Denying The Bad Boy (Tattooed and Pierced #2) (15 page)

“Wouldn’t have thought you had a
mouth like that on you, Mary.”
The way he said her name gave
her chills. He looked ready to explode, like he was barely hanging on to his
control. Maybe she should have been frightened, but all she did was thrust a
book at him and tell him what page to turn it to. Mary forgot about everything
else and started going over the material in the book. For the next hour Mary didn’t
make eye contact with him, but she sure as hell felt his stare all the way
through her, and because of that she was even more determined to keep her
distance. That was easier every time she thought about those scratches he wore.

****

Alex stared at Mary sitting on his living room
floor. It had been a week since she had come to his house, surprising the shit
out of him, considering the douche-bag way he acted toward her at Tainted. Her
mouth was moving, but all he could concentrate on was how fucking hot she was. He
still felt shame that she had seen scratch marks on his back from the night of
sex he didn’t even remember, and although it had been seven days since that
happened, he still felt gross about it, and ashamed that he had worn the damn
things like some kind of scarlet letter. Then his thoughts morphed into the
night he’d had her pressed against the wall at Tainted. He could still smell
her, that underlying scent of sweat mixed with the light, floral perfume she
wore. He had been so fucking hard, and just thinking about it now made him
harder yet. Even now, when she only wore a pair of shorts and a loose fitting
t-shirt he found himself shifting on his seat, trying to alleviate his hard-on.

“Alex, are you even listening to me?” He snapped his
eyes from where he had been looking: at her perfectly rounded breasts. Her
attitude over the last week had been icy, but she was slowly starting to talk
to him in a voice that wasn’t monotone and filled with distaste.

“What?” Fuck, his damn voice cracked like he was
some kind of teenager going through puberty. He cleared his throat and leaned
forward so he was resting his forearms on his thighs. “I’m listening.”

No, he wasn’t, but she didn’t need to know that.
Over the last week he had caught on to the basics of what this class was really
about, and knew he had been so off about the subject matter that he was
actually embarrassed by the fact.

“Yeah?”
She
crossed her arms and arched a perfectly shaped dark eyebrow.

Shit, he really wished she wouldn’t do that because
all it accomplished was plumping up her breasts, and showing him a nice shot of
cleavage. When he didn’t answer and was finally able to tear his gaze from her
chest, it was to see her blue eyes snapping with challenge. When she didn’t
tell him to fuck off and keep his eyes to himself, he felt a little high, and
decided to see how far he could push it. It was a dumbass move on his part,
seeing as she was just now starting to talk to him in a not tutorial way. He
let his eyes travel down her legs, and stopped when he saw the fabric of her
shorts gap at the junction of her thighs.
Fucking hell.
Rubbing his hand
over his jaw he averted his eyes, knowing that he was just working himself up
for no reason, and if he didn’t get his arousal under control she would no
doubt see the wood he was sporting.

“Yeah.”
He looked
at her again and smirked. “You were talking about the rise of proximity in
underdeveloped countries.” She didn’t show any reaction, and he was pretty damn
proud of himself for being able to pull that answer out of his ass when his
thoughts had been on much more pleasant things. He had seen her the past three
days in a row, and only had one more week of tutoring before he was going with
her to her sister’s wedding.

Every time he saw her he found himself wanting her
that much more, and each time she looked into his eyes he wanted to tell her he
was sorry for the way he treated her at the club, that he had acted like an
ass, but that he had tried to make a point, that he was worthless when it came to
being the kind of guy a girl like her deserved. He wanted to tell her he was
sorry, but every time the words came forth she would look at him, shake her
head like she knew what he was going to say, and finishing talking about a
subject he could care less about. He just wanted to know more about her, and
found himself aching to ask her where she came from, if she had any siblings,
and other things that he had never cared about when confronted with the
opposite sex. He was in uncharted territory right now, and had no idea how to
navigate when it came to trying to be a decent
guy,
and not one that was just looking for another one-night stand.

He had fucked up, and what sucked even more was the
knowledge that if she hadn’t come to his house, and been the bigger person, she
wouldn’t be sitting in front of him right now because he was too much of a
stubborn asshole. He would have blocked her out, gone on with his life, and
always wished he had done it differently. He only had a short time left,
because he knew after his mid-terms she would want nothing to do with him, and
that realization hurt like a bitch.

Chapter
Twelve

“I don’t know about this, Darcy.” Mary held her gym
bag tighter as she walked down the shady looking alley that apparently was how
to get to this incredible, but secret gym owned by a former MMA fighter. Darcy
looked over her shoulder and smiled.

“Of course.
Mica
told me how to get here.” Mary swallowed and looked around. It was still
daylight, but that didn’t mean safety was guaranteed, especially when downtown.

Apparently Darcy and the pierced guy, Mica, she had
been dancing with at Tainted had hit it off. They had been talking for the last
week, sometimes several times a day. It was sickening to watch, but Mary also
saw how happy Darcy was. Yeah, it may have only been a week, but Darcy went
through men as fast as she did underwear. That didn’t mean she looked down at
her friend, because even if she might have been the equivalent of Alex when it
came to being experienced in sex, she didn’t have an arrogant air around her
like he did. The sidewalk beneath their feet was cracked and even missing in
some parts. A few dumpsters were lined up to their left, and a door slammed
open right as they walked by it. A heavy set man wearing a greasy apron shuffled
out with a large black trash bag slung over his shoulder. His gut protruded
under the dirty material. He eyed them suggestively for a moment before he
walked over to one of the dumpsters and tossed the bags into it.

This whole situation gave Mary the chills. She
should have stayed home, or at least just gone to the gym she normally did by
campus, but of course Darcy had talked her into coming to this great gym that
only the serious trainers went to. Mary wasn’t a serious trainer, though.

