Jenna's Consent (28 page)

Taking his word for wanting her in his bed was hard for her
to swallow.
Wonder if he meant all night or just the sex part?

Exhaustion pulled at her again so she shook her head and
decided to worry about it the next day. She decided to go straight home and
catch as much sleep as she could before going about her day and meeting Nick at
the gym.

She also had several orders to fill and had to stage several
play-spaces that night for The Library, too.

She got in her Mustang and opened the convertible sunroof.

As she drove up the ramp and onto the main drive, she swung
around the front entrance for guests and headed toward the gate. No one was
there to see her through but she had her authorization card to swipe on the way
out.

Her time and date of departure, along with a copy of her
license plate were logged as soon as she pulled through. New cards were
supposed to be issued pretty soon, adding a photograph to the report as well as
status at The Library.

Ian’s idea apparently. It was a good one, no matter if she
wanted to say it was bad on pure principle.

She wondered where he’d gone after her scene with Nick
onstage. Whether she was supposed to wonder or not, she didn’t know. Several
times when she’d been onstage, blindfolded, she’d felt his eyes on her. She’d
wanted him to be proud of her. She’d wanted him to be onstage with her and
Nick.

Rolling her eyes would do no good, since she wanted
something that they could never accept.

Thoughts swirled inside her skull. Images of Nick and Ian
and the girls and her logo and a million other things made a big ol’ rainbowy
soup in her head.

It’s going to be a very long day.

Sleep was fitful instead of restful and she accepted defeat
around ten o’clock.

Her shower helped wake her up and she blow-dried her hair,
curling it under so it hugged her face perfectly.

It might be a sweaty mess at the end of the workout but she
would at least show up looking like the sassy sexy girl she wanted to be.

She spent the rest of her morning getting everything ready
for the city council meeting that afternoon.

The girls didn’t know anything about it and she’d decided to
keep it that way until the council decided yea or nea on the rezoning necessary
for them to put in the businesses they wanted to start.

Letting the girls down would be devastating and she halfway
wished she’d waited to tell them anything about the ideas she’d had on starting
the new businesses.

At fifteen to noon, she took off for Hot Shots Gym.

She wore a pair of gym shorts, a sports bra and a
tight-fitting T-shirt.

It would be the first time he’d ever seen her out of her
corset.

To him it would probably mean less than nothing but to her
it was a huge step forward. She wouldn’t be naked but it was monumental in her
own mind. She wanted to be more open with him and this was a small way for her
to show him she was serious about wanting to try.

She pulled in and parked next to Nick’s car. She grabbed her
purse and headed inside, eager to see what he thought he could throw at her to
rattle her cage.

Working out kept her strong and limber and she was pretty
sure he’d underestimate her stamina.

The gym was normally pretty packed, especially because of
many classes and training they offered. The gym had kickboxing, cycling, weight
training and umpteen more classes. Ellipticals and treadmills, along with a
dozen more machines sat along one wall and there was even a ring people could
use to practice MMA and other disciplines in the center.

The gym was a graveyard, save but for a crowd of people
gathered around the ring. Cheering, yelling and some good-natured heckling were
being tossed around from the crowd.

Jenna looked around for Nick but didn’t see him in the
crowd, so she focused back on the ring again.

Two men were in it, wearing shorts and nothing else. They
were covered in sweat. Their knuckles were taped up and some of the white tape
was smeared with blood. It looked as if they’d been going at each other for
quite some time.

Jenna’s mouth dropped open when she finally got close enough
to see the faces of the pissed off opponents.

Nick.

Ian.

“What the hell?” She said to no one in particular as she
stepped up to the ring.

The two people on either side of her glanced at her and then
back to the men in the ring. “They’ve been going at it for as long as I’ve been
here.” The blond guy on her right looked at his watch and then back up quickly.
He had to speak up to be heard over the crowd. “More than an hour. They haven’t
stopped. They’ve both gotta be exhausted but damn they can fight.”

Both men bobbed and weaved, avoiding the other as they tried
to gain the upper hand by punching and kicking at each other.

The guy on her left pointed to Nick. “You know who that is,
don’t you? Notorious Nick? One of the best MMA fighters I’ve ever seen. Retired
a couple years ago at the height of his career. It’s amazing seeing him here.
I’d always wondered what happened to him and to think he’s been here for who
knows how long. At some points it seems he’s holding back and other points I
think he’s going to punch the other guy in half. Fucking awesome.”

