Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2) (22 page)

“Slade,” she whispered.

Wordlessly, he tapped her right ankle, instructing her to lift her foot so he could finish the task of removing her panties. She complied, and he did the same with her left. Then he stood up and asked, “Are we friends, Jessica?”

Her eyebrows knitted in puzzlement.

“Are we friends? Simple question.” He said it sternly this time.

“Y-yes.”

“No!” he snapped. She recoiled. “I’m not your fucking friend.” He stepped as close as he could get. “I’m going to kiss you now, Jessica. Really kiss you. Do you understand?” She didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. The fact that her tongue involuntarily shot out to moisten her bottom lip was response enough. “Give me your mouth, baby.” He ran his hands under her dress up to her hips and held tight. His lips slowly pressed against hers, and then the best thing he could’ve imagined occurred. Her tongue entered his mouth. He didn’t have to ask. He didn’t have to instigate. She wanted this as much as he did. As soon as their tongues met, the kiss became frenzied.

She pulled on her tied hands, but they didn’t budge. “Untie me,” she panted.

“No.”

“Untie me!” she repeated into his mouth.

With one hand still on her hip, the other wandered down the inside of her thigh. When his finger felt the moisture in her pussy, he smiled. “Lady, this right here tells me you don’t want me to untie you.”

“I do,” she said, unconvincingly.

“This wet pussy says otherwise.” He pushed a finger inside. Her head dropped back against the fence and she let out a moan. “You want me to untie you? You want me to open this cage and let you go?” His mouth crashed against hers again as his finger moved in and out of her.

“Oh my God, Slade!” Her eyes were closed, her lips red and swollen from his mouth. “No. Please don’t stop.”

Completely out of control, Slade reached down, cupped her bare ass, and lifted her. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his hips. They always seemed to do that, as if that was where they belonged.

“I need you inside of me, Slade.”

“I know, baby.” He reached between their bodies and grabbed himself. She looked down and kept her eyes locked on his dick until it slowly disappeared inside her. Then she closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. He didn’t move for a moment. He couldn’t. It felt too perfect. There were no sounds except for the heavy breathing coming from her. Or was it him? Who the fuck knew?

“Slade.” She nudged his ass with her heels. He didn’t respond. “Slade! I need you to move.”

“God, you feel so fucking good. Tied up. Legs wrapped around me where they belong.”

She groaned and her thighs tightened against his hips.

“Mouth,” he instructed. She leaned forward as far as she could with her hands tied up, and his mouth came crashing against hers. Slowly he began to thrust up. Her head once again fell back against the fence. She was still immobilized and so he continued to thrust, using his hands around her hips to push her up and down, up and down, harder and faster until it was just too much.

“Fuuuck!” he groaned when he felt her pussy tighten and constrict. “I feel you. You’re about to come. Fuck.” He thrust one last time and he was lost. Gone. Consumed in ecstasy. His eyes closed and his face buried in her neck, he reached one arm up to untie the belt, his other arm holding her ass. Once released they both crumpled together to the floor, with him still inside her.

“Lady?”

“Mmm?”

“Mouth,” he demanded.

She pulled away a little, enough to see his eyes. Then she gave him a smile, the first in a long time, and offered him her mouth. He wrapped his hands around her wrists and soothed the red area where the belt had dug into her skin.

After a long round of kissing, he stood and pulled her up.

“I don’t think we can be friends,” she said.

He threw his head back and barked out a laugh. “Finally! I guess I should’ve fucked some sense into you a while ago.”

He helped her up, and she straightened her dress. “No, Slade. I mean…” She started to cry again. “I mean, we can’t even be friends. That’s why I was here. I wanted to go talk to you in public. Where I wouldn’t be swayed by…” She flailed her arms as tears streamed down her face. “By sex. By your body. By your smile.” She needed to get out of the gym. If she was alone with him, she’d let him take over, take charge, and she’d probably go straight to round two and forget about the huge clusterfuck going on right outside the door of the gym. Her love for him was clouding her mind. Jessica could picture Slade with a big smile on his face as he went for his morning jog, oblivious to the fact that Dennis could be hiding around any corner ready to kill him with a blow to the head. And she couldn’t tell Slade this, because Slade would surely fight back—something he couldn’t do any longer without risking death. Either way, Slade would end up dead unless she left.

