RUNNING GAME (A SECOND CHANCE SPORTS ROMANCE) (86 page)

T
he press conference was a spectacle
. The room they held the event in was easily big enough for a thousand people. The place was packed. They had us situated up on a stage sitting behind a long table. I was on one end and Simmons was on the other. In between us were a couple of my people, the promoter, and a few members of his management team whose names I couldn’t remember. Behind us was a small army of security guards in case things got heated.

I stared out at the crowd. The first few rows were filled with members of the press. They held their phones up in the air like little robots, all so they could capture the perfect quote for the articles they’d no doubt be writing later.

Every other spectator was either a friend or family member of Simmons or a fan of mixed martial arts. Damn near every one of them was waving to get my attention.

“Okay, gentlemen,” said the wormy bald-headed promoter. I didn’t even like the feeling of his name rattling around in my brain. “We’re ready to get started. As you all know on my right is our champion, Mr. Eric Simmons!”

The crowd put up a weak applause. Simmons waved like he’d just been crowned prom queen.

“And on my right is the challenger in this fight… Mr. Luke Greer!”

The crowd blew up with cheers. It wasn’t often a challenger outpaced a champ in popularity but I had gained somewhat of a cult following for my no bullshit approach to things.

I didn’t respond to questions with the same stock answers that most athletes gave. I said what was on my mind.

People were used to hearing guys say things like ‘I gave one hundred and ten percent’ or ‘First I’d like to thank God for the opportunity…”

Blah, blah, blah. That was all bullshit that’s been said millions of times.

I speak the truth.

When someone asks me about my training, I’ll tell them straight up how it’s going. If they ask me about my opponent, I’ll let them know I’m going in there to kill or be killed and I couldn’t give less of a shit about what anybody thinks.

I wanted people to know that this carried more weight than your typical sport. This was about two men getting in a cage to fight until only one was left standing. You’re not supposed to like your opponent. You’re supposed to destroy them. Knock out or submission. You leave a winner, or you leave broken.

“At this point, we’ll go ahead and take some questions. Afterwards, there’ll be plenty of time to get photographs of the guys…”

The dickhead promoter was running his mouth again.

There was a small commotion amongst the press guys and then one was able to speak up above his peers.

“First question is for Simmons. Hey Champ, how do you feel about your opponent’s ability to generate interest in this fight? You’ve been in a lot of title bouts and this one is by far going to bring you your biggest pay day. And most people say that’s due to the drawing power of Luke Greer.”

Simmons fumbled with his microphone stand like it was his first time doing one of these things. When he finally did speak, he was about as eloquent and charismatic as a bullfrog.

“Well, uh, yeah. Luke Greer is an exciting young fighter and, ya know, but I’m the champion and my experience is what I think is going to win this fight for me. I’m the much more experienced fighter.”

He didn’t even answer the fucking question.

The journalist nodded, expecting more but not getting it. He turned his attention to me.

“Alright. Luke, I want to ask you the same thing. What do you think about your ability to hype up a fight? Why do think people always come out in droves to see you?”

I decided to give him what he was looking for. I pulled the mic to my chin and gave the crowd a sneer. They ate it up.

“I’ll tell you why they come out to see me… It’s because I’m the baddest motherfucker doin’ this.”

Another round of cheers and screams exploded from the crowd.

“Fuck Simmons’ belt,” I yelled into the mic. “I’m the people’s champ!”

I had damn near whipped the place into a frenzy.

“And in less than a month I’m gonna put this dude right on his ass just like the rest of them.”

I jumped up from my seat and flexed for the crowd. They knew my personality and that made my over-the-top pro wrestler shtick that much funnier.

Simmons yelled some gibberish across the table at me so I charged him. Security was on top of their game and they jumped in to separate us. I knew we wouldn’t fight there but the scene would be replayed on all the sports shows and it’d be good for driving up interest. Instead of throwing a punch, I threw up the double middle fingers and that seemed to delight the throngs of people even more.

