Fight 3 Read online

  Grabbing a few waters for us, Eddie heads into the living room, still holding on to my hand like I’m going to run away.

  “Mr. Roe, I left you plenty of voicemails. I’m sorry so barge in on you like this, but we have been trying to get a hold of you.” He sips his water as Eddie stares at him.

  Way to be hospitable, Tex.

  “Sargent Dillard, I’m sorry. Things have been so clustered since the fire, we really haven’t gotten on a great schedule yet.” I say, squeezing Eddie’s hand, trying to get him to talk.

  “I understand.” He nods and I see him eyeballing my fading bruises. I fight underground so there’s no way I’m telling him I got them at ‘work’, but I really don’t like the fact that he’s probably thinking Eddie did this to me.

  “I got in a fight,” I grind out, annoyed that the conversation isn’t going where I want it to go. “So, what did you need to tell Eddie? We have some things we need to take care of this evening.”

  Eddie glances at me and I know he’s thinking what I am, which is weird since I haven’t even told him yet. The little fucking snoop. I smile sweetly, waiting for the Sargent to speak up.

  “Yes, uh,” he says as he opens the file he is carrying. “Do you know this man?”

  He slides a picture across the coffee table and my eyes grow wide at the old man I’m staring at.

  “Sam,” I whisper. Oh God, the fire. The victim. I feel the tears threatening, but I refuse to cry in front of the Sargent.

  “Sam?” he asks. I nod, looking down at the old man that graced my bar more often than not.

  God, what happened? Why was he there that late anyway? He was never there that late. Why didn’t he get out?! Anger starts building inside me. This isn’t fair. He didn’t deserve to die. He was always so nice to me, telling me about his grown kids. He had grandkids. God, his family is going to be devastated.

  Looking over at Eddie, I see him staring at the face on the picture. The face I looked at almost every shift. The face of a very kind old man, who just seemed lonely.

  Eddie is looking at him like he’s the devil, though. His face has paled and his jaw is tight.

  “Mr. Roe, this is the victim from the fire at your apartment complex. Do you know this man?” the officer asks.

  Eddie doesn’t answer, he just sits there staring at the picture.

  “Eddie?” I push.

  This isn’t the normal reaction. This isn’t the reaction I was thinking would come out of him. Sure, he should have been upset, but this is more than upset. This is mad. This is furious.

  “Eddie, what is it?” I whisper, grabbing onto his hands that are clasped together in front of him. Fuck, he’s ice cold. I scoot as close to him as I can and place my hands on his face, turning his head to look at me.

  His eyes look void of every emotion I’ve ever seen run through them. I’ve seen sad, depressed, angry, lust ridden... now I see nothing. No feelings at all.

  “His name wasn’t Sam, Red,” he growls.

  “So you recognize him, Mr. Roe?” the Sargent pushes on. God, I forgot he was even here.

  “Sir, this man tortured me my entire childhood. Of course I fucking know him,” he grinds out, staring at the face in the picture again.

  I see it now. I see the resemblance.

  Son of a bitch, the fire killed his dad.

  Shit, Sam was his dad.

  I think I’m gonna be sick.

  “Oh my God... excuse me,” I say, running towards the bathroom, holding my hand over my mouth, praying I don’t vomit all over this beautiful house.

  Chapter 8

  Eddie

  No time will help me process what I just realized.

  And that’s fine, because I currently have a girlfriend running to the bathroom, green in color, ready to bring back up everything she ate today.

  “Fuck. Man.... I gotta get to her. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be in touch,” I say, scooting the Sargent out the door.

  Without any time to process what just happened, I rush to the bathroom to tend to my Red. She’s curled into the toilet, spilling her lunch from earlier today. I grab a washcloth and wet it, bringing it to her neck. She isn’t hot, she doesn’t have a fever. Why is she so sick and why did it come on so suddenly?

  “Oh, oh my God, Eddie,” she moans as she wipes her mouth and moves to sit with her back against the wall.

  Even after throwing up, she’s the most beautiful goddamned woman I’ve ever seen.