Jessica darted out of the cage and out of the gym, heading toward her car across the street. Slade followed her, awkwardly tugging on his jeans as he caught up to her. As she reached for the door handle, Slade gripped her forearm and spun her around.

Less than an hour ago she had seen Slade as angry as she’d ever seen him, and right now he looked as defeated as she’d ever seen him. This was it. She needed to do it. She should’ve stopped him earlier. But God, she’d needed him one last time. It was selfish, but she hadn’t been able to control herself. Now she hated herself even more.

He pulled away, lifted the T-shirt he had haphazardly thrown on when she stormed out, and carefully undid the tape and gauze. In black cursive letters, still red and swollen it said:
Anything worth anything is worth the fight.
The same words she had said to him just weeks before.

She read it over and over. She wanted to touch it, to caress the angry skin, but she kept her hand away. Instead a sob escaped her. “A homage to Worth the Fight Academy. It’s beautiful, Slade.”

He kept his distance. “It’s not just for the Academy, Jessica. I’ve only had to fight for two things in my life. One was the Academy, and the other is standing right here next to me. I thought it was worth the fight, Jessica. But now you’re going to tell me, again, that you’re leaving.”

Jessica stared at him, choking back tears. “I…uh…I don’t know what to say.” Unable to contain her emotions any longer, she just blurted out, “I was coming by to tell you I’m leaving for Charlotte. Tonight.”

Slade just stood there, his jaw set. She reached out and tried to touch him, but he stepped back. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she choked back another sob. “I’m so sorry, Slade.”

“That’s it? You’re sorry?”

“Please understand—”

“No! I don’t understand, Jessica.” He stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders not caring about the onlookers on the street. “I love you! I fucking love you!” He let her go.

Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened.

“What? You didn’t know that I loved you? How are you so blind? I’ve been fighting for us for God knows how long now. And you are just giving up? You are a coward, Jessica. You’re leaving because you’re scared. You’re scared of putting your heart out there again. I’d never hurt you. And if you think I would, then you don’t know me.”

He turned around and crossed the street back to the Academy. Through her tears she noticed Cain, Travis, and Tony standing by the door of the gym watching.

“You okay, boss?” she heard Travis ask.

“Ask her. She’s leaving tonight,” Slade snapped, not looking back. “Doesn’t give a fuck about anyone but herself.” His voice came out desolate rather than angry. He ran his fingers through his hair, then turned around and shouted to her, “At least tell me you’re coming back next week to testify against Dennis.”

She didn’t answer.

“Jessica!” he yelled. When she didn’t move and didn’t say anything, he dropped his hands to his sides, his fists clenched.

She knew that this was the moment, that she had to make it convincing. “I’m sorry, Slade. I’m leaving. I’m sorry if I hurt you. I don’t feel the same way.” It was physically hurting her to lie to him. “I just…I d-don’t love you, Slade.” One-two punch, right in the gut. It was the only thing she could say to make him believe her, and it was so difficult because she knew this would crush him.

He winced, as if he’d just taken a physical blow to the chest. “Wow. Well, I guess I’m blind, then.” He spat. “I may have slept with a lot of women before you, but I never lied to them and I never manipulated them. You…” He took a step forward. “You
used
me.” His voice faltered a little before he continued. “You needed a warm body. You are cold and heartless and I can’t believe I fell in love with you. Just leave—let Dennis get away with it. Hope to God he doesn’t do the same thing to another woman. I hope you can sleep at night with that thought, Jessica.” He turned around and opened the door to the Academy, but he threw one last dagger over his shoulder before he disappeared inside. “And I hope you can live with knowing you broke my fucking heart.” His voice was thick with emotion.

She’d broken his heart. And her heart was shattering because of it. There was nothing more she could say. And if there was someone following her, eavesdropping, they’d better have believed it, because she sure as hell believed it herself.

Once she was alone in her car, she let out all her sorrow: at the wasted years with Dennis, at the loss of the wonderful months with Slade, and at the hurtful words he’d just spat at her, words that she couldn’t fault him for but which would forever be cemented into her psyche.

