Letting Lox In Read online

  “It’s not like you guys are going to be working in different places. You are going to be fine.”

  He shrugs. “I know. I know.”

  “Plus, you get to blow through your weight class now. You know, eventually you and Huck would have to go against each other. As much as I get entertainment out of you two slapping each other around, I don’t want you guys to go against each other one day in the cage.”

  He nods. “I know you’re right.” He shrugs, “So are you gonna invite Sloan to the fight?”

  “No, I don’t think she would come anyway.”

  “How do you know if you don’t ask her? Or are you embarrassed because of the stand you took on her table?”

  “Fine then, let’s talk about how you are caught up on Kara.”

  He lets out a snort. “I’m not caught up on her. Don’t get me wrong, if she’d like to take a ride on the Sly train, I’m all about it, but that’s it, she’s no different than any other girl out there. She’s just a piece of ass.”

  “What if Huck wanted her?”

  “Huck doesn’t want her, she’s not his style and you know that. He prefers the less argumentative type. You know, the ones that lie back and say, ‘Oh Huck, you have the biggest dick I’ve ever seen’. And we know they are lying if they’ve seen mine. He wants those girls that have an IQ less than the speed limit. I, however, like a challenge, but at the end of the day it’s just that - a challenge. Once I’ve completed the challenge, it’s over.”

  “Whatever you say. Let’s double check what they want to do in here and make sure that we’ll have enough room to do everything.”

  An hour later, I’m on the treadmill doing my cardio and Sloan keeps flashing in my mind. She’s a mom, she doesn’t have time for some amateur fighter. She doesn’t need that in her life either. Hell, I’m about to start a new venture, she needs to find a great guy with security.

  I see a girl walking through the gym. She’s really pretty, probably early twenties. I stop the treadmill and step off. “Can I help you, miss?”

  “Yeah. Um, I’m looking for Vance DeMarco.” She says with a confidence that says she could disable a bomb.

  Hmm. Maybe she’s interested in fighting. She could be in the women’s welterweight division or lightweight. “Ah yeah, his office is this way.”

  I tap on his door. “Yo. Marco. There is someone here to see you.”

  Huck comes to the door and swings it open wide. “Whatever she’s trying to sell, I wanna buy some.”

  I shove him and Marco pops him in the back of the head. “How can I help you, sweetie?”

  Huck steps past her as she steps in. She fidgets nervously, way different from the girl that walked in. “Um well, I was told that you’re my father.”

  Marco stumbles back into his desk. Huck’s eyes look like they belong in the cartoon he was named after. I step back in the door. “Marco, you okay?”

  He nods. “Yeah, um, can you give us a minute?”

  I nod and step back out, pulling the door shut behind me.

  Huck looks at me and whispers, “What the fuck, man?”

  “Shit, we gotta tell Sly.”

  An hour later, Marco and the girl come in the training room where we’ve been waiting. We damn sure couldn’t get any working out done. “Boys, I would like to introduce you to Elizabeth. We are going to do a DNA test, but I’m pretty sure she’s my daughter.”

  We sit in silence for a few moments.

  Huck looks up, “What makes you so sure she’s your daughter?”

  She looks at him like she could cut his throat. “Because my momma said so.”

  He steps toward her. “And just who the hell is your momma and why are you showing up now?”

  Marco steps in. “Her momma was a lady I had an affair with during my time in the Corps. Her mother was married to an officer. She just recently found out about me.”

  Huck sits down with a hard thud. “Fuck.”

  CHAPTER 8

  SLOAN

  “Sage, are you coming to watch this with me?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He comes running into the living room and jumps on the couch beside me. “Okay, there’s just a couple of minutes of the news left and then It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown will be on.”

  In NFL news, Lucas Smith, the new quarter back for the Jacksonville Panthers, is getting set to face off this week against his old team, the New Orleans Angels.

  I look up and see his damn face on TV. The sportscaster is doing an interview with him on the game.

  “So Lucas, are you enjoying being back so close to your hometown of Hagans?”

  “Yes, sir. My wife and I are enjoying being back so close to my family and friends.”