  “Wanna tell me what that’s all about?” I ask.

  Before the words are out of my mouth, I realize what all of it is all about, though.

  The baby.

  I need her to tell me.

  “Can you help me up, please?” She holds her hands out to me and I lift her up off her feet and bring her to the kitchen. Sitting her next to her purse, I know the tests have to be in there.

  “How you doing?” she asks, picking at her shirt hem, not looking me in the eyes.

  “I’m fine, Red. You are the one who just threw up your lunch. What brought that up?”

  “Eddie, you just found out your dad died! How are you not shaken up about that?!” she says louder than I would have liked.

  “I told you the other day, Red. It really doesn’t bother me. He’s gone. He can’t hurt anyone anymore. Hopefully he suffered.” It’s the truth too. I don’t really hold grudges, but with him, I do.

  “You would say that about your own dad?” She looks at me with tears in her eyes.

  “Shit. Red, he was a terrible man. I would never want another child to have to be around something like him. He wasn’t a dad. He was an evil sperm-donor. I’d never be like him, Red. I didn’t have a great childhood.... I literally went through hell. I’m glad he’s gone. And I’m glad I now know what NOT to do as a father.”

  She laughs and relaxes a little. I walk up to her, spreading her knees to stand as close to her as possible. Leaning in, I kiss her neck and wrap my arms around her. Hugging me back, she sighs into me.

  “I know you know, Tex,” she whispers.

  “I do. When were you going to tell me?” I ask, not letting go of her, unable to look her in the eyes because of the threatening tears. I feel my body start to shake from nerves. I need to hear the words come out of her mouth.

  “After I took the test,” she whispers into my neck.

  “Shit, Red. I need to be there with you. I want to be there with you. Baby, I love you. This is huge!” I say, pulling back and cupping her face.

  Her eyes are glowing, her smile brightens, and she laughs.

  “Really?!”

  “Fuck yes, Red!” I laugh, kissing her gently. “I love you, baby.”

  “I love you too, Tex.” She smiles at me, then raises an eyebrow at me. “Wanna go watch me pee on a stick?”

  I let out a laugh as she grabs the box from her purse and walks into the bathroom.

  “Wait!” I yell, probably louder than I should.

  She stops in her tracks and turns to smile at me, confusion laces her face.

  “Goddammit, I didn’t want it to be this way.” I mutter as I walk towards her, putting my hand in my pocket to feel the ring that I’ve been carrying around this entire time.

  She smiles at me as I take her hand in mine.

  When I get down on one knee, she gasps and puts her hands up to her face. I smile and feel like a total tool for doing this like this. Shit, I needed romance, and this is so NOT fucking romantic. It’s all I have, though.

  “Red, baby look at me.” I say, tugging her hands down so she could at least see over her hands. “Hey.” I smile.

  “Hi,” she whispers.

  “So, I didn’t have anything planned for this, but I know it was going to be fucking epic... whatever it ended up being. But shit, now I can’t wait. I need you to know how much I love you, baby. Not just because you might be carrying my child, either. The outcome of that test means nothing to me in this regard, Red. I’ll be thrilled if you are, and if you aren’t, we will
just have to try a little harder to make the next test positive. I fucking love you so much it hurts me physically when you aren’t with me. I want you by me at every moment, so I don’t have to wonder what you are doing, or if you are okay. I can’t picture a day in my life without you in it. Shit, baby.... ”

  I stand up, feeling like a complete fuck up. I’m doing this all fucking wrong.

  “Eddie-”

  “Wait, I’m not done. I just... I feel like an asshole, Red. You deserve the most romantic proposal ever and all I can give you is right here, right now. This is it. This is me. I fucking love you, Red. I want your babies, I want your body, I want your smartass, and I want your fight. Never lose your fight, Red.”

  She’s smiling at me, holding her hands in front of her, patiently waiting on me to finish.

  I reach into my pocket and grab the ruby ring.

  “I know it’s not the most romantic of ways, Red. But... will you marry me?” I ask, shaking from nerves, praying she says yes.

  Holding the ring up to her, she gasps when she sees the massive ruby and all of the detail in the accent stones.