She sat there for a long time. Finally, when the sobs had subsided, she looked to see what time it was, knowing she had to leave town at midnight exactly. It was still too early—she had about an hour to kill. She drove to EE’s, and as soon as she walked in, Esther threw her a scathing look. Jesus, gossip traveled fast in Tarpon Springs.

Esther pointed her to a booth and tossed a menu on the table. Not five minutes later, Melinda and the three other women in her knitting group walked in, despite the late hour. They whispered, looked over at Jessica, then whispered some more. She braced herself. There was no fight left in her.

“And to think I was going to remind Miles to call her,” Melinda said loudly. “He is quite the catch, you know. I’m glad he wasn’t interested in her.”

The eldest of the bunch, Shelly, added, “Oh, me too, Mels. I was going to have my Danny call her. Could you imagine? She would have torn his heart right out of his body and stepped all over it, just like she did with that poor Martin boy.”

The poor Martin boy? The tattooed, cussing cage fighter that the town loves to hate?
She hadn’t realized how much the town protected their own.

“I’m right here, you know,” Jessica called wearily.

The women turned their heads, looked at her, and scowled. All four began talking at once: “Shameful…duty to testify…better off gone…”

She laid her head on the table. This was harder than she’d thought it would be, and she had known it was going to be hard.

“Get outta the way, you evil, evil women. Y’all could start an argument in an empty house.” A melodic voice with a Texas drawl filled her ears. She looked up to see Jamie Lynn shooing the women out of the way. She slid into the booth across from Jessica.

“Darlin’, you’ve created quite the scandal,” Jamie Lynn said. She then turned to Esther, who was still standing with the knitting posse, and demanded two coffees. Thank God for Jamie Lynn—coffee was exactly what Jessica wanted but hadn’t been able to ask for.

“The entire town hates me.”

Jamie Lynn, never being one to beat around the bush, agreed. “Yes. The entire town’s fit to be tied.”

“Did you come here to try to change my mind or to tell me you hate me too?”

“Jess, look at me.” Jessica lifted her head. “I’ve known you for a few years now. We may not be BFFs, but I think I know you. I’m disappointed with this town for not knowing you better. You are one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. If you think leaving is the best thing, then you must have a good reason. I don’t hate you and I will not try to change your mind. I came by because I know how the people in this town can be. They can be judgmental and harsh. But if they accept you, it’s like a big extended family—a loud and annoying one.”

“I wanted to be part of the big, extended, loud, annoying family.”

“Bless your heart, sugar. I think that ship has sailed.”

“I’ll miss you, JL.” She reached for Jamie’s hand and squeezed.

Jamie placed her other hand on top of Jessica’s. “I’ll miss you too, Jessica. Even though you weren’t even goin’ to say goodbye.” She took a sip of the coffee that Esther had just placed in front of them.

“I’m sorry, JL. I just wanted to make a clean break. I would’ve called you,” Jessica said as Jamie Lynn slid out of the booth.

“I reckon.” Jamie Lynn looked back at Jessica. Then she leaned forward and whispered in Jessica’s ear, “And I reckon you’ll be back.”

Somehow this tattooed pixie seemed to understand something that no one else did. They had reached some sort of silent understanding.

“Brother, calm down,” Cain said to Slade. Slade continued to jump rope. He needed to blow off steam or he was going to start throwing punches at anyone within arm’s length.

“We were coming to tell you that Greg just backed out of Saturday’s fight.”

Slade looked up.

“I know that this isn’t a good time for you, Slade, but I think I’m going to take Greg’s place. I’m ready,” Travis said.

“Who’s Greg?” Francesca asked.

“Some heavyweight from another gym,” Travis answered.

“No!” Slade threw the rope to the side. “I’m going to do it. I’m going to fight.”

Chrissy, who’d just come in with Jack, said, “Absolutely not!”

“Leave me alone. I’m doing it. Why are you even here?”

“We were across the street at my new clinic taking some measurements and heard the commotion,” Chrissy said.

Chrissy looked over at Travis, Cain, and Jack with pleading eyes.

