Page 25

25

JACK

BADASS BAMBIE

“ C an we hang out tonight?”

Smiling at my phone – something I do a hell of a lot these days – I ignore the fighters around me and plan my night with Bambie.

I can’t get enough of her. I don’t want to miss a single message.

Rolling his eyes, Bobby stalks across the ring. “Jack! Let’s go. We’re not done rolling.”

“Hang on,” I murmur through my mouthguard. “Be there in a sec.”

“We should ban phones in this gym,” Jon grumbles. “Install some signal blocking foil or some shit.”

I roll my eyes and shut my text window. Throwing my phone down to the canvas, I turn back. “Don’t be so damn dramatic, Nancy. I was just replying.”

“Yeah, but you were just replying now, and an hour ago, and an hour before that.”

I lift my brow at Bobby’s mini tantrum. “You saying you wouldn’t reply to Kit?” I look at Jon. “Or Tink? I bet you asses won’t be breaking out the tinfoil anytime soon, because there’s no way in hell you’ll risk not hearing from them. Shut your yappers and let’s train. You’re slowing us down, now.”

“Still think it was a waste that I gave you my belt, asshole. I shoulda made you fight me for the damn thing. Fuck family. Fuck brothers. I shoulda made you work for it.”

Fuck family. He’s such a liar .

Jesus, anyone would think he’s having a midlife crisis… at thirty-five. At the time he ‘gave’ me his belt, Bobby was all for retiring. He was done. He had nothing left to prove. He had all the money he’d ever need, and he’d been working with me for years. He was ready for me to step up.

But now, especially this past year, he continues to bitch about wasted opportunities, like maybe he’s not quite as retired as he thought he was.

“You can jump back into the circuit, old man. Nobody’s stopping you. Let’s see if your fat ass can keep up.”

“I don’t want back into the circuit,” he snaps. “I’m thinking we just organize our own fight night. Like back in the old days. Development day. No money, no ranking, no TV. Just you and me. Winner takes respect.”

“I don’t have time for your midlife crisis, Brian Earl Spilner .”

“But you have time to answer your girl’s texts while we train?”

“Yeah.” I smile. “I’ll always have time for her.”

He bites down on his twitching lip, but I see the smile. He isn’t mad. He’s never mad. And I know damn well he’s happy for me.

He just gets off on bitching.

“Whatever. We’ve got a few hours left. Roll. Earn your dinner.”

Sighing, because I’d much rather be rolling with Bambie, I step forward and push my mouthguard back into place. When Bobby’s eyes light with competition, I lift my fist like I’m tired, but inside, I’ve revving to go.

Hours later, I finish up in the shower, comb my hair with my fingers, throw my bag over my shoulder, and follow the guys into the parking lot.

Searching his pockets, Bobby turns a full three-sixty like he’s a puppy who lost his tail. “You gonna be at home tonight?”

I scratch Annie’s ears and shrug. “I don’t know. Bambie wants to hang out, but I dunno what we’re gonna do.” I run a nervous hand through my hair. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Distractedly, he continues to pat his pockets. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“Well… So, I think I’m ready to stand on my own two feet again.”

“You always stood on your own feet, kid. What do you mean?”

“I mean, I think I’m ready to move my ass out of your house again.”

Pausing in an instant, his search goes forgotten and his eyes narrow. “You’re staying at the estate though, right? Don’t leave. That’ll hurt your sister. ”

“I’m staying. But…” I sigh. “I don’t wanna live in my house, B. There are ghosts in there. I can’t live there.”

Bringing a hand down on my shoulder, he nods. “I get that. It’s cool. There are two spares, you can have either of them, your choice.”

He gets me. He doesn’t question my ridiculous request. He doesn’t make me feel like an idiot. He simply let’s me be me, and he supports my choices like he always has.

I love my brother.

I’ve loved him since the day he started loving Kit.

“Thanks. We’ll talk about it some more, and I’ll start organizing my shit in the coming weeks.”

“No rush. You can stay as long as you want–” With the serious stuff out of the way, he goes back to patting his pockets. “–Where the fuck are my keys? I can’t find them anywhere.”

Snorting, Jon steps past us and moves to his truck. “That’s because Kit took your car, dumbass.”

“Huh?”

Jon waves his arm toward the almost empty parking lot. “Do you see your SUV? No. Kit took it already.”