  “Oh my God, Eddie. It’s beautiful,” she whispers, as she takes it in her hands to examine it.

  I smile back at her, then realize she still hasn’t given me an answer.

  “So... is that a yes?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

  “Oh fuck! Of course, you idiot!”

  She leaps into my arms after putting the ring on her finger and kisses me so passionately. Like she finally realizes I’m all in with this and I’m not turning back.

  Kissing her back, I head for the bedroom, walking straight by the bathroom. The test can wait. I need her now. I have to have her. She keeps pushing her damn body against mine, and if I get any harder it’s going to be damn near impossible to get these jeans off.

  “Shit, Red,” I curse into her neck as I nip my way down her shoulder. Laying her on the bed, I strip her of her tiny ass shorts and white tank top. “Jesus, no fucking underwear!?” I gasp, as she grins devilishly at me, and moves her hands lower to start playing with herself. Teasing me.

  “Come on, Tex. What are you waiting for?” she quips as she catches me staring at one of my favorite parts of her.

  I strip off my clothes as fast as humanly possible and instinctively head for the condom.

  “Don’t,” she whispers.

  I look at her and she’s smiling, like she knows we don’t need it anyway.

  I growl and slowly start crawling up the length of her body, kissing every inch on my way to her mouth. She wraps her legs around me and lifts her hips to meet my hard member with moist heat. Shit, she’s going to have me coming before I even get to take her.

  Slowly, I enter her, enjoying the tightness of her walls around me. Gripping me. Fuck, she feels so fucking good.

  “God, Eddie, Fuck,” she gasps as I start to move more deliberately.

  Taking her arms above her head with one hand, my right hand snakes down to start playing with her clit. I’m so fucking wound up from the day’s events that it isn’t long before I’m trying to hold off my own release until she’s ready. I lean down, still playing with her clit, holding her hands hostage and take her breast into my mouth, nipping gently on her taut nipple.

  “Ah!” she screams and bows her body into mine. She’s so goddamned responsive.

  I feel her start to tighten around me and I increase the pressure on her clit, all the while sucking on the one spot behind her ear that I know will get her there.

  “SHIT!” she screams, as her orgasm rips through her.

  As soon as she starts tightening around me, I can’t fucking take it anymore. Slamming in a few more times, I curse and groan into her as I release into her.

  “Fuuuck, Red. Jesus Christ, so fucking hot,” I gasp.

  Pulling out of her slowly, I roll to my side, staring at the beautiful woman that I’ve been blessed to find. She is still finding her breath, wiggling her fucking fingers like she always does after an amazing orgasm.

  I take her left hand and bring it to my lips, kissing the ring, then leaning in to kiss her.

  “I love you so much, Red.”

  “I love you too, Tex. You are one lucky son of a bitch, you know that?”

  “Ha! Of course I fucking do, baby.”

  Looking over at the clock, I realize it’s already almost midnight. I could curl into her and fall asleep right now, but I just heard her stomach rumble and remember we haven’t eaten since lunch. That can’t be good for her.

  “Shit, babe. We forgot dinner. Fuck, I’m so sorry.”

  Chapter 9

  Gwynn

  His mention of food makes my stomach rumble more and I cover my face with embarrassment. Shit, how’d we forget dinner!

  He’s laughing at me and apologizing for not feeding me. What am I, a fucking dog?

  “Dude, stop! Don’t make fun of me!” I yell, slapping at his arms as he tries protecting himself from my assault.

  “Your stomach is so loud! How can it be that loud, it’s so tiny!” He’s laughing hysterically now and I punch him in the stomach and roll out of bed, wrapping the sheet around me, leaving him with nothing to cover up with.

  Smiling to myself, I walk out of the bedroom towards the kitchen. Food. Must. Find. Food.

  “Hey!” he yells from the bedroom and I laugh at my awesomeness. Make fun of me all you want, Tex, I’m always going to outsmart you.

