Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

Jace

“Let’s go.” I grab Kenzie’s hand and pull on her to leave. She resists, pausing to look down at Liam who has blood dripping from his nose and a bruise forming on his cheek.

“He hit me!” Liam yells, but the crowd is so loud nobody hears him. “That guy hit me!” he yells again as he tries to get up.

“We gotta get out of here,” I say to Kenzie.

She nods, and I lead her out the exit to the parking lot.

“What’s going on?” she asks. “Why are we leaving?”

“Because this place is really strict about fighting. They’d kick me out and ban me from ever coming back. They might even call the police.”

“Oh.” She chews on her lip. “What about our stuff?”

“I’ll text the guys. One of them will take it back with them. We’ll pick it up later.”

We get to my truck and I open the door for her.

“I’m really sorry about that,” she says as she gets in. “I didn’t mean to get you involved.”

“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. It’s his. He never should’ve said that to you.”

I close her door, harder than usual because I’m so damn pissed. Like it’s not enough she caught the asshole doing it with another girl? He has to tell her he doesn’t love her, and hasn’t for a long time? Who the hell does that?

I get in the driver’s side and call Troy as I start up the engine.

“Hey, what’s up?” he answers.

“Kenzie and I had to leave. Would you mind taking our stuff back to your place? I’ll pick it up later.”

“What happened? Why’d you leave without your stuff?”

“I punched a guy. I had to get out of there.”

“Who’d you punch?”

“Kenzie’s ex. He was being an ass.”

“So you punched him? I’m starting to think this girl’s more than just your roommate.”

“It’s not like that. I was just looking out for her. The guy said shit he shouldn’t have. He needed to be punched.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Let me know when you’re home and I’ll come get the stuff. Talk to you later.” I end the call and take off.

Knowing Troy, he’s going to grill me later about Kenzie, then tell me I’m getting too involved with her after just breaking up with Nikki. But I’m not getting involved with her. I’m just taking care of her, like any friend would.

“What do you want to do?” I ask Kenzie.

“Go home.”

“You sure? We could go do something.”

She points to her bikini. “I can’t really go anywhere like this.”

I smile. “I guess you’re right.”

That bikini. Shit. And that body of hers? It’s too damn much. I’m doing everything possible not to think dirty thoughts, but I’m pretty sure my dreams will go there tonight. And the night after that. I have a feeling I’ll be having a lot of dreams featuring Kenzie in that bikini.

“Let’s go home and change and then I’ll take you somewhere. Sitting alone in your room doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

“Probably not,” she mutters, looking down at her lap.

“You want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

I think she does, but now isn’t the right time so I leave her alone.

She’s quiet until we’re almost home, then says, “I don’t get it. Why did he tell me he loves me when he was in love with someone else? Why would he talk about us having a future when he knew it wasn’t true?”

“Because he’s a coward. He was too afraid to tell you the truth. Or he thought if things didn’t work out with this new girl, he’d still have you to go back to.”

“So he was using me.”

“It’s just a theory. I don’t know the guy so I really can’t say.” I park the truck on the street and we walk to the house. As we go inside, Kenzie seems distant, like her mind’s still on Liam and what happened at the pool.

“Think about something else,” I say, stepping in front of her before she gets to her room. “I know it seems impossible right now but just try. Think of anything but him. He’s not worth wasting any more time thinking about.”

She looks up at me. “Are you thinking about Nikki?”

“I was at the pool, but only because I was worried I’d run into her. A lot of girls look similar to her so they’d walk by and I’d think it was her.”

“Did you wish she was there with you today? Assuming she hadn’t done what she did?”

I pause to think. “Actually, no. I didn’t. I’m still really angry at her so the thought of even being around her pisses me off.” I motion to Kenzie’s room. “Go change, then let’s get out of here.”

“Where are we going?”

“You still want a tour of the gym? Or do you want to do something else?”

“We can go to the gym. I’ll be out in a few minutes.” She goes past me, then stops and turns back. “Could you teach me how to do that?”

“Do what?”

“Throw a punch. I want to learn how.”

I smile. “You planning to punch someone?”

“I’m not sure. But if I ever decide to, I want to know how.”

