Vinny’s eyes find mine and he grins at me knowingly. I roll my eyes playfully in response. He walks the class through a series of stretches and I catch glimpses of him in the mirror as he weaves his way through the class giving instructions. He stops when he gets to me and puts his hand firmly on my lower back as I bend over stretching to touch the floor with my hands.
“A little deeper.” He applies pressure as his hand slowly strokes up and down my spine. Leaning down next to me, he whispers into my ear so that only I can hear him. “Jesus Christ, you have an amazing ass, Liv.” I feel his words slide over me and I’m grateful we’re in a room full of people, instead of alone.
The forty-five minute class is harder than I expected, but Vinny makes it fun. He’s playful and attentive to the class. I can see how they all look at him, but he keeps a certain distance from them as a few try hard to entice him as he works with them individually. I find myself wondering if he’s always this professional with his students, or if his act is merely for my benefit.
I’m a sweaty mess after the class, even worse than I would’ve been in yoga. “That was fun, I can’t believe how fast the time went by.” I wipe the sweat from my forehead as I speak.
“I’m glad you liked it. You’re good, a natural at swinging those legs.”
“Thanks.”
“You ready to get something to eat?”
“I really need to shower.”
“I could use a shower too.” Vinny arches his eyebrows suggestively.
“That wasn’t an invitation.”
Vinny finishes packing up his stuff. There’s a few women still hanging around talking, but most have already left. Standing in front of me, he reaches around my waist with his one free hand and pulls me closer to him, uncaring if people are still in the room. “That’s a shame, I was looking forward to you washing my back.”
“I think you’re going to be taking care of yourself today.” I arch one eyebrow playfully, the double meaning in my statement intentional.
Vinny laughs, shaking his head as he throws his arm around my shoulder, holding me close as he leads us to the door. “I’ll shower alone, but it won’t be as much fun. But I’m taking you to dinner. Give me your address, I’ll pick you up in forty-five minutes. I’m not taking any chances by giving you more time than that.”
***
We drive to a part of town I haven’t been to in years, not far from our old high school. I’m surprised when Vinny parks behind the library and comes around to open my door without explanation.
“Why are we at the library?” Vinny takes my hand and helps me out of his truck, grabbing a bag from the back seat.
“Come on, I’ll show you.”
We walk for a few minutes and I finally catch on to where he must be taking me. The tree. For years after Vinny left school, I couldn’t look in the direction of that damn tree. It was our spot. A few months after I started tutoring him in the library, the weather had finally warmed up enough and Vinny had insisted we needed to study outdoors. So we found a quiet place under a big tree and spent almost every afternoon after school under it. To me, it was our tree, a special place where I fell in love for the very first time.
Vinny opens the duffle bag, pulls out a blanket and spreads it over the grass, motioning with an exaggerated hand gesture and bow for me to sit.
“Our dinner.” He reaches in and pulls out another bag, handing it to me before he sits close on the blanket.
I know what’s in the bag, but I check anyway. I can’t believe he’s remembered so much. Most afternoons we’d share a hero. Roast beef and provolone, mayo only on his half.
“I can’t believe you remembered all of this.”
“Of course I remembered.”
I try to force a smile at Vinny, but he sees on my face that something’s bothering me.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. I guess I’m just surprised that you remembered all this.”
“Remember? Liv, those months with you…I’d never forget.”
When we spent time together all those years ago, I never doubted that there was something between us. I was young and inexperienced, but my heart told me he cared about me too. Then it just ended. And I spent the next year of my life feeling stupid for thinking he felt something for me too. To say I was devastated would be an understatement. It crushed my faith in so many things…young love, trusting my judgment on boys, giving my heart to someone else. “Then why, Vinny? Why did we stop spending time together after you left school?”
