a waiter set down two whiskeys in front of them. Thomas thanked the waiter and he walked away.

“So, you’ve got a bit of a reputation,” Melissa said taking a sip of her drink. “It’s cute.” Thomas laughed and took a sip as well, his cheeks flushing a bit.

“Yeah, I like it here. They know me from back in the day.” He waved at two older gentlemen as he said this who stood up and began to walk over. Melissa looked up at them as they got to the table.

Both were easily in their seventies and had thick, leathery skin like they had spent about ten years too many in the sun. She looked towards Thomas who was silently shaking his head at them.

“Oh, what’s this, you don’t want us talking to your lady friend?” The first man slid into the booth beside Melissa, the other slid in next to Thomas. “It’s been a long time since he’s brought a lady in here,” the man said nudging Melissa. She chuckled and continued to drink her whiskey without saying anything.

“How much have you two had to drink,” Thomas inquired as they both slumped into their seats.

“Not enough, that’s for sure,” the second man chimed in. He hiccupped after that and leaned into Thomas, whispering. “So, tomorrow’s a sure thing, right?” The first man reaches across the table and smacks the man lightly across the face, getting his attention.

“Hey, watch your mouth, Bill.” The man turned back toward Thomas who was shaking his head again. “Listen, I’m sorry, Tommy. He’s drunk. It won’t happen again.”

The man quickly stood up and grabbed the second man who was drunkenly making his case for why he said what he had said. Melissa turned and watched Thomas’ face as they walked away.

“What was that about? What did he mean by ‘a sure thing,’” Melissa asked as Thomas finished his whiskey. He looked back at Melissa with a smile on his face.

“Bill gets drunk and forgets that fights are set weeks in advance. He keeps thinking that I’ll back out of my fight,” he motioned for the bartender, pointing at his glass. “But there’s nothing to worry about. Tomorrow around this time I will be getting the shit kicked out of me.” He swore under his breath quietly when the next drink came out.

They sat in silence for a few minutes and drank slowly. Melissa had the sinking feeling that Thomas was keeping something from her. She knew that they had only met that night but she never liked when people held things back.

She was the type of woman that lived spontaneously and didn’t believe in not speaking her mind. There wouldn’t be time to do it later, she needed to live in the moment. Melissa worked up the courage to ask him what was really going on and as she went to speak, Thomas interrupted her.

“Hey, do you wanna go back to my place? It’s only right around the corner. It’s nothing fancy, but I’ve got a few beers there.” Melissa nodded and they both stood up to go and pay the tab. The bartender called out to Thomas as he stood up and reached for his wallet.

“Tommy, don’t worry about it, bud. You’ll pay me tomorrow.” The bartender winked and Thomas turned silently towards the door. Melissa would get to the bottom of this.

****

Thomas wasn’t lying when he said his apartment was right around the corner. Melissa and Thomas turned out of the bar and within twenty steps they were already at his front door. Thinking back she realized that she hadn’t had much to eat and was really feeling the drinks she had had.

Thomas unlocked the door and Melissa felt herself reach out to grab him and hold on. Her hands gripped his bicep and she felt his muscles tense slightly. Once the door was open his arm extended and grabbed her by the hip, holding her up.

She felt his fingers slip inside the belt loops on her pants. He flicked on the light and tossed his keys onto the table the stood next to the door. Melissa’s eyes took a minute to adjust but as they did she was surprised to see boxing trophies and awards lining the walls. She broke off from him and made her way towards the wall. She gripped the couch for balance as she inspected the different awards.

Her eyes swept over the various newspaper clippings and framed paper awards. The different headlines all read something different, but along the same line. Thomas Lane was once a prize fighter. She turned to look at him and saw him leaning against the wall, a frown firmly entrenched on his face.

“But if this is you then-” Thomas nodded.

“Yeah, I fought a lot when I was younger. My dad had a bit of a reputation around town and that meant that I got made fun of a lot at school. I realized early on that I was bigger than most kids and that the fastest way to get somebody to stop talking was to break their jaw.” He looked down at his feet and shook his head.