“What? How the hell am I supposed to get home?” He pouts. “Why would she leave me?”

“Jesus,” Jon grumbles. “You really are getting old. You do realize we live at the same place, right? All three of us are going in the same direction!” He looks to me. “How long do peacocks usually live? Has he passed his expiration date?”

I laugh. Why would she leave me? He’s such a baby. “Get in my car, B. I’ll take you back to your mommy.”

Huffing, he walks to the Mustang and waits for Annie to leap through the door. Climbing in on my side, I switch on the ignition and grin like a fool when the engine roars. I miss the Rav, but I fucking love my Mustang. I’ll never get rid of this car.

Pulling onto the street ahead of Jon’s F150, we cruise across town the only way we know how; loud, conspicuous.

Not giving a fuck.

“So, you and Britt…”

Smiling, I pull a hat down over my eyes to block the low hanging sun. “Yep. Me and Britt.”

“I like her.”

“Me, too. I like her a lot. ”

“You know, I loved your sister from the start. I knew I loved her before our first date.”

Driving, nodding, I should be grossed out. He’s talking about my sister… But I’m not. I see the love he has for her. I’ve seen it since the day he picked her up for their first date. I saw it when I was a fifteen-year-old punk who took it upon himself to ask Bobby his intentions. I was scared out of my fucking brains to ask, but like he doesn’t laugh my fear of ghosts off, he didn’t laugh my question off, either.

He listened.

He answered.

He could’ve told me to shut the fuck up. He could’ve told me it was none of my damn business. He could’ve reminded me I was fifteen years old and brushed me off.

But he didn’t.

“Yeah, I know you loved her, B. Nobody ever loved anybody as much as you loved her.”

“ Still love her.”

I clear my throat. “Yeah.”

“What are your intentions, Jack?”

I bark out a laugh as we – coincidentally – pass the cemetery. It’s like he could read my mind. “Are you her dad, or her brother?”

“Neither. But I’m your brother. I just wanna know where your head’s at.”

“My head’s sitting on a clifftop, B. Right next to my heart.”

“You love her?”

Nodding, I turn to meet his eyes. “Yeah. I love her.”

His eyes dance with giddiness. “Does she know? Did you tell her?”

“Not yet.”

“ When will you tell her?”

I give a shy shrug. “Maybe after she tells me first.”

Giddiness washes away to disgust. “Don’t be a pussy, Jack. Don’t be scared of her not saying it back. You of all people should know not to waste time with the what ifs and shit. Just jump, brother, live every damn day.”

I nod, because I know he’s right. “I’ve gotta talk to Scotch and Alex, first.”

He cocks his head to the side. “Huh? Why do you have to talk to them? You know they’re always trying to arrest us, right? We’re being forced to live like sharks. Keep moving, or die. If we slow down and let Turner catch us, he tickets us for something. ”

I laugh. “Fuck, Bobby. I haven’t even told you the best bit yet.”

“What’s the best bit?”

“Britt… she’s Scotch and Alex’s baby sister.”

“No fucking way!” He smacks a heavy fist onto my shoulder. “You’re doing Deputy Alex’s baby sister?”

Biting my lip, I nod and slow to turn a corner. “And it gets so much worse. Ages ago, the first time me and Britt… ya know. I fucking said hey to Scotch! I waved at him three seconds before... ya know.”

“Jesus,” he hoots. “I always said you were a ballsy prick. Seriously, since the day I met you, I both loved and hated you for your fuckin’ arrogance.”

“I didn’t know she was his sister at the time! But fuck, now that I know, I realize it might’ve been the best moment of my entire life.”

Laughing, he swipes a hand under his eye as I pull up at the estate gates. Leaning out the window and entering the code, I slowly nudge the Mustang through like the three seconds the gate takes is too long.

“Umm…”

I look up and pause at the scene ahead of us. “Yeah. Um…”

Everyone’s in the street. Aiden and Jim, Tina, Iz, Kit, Tink, and all the kids. Then Bambie. Bambie’s in the middle of it all… and, wow.

That’s no schoolmarm. Not Miss T.

That’s my Bambie in full rocker clothing.

Leather shorts that show off muscular thighs. High top DC’s on her feet, and six million bracelets on her wrists. Sexy long hair, and a hair band giving her the ‘I just had sex’ look that I adore so much – and plan to make good on in about three and a half minutes. Even her makeup is done, dark to match the approaching twilight hour as the sun moves toward the horizon.