Vinny sighs, raking his fingers through his dark blond locks. It makes his unruly hair even more wild and only that much sexier. “My life was just so screwed up. My mom had problems, I’d just got kicked out of school, and I didn’t understand things about myself.” He reaches for my hand. “You were young, Liv. You weren’t ready for what I needed from you.”
Softly, the words escape my lips before I can catch them. “I didn’t care about any of that. I just needed you.”
I watch Vinny’s throat work as he swallows. For a second, I catch a flash of the boy I once knew in the man, only this time, he’s forlorn instead of angry. But the flash quickly passes, shuttering over the sadness. “You needed someone better. I would’ve dragged you down.” His words are spoken resolutely. It’s clear by his clipped tone he intends the conversation to be over. We’re both quiet for a long time, neither of us wanting to speak first.
I don’t even realize I’m staring at our joined hands, avoiding eye contact, until Vinny finally puts his hand under my chin, forcing my head up to meet his gaze. “Do you understand?”
“Sort of. I guess.” My tone wavers. Because, the truth is, I really don’t understand.
“I cared about you, Liv. A lot.”
I can tell he’s sincere and it makes me feel better. A little at least. I smile half-heartedly at him as he runs his knuckles gently along my cheek. “You better eat. When I look at you sitting here, it reminds me of all the things I never got to do with you.” His sweet smile is replaced by a dirty grin. “To you. I have a whole list of things I wanted to do to you.”
***
Eating breaks the tension that was building between us and we spend the next hour laughing and catching up, filling in all the missing pieces from our years apart.
“So what made Nico take you back to train?”
“My dad.” Vinny rubs his chest as he speaks, unconsciously reaching for the dog tags beneath his shirt. I doubt if he even knows he’s doing it.
“Your dad?”
“Yeah. The local chapter of The Angels MC do a bike run to raise money for the Children’s Hospital every year on Veteran’s Day. Most of them are vets like my dad was. So I started riding with them in his honor when I turned seventeen and got my first bike. Last year they needed to raise more money. The hospital’s working on funding a new wing for families of kids with cancer to stay while the kids get their treatment. So I asked Nico to ride, get some of the guys from his gym to join too.”
“And he said yes and then started training you again?”
Vinny laughs. “Nothing with Nico Hunter is that easy. He asked me if my dad would be proud of what I was doing. I was out of control, doing too much partying. I got a four hour lecture, but in the end he agreed to ride for the fundraiser. After it was over, he told me to be at his gym the next morning at 6AM. I thought he was going to train me. Instead he made me take a drug test. I passed. Then he made me come back at random times for a month. One day I showed up and he told me to get in the ring, instead of handing me a cup.”
“Sounds like you had to earn back his trust.”
“Yeah, I’m still working on that part. I haven’t touched anything except booze in six months, but I still get randomly tested.”
“Does it bother you?”
“What?”
“That it’s taking you so long to earn back his trust?”
Vinny doesn’t respond right away. Instead, he looks into my eyes and holds my gaze for a
minute before speaking. “I don’t mind working for something important to me.” His eyes drop to my mouth and back. Slowly, he leans in and kisses me. It’s gentle and sweet, full of meaning, and I feel yet another crack in the wall I’ve built around my heart to protect myself from this man.
***
It’s almost 3AM before Vinny finally drives me home. I’ve been with him for close to ten hours, yet it feels like the night’s ending too soon. Vinny parks and jogs around to open my door, giving me his hand to help me get out. He doesn’t release me once I’m standing. Instead he pulls me flush against him, his grip tight as he holds me close without saying a word for a full minute.
“I want to come up, but I’m not going to ask.” He speaks into the top of my head, his cheek still buried in my hair.
I pull back my face, enough to look up at him while I speak. I’m just about to respond, tell him that it’s too fast and I can’t invite him up yet, when he takes my mouth in a kiss. His large hand wraps around the back of my head, holding me in place while he gently traces the outline of my mouth with his tongue before sucking my lip into his mouth and biting down roughly. My innate reaction is to pull back from the pain, but it’s no use, Vinny has my head in his grip and doesn’t give me the chance to respond. Instead his tongue infiltrates my mouth and he kisses me with so much passion that I can’t help but feel it throughout my body. My skin heats, every nerve courses at warp speed with electricity pumping through my veins, and I kiss him back as hard as he gives it.