Simmons had a look on his face like he’d been locked in room with a crazy person. And who knows? Maybe he had been.

The rest of the event played out in similar fashion. I’d say something funny or insulting and he’d stutter for a second then come back with some generic response. An hour and a half later and it was done.

Simmons was hustled away to lick his wounds while I stayed and chatted with the fans. I wanted nothing more than to get back to that hotel room to see my girl but I knew I would have my time.

I signed every last t-shirt and magazine cover in that place. Every fan who wanted a piece of me got it in one way or another. Whether it was a picture or an autograph, or even a phone call to someone’s brother or kid, I did it. These were the people who ultimately paid my fees so it was good business to hang out and make them happy.

It didn’t even bother me that Simmons didn’t stick around to do his part. I’d sell the fight and make it the biggest sports event of the year. It wasn’t an issue. I’d be bigger than him soon. I’d be bigger than all of them.

I
awoke
to the sound of Luke’s voice. He seemed happy and was singing the lyrics to some old soul tune that sounded vaguely familiar.

After talking to Kaitlyn I more or less crashed. Until tonight I had only thought of Kevin as a minor annoyance. But now, he was turning into a full-blown problem.

Why had he been at my house?

Why had he been at my house with a gun?

I didn’t want to stress about it and have it ruin my vacation so I told Kaitlyn not to worry about me, and to update me if anything came of it.

The nap helped to bring down my anxiety but I knew it would be on my mind until I got home. One thing was for sure, I wasn’t going to say a word about it to Luke. The last thing he needed was to deal with my problems. I could tell by some of the looks his entourage was giving me that I wasn’t exactly wanted on this trip. There was no way I was going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me create an issue.

“Brought you somethin’,” Luke said.

He lowered a huge bag of food onto the bedside nightstand. It smelled like heaven.

“It’s Cuban. Supposedly from the best place in the city. I made the driver take me over there to get it on the way back.”

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

“You. Are. The. Best.” I said. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I smelled that food.

“Sorry, I’m later than I thought I was going to be. You should have seen all the fans that came out. It was a hell of a scene. I guess mixed martial arts is getting pretty big down here.”

He was unwrapping some kind of chicken and rice dish that looked like it was straight off the cooking channel.

“How’d it go?”

“About as well as it could have. I think we’re gonna set attendance records this time.”

He pushed the plate of food into my hand. I wasted little time digging into it. In that moment it was the best food I’d ever tasted in my life.

“So you think you’re gonna be a superstar?” I asked through a mouthful of rice.

He laughed and threw himself back on the bed.

“I’m already a superstar. Now I’m about to be a God.”

“Wow. Aren’t you special. You’re not going to make me worship you, are you?”

“You already worship me.”

He had a way about him that I found so intoxicating. He said the craziest things, but he said them with just enough irony in his voice to let you know he was playing a game. In a strange way it made him seem very down to earth.

I set the food on the night stand as Luke let himself fall into bed.

“Can we go to the beach tomorrow? I need a good night’s sleep,” I said, jetlagged and tired.

“I guess travel can really take the wind out of your sales. The beach will always be there. We’ll hit it tomorrow…”

I let his arms swallow me up. Luke started humming that same song again as my eyes closed and my mind drifted. For the first time in a long time I didn’t think about my job. I didn’t worry about Kevin. And I didn’t doubt that I’d found the man that I’d always wanted.

O
n the plane
ride home as I watched her read a book in the seat next to me, I realized something.

I was falling for her.
Big time
.

The past two weeks went by in a blur.

We saw every sight in San Francisco. We hit every club in L.A. We gambled like drunken sailors in Vegas.

The second our plane touched down back in Atlas I knew that I was going to make this work. She showed she could keep up. I didn’t have any doubts about her now.

