Unlikely Match, page 8
Finally he was getting to the information I actually cared about. “Yeah, and when is that gonna be? I need to book a flight and reserve a hotel.”
Neil barked out a laugh. “You’ve been out of the game far too long. The airline is flying you in for free, as long as you let the press take lots of pictures of you getting off the plane with their logo prominently displayed. First Class, of course, none of this coach bullshit. And the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills is comping a suite for you.”
I let out the deep sigh that had been building and burning in my lungs. “When is the happy event?” I didn’t have it in me to fake being excited and Neil was too preoccupied with the dollar signs rolling in front of his pupils to notice.
“Saturday. I’ll email you the flight and hotel information.”
A lead weight fell into the pit of my stomach. “Saturday? What the hell? That’s only four days from now.”
His own weighted huff of air signaled his annoyance with me. “Clayton, your match is scheduled for a month from Saturday. Every major boxing sponsor—not to mention a few that have never been involved in fights before—is pouring significant amounts of cash into getting a little bit of face time during this event. It’s gonna be the match of the fucking century. The sooner we get hype rolling, the better.”
I was done with the entire conversation and mindlessly agreed to whatever came out of his mouth next. I had a delicate conversation with Joey ahead of me, not to mention notifying Tyler that I was going to be heading out of town. Maybe I’d invite him and Lolli along. Who wouldn’t want to see LA and stay at a posh Beverly Hills hotel?
I cradled the receiver back in the base just as Joey appeared in my doorway. “Just the man I was looking for,” I muttered. The throbbing at my temples from the conversation with Neil intensified. “Sit down, J-man. We need to talk.”
Chapter Eighteen
Tyler
Joey nearly knocked me on my ass just as I was about to pull open the door to the gym as he shoved his way outside. He was sputtering off a string of curses so loud that I was certain he couldn’t hear the ‘whoa’ that popped free at his forceful exit.
“What the hell happened to you?” I called out the question to his retreating back.
He stopped halfway between me and his car and spun on his heel. He opened his mouth then quickly snapped it closed and scratched his nails over his short, tightly coiled hair. “Go ask your boyfriend.”
He turned and stalked the rest of the way to his car, slamming the door shut and speeding off. I stared after the cloud of dust he left behind, my jaw hanging.
I’d only spent a little over a month with the two men, but the three times a week I was at the nearly always empty gym had given me a front row seat to their close bond. Clayton had told me more than once that his friendship with Joey had been the one bright spot in his adolescent life, and that the mentoring from Joey’s uncle Terrence had been what had sparked his successful career. Whatever had just gone down must have been huge.
The point was emphasized when I walked into Clayton’s office and saw him with his elbows propped on the desk and his forehead resting against his palms. I dropped my duffel bag just inside the door as silently as possible and stood there for a few minutes.
“So,” I hedged carefully, “what just happened?”
He snapped his head up and his agonized, stormy-blue gaze locked onto me. “I’d… rather not talk about it. Go warm up.”
Irritation flared in me and I forced it back. The last thing he needed was to hold this shit in. But I also had to honor his need for privacy. Any relationship required a careful balance of honesty and respect, but our dynamic amplified that need.
Instead of leaving, I nodded, crossed the room and took a seat in the chair opposite his. “You have the right to carry secrets. This”—I gestured between him and me—“isn’t about giving up your autonomy.” I reached across the desk and wrapped my fingers around one of his hands. “But it’s also about letting me in and giving me the chance to help you—or at least allowing me to carry some of the shit you’re dealing with too.”
He tightened his grip and we sat for countless moments in silence. “He’s mad about the fight.”
I frowned at him. Clayton had told me that this ‘back from retirement’ match was a hot ticket item and would be his one and only time to step back into the ring, but his enthusiasm was contagious and his passion damn near palpable. I was excited for him. The thought of Joey not encouraging his best friend to pursue a chance to relive something he loved created a slither of concern that iced my veins. “Why does that piss him off?”
He stared at me in silence through three slow blinks of his impossibly long lashes. “Because he’s worried about me.”
Every inch of Clayton was chiseled perfection, a level of fitness that had been refined over the past five weeks to exceed god-like status. What the hell was there to be worried about? Unless he was battling some seven-foot-tall giant made completely of granite, I was pretty confident Clayton had a better-than-average chance of coming out on top.
A few pieces clicked together in my mind and the question I should have asked long ago screamed out in my brain, although I uttered it in a much softer tone. “Why did you retire?”
He released my hand, exhaled slowly and stood. He ran his palm over the chronically thick stubble that was always on his jaw. It was one of the many things about him I’d grown to love.
My heart stumbled as the word ricocheted through me. Love?
“You have to understand… These are predictions. Theories.” His voice held a note of caution that did nothing to ease the tight ball of increasing dread that was forming in my gut. “After my last match, I had trouble bouncing back the way I normally did, so, to be safe, they sent me for some tests.”
I stood and rounded the desk until I was planted right in front of him. “What kinds of tests?”
His jaw moved back and forth. “Primarily an MRI and CT scan.”