  “Mom, he’s from our old town. Do you think he knows Uncle Jacob?”

  Fuck. I mute the TV. “He might.” I brush it off. “Hey, let’s pop some popcorn before our movie starts.”

  He smiles. “Yay!”

  I know that layaway has started at a few of the stores. I smile and sit him up on the counter while I get the box of popcorn out. “So have you thought about what you might like to ask Santa for this year?”

  He nods. “Legos! A remote control fire truck. Fireman stuff. A tent. A puppy. A tree house.” He puts his finger up to his face like he’s thinking of more stuff.

  I laugh. “Okay, okay. It sounds like you have a pretty good list going.” The microwave dings to let me know the popcorn is finished. I grab a bowl. “Here, you hold the bowl.” I dump the bag of popcorn in the bowl and help him off the counter. “Okay, let’s go watch our movie.”

  He goes running into the living room. “Yes!”

  A couple of hours later, I’m tucking him in after he’s passed out from our movies. Brushing his hair back from his forehead, I gently kiss it and he snuggles with his bear.

  How could someone not want to be a part of this?

  I decide to call my mom and share part of Sage’s list.

  The other end of the line answers after a couple of rings. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “Hey, sweet pea. How is it going?”

  “Good. I was calling to give Mom part of Sage’s Christmas list.”

  “Oh, okay.” Hun, Sloan is on the phone with Sage’s list.

  I hear him hand the phone off. “Hey, sweetie. So Mr. Sage has given you a list?”

  “Well, I actually asked him to avoid discussion of his donor.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. We were waiting for Charlie Brown to come on when the sports caster decided to do an interview with Lucas. When he heard them talking about how he was from Hagans, he asked if I thought Uncle Jacob would know him. I quickly suggested we pop some popcorn. That distracted him and I asked him if he’d been thinking about his list for Santa.”

  “Oh sweetie. I’m so sorry. I know it has to be hard to listen to them talk about him on the news.”

  “Him and his wife. They are so happy to be back so close to his family and friends.”

  “What a horse’s ass. I still say you should have let Jacob beat his ass.”

  I shake my head as if she can see it through the phone. “No. I did the right thing. If he wasn’t man enough to face me, then he wasn’t even worth bail money.”

  What she didn’t know is that he had his lawyer contact me with notice of his trade. He wanted to make sure that if we ran across each other, I wouldn’t let anyone know of our situation. I politely told the lawyer to kiss my ass. Our situation?! Seriously! He offered me money and I told him to shove it, that I didn’t want my child to know he came from a spineless bastard like him.

  “Sloan, are you still there, honey?” Shit, I spaced out.

  “Yeah, Mom. Sorry, I’m just tired. I’m gonna get some shut eye”

  “Okay, sweetie. Well, have Sage call me tomorrow night. You’re Dad and I want to come get him on Friday for the weekend. I’m missing you, but I hate to tell you I miss my little man, too.”

  I
smile and laugh. “Sure thing, Mom.” She should really have one of those shirts that say something about wishing grandkids came first.

  I lie back and think about how much easier my life could’ve been had we been more careful. Had I had an abortion. Had Lucas stepped up and been a man. Finally, my exhaustion takes over and I fall asleep.

  ~*~*~

  Sitting in the break room at work, I sip my coffee while waiting for my first patient. I keep thinking about that news report last night and how the whole Lucas thing bugs me. Eventually, Kara comes in and asks me why I am so spaced out. I tell her about Sage’s questions, leaving out the part of who he is. I just tell her he moved back close to our hometown and the news did an interview with him. That he’s happily married now and moved on past Sage. She shakes her head and agrees with my mom that someone should kick his ass. After calming her down, she goes back to the front and I go to see my first patient.

  An hour later when I finished my patient, I come out to write up the chart and she is grinning from ear to ear.

  I proceed with caution. “What has you so chipper? Did they just announce Shoe Carnival was giving shoes away or something?”

  “Nope.” She says, popping the “p”. “However, a sexy as sin fighter named Sly just stopped by here. He gave me two tickets to the fights this weekend. One for me and one for you.”