“Then, yes. I’d be happy to teach you.”

“Like today?”

I laugh. “You want to learn today?”

“Please?”

“I don’t know if I can teach you that fast. You’ll need time to practice.”

“We can have more than one lesson, if you’re okay with that.”

“I’m totally okay with it, as long as I’m not the one you’re planning to punch,” I joke.

She frowns. “Never. You’ve been so nice to me, Jace. I’d never punch you. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me. I’d be a mess if it weren’t for you.”

I’d be a mess too. Kenzie’s helped me more than she realizes. If she hadn’t shown up, I’d be in rough shape right now. Probably throwing up from all the alcohol I would’ve drank. Going through old pictures of Nikki and me on my phone, wondering what went wrong.

Being with Kenzie has shown me that Nikki just wasn’t the girl for me. Even if she hadn’t cheated, we weren’t meant to be. I was never really happy with Nikki and yet I didn’t realize that until I felt a whole new level of happiness with Kenzie.

“Thank you.” Kenzie hugs me, which takes me by surprise. I think she surprised herself, hugging me without thinking, forgetting that we’re both barely dressed. She’s in a skimpy bikini and I’m shirtless. Her warm soft skin is pressed against mine, her breasts right up against my chest.

Don’t think dirty thoughts, I tell myself but those are the only thoughts I have. I want to cup my hands around those large luscious breasts. I want to grip her ass and pull her closer. And I really want to kiss her. I almost did during the laser tag but then caught myself and backed away. But ever since then, it’s all I can think about.

Her arms remain around me, her head on my chest. I thought she’d let go by now, but she’s still holding on. My arms are just loosely around her so I tighten them up a bit.

“It’s gonna be okay,” I tell her. “I promise you, it will. It’ll just take time.”

“I know,” she whispers.

“I’m here for you. Whatever you need, just ask. And if you want to talk, even at three in the morning, just bang on my door. Wake me up. I don’t mind. I really don’t. I have a feeling the nights will be worse than the days so chances are, I’ll be up anyway.”

She backs away and smiles a little. “We could watch late-night infomercials.”

“I’m not sure my credit card can afford any more magic pans, but we could watch without buying.”

She laughs. “I’ll go get dressed.”

She goes in her room and I go in mine.

It’s good we’re going to work out. It’ll help burn off the sexual tension I can’t seem to get under control. Hitting a punching bag will distract me from the thoughts I keep having of Kenzie, or that’s what I’m hoping.

She comes out of her room wearing yoga pants and a sports bra. So much for controlling myself around her. I felt my cock twitch the moment I saw her. Those tight pants hug her ass perfectly, lifting it up and out. Fuck, I need to look away, but I can’t. Her ass is pure perfection.

“Ready to go?” she asks, bending down to tie her shoes.

Now I’m staring at her breasts. I’m trying not to, but they’re right there, right in front of me, squeezed up and together by her tight pink sports bra.

I force myself to look away and go to the kitchen. “You want to bring some water?”

“Sure. Do you have an extra water bottle?”

“I’ve got tons of them. I get them for free at the gym. I have one that’s never been used. I’ll give you that one.” I fill it up, then fill up my own and bring them both to the door where she’s waiting.

“Thanks,” she says as I hand her the pink water bottle. “I can see why you never used it.” She smiles.

“Yeah, pink’s not really my color.” I open the door. “You sure you don’t want a shirt?”

She looks down at her bra. “Do I need one?”

Not if she wants every guy there staring at her breasts. I’m finding she really doesn’t have a clue how hot she is, probably because her dumbass ex never told her. He so didn’t deserve her.

“The gym can get cold sometimes. They really crank up the air.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

She returns wearing a tight-fitting tank top. It still shows off her breasts, but it’s better than just a bra.

We get to the gym and I set her up with a gym ID, then give her a quick tour. As we walk around, I keep noticing guys checking her out. She’ll have no problem getting a date. I’m surprised she didn’t get asked out at the pool today. Or maybe she did and didn’t tell me.

“So you never said if you got a date,” I say as we walk down to the room where they have kickboxing class.