As if Nick heard the guy talking about him, he threw a punch
at Ian, connecting with his shoulder knocking him off balance. He swept his
feet out from under him and Ian went down.

But Ian wasn’t going to be outdone.

He fell and immediately rolled toward Nick, kicking at his
knees to bring him to the ground with him. The crowd roused at the scent of
someone’s defeat and the noise level increased by a few more decibels.

As if Nick anticipated the move or was just that fast, he
used the downward momentum to his advantage. Between one blink and the next he
sat atop Ian, straddling his torso.

They proceeded to literally beat the shit out of each other
for all to see.

Surprise turned into fear, followed closely by anger.

What the hell do they think this is accomplishing?

She yelled their names but couldn’t be heard over the
raucous din of the crowd.

“Nick. Stop!”

Nothing.

He cracked Ian on the side of the head again but Ian knocked
his arm away as if it were nothing more than an annoying fly.

Jenna stuffed two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly
to get their attention.

Everyone in a three-block radius must have heard her shrill
whistle and fell silent.

The piercing sound shocked the men out of their battle to
the death and drew Nick’s attention. It made him pause before he could throw
another punch.

Ian didn’t seem to give a shit either way and threw a sucker
punch toward Nick’s jaw that connected and then some.

Nick’s head snapped back and Ian pushed him to the side,
using his feet to finish the job as Nick landed hard.

They both stayed down, keeled over, panting and trying to
catch their breath.

“Jenna. Didn’t. See you. There.” That jerky statement came
from Ian as he tried to sit up and failed miserably.

“What in the hell are you two doing?”

“Friendly. Boxing. Match.” The dumbass continued from the
lips of Nick that time.

“Friendly. Is that what a good-natured fight looks like?
Really?” She rolled her eyes and hoisted her gym bag higher up on her shoulder
again. She shoved it into place and glared at the two men breathing heavily on
the mat.

“Something like that.” Ian kicked at Nick’s leg again,
connecting with a
whack
.

Nick’s grunt reached her and she wanted to go to him, to
comfort him, to kick him herself.

These were the two men Jenna wanted more than anything, the
two men she needed more than she cared to admit, and they couldn’t stand each
other.

Had she really thought they could work out their
differences?

Stupid schoolgirl fantasies, saved up from reading too many
romance novels, drained to her feet and leeched into the mat she stood on.

“Hope you feel better, you morons. I’m not some bone to
fight over. Right now I don’t want either of you. Jackasses. I’ll be with the
girls tonight.”

Mumbled words fell from her mouth on the way back outside.

Staying wasn’t an option.

If she stayed another moment, she’d be up there in the ring
telling each of them exactly what she thought of their stupid little stunt.

Had Nick even remembered she was supposed to meet him there?

Duh.

Of course he had.

What grown man—no, men—thought pummeling each other was the
answer to anything?

She liked dominant men.

She did, she reminded herself as she shoved through the
front doors, practically stomping to her vehicle.

Her workout was ruined and of any day she needed to work off
some steam, this would have been the day. Especially with the meeting with the
council no less than four hours away.

Instead of leaving feeling rejuvenated, she left pissed off
and horny and mad ’cause she was horny seeing them both together. Wanting them
both and knowing it would never happen again just pissed her off even more.

And love?

It had no place in her head.

Love was fine for everybody else. But for her? She’d take a
pass, even if that meant creating her own.

It was too much hassle.

She shook off the longing she felt for both men inside. It
was time she got her head in the game and pushed the rest of whatever she just
witnessed inside to the back of her brain.

She didn’t have time for it. She didn’t want to make time
for it.

Nothing good was going to come of it.

“Assholes,” she mumbled to herself as she slammed the door
to her car after she climbed in.

She revved the engine, peeling out of the parking lot. The
streaks she left on the pavement would have been better placed across the
Neanderthal’s foreheads.

She’d worry about them another day, as in maybe the next
leap year. Maybe by then she’d have calmed down.

Maybe.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Nick hurled the
accusation at Ian.

“Me? You’re the one who fucking started all of this.”

“The hell I did. You’re the one who wanted to meet at the
gym. I was just giving you a taste of what I could do to you.”

“Ha,” he scoffed, but then it turned into a bit of a
coughing fit. “You wish that was only a taste. You didn’t have anything left
when I laid you flat. The least you can do is admit it.”