“I can see the place.” Darcy pointed to a building a
short distance away. Mary looked over her shoulder, saw their car growing more distant,
and shook her head.

“Why couldn’t we just drive to the front entrance?”

“Because Mica said it’s a bitch getting back on the main
road since it’s a one-way street and they’re doing construction. He said going
through here is a straight shot to the facility. Besides,” Darcy looked over
her shoulder and grinned again, “This alley is just used for the restaurant,
and a few boutiques. He told me to call him when we got here, but I don’t want
him thinking I need him for everything.” Mary rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know why you didn’t since you guys talk on
the phone ten times a day.”

“You’re being dramatic. Come on.”

Ugh, she was so missing the point.

“Only girls asking for trouble go down back alleys
because some guy told them it was okay.”

Darcy snorted but didn’t turn around. “If you pick
up the pace we will get there sooner.” They broke through the alley and stood
right across the street from the front doors of what didn’t look like a
training facility.

“You sure this is the gym?”

Darcy looked both ways, then reached back and took
her hand again, and all but dragged her across the street. “Yeah, I told you,
unless you know about this place you would never know it was here.”

“And why did you feel the need to come here because
a guy you met last week said it was the place to go?” Mary also didn’t point
out that Darcy didn’t even like exercising, and compared it to getting kicked
in the crotch.

“Because I need to get rid of my
muffin top, and besides.”
She stopped and looked Mary right in
the eye, which had her stopping also. “I really like him. He isn’t like the
other guys.”
Before Mary could respond on that Darcy
continued talking.
“I know I’ve said that about others, but Mica makes
me feel things that I have never felt. He makes me laugh, holds my hand instead
of trying to get in my pants, and won’t even have sex with me until we know
each other better.” That had Mary’s eyebrows lifting. “I know, crazy, huh?”
Darcy smiled broadly. “I really like him, Mary.” They stared at each other for
a moment, and Mary smiled in return. “Besides, you’re always complaining about
that gym you go to, how it’s always crowded and the guys there are inflated to
the max.”

Yeah, Darcy was right. Mary didn’t bother reminding
Darcy, again, that she had only known Mica for a week, because her friend was
elated, and who in the hell was Mary to pop her happy balloon? She looked at
the building again. It looked rough. A look to her right showed construction
going on, and to her left showed the busy main street. Okay, so Mica had been
right about it probably being a bitch to drive right to the door, but still,
that didn’t make her feel any better about walking down that creepy ass
alleyway, or into a building that looked shady.

Darcy was right about the gym Mary went to. It was
overcrowded, filled with guys that looked like their muscles were about to
explode out of their skins, and attitudes that matched a fresh pile of dog
shit. She tilted her head back and stared at the tall, red brick building. It
was similar to other older buildings in Columbus, with its aged look and
standard box-like structure.

“All right, then, come on.” Darcy pulled her forward
and into the building. The air conditioning hit Mary in the face right away,
but it was the sounds of men grunting, curses ringing out, and low, steady
thumping of music playing overhead that drew her attention. She leaned in close
and whispered into Darcy’s ear.

“Are you sure women even come here?” She couldn’t
see the main workout room since there was a wall separating the small, front
office, but the pictures hanging behind the front desk showed a lot of men
posing as if they were in some kind of UFC match. A beefy man wearing a tank
top glanced up from his computer screen and eyed them both. Darcy stepped
forward and leaned against the counter.

“Mica recommended this place.” From Mary’s
standpoint she could see the skeptical look on the guy’s face. He was tanned,
but naturally, not the fake and bake look. His dark hair was in spikes around
his head, and he had what seemed to be the standard tribal-like tattoos around
both of his muscular biceps.

“Mica told you to come here?”

Darcy nodded and stepped away from the counter.

“Hold up.” He picked up a phone and waited before he
started speaking in it. “
Yo
, I got two birds here
saying Mica told them about Frost.”

Birds?
Did
he seriously just call them that? After listening to whatever the person on the
other end said he hung up and motioned them forward with a crook of his finger.

“Boss says you’re good to go, but you need to fill
out the waivers.”

They each took a form, handed him their IDs to make
copies, and sat down on the fold-out chairs off to the side. The waiver was
similar to the one she was required to fill out at the gym she normally went
to, and pretty much said if she got hurt at Frost they weren’t liable for any injuries.
After they finished filling the forms out he took them around back to a small
door. Inside were a line of blue lockers on either side of them where they
could put their things. He left them after explaining that going out the door
straight ahead would lead them to the main work-out room.

“God, what was with that guy?” Mary
said,
which had Darcy laughing.

“I don’t know, but did you hear him call us birds?”
That had Mary laughing, too, and her irritation leaving. “I mean what a pig.”
They grabbed their towels, tightened their ponytails, and headed out. As soon
as Mary stepped out into the main floor she stopped, which caused Darcy to run
right into her back. She stumbled forward and looked around. This certainly
wasn’t like any gym she had ever been to. In the center of the room was a boxing
ring. Off to the right were several punching bags that hung from the ceiling,
and to the left was a line of the standard workout equipment: treadmills,
weights,
ellipticals
, and blue mats that covered the
ground. But those things weren’t what had Mary realizing she was totally out of
her element. She saw only one woman working out, but she was ripped beyond
belief, and could easily hold her own up against the muscle that filled the
room. The men were mostly shirtless, with sweat dripping down their hard
bodies, and looks of steely determination on their faces. This wasn’t a gym
where beefed up guys came to work-out and pick up women. No, this place was for
the serious fighters, the ones that were all about the art of the sport and
weren’t about to be screwing around with anything else.