The biggest fight of my life was on the horizon but I couldn’t push her to the back burner. She wasn’t the type of girl who would put up with it. I would have to work to keep her. To make her mine. That part of her is what drove me so crazy. She was so
driven
. It was like a piece of her personality that had been buried for years was starting to resurface. Maybe she had lost it when she was with her asshole ex. Maybe she had to suppress it because of that mind-numbing job.

Either way, she was finding it and the two of us together would be unstoppable.

I
was looking forward
to going back to work. It was weird, but as I walked toward the office building I couldn’t help but feel excited. There was something about that vacation that put me into gear. I was nervous about taking the bar but now more than ever I felt confident I would pass.

I took the stairs two at a time as I headed toward Jones’ office. I wanted to thank him again for letting me off work. He deserved to know how much good the time had done for me. I wanted to tell him that I was ready to work harder than ever and be a huge asset to the firm.

Luke stayed the night at my place after we got back from the airport. When he dropped me off I could tell he wanted to stay just as much as I wanted him to... We put a movie on and before I knew it we drifted off to sleep.

When I got up for work this morning he was gone. I wasn’t surprised because he told me the last few days of preparation for his fight were going to be intense. He probably went for a run or something. The man was a machine.

Over the past two weeks we talked about our future together. We both wanted to travel and he even talked about kids. I would get my license to practice law and he would continue to fight. Everything seemed to fit so perfectly.

Jones wasn’t in his office. I could see from the top of the stairs that his lights were off. Normally, on Monday mornings he was the first one in the building.

“Hey Christine,” I called to his assistant. “Is Mr. Jones in this morning?”

Christine was probably in her early thirties but carried herself like a much older woman. She wore drab clothes that hung off her skinny frame. To put it mildly, the woman was a strict professional. To put it realistically would be to say that she was an anal retentive, by-the-book, straight-up authoritarian.

Either way, she
wasn’t
my favorite person around the office.

“I’m guessing you haven’t taken the time to check your email this morning, Miss Hudson.”

She pushed her glasses up on her nose the way she always did.

“No. No I didn’t. But I just got back from vacation so I thought I would-.”

“Well if you would have read your email you would already know that Mr. Jones is attending to a personal matter this morning. He’ll be in his office by noon.”

“Oh. Okay. Thank you.”

I started to make my way back down the stairs.

“And Miss Hudson?”

The sound of her voice grated on my nerves.

“Yes?”

“In the future, please be sure to review all company emails at your earliest opportunity. That way we can avoid any further miscommunications.”

“Okay, I’ll be sure to…” but she had already turned to answer her phone.

Sometimes I liked to think about what would happen if I just grabbed the back of that expensive ergonomic chair and rolled her right off the top step.

Would she scream?

Would she curse?

Probably neither. Before she even hit the floor I’m sure she would be writing the memo in her head about how ‘office horse play is strictly forbidden.’ She’d scold the other employees for coming to her aid instead of doing their jobs. Then, she’d direct the EMTs on the proper response and the most efficient way to get to the hospital.

Whatever. She was a good match for Jones’ own extremely detailed ways… And really, not even Christine could bring me down today.

I found my desk buried under a mountain of paperwork. On first glance I guessed it would take me at least two days just to file it all. The other paralegals gave me apologetic looks, yet none of them offered to help me get caught up.

After a few rounds of ‘hellos’ and all the other pleasantries, I settled in for a long day of work. Whenever anyone asked about my vacation I gave them a very vague, ‘PG’ version of events. Nobody seemed to know that I was dating the city’s most famous resident and for now, I intended for it to stay that way.

My phone rang at ten on the dot.

“Wow, Luke. Calling me at work already? I didn’t think you’d be the needy type.”

“Needy? The only thing I ‘needy’ is to fuck you over your boss’s desk after the lights go off.”

I almost spit my coffee out on a stack of depositions.

“Don’t make me laugh while I’m at work. This a serious office with a lot of serious people, apparently. If I start laughing they’re going to know I’m not one of them.”