Fuck. My heart thundered behind my ribcage. “We’re gonna come back to this so you can tell me why you never felt compelled to talk to me about it before, but first I want to know what the results showed.”
“That if I get hit in the wrong place, I could be paralyzed”—he looked away—“or worse.”
The simmering molten lava of fear over the jeopardy he was placing himself in, mingled with anger at him for withholding such important information and at my neglect to ask sooner, erupted in my chest. I took several deep breaths to even my voice before responding. “Why the hell are you willing to risk that for a dumb fucking match?”
The gaze that had been fixed on the floor shot back to lock onto mine. “Do you think I want to do this? Yeah, I miss fighting. Yeah, I miss my career, but I’m not a total dumbass. I don’t have a choice, Tyler. My gym is drowning. I can’t keep membership high enough to break even, much less make a profit. I’m draining my personal finances to keep this place running.” He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you get it? I’m doing this to save my dream from crashing and burning and falling into oblivion and to keep myself from going back to the fucking projects where I was raised.”
I slammed my open hand down on the smooth wooden surface of the desk. “You always have a choice. You just made a shitty one.”
“Not everyone has a limitless bank account to draw from when things go south.” He jammed an index finger into his chest. “All I have is me. If I can’t pull this together on my own, everything I ever wanted will be reduced to a heaping pile of failed ashes. This match is the only hope I have of saving this.”
I wanted to believe his anger was overriding the truth as the words ‘all I have is me’ sliced through me with exquisite precision. I grabbed his face and held it between my palms in a firm grasp. “That is bullshit and you know it. Even before this, you had Joey, but now? Now you have me—and Lolli. And we might both be idiots, but we fucking love you.”
Under any other circumstance on any other day, his saucer-sized eyes would have been comical. In that moment, I was barely keeping my temper under control. Humor was definitely off the table.
“You have a choice, Clayton.” I released my hold and took a step back. “You can choose us and give me the chance to help you or you can risk your life for the sake of a company and alienate everyone in your life who gives a damn and can’t stand to see you hurt.”
I crossed the room, picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder. “This is a decision you have to make all on your own.”
I allowed myself one last greedy glimpse of the man I’d somehow fallen in love with in such a short period of time, before I turned and walked out of the door, ignoring the tears tracking down my cheeks. For a moment I’d been able to glimpse a future, but now it was back to just being Lolli and me.
Chapter Nineteen
Clayton
A commercial for the televised contract signing that would be taking place in five hours played on the wide screen in front of me. I flopped back on the downy-soft bedding and stared at the ceiling, hoping for an answer to be etched in the tile over me.
Tyler loves me.
His words had played on repeat in my head over the days we’d been apart. Were we done? Had I ruined everything we’d managed to create during six short weeks through one stupid decision? I pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes and dragged them down my face.
I still had time to back out. Until the contract was signed, I had the opportunity to walk away—and piss off probably millions of people and get blacklisted from the boxing world, never to be spoken of again.
No big deal.
I heaved a sigh and racked my brain for something, anything, that could possibly make the gym I’d built work without putting myself in jeopardy.
My pride reared back. Aside from advice and training tips from Terrence, I had done everything in my life on my own. I was pretty damn proud of what I’d accomplished, most of which was hanging in an impossible balance.
If I went through with the match, I’d be everyone’s hero. All the executives whose pockets had been lined through my literal blood, sweat and tears would be eating out of my hand.
One of several extremities I might not be able to move after the fight was done.
A sharp rap at my door dragged my pathetic ass out of the sorry hole I’d dug myself into. “Mr. James? It’s the concierge. I have an urgent delivery for you.”
I rolled my eyes and my body at the same time, sinking my feet into the plush carpet as I stood. “I’ll be right there.” Whatever event Neil was adding to the little press tour he’d booked for me, in addition to the contract signing, was certain to not be urgent, but I didn’t have anything more exciting to fill the next few hours anyway.
The more-formally-attired-than-necessary man on the opposite side of the door gave a small bow when I opened it. “I do hope I’m not disturbing you, sir, but we had strict orders that you needed this immediately.”
I thanked him, slid him a twenty for a tip and took the manila envelope. The sleek, colorful brochures inside advertising my gym were the last thing I’d expected to see. A detailed, and extremely impressive, social media marketing strategy hid behind them. But the stark white sheet of copy paper with a brief missive scrawled across it in messy handwriting was the single piece of the package that took my breath away.
Clayton,
I talked with Joey because we are both pissed at you for being this stupid, but we also love you. I know why you’re doing this, so I’m giving you an alternative, and I have to hope like hell that you’ll pay attention before you sign that damned contract.
We implemented this marketing plan the day you left. I’d apologize for it, but considering the fact that we’ve already doubled your enrollment, that isn’t going to happen. I know that sustaining membership has been harder for you than actually gaining members, so check out the full plan I’ve included and you’ll see how we can make that work.