  Shortly after my retreat from the sex cave, as that sounds so much better than ‘bedroom’, I hear his bare feed padding down the hall towards the kitchen. I’m looking in the fridge, but there’s nothing here. A piece of cheese occupies the meat drawer, there’s two eggs in the carton, some random leftovers from the week. Nothing looks good, though.

  “Eddie,” I wine, bringing out the whiny voice I’m praying will get him to go get me Chinese food.

  “What do you want?” he asks skeptically.

  “I’m starving,” I start.

  “I heard. Your stomach sounds like a herd of cattle.”

  “Fuck you! No it doesn’t!” I wrap the blanket around me tighter, to muffle the sounds of my angry stomach. “I just puked up everything that was in it! It’s just angry at me.”

  “So?”

  “Nothing here looks good, Tex.”

  “Okay. I’m sorry?” He grins at me, waiting for the question he knows is coming.

  “You are going to make me ask, aren’t you?”

  “Absolutely.” He smiles again, a smug smile. He knows I hate begging, and that’s what he’s fucking making me do.

  “FINE! I want Chinese food, Tex. Can you PLEASE go get me some. I might die from starvation if not. And you don’t want that lying on your conscious. Do you?”

  He lets out a laugh and pins me with his gaze.

  “Go take the test, Red.”

  “I wanna eat, though!” I’m pretty certain I’m turning into a whiny thirteen-year-old, but I don’t care.

  “Pee on the fucking stick, then I’ll leave to get you food.”

  “You aren’t getting me food until I pee on the stick are you?”

  He smiles broadly at me, crossing his arms over his bare chest and shakes his head.

  “Fine, let’s go!” I yell at him, storming into the bathroom, picking up the box of two pregnancy tests on my way.

  My hands are shaking as I open the box and pull out the instructions. It says to take it first thing in the morning for best results. Can I really pee on that tiny stick for five full seconds? How are girls supposed to aim anyway?

  “You can do this, Red. I’m right here,” he says, leaning against the counter as I drop the blanket and sit on the toilet.

  “Turn around at least!” I yell at him, angry that I’m not eating yet and nervous for the outcome of this test.

  He obliges and I uncap the first test. Reaching down, I do my best to hit the stick for five full seconds, but it’s really fucking hard to tell if I did it right. It’s a digital test, and
within a few seconds a little timer starts blinking on the screen. Reading through the directions that means the stream worked, and within three to five minutes I will have my answer.

  “What do we do now?” Eddie asks expectantly. I can see the nerves running through him and as much as I want to be a smartass right now, I can’t. This is a huge step for him. For both of us.

  “We wait. Three to five minutes,” I say, laying my head on his chest.

  He wraps his arms around me, taking a shaking breath. I hug him tightly, and we wait. I look at the clock thirty seconds in and growl at it for not moving faster. Eddie laughs and pets my hair to calm me. He takes a huge breath and lets it out.

  “This is horrible, can’t they make these things go any faster?” he groans as he looks at the clock again.

  Two minutes down, one to go.

  “You know, you could probably be a millionaire if you created a test that read out a result instantly.” I smile up at him, trying to ease the tension rolling off of him. Also trying to take my mind off of the time.

  He bends down to kiss me gently, then wraps his arms around me again. I close my eyes, hugging him tightly, praying for time to go faster. I need to know the answer. Playing with the ring on my finger, I smile to myself at Eddie’s proposal. I could tell he was nervous, but he gets so damn cute and frustrated when he gets nervous. It was all I could do not to laugh at him, he was trying so hard not to fuck it up, and he couldn’t have been any more perfect. The ring, Jesus the ring! I’ve never been a huge fan of the typical engagement ring, but this one out-does every other ring out there. A red ruby. Brilliant.

  “Babe, it’s time,” he says into my hair.

  I take a deep breath and let it out.

  “We do this together, ok?” he tells me, more than asking.

  “Yea, ok,” I say into his chest. Still not letting go of him.

  This changes everything. I start to regret telling him. What if it’s negative and I have to look at the hurt in his face? He is so dead set on having kids now. What if it’s positive and he’s upset that I’m already pregnant. What if he decides that he doesn’t want a baby!?