“Slade, bro, you’ve been out of the game for months. You haven’t trained. That’s only five days away,” Jack said.

“You can’t. Your head. Another concussion and you might die. You made me a promise,” Chrissy cried.

“Brother.” Jack’s voice was serious. “You need to stop and think. Don’t fight.”

“He’s right. Bad idea, man,” Cain said.

“Fuck off, all of you. I’m fighting.”

Travis reached for his shoulder, but Slade pushed his friend’s hand away and walked out the door to his truck.

Slade stood with his palms on the hood of the truck, his head down, eyes closed.

Click-clock click-clock.

He knew who it was before she spoke. Why the hell was Francesca here too? Was the entire town there to witness his meltdown?

“Hey.”

Slade said nothing.

“I signed up for this partnership assuming there’d be a partner,” Francesca said. She placed her hands on his shoulders from behind him. “This place goes to shit without you. We need you here, Slade. You
are
the Academy. I know you’re mad. I get it. But fighting and possibly getting hurt isn’t going to fix anything. She’s not worth it. You’re just hurting yourself and all of us who love you, especially Chrissy, who’s inside crying hysterically.”

He sighed.

“I need you, Slade. I can’t do this alone.” She gave him one last squeeze on the shoulder before walking away.

At twelve on the dot Jessica stepped outside, turned off all the lights, and locked the door of her house. She noticed a car parked about a half block away. She wasn’t sure if that was Jack, Dennis, Dennis’s people, or just some random parked car.

She began to drive. There was definitely a car following her. But it was dark and there were a lot of cars on the highway. Maybe there was a second car, but she wasn’t sure.

She drove for three hours, at some point losing track of which car was behind her. Then a car sped up, pulled to her left, and got closer and closer. As it drew even with hers she saw the driver open the passenger-side window and motion for her to pull over. She was beyond relieved when she saw it was Jack.

When they’d stopped their cars he got out and walked over to her. “They tailed you for almost two hours, but I’m sure they’re gone now. They must’ve been convinced you were really leaving town. Now I’ll escort you back to the motel. Follow me.”

When they arrived back at the motel, Jack helped her unload the things she’d need for the week ahead. Then he parked her car behind the motel so that anyone driving by wouldn’t see it. Finally he gave her some money and a burner phone. “It can’t be traced, but even so, try not to use this unless you need it. Do not leave the room under any circumstances. I’ll be back tomorrow with some groceries.”

She nodded.

“Hey.”

She slowly looked up.

“You did good,” he told her. “I know that was hard, but you did real good. If anyone was around, you gave them quite the show.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not so sure whether it was a show or not.”

Jack seemed to understand. “You’re okay now. You’re safe. They’ll understand when this is all over and done with.”

“I hope so. Otherwise I really will have to move back home.”

“Tarpon Springs
is
home, sweetie.”

She sighed. Jack was quite a man. Chrissy was one lucky woman.

Jessica spent all night tossing and turning. Visions of Slade’s angry eyes haunted her.
Coward…
The word reverberated over and over again.
Coward
.

Even if Jack’s plan worked and Dennis went to jail, she still thought she might have to move to Charlotte. She had thought Slade would break her one day with his womanizing, but it looked like she had broken him. Broken bones could be repaired, and that was the extent of the damage Dennis had left. But a broken heart…well, that was another story altogether.

“Tomorrow’s the trial, Slade. You’re the only one left to testify now that Jessica’s gone. Please don’t do this. It’s not too late to walk away,” Chrissy begged her brother. It had been five days since Jessica left.

“I know what I’m doing, Chris. Leave me alone.” Slade had a blue hoodie on and looked menacing. “Get her outta here, Jack,” he said to his friend. He put on some headphones and began jumping rope. He was too in his head. He’d never gone into a fight so angry. He needed to calm down.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been jumping rope before he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Cain.

“You’re up,” Cain said.

Slade nodded. He took off his headphones.

“You sure?” Cain asked.

“Don’t do this, boss. Not worth it,” Travis said.

Slade was tired of hearing everyone’s concerns. He wasn’t made of glass. He’d fought hundreds of times before. One more wasn’t going to kill him.