“Fuck you. The only reason you got in that last bitch-ass
punch is because I looked away for a second.”

“Just because you lost your focus—”

“Jenna was standing there, fuming mad. What else was I
supposed to do? Ignore her?”

“Glad you brought that up. That’d be a great idea. Glad you
came up with it on your own because you were really starting to annoy me with
all your ‘mine’ comments.”

“Fuck you, squared. She’s mine for the rest of the month and
she knows it. I reminded her this morning after she left my bed.”

“If she was in my bed, she never would have left.”

Nick narrowed his eyes at Ian and stood.

Ian followed suit and they faced off again, both men had
their hands in fists at their sides. Several choice curse words floated through
Ian’s head and he gritted his teeth.

Ian’s knuckles were bruised and sore. He wanted to take
another swing at Nick. He relished Nick’s earlier look of astonishment when his
fist connected with his face.

“The reason she keeps leaving my bed to begin with is
somehow because of you. I haven’t figured out what you did to her but the
reason she’s so fucked-up over caring for someone definitely stems from you,
asshole.”

Ian nearly growled but swallowed it instead. Nick’s words
were so very accurate and he’d never admit to him that he’d been a complete
prick to her before. What he did and the demons that had chased him ever since
were none of Nick’s concern.

“If you dealt with your own shit about being with her
long-term, instead of pointing the finger at someone else, maybe she’d be more
inclined to stick it out with you. Ever think of that?”

“At least I have something to work with. Tonight she’ll be
in my bed again, how about you? Anyone going to be keeping your sheets warm?”

Nick’s words reminded him of something he’d heard mentioned
several times on the recordings he’d reviewed before coming to the gym. “She’s
going to be with the girls tonight, so how is that going to warm your bed?”

Nick glared at him. Getting under his skin was awesome and
made all the sore muscles he was going to have to deal with later worth it.

The crowd slowly dispersed, leaving them standing in the
middle of the ring. Neither one of them seemed willing to start the fight
again, nor did either of them show the slightest willingness to be the first
one to back down.

Both still spoiled for a fight.

At least Ian did. He wanted to knock him out. Laying out the
great Notorious Nick would have made him happier than a whore at a condom
convention.

“She might be with the girls tonight, but guess who’s going
to be front and center to watch the show? Oh yeah, that’s right, it sure as
hell isn’t you,
Bryan
.”

He enunciated both syllables of his name as if it were made
of some kind of flesh-eating bacteria. Nick’s curled lip made him want to get
in one more punch before calling it a day.

Hearing his name in Nick’s voice also reminded him of how
much he hated being called anything but Ian.

“She might not be in my bed tonight but I doubt she’ll be in
yours either, after how she just left. And I’ll get to see her with the girls
no matter where I am. I’ll just pull up the audio and video on my 5S. ’Cause
nothing says sharing like a live feed into a room with girls going at it like
it’ll be the last slits they ever lick. Voyeurism. My favorite vice.”

Ian took a half a step closer, crowding into Nick’s personal
bubble. His eyes narrowed again and he enjoyed the rush of his reaction.

Ian spoke low so only Nick could hear him. “I was there for
the first time she licked pussy, her first experience with anal was with me,
she still wears my collar even though it’s not around her throat—at the moment.
We have history you can’t imagine. You don’t stand a chance.”

Nick had a slight advantage on height and used it to stare
down his nose at Ian, making him bristle. “I have so much leg up on you, you
don’t stand a chance. We’re starting with a clean slate, except for the parts
where you fucked her over and she won’t let me see—yet. I’m her safe place
while you’re nothing but the bad taste in her mouth. Like a hangover but with
four times the shelf life.

“The first thing she did when you walked into that playroom
was what? Did she run to you and profess her undying love? No. Did she hop into
your arms to go have a heart-to-heart? No. She reared back and clocked you one
for being a self-righteous asshat.” He held up his arms, shrugging, as if he
were capitulating something, instead of being a douche.

“They always say, ‘love and hate, two sides of the same
coin.’ Her reaction was anything but ho-hum, wouldn’t you say?” Nick shrugged,
trying hard to act as if he didn’t care. Ian wasn’t buying it and he sure as
shit wasn’t letting it drop. “She reacts to me just like she did before.”

“What? Like you have the plague and she can’t get away fast
enough? Congratulations. I’ll get you added to the CDC’s list of infectious
agents. Hope your shots are up to date, dickwad.”