“Soon, Liv,” he mutters between impatient kisses when we come up for air. “I want you in my bed. Underneath me, on top of me, bent over…fuck, we’re going to invent new ways for me to have you.”
A small moan escapes my mouth and his grip tightens even more around me. “You better run now, Liv. If I hear that sound one more time, I’m going to be breaking my promise to take it slow and I’m not going to stop until you can’t walk for a few days.”
Begrudgingly, Vinny loosens his grip around me and slowly releases me. It’s clear he’s struggling and I open my mouth to speak, but Vinny puts his hand over my mouth silencing my attempt at words. His words a stern warning, “Go. Now.”
***
The sun is starting to come up by the time I finally relax enough to fall asleep. But when I finally do, I find the boy that I once knew, rather than the man I’ve just left, take over my dreams.
I’m sitting up against the tree, my knees drawn up to my chest, arms locked around them tightly. I look down at him, lying so casually and relaxed, his toned body sprawled out on the dark green grass. Hands folded behind his head, he smiles up at me and his pale blue eyes sparkle, contrasting beautifully against his tanned skin in the afternoon sunlight.
“Kiss me, Liv.”
I freeze at his words. I’ve kissed a boy before, but not one like Vinny. It’s pretty much all I could think about doing for the last four months. Yet here I sit like a deer in the headlights when the opportunity finally falls right into my lap.
“Liv.” Vinny’s voice breaks me out of my daze. For a minute, I think I must have imagined that he just told me to kiss him. I even feel a little relief that it was all in my head. But the relief is short lived. His beautiful eyes lock onto mine and this time there’s no mistaking that I haven’t imagined his words. “Come here, Liv. Kiss me.”
Still lying with his hands casually linked behind his head, he makes no attempt to move toward me. He sees the confusion on my face. “Lean down, Liv. Bring your mouth down to me and kiss me.”
“Why?” Finally, I find my wits and speak.
“Don’t you want to?” he says, a knowing smile on his face as he speaks.
My face reddens before I even speak, giving away my embarrassment before my answer. “Yes.”
“So kiss me then.”
“But…”
“Liv.”
“What?”
“Just do it. Stop thinking for once.”
So I do. I lean down and, hesitantly, I touch my lips to his and kiss him. Gently, with closed mouth.
I sit back up and open my eyes and find Vinny smiling up at me. I smile back at him, feeling relief. “Now really kiss me, Liv.”
My smile quickly disappears, replaced by worry and nervousness. Unconsciously, I bite my lower lip. Vinny arches his eyebrows, waiting patiently.
Slowly, I lean back down to him and cover his lips with mine. At first, I’m hesitant to open my mouth, but then I do. I force myself to push all my fears away and I slip my tongue into his mouth. And that’s all it takes. Vinny growls and hooks his hand around my neck, pulling me closer as his tongue takes over the lead. We kiss for what seems like forever, coming up only for a few seconds each time, both of us panting wildly, gasping only for enough air to allow us to continue.
Eventually Vinny breaks the kiss, ending the passionate embrace with a series of sweet, gentle, closed mouth kisses. Loosening his grip on the back of my neck enough to allow me to pull my head back to look at him, I find him smiling at me.
“Why?” I ask.
“Why what?” Vinny’s thumb strokes along the back of my neck gently as he speaks.
“Why didn’t you kiss me? Why did you make me kiss you first?”
“I was giving you time to say no.” He smiles at me with a cocky smile. “Even though I knew you wanted to. I didn’t know if you were ready for me.”