“Get outta my way,” he hissed at his friends. In the last few months he’d lost two things he loved: his ability to fight and Jessica. He was going to get one of them back tonight. And since Jessica wasn’t there…well, that left only fighting.

Chrissy and Jack stood in the front next to Francesca and Tony as Slade walked in, followed by Travis and Cain. Before going into the cage, Slade unzipped his hoodie and threw it toward Travis. He walked into the cage in black shorts emblazoned with the WtF logo. He jumped up and down a few times, snapping his neck side to side. This was not like him—he usually did nothing to warm up—but tonight he had too much nervous energy. The ref said a few things, but it was all a blur.

He heard the bell and then his body moved as it was trained to do. His opponent threw the first punch, and Slade ducked. They rounded each other, and his opponent again threw a punch, an uppercut this time. Again Slade danced away, causing his opponent to miss. This happened throughout the entire first round. By the time the bell rang, the guy was winded and sweat dripped down his temples, unlike Slade, who had not even broken a sweat.

Even without training appropriately, this was Slade’s fight to lose. He was more seasoned and stronger. The second round began, and this time the man didn’t come out throwing punches. His corner was yelling at him to throw a punch. Slade’s corner was mostly quiet. No one dared say much with the mood Slade was in.

He still couldn’t believe Jessica had left. After all they’d been through. After the mind-altering sex inside the cage. After he’d told her he loved her. She’d said she didn’t love him. Had he been so blinded by his own intense feelings that it didn’t occur to him that she might not love him back? How was he supposed to get on with his life when he was so completely in love with someone who didn’t feel the same way? How did one fall out of love? Because that was exactly what he needed to do in order to move on with his life.

All this was going through Slade’s head when his opponent finally swung. The right hook grazed his temple as Slade simultaneously threw a punch square to his opponent’s jaw, knocking him out. A great knockout and not a scratch on him—Slade felt invincible.

One hundred fifty-two, one hundred fifty-three, one hundred fifty-four
…The icemaker in the hallway outside Jessica’s room shot some ice out. She’d been playing the counting game for the last week. Every one hundred and fifty-four seconds the icemaker dropped more ice into the bin. Every seventy-eight seconds the light bulb in the lamp flickered. There were sixty-five petals on the large watercolor floral painting above her bed. She’d lost count of how many books she’d read. She couldn’t look at the bright screen of her e-reader or iPad one more second. Thankfully, today she was finally going to leave the small motel room.

It was just before seven o’clock in the morning, when Jack was supposed to pick her up to take her to the courthouse. She had been dressed and ready to go by five. She was pacing the old green carpet when a knock on the door startled her. She looked through the peephole to confirm it was Jack before opening the door. She flung open the door and launched herself at him in a hug. After a few seconds, Jack hesitantly hugged her back.

“Sorry. Sorry,” she said, pulling back.

“You’re going stir-crazy. I get it.”

“Yes. I’m just so glad to see you. I want all this to be over already.”

Jack nodded. “We’ll come back later for your things. You ready?”

“Yes.” And she was.

Jack parked in the back of the courthouse and led her in through some sort of back entrance. “I just informed the state’s attorney you were here. They weren’t expecting you, but they’re very happy you decided to testify. I explained what happened.”

Jessica nodded, fidgeting with a loose thread on her blouse. She couldn’t contain her nerves.

“Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay,” he reassured her. She nodded again and tried to swallow, but the lump in the back of her throat didn’t allow for it.

Slade would be there as well. He would also be testifying, but without her testimony, Dennis would have walked. She was the victim and the only eyewitness to what had occurred at her house on the day of the beating.

Once Slade sees why I did it, everything will be okay. Everything will be okay, because I did it for him. I did it for him and everything will be okay.

The trial had already started when Jack escorted Jessica into the courtroom. One of the lawyers was talking, but stopped when the spectators saw Jessica and a murmur filled the courtroom. She kept her head down. She hadn’t expected to see so many cameras but since it was a high-profile case, being that this was the mayor’s nephew, crews from the local stations were set up all around the room. She sat down in the place Jack indicated for her, next to a police officer who was a friend of Slade’s, and then Jack sat down on her other side. She bent her head slightly forward so that her hair partially covered her face.