“A date?” she asks, sounding confused.

“At the pool. I’m assuming some guys asked you out.”

“Just one. But Andrea said I should pretend not to be interested so I took his number but didn’t give him mine.”

“How are you supposed to meet someone if you pretend you’re not interested?”

“It’s that whole playing-hard-to-get thing. I don’t think it works, but I went along with it because I wasn’t sure I wanted to go out with the guy.”

“You didn’t like him?”

“It’s hard to say. I only talked to him a few minutes. I didn’t feel any chemistry, but he seemed nice so maybe I’ll give him a call.”

“You gotta watch out for those nice guys. They can turn out to be assholes.”

“Are you saying you’re an asshole?” she says in a kidding tone.

“Are you saying I’m a nice guy?”

She smiles, but doesn’t give me an answer. I open the door and we go inside the room.

“They have kickboxing classes here three times a week,” I say. “They’re really popular. You might want to try one sometime.”

The boxing bags are pushed up against the wall. I go over and move one of them to the middle of the room, then grab some hand wraps and boxing gloves.

“You know how to wrap your hands?” I ask.

She shakes her head.

“I’ll do it.” I take her hand and pull the wrap around and around until I reach the end, then secure it in place. Then I do the same with her other hand. The whole time I’m doing it, I keep thinking about how I wish I could hold her hand, like on a date, but how some other guy will get to instead. He better treat her right or I’ll be punching him like I did Liam. I’ll punch anyone who hurts her.

“Before we put the gloves on, I want you to practice some basic punches.” I take her to the mirror so she can see her form.

“Why am I learning with boxing gloves? I’m not going to hit someone with gloves on.”

“You’ll learn the technique with the gloves. If you practiced with just your hands, they’d get all beat-up and bruised.”

“Okay, so what do I do?”

“First, get in your stance.” I show her where to place her feet, then where to put her arms.

“Like this?”

“Change how your hips are aligned.” I show her by doing it myself, then tell her to try it, checking her form in the mirror. She adjusts her stance, but she’s still not aligned right.

“Your left hip is too far back,” I tell her. “The power of the punch comes from your core so you need to make sure it’s lined up right, starting with your hip.”

“Can you just move me in the right position so I can feel how it’s supposed to be?”

I didn’t want to touch her, knowing it could make my cock react, but I don’t know how else to teach her.

Placing my hands on her hips, I gently move her into place, then step back. “See how that feels?”

“Yeah. I feel more solid now.”

“Exactly. Now watch how my body moves when I punch.” I do it in slow motion, then do it fast to show her how it should look.

“You make it look easy.”

“Try it.”

She takes a punch and it actually isn’t that bad.

“That’s pretty good, but keep your elbows in and remember to protect your face. If your opponent sees a punch coming, they’re either going to move to avoid it or try to hit back, so you always want to protect your face.”

“When you hit Liam, he didn’t even see it coming.”

“Because when I’m going to hit someone, I don’t hesitate. You should do the same, especially if you’re ever in a dangerous situation. If a guy ever tries to attack you, or makes you feel like he might, punch him. Don’t hesitate.”

She focuses on the mirror in front of her, a determined look on her face, and throws a punch, then another, and another after that.

“Are you imagining someone in that mirror?”

“Yes.” She smiles. “And it feels really good. When do I get to punch the bag?”

“After you get used to the air punches.”

“Then let’s keep practicing. I really want to punch something.”

I laugh. “Me too. Okay, let’s try a cross punch.”

We continue for the next half hour. She’s a fast learner. She stays focused and follows my instructions, and although she still needs a lot of practice, her punches are looking really good.

“Can we try the gloves now?” she asks with excitement.

“You sure you don’t want a break? We missed lunch. Aren’t you hungry?”

“A little, but I want to keep going.”

“Okay, I’ll grab the gloves.”

Once she has them on, I show her how to punch the bag. She’s so eager to try it that she shoos me away, saying she’s ready. After a few punches, I give her some reminders about form and watch her for a few minutes. She’s doing good so I let her keep punching while I set up my own bag. I go to the sound system and blast some music, then return to my bag, which is next to Kenzie’s.