  “The fights?”

  She looks at me like I just said I was from the planet Zondar. “You know, those fighters we hung out with the other night. Sly, Huck and oh yeah, your patient, Lox. Remember, they fight? Well, Sly invited us to come.”

  “Yes, I know this you smartass. It’s just weird that they invited us to their fight.”

  She shrugs. “Why do you say that? We had fun with them. I could really get used to those twins dancing in my dreams at night. Especially after I get to watch them get all sweaty and beat the hell out of some other guys. Yummy.”

  I shake my head. “You are too much. I mean they’re already going to give us free self-defense classes, now tickets to a fight?”

  “It’s called being nice. We all had a good time the other night talking, dancing and just hanging out. Adults do that, you know?”

  “Yeah, I know. Do you think Jade would be up for babysitting again?”

  She smirks, rolling her eyes. “Yes. Of course. I told you, she’s saving money.”

  I nod. “Okay. Well, will you talk to her then? Wait, what night is it?”

  She pulls out the tickets. “Um the 20th. So this Saturday.”

  “Actually my parents are coming over to pick him up Friday for the weekend. They’ve been dying to do that since I moved here. This is just a good opportunity for them.”

  She claps like a seal. “Well that works out awesome then. No curfew!”

  I shake my head. What in the hell did I just get myself into?

  “Whatever you say.”

  I walk back to the break room in desperate need of more coffee.

  CHAPTER 9

  LOX

  I have a ritual that I do the day of every fight. Most fighters do. First, I call my mom that morning so she can tell me she loves me and to “knock ‘em dead”. She very rarely comes to my fights unless it’s a big fight, then she sits off to the right from Marco. Then I go for a short run to clear my head. I only listen to death metal music to get pumped. I never have sex the day of the fight. Well, before the fight anyway. I eat a steak and eggs platter, take a nap, and then I focus. I mentally picture myself in the fight. The guys know to never sway me from my ritual. I will finally talk the last hour before my fight when the guys are pumping me up.

  Today’s fight with Langley is no different. Tonight my fight is one of the first ones. Huck is pumping me up while Sly wraps my hands. Sly glances up when Huck finishes his remarks. “Oh and you have someone out there to impress tonight.”

  “Who?”

  “Sloan and Kara.”

  “Dude.” Huck looks at him pointedly.

  I shake my head. “What did you do, man?”

  He sits on the bench in our locker room. “Well, the other day I swung by Doc’s office. I saw that sassy little Kara at the front counter and gave her a couple of tickets for her and Sloan. She said she’d make sure Sloan came.”

  I grit my teeth. “If I didn’t want to mess up my rhythm, I’d kick your ass right now. I told you she doesn’t belong in a place like this.”

  Huck looks like he swallowed something sour. “What do you mean a place like this?”

  I shrug. “I just mean she’s a mom. She has more important shit to worry about than watching us beat the hell out of people. I mean come on, we know how hard my mom worked.”

  Huck rolls his shoulders. “I think that Sloan is a pretty smart chic and if she doesn’t think it’s a good idea, then she won’t come. If she needs to come watch us beat the hell out of people to blow off some steam and have a night off, then let her be.”

  Sly chuckles. “Plus, we both know you are hot for her, so why not impress her with your ass kicking abilities?”

  Before I can say anything else, Marco comes in. “Lox, let’s go.” I just nod to Marco and throw Sly a death glare before making my way through the door.

  I walk out to Johnny Cash’s song “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.” I know it’s a complete contrast from my prep music, but it works. I have quite a good local following and I pretty much have the home field advantage. I look up in the stands to see people holding signs. ‘Beware of the Storm’, ‘The Storm Is Gonna Blow Through’, ‘Tropical Storm Lox’ and many others. I hear marriage proposals and indecent proposals. I can zone them all out, but then I see her. She looks like a delicate flower in the middle of the desert. She’s a radiant light in a sea of darkness. She seems nervous while Kara, in contrast, seems carefree. As a fighter, you learn to read someone’s body language. Sloan’s is screaming Get me the Hell out of here. I shake it off, I can’t get bogged down in this.