You should have talked to me. I’m trying to be understanding here, because this is a new relationship, but you should have trusted me and given me the chance to help you. Don’t sign that contract. We can fix this without putting you in jeopardy.
And I know I could have said all this to your face, but I guarantee that it would be accompanied by far more of my smart mouth than even you’d appreciate. Even though you hurt me, I still want us—every part of us—and I don’t want to ruin it with a shitty comment.
Please come home. You have a family who loves you.
Tyler
I crumpled the paper and held it close to my chest, ignoring the tears trailing down my cheeks and the utter absurdity of that fact. I was a boxing champion who people feared, even after my retirement. Yet I was standing in the middle of a hotel room crying like a baby, because even though I’d thoroughly pissed off every important person in my life, they had still offered me a priceless gift.
Not pissed off. Hurt. He’d said it himself. I’d hurt him by not trusting that he wouldn’t ‘white knight’ my issues in a way that would make me uncomfortable. I should have given him the opportunity to guide me in the way I’d told him I needed.
Instead, I’d decided to shove my head all the way up my ass and handle it all on my own. Way to go, douchebag. When the self-deprecating epithet didn’t feel like enough, I followed it up with a litany of insults directed at myself.
Even though the time and energy both Tyler and Joey had clearly invested in working on this marketing plan touched me, it was much more than that. The kid who’d grown up in the projects as an only child to a single mother was being offered the one thing he’d never truly believed he could have—a family.
The heart I’d locked away so long ago burst through the brick wall I’d entombed it in and the sobs that I’d perpetually held back rolled through my body and left me asking myself one question.
What the hell am I doing sitting in a hotel room in LA when everything I want is twelve hundred miles away?
Chapter Twenty
Tyler
There was a small chance I’d overstepped about ten bounds. Probably larger than that, but stopping the man I loved from irreparably harming himself was something I had to at least try to do. Having Joey on my side as the most unlikely ally ever was my saving grace.
He’d had my back as I’d implemented changes at the gym and begun a social media blitz for a business that wasn’t mine. Clayton would either love me or hate me for being so presumptuous, but I’d be damned if pouring my frustration and hurt out into the lines and lines of code I’d furiously typed as I’d created Clayton’s new website didn’t help. Otherwise, I was pretty sure my ass would’ve been on a plane and beating down his hotel room door.
Between three and a half years of college and a dozen more observing my father launch his company to Fortune 500 status, pulling together a plan for Clayton had been almost as easy as making Lolli’s favorite meal. It was instinctive and natural and made me want to kick his ass for not just asking me to do it.
Something Joey had threatened to do repeatedly… Talking Joey down off the ledge his anger had sent him to, born out of fear for his best friend, had taken more patience than I’d thought I possessed.
The hulking man was pacing my living room like a caged lion. “You should have flown down there and dragged his sorry ass back.” He practically growled the words. “I’d do it myself but I’m pretty damn sure he’d fight you less.”
Part of me agreed. I wanted nothing more than to force Clayton to come home, spend several days showing him exactly how important his safety and wellbeing were to me and let me help him fix the business issues in a manner that would protect him. I might not have known a whole hell of a lot about relationships, but I knew enough to say my piece and take a step back to give him the freedom to decide.
“It has to be his choice. Right or wrong, we can’t decide this for him.” I fell onto the couch and dropped my head back, closing my eyes. “We gave him another option and the concierge called to let me know it had been delivered. Clayton doesn’t have to sign that contract tonight.”
Lolli bounded into the room and plopped onto my lap with amazing force for her tiny frame. She gave me a quick hug then leaped directly from me into Joey’s arms. “Uncle Joey! You’re here!”
She’d randomly begun calling him the endearment the first night I’d invited him over to review the various options for marketing the gym. It both baffled me and warmed my heart. Somehow our small, fractured family of two had grown, simply by adding Clayton to our lives. My heart seized in my chest. We’d only known each other for six weeks, but it had been more than enough to cement his place in our world.
Clayton’s flight had taken off early Wednesday morning for the press junket to promote the contract signing and subsequent fight. Joey and I had spent damn near every minute since the plane had left the tarmac brainstorming and implementing our strategies.
I was crossing a line from being a boyfriend to inserting myself into his company, his dream, his passion. It was a calculated risk, but I could only hope he’d forgive me when he saw the boost it had created.
Joey gave Lolli one more tight squeeze and a peck on the cheek before depositing her onto the couch beside me. “I’ve gotta head out, sweet girl.” He looked at me, his dark eyes speaking all the fears we were both harboring. “I was going to watch, but… I can’t, man. I’m gonna go distract myself for a few hours.”
In spite of the heavy emotions weighing inside me, I smirked up at him. “Tell Ashley I said hi.”
A small measure of the concern etching his features melted away, although tension still tightened the smile he offered. “Sasha, man… Sasha.”
I rolled my eyes at his retreating back and Lolli climbed back into my lap. I kissed the crown of her curly head and tucked her beneath my arm. “Hey, Lols, I have a question for you.”
She looked up from the pale pink nail polish that Rachel had applied to her fingertips the day before. “What?”