“Yeah, well, when I first met you I thought
you
were one of the more serious people I’d ever met.”

“Aw, but then you got to know me, didn’t you handsome? Besides, when I met you, I thought you were just another meathead.”

“Ouch. Meathead? That’s pretty rough. How about you buy me lunch today to make up for that little comment?”

“I could do lunch. What time?”

“I’ll pick you up around eleven-thirty.”

“Okay. That’s perfect. I’ll see you then.”

“Sounds good. Bye lawyer.”

“Bye Meathead.”

As I set my phone down I had to take a sly look over my shoulder to make sure no one had been eavesdropping on our conversation. I don’t know why it bothered me to show my personality around this place, but it did.

The time went by in a flash. Before I knew it, Luke was texting to let me know he was on his way. I hadn’t even put a dent in my paperwork.

Purse and coat in hand, I made my way down to the lobby to wait for him.

I was playing around with my phone when he came from behind and slipped his arms around my waist.

“Mmm. It feels like you’re wearing nothing at all under this skirt.”

A cold shiver ran down my spine. It was Kevin.

I tore myself from his grip, swinging my purse at him as I separated.

“What the
fuck
are you doing?” I tried my best to whisper so no one would hear. “I thought you were in jail.”

“They let me out that night. It was all one big misunderstanding. My name is on the lease… Or did you forget that we rented that place together? You don’t go to jail every time you lose your key and get locked out of your home.”

“That’s
not
your home, and you didn’t lose your key. I took it from you!”

“Enough with the games, Bri. It’s time to put our lives back together. You’re not doing yourself any favors by keeping up with this hard to get routine.”

“Are you crazy or just stupid? I don’t want anything to do with you. I can’t say it any plainer than that.”

“I think you should reconsider. It’s in your best interest.” The tone in his voice held a hint of anger.

“Is that supposed to be some kind of threat? You’re not going to pressure me into anything. You shouldn’t even be here.”

I was starting to lose control of my volume. This was a conversation that I really didn’t need right now. Especially at work.

“But, since you are here, do you want to explain to me why you came to my house with a
gun
?”

He took a step toward me with his hands raised in surrender. In the better light I could see a mark right between his eyes from where I’d hit him with the stapler.

“I have a concealed carry permit,” he said as he inched closer. “I
always
have a gun… You never can be too careful. I assure you it’s perfectly legal. The police returned it to me as soon as they got done apologizing for wrongful imprisonment.”

He couldn’t intimidate me like he did last time because there were too many people around. I stepped away from him again, putting a bit of distance between us.

“Wrongful imprisonment? How is getting arrested trying to force your way into
my
house with a fucking gun wrongful imprisonment?”

“Listen, I was-”

“Drunk?” I interrupted.

“No. I was missing you. I wanted to surprise you. And the gun…”

I could see he had a lie prepared. Good lawyers always did.

“The gun,” he continued, “is for my protection. I have a pissed off ex-client who’s gone off his meds and he’s been sending me threatening emails. I keep it with me… just in case, ya know?”

“That’s such a lie and you know it.”

“Well what else was I going to do with it?”

I gasped as he grabbed my wrist with his fingertips digging in hard. “For Christ sakes Bri, do you think I was going to shoot you or something?”

“There you are beautiful!”

Luke stepped between the two of us, knocking Kevin back and causing him to lose his grip. He turned calmly, cupping my chin in his hands. I hadn’t even seen him coming.

“Hey Bro,” said Kevin, “I don’t know where the fuck you grew up but you don’t just step in between two people while they’re talking.”

Luke stared thoughtfully into my eyes. In that moment, Kevin seemed about as insignificant as a house fly.

“I’m all about going to that pop-up around the corner. Their whole menu is pretty healthy. I think I can get salmon there.”

“Hey! Asshole! Can you hear me? We were in the middle of something.”

Kevin was seething.