“This is awesome,” she yells above the music. She’s smiling as she punches. I love seeing her happy. Who knew boxing would bring a smile to her face?

We get into the workout, throwing punches while the music plays. I haven’t had this much fun with a girl in a really long time. I said the same thing last night with the laser tag. Is it the activity or the company making me feel this way? I love laser tag and boxing so it could just be the activity, but I do those things with my friends and don’t feel this good. It’s gotta be Kenzie making me feel this way.

“I need water,” she says, dropping the gloves and going to get her water bottle.

I follow her to get my own. “Why don’t we quit for today?” I check the clock on the wall. “It’s almost three. We’ve been doing this for hours.”

“That explains why I’m dripping sweat.” She laughs as she looks down at her clothes. She ditched her t-shirt a while ago, leaving her in just her sports bra and yoga pants. Sweat is beaded up on her skin, between her breasts, along her abs. It’s turning me on so I look away.

“Let’s head home,” I say. “We’ll come back and do this some other time.”

“You promise?”

“Yeah, of course. It was fun. I’d love to do this again.”

“What if you… “ She looks to the side.

“What if I what? ” I ask.

Her eyes go back to mine. “What if you meet someone? She won’t like that you’re working out with me.”

“If I’m only going on dates and not getting into a relationship, then it won’t matter. I told you, I don’t want anything serious right now. And you’re going to make sure I don’t let it get to that point. That was our agreement, right? To keep each other from getting into another relationship?”

“Yeah.” She slips her shirt on.

“So it’s not an issue. We can work out together whenever we want. Now let’s get out of here. I need to shower and then I need to eat. I’m starving.”

Back at the house, we clean up and I suggest we have dinner downtown. After all the times she’s been here to visit her boyfriend, he never took her downtown. It’s not like it’s anything great, but the downtown has some good restaurants and the bars there usually have live music.

I’m trying to avoid asking Kenzie about Liam but from what she’s told me about him, it sounds like he never wanted to do anything but hang out in his room. She said that’s all they really did when she went to see him.

“I love this place!” Kenzie says as we walk in the Mexican restaurant. It’s one of my favorite places. They have live music playing and colorful lights strung everywhere. The tables and chairs are in bright colors that match the lights. Nikki thought the decor was tacky, but I like it. It’s cheery and happy, which is what Kenzie and I need right now.

“You like margaritas?” I ask.

“I love margaritas!”

“You should check out their margarita menu. They have like thirty different kinds.”

The hostess seats us and I take the margarita menu from the table and hand it to Kenzie.

“Take your pick. You’re probably gonna want more than one.”

Her eyes widen when she opens the menu. “How am I going to choose? There’s so many.”

“We’ll have to keep coming back so you can try them all.”

“Definitely,” she says, giving me a big smile.

We keep making plans to do stuff together. And I’d love that, but it’s not a good idea. The more we’re together, the more I want Kenzie to be more than just my roommate.

“Is this place new?” she asks after we order.

“No. I’m not sure when it opened. It was here when I started school.”

“Why didn’t Liam ever take me here? He knows I love Mexican food.”

“Because Liam’s an ass. I thought we already established that.”

She laughs. “You hit him really hard. I bet his face isn’t looking too good right now.”

“It didn’t look good before I hit him either.”

She laughs again. “Yeah, I see that now. It’s hard to believe I used to think he was cute.”

“I guess love really is blind.”

The waiter shows up and leaves a basket of chips at our table. “Another margarita?” he asks Kenzie.

She looks at her nearly empty glass. “Maybe one more. I’ll have the pineapple one this time.”

He nods and walks away.

“You’re stopping at two?” I ask. “You have to try more than that.”

“Two is enough. I can’t try them all tonight. I have to save some to try so we have a reason to come back.”

“We don’t need a reason. We can come here anytime. I should also take you to the sports bar down the street. Monday is five dollar burger night. The place is packed with college students. It’s a good place to meet people. If you’re looking for a date, that’s the place to go.”

I don’t want her going out with some other guy, but it’s what she needs to do to move on. She needs to know there are better guys out there than her ex.

I need to find someone too. Because dating my new roommate is not an option.