  As I enter the ring, I glare at Langley. I can hear the crowd still chanting my last name. I smirk at him as the ref calls us to the center.

  “All right, I want a good, clean fight. I won’t put up with any bullshit. Now, touch gloves and let’s get with it.”

  We touch gloves and back away towards our corners. I mentally start planning. I see more than I hear the ref ask us if we are ready. He throws his hand and we go.

  Just need to get close enough. Three rounds. Five minutes each. Fifteen minutes. Just fifteen minutes. Nine hundred seconds. Stick. Stick. Stick. Jab. Jab. Kick. Kick.

  I hear the bell indicating the first round has ended. “Lox, he’s trying to tire you out. You need to tire him out,” Marco says as he takes the towel back.

  Huck looks at me. “His right side is weak. Watch that.”

  I nod as the bell dings.

  I come barreling back out. I work him to the side and whale into to him. I can hear Marco along the side of the ring. “You got him, Lox. Keep it up. You got him!”

  Before I realize it, I hear the bell ding again. Another five minutes done. Only five more to go.

  “Damn son, you’re doing great, keep it up.” Marco says as he squirts water in my mouth.

  “Lox, he’s definitely lost strength in his right side. We know he’s left side dominate anyway, but just keep taking down the right. You got this.”

  I nod, hearing the bell again and I head straight for him. I’m not fucking around this time. I get to work on his right side. A few punches later, I deliver a knockout punch to him.

  The ref holds my arm up indicating my win. The energy from the crowd is insane. I glance over and see Sloan cheering for ME. That makes me smile. As I exit the ring the crowd is chanting, I make my way to the locker room to shower and change.

  Huck follows me in the locker room since he’s not fighting tonight. He’s still working toward his new weight class. “Fuck man, that was awesome. That third round you came out on fucking fire. You good?” I nod. “Okay, then I’m gonna go watch Sly’s fight.”
<
br />   I nod. “Sounds good, I’ll be out in a few.”

  He stops at the door. “Oh yeah and about Sloan, I think she can handle being here just fine.” He pulls the door open, heading back out to the arena.

  Standing under the shower, my mind goes back to the huge smile on Sloan’s face. The glow in her cheeks, her perky tits and nice round ass. My hand drifts down to my cock, grabbing it in my right palm and bracing my left hand against the wall. I start to work out my frustration. I picture Sloan taking her clothes off. Thinking about that intoxicating smile sends me over the edge.

  Taking my time with the rest of my shower, I try to get all of the thoughts of her out of my head. I wrap my towel around myself once I’m finished. I dress quickly, I’d like to catch the last few minutes of Sly’s fight if I can. Looking in the mirror, I notice a few cuts on my face I didn’t see before. Nothing that looks like it needs to be stitched though. I make my way back out into the arena. Shit, Sly is getting his ass handed to him. I run up to Marco’s side. “Sly! Get into it, man.” I turn to Huck. “What the fuck is going on with him?”

  He shrugs, shaking his head. “I don’t know, man. Jackson got in his head or something. At the beginning of the third round, Jackson got a good lick in to his head. Gave him that split, then it just went. He’s probably still gonna win the match but I’ve never seen him take this much.”

  Finally, the bell rings, signaling the end of the third round. Sly is still declared the winner, but he looks like hell. Once he comes out of the ring, we lead him to the locker room. Our event medic comes and starts looking at his gash on his forehead. “Sly, I can stitch this up but I think you need to go to the hospital and get checked out.” He uses his flash light to check his eye movement. “You took a pretty hard hit. I want you to go get looked at.” The medic looks over at Marco.

  Marco looks at Sly. “Get showered and dressed.” He turns to Huck. “Take your brother to get checked out. I’ll be over there when the event is finished up.”

  Huck nods, taking Sly by the arm.

  Sly looks at me. “Go make sure Sloan and Kara make it out okay. You know how this place gets. Offer Kara a rain check on my behalf.” He tries to wink, but can’t.