“As you can imagine that didn’t go over too well and I ended up spending some time in juvenile detention. While I was inside my dad got involved in gambling and got more heavily into drinking. By the time I got out I was sixteen and needed to get a job to pay the bills.”

“That’s when you started boxing?” Melissa pointed at a picture of a young boy, posed like Muhammad Ali over another child. Thomas laughed.

“That was my first professional fight. Knockout in the first round. I went to school with that kid and he said something about my dad when we touched gloves. Two hits was all it took.” He chuckled under his breath.

“Walked away with one thousand dollars. I made the mistake of telling my dad, who told me that no kid my age should have that much money.” Thomas looked at his feet again. “He lost it all as fast as I had won it.” Thomas got off the wall and walked towards the wall.

“That right there is when I won and decided not to tell my dad about the money, I would just pay the bills and give him enough money to think I had a job,” he said pointing towards a picture of him with his hand being held up by an official.

“I ended up fighting until I was twenty-one. I had a great record too. In the fifty fights I had, I had forty-two wins. Twenty-two of them by knockout.” Thomas reached out and pulled a picture off of the wall and handed it to Melissa.

“This was the first fight my dad came to. I found out after the fact that he bet on me and ended up winning twenty thousand dollars. Incidentally, it was the last time I boxed.” He took it from her and hung it back up.

“My father already had enough of a reason to hate me. I went to juvenile detention, I never got my high school degree, he constantly told me I was the reason my mom left when I was in high school. I didn’t want to lose a key fight and have him lose money too.” Thomas paced the room and ended up seated on the couch.

“That was when he told me that he owed money to some old school mobsters. Breaking knees and what not. He had a plan to win back the money though. I get into the UFC, win a few fights so the odds are in my favor, then tank.” Melissa stood in silence as he spoke.

“He paid them back in full after that first loss. Put every penny we had into that bet and we came out on top. Apparently the mob wasn’t thrilled that they didn’t have my dad on their leash anymore though. Found out that he made the money on a dive by me and-” Thomas’ eyes fell to the floor and Melissa crossed the room to sit next to him.

“You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to,” Melissa said comfortingly. She rubbed his neck with one hand and allowed the other to rest on his arm. Thomas reached out with one hand and placed it atop hers.

“They killed him. And now I work for them. Because if the league finds out that I take the dive and I’ve made money off of it I’ll get barred from the division and I can face jail time. So, there are a few people in town who know which fights I’ll fold on.

They get their info from somebody and then they come to me to make sure that I won’t bail on it. A lot of people rely on me to fail. It’s a weird feeling; people being happy to see me lose. I just hope my dad would have been proud of what he did.” Thomas hung his head and Melissa reached up, lifting his chin.

“It’s not about him anymore. It’s about you. What do you want to do?” Melissa stared into his eyes and watched as the gears in his head turned, slightly slower due to the alcohol. She watched his lips part as if he was going to say something, but instead he leaned forward and kissed her.

Their lips connected and Melissa felt her eyes close. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but rather one where her body took control. The thought went through her head and immediately she felt her hands moving to his chest.

One hand gripped at his shirt, her fingers latching to the fabric, bunching it up between them. Her other hand slid from his neck up into his hair. Her nails parted it like a comb and she felt him moan into her lips as she did it. His hands weren’t far behind hers though.

One hand flew to Melissa’s lower back, the same place it had been before, except this time it was no longer suggesting. His strong hands pulled her into his chest. Their bodies melding together. His other hand reached for her jaw, his thumb resting near her throat.

In one swift motion, Thomas guided Melissa down onto her back. She didn’t fight it, his muscles now pressed against her body even more. His lips moved from hers and he positioned her head up, allowing him to kiss her neck.

His tongue and lips danced across her tender neck and after a moment she felt his teeth nibbling at her. She giggled and tried to pull away, but Thomas held her in place as he continued. Her hands trailed off and reached to the bottom of his shirt, trying to pull it off.