Chapter 15
Vince
“You’re dragging your ass. Do I need to ask what you were up to last night, or do we go straight back to random testing?” Nico’s in the ring with me. He’s right, I’m wiped this morning, but it has nothing to do with partying for a change.
“I was with Liv late last night. Got home and couldn’t sleep.”
Nico laughs. “Been there, done that.”
“Yeah, took me three hours to fall asleep after leaving her.”
“And you didn’t stop at Flannigan’s on the way home to pick up someone to help you work it out of your system?”
“Didn’t even think about it.” The thought never crossed my mind to pick up a GIMP, help work through the frustration I’d taken with me when I made Liv walk away last night.
“My little boy might be growing up after all.” Nico climbs into the ring and raises the cushioned protection pads for me to begin my strikes.
“Funny.”
Nico laughs. “I think so.”
Swinging my right leg in a roundhouse kick, I connect with the pad and Nico takes a step back from the momentum of the impact. “Looks like hard up works for you. Again. Other leg. Knock me on my ass or you’re doing six miles on the treadmill when we’re done here.”
Fucking Nico. Always using that god damn treadmill against me. Ever since I was a little kid. I rear back and strike hard with the other leg. Nico takes two steps back, but remains standing. “Looks like you have a good run after practice today.” Nico laughs and I spend the next forty minutes trying to knock him on his ass, purely for my own personal satisfaction. I’m unsuccessful and the six mile run actually helps me cool off after another few hours of feeling frustrated.
***
I swing by Mom’s on the way home from the gym. The front door is open and I feel the frustration I just ran off knot its way back through my body. She’s careless when she’s wasted, totally disregards her own personal safety. And since she’s wasted most days, she’s pretty much always putting herself out there at risk.
I’m surprised to find my mother sitting up on the couch when I enter. Most days she’s passed out and junkies are lying around haphazardly, like trash before the cleanup after a rough night of partying. There’s two men sitting opposite my mother. Unlike the usual ones I find, these appear clean, their clothes aren’t torn and dirty, and it’s likely they’ve shaved in the last day or two.
“Mom?” All eyes turn to me, they hadn’t noticed I entered the apartment with the heated discussion going on.
“Hi, Baby.” My mother looks to me, and then back to the two me
n staring at me, and I can see she’s nervous. Whoever they are, they’re bad news. They may look better than the usual losers I find, but the vibe coming from my mother tells me that they’re just as much trouble.
“Who are you?” I tilt my chin to the closer of the two men and wait for a response.
“We’re friends of your mother’s.” The man stands and folds his arms over his chest. He’s trying to intimidate me with his size, only the fucker has no idea who he’s dealing with. I don’t give a shit if he does have a few inches on me.
“Yeah? What do you want from my mother, friend.”
The guy still sitting slaps his hand on his knee. “Holy shit. You’re Vince Stone, the fighter, aren’t you?” He seems pleased with himself for the discovery.
I completely ignore his question. He still hasn’t answered mine and I feel my adrenaline start pumping up, readying me for a fight. “I’ve asked nicely twice, now I’m starting to lose my patience. Who the fuck are you and what do you want from my mother?”
“We’re looking for a friend of your mother’s…who has something that belongs to us.”
I look to my right and then to my left with dramatic emphasis. “I don’t see anyone else here…so get the fuck out.”
The guy still sitting chuckles and stands. I watch as he lifts his hand to his waist and pats what’s tucked into the band, silently letting me know that my fists are no match for his fire power. He motions to the other guy with his head toward the door and the two make their way to the exit. The one carrying stops before he walks out and turns back to me. “Listen, I’ve seen you fight. Got a lot of respect for you, man. Love to see a local kid make it big time. It’s a shame it’s gonna go down like this. But your mother there,” his chin points back in her direction, “she’s got two weeks to come up with our cash or our stash,” he pauses, “or find that dirtbag Jason she vouched for. Otherwise we’re coming back. And all the muscle in the world you got ain’t gonna help her.”