“Good. Let’s go,” I said, taking his arm and pulling toward the door. I wanted to be anywhere other than here.

Kevin quickly side-stepped to cut us off. Luke stayed as cool as a cucumber.

“Where do you think you’re going? I don’t know if your ears work or not but WE ARE HAVING A CONVERSATION.” He said it obnoxiously, making sure to exaggerate the movement of his mouth on every word.

Luke continued to move us away.

“And since you seem fucking dense, I’ll need you to keep your hand off my girlfriend’s fucking hip.” He reached out and slapped Luke’s hand off of me.

I waited for Luke to say something but he just stood there with an amused look on his face. He put his arm back around my waist.

“Kevin! Enough!” I snapped.

By this time people were taking notice. Everyone from the janitor to Clara at the front desk had an ear on our conversation while they pretended to work.

“If you don’t get the hell out of here right now I’ll have security take you out. Oh, and you better believe that as soon as I get off work today I’m going to start the process on a restraining order.”

“You’re not gonna do shit, you fucking bitch.”

When Kevin’s fist lashed out toward my face, Luke sprang into action.

I was sent spinning like a top as he flung me out of harm’s way. Kevin lashed out at Luke angrily, and that had clearly been a mistake. When I regained my bearings, I saw Luke land what had to be the third or fourth punch in rapid succession. It connected solidly with the bridge of Kevin’s nose and did far more damage than I’d done with the stapler.

When Kevin gathered what little courage he had and charged forward, Luke deftly dodged to his left and smacked him behind the ear with a looping blow. It sent Kevin sliding across the floor on his belly.

The sound of people yelling is what brought me back to reality. It took me a minute to find my voice.

“Luke! Stop it! He’s not worth it.”

But Luke didn’t stop.

“Get the fuck up,” he growled at Kevin though clenched teeth. “You think it’s okay to hit a woman? I think it’s time you learn a little respect.”

Kevin crawled to his hands and knees in obvious pain. Blood was streaming from a cut above his eye. Against all reason he squared his shoulders and started to move forward.

I heard someone from behind me say the cops were on the way.

Kevin staggered forward and took a sloppy swing. Luke ducked it and hit him with a combination of punches to the ribs.

All of the air seemed to come out of him and he dropped to one knee. Luke grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him close.

“Leave. Her. Alone… Am I making myself perfectly clear?” Luke whispered with a deadly tone in his voice.

“What the hell is going on down here?” It was my boss. He was standing near the sign-in desk and he had a couple of very important seeming clients in tow. The shocked looks on their faces told me more than I wanted to know about how much they’d seen.

“Mr. Jones… I, there…,” I struggled to find the right words.

“Bria, do you know these men?” He hurried to my side.

“Oh my goodness, Kevin? Is that you?”

Kevin was a dripping mess as Luke let him fall to the floor. He clutched at his pulverized ribs. Jones ran up next to him and offered his hand.

“Who are you?” Mr. Jones demanded, while casting an angry glare.

Luke took a step back and looked to me for explanation.

I was furious. I didn’t know why he would fly off the handle the way he did. A silence fell over the room. It took all of my willpower to hold back the tears.

Everything I’d worked for was now hanging in the balance because of this. I didn’t know if I’d ever get the partners to respect me after bringing this mess into their building.

“Get out of here!” I snapped. “Both of you! Don’t ever come back here do you understand me?”

“Bria, he was going to-” The hurt that creased Luke’s face made my heart ache as I cut him off.

“Both of you are out of control. I don’t want excuses. I want you both out of this office!”

The words flew from my mouth out of anger. Something felt really wrong inside and if not for my fuming anger and embarrassment, I would have regretted it immediately.

“That’s right,” echoed Jones. “Leave this instant. We will be pressing charges regarding this vicious attack.”

Luke took a couple of steps backwards, then turned and walked out of the building.

I ran down to the records room and cried my eyes out.