She’s like the flame, and my entire family are the moths. They’re drawn to her, because she’s so fucking beautiful. She’s mesmerizing.

Captivating.

But me; I’m the moth already dead and fried beneath her. I’ve got no chance.

My eyes – no, my whole head – follows her swift movements; left, right, up, up, dangerously high up, then down so fucking fast my stomach drops.

Someone’s built a halfpipe in my driveway. A real-life, full-sized, timber framed halfpipe, where the top platform sits at least nineteen or twenty feet in the air, and the entire structure takes up my driveway and part of the street .

“I mean, shit…” Bobby muses. “We’ve only been gone ten hours.”

“Did you know about this?”

“Hell no. Kit didn’t mention it.”

We watch Bambie fly down the smooth pipe, so fucking fast I want to be sick. Her hair flies, a black streak behind her, then she zooms back up to the top, holds onto the lip with her left hand, and sends her legs flying high into the air while her right hand holds the skateboard. Bringing it back like she’s been doing this her whole life, she zooms back down the steep drop and smiles.

She fucking smiles.

“Fuck Alex and Scotch. Did you know your girlfriend was also related to Tony Hawk?”

“No… I did not.”

“Jesus!” Ducking his head low, Bobby closes one eye and presses a hand to his heart. “She just flipped upside down, Jack! Go get her off that damn thing before she breaks her neck.”

I don’t know about that.

This may be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

Another minute of watching her practically fly, she drops her board, grabs onto the top lip of the halfpipe, then slides down on her ass.

It’s not until her eyes snap across the estate and meet mine do I realize we’re still in my car, the gates are still open, and Jon’s still stuck behind us.

Putting the Mustang back into first, I slowly crawl forward, but seeing as my entire driveway’s now occupied with a ton of timber, I park in one of the spares.

Climbing out, I wait for Annie – who’s not nearly as excited about this as I am – then slam my door closed and move forward with Bobby and Jon.

Approaching the group, I watch on as Bambie helps Bean onto her board and holds her hips while they roll back and forth. My niece giggles as they move a foot or so up the pipe, then roll down again.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Iz watches her daughter like a nervous mama, but she takes my hand for the shortest moment. A moment of communication without words. A declaration that she, too, loves Britt.

“Uh-huh.” Studying my girlfriend and my niece, I nod and plan forevers. “Pretty cool. Where’d you get it from?”

Jim brushes imaginary awesome off his shoulder. “We built it.”

“Who built it?”

“Me and the guys. ”

“In one day?”

“Yeah. I had the old construction crew come down, told them you and B were bankrolling it. Roller champion money; Todd practically jizzed in his pants when I made the call. They walked off another job and came straight over.”

“What are we supposed to do with it, though? It takes up my entire driveway.”

“You told me five minutes ago you don’t wanna live in this house anyway,” Bobby argues. “Let’s just leave it here. Look at Bean go.” Smiling, he watches our niece roll a little higher under Bambie’s hands.

“Your girlfriend’s kinda awesome,” Jim grumbles. “She skates like a pro. Did you know she could do that?”

“No,” I answer for the second time. “I didn’t know.”

She doesn’t work out, my ass. Now I know how she maintains her lean muscles.

I watch her and Bean for a while longer, then we stand around for hours as the guys each take a turn. She holds the hips of grown men, too.

We’re fighters. We’re not nimble skaters. We all fall on our asses a dozen times each before giving up, then the girls each have a go and make us look like clumsy idiots.

There were the regular girls – their regular skating, inevitable falling and the accompanying giggling.

Then there was Bambie, whom we asked over and over – and over and over again – to skate, just so we could watch.

I could watch her all night, and tomorrow, and every day after that and never get tired.

“Hey, Jack…”

Stopping in our group of just guys, Jim nudges my shoulder and nods toward the group of girls by the halfpipe. They stand around a half a dozen brand-new skateboards – so obviously new, compared to the worn, used board Bambie carries around like a precious newborn baby.

He grins like a fool when, at that exact moment, she does a fancy upside-down trick. “You gonna wife that?”

I nod slowly, thoughtfully, dubiously, then as my future crystalizes in my mind, as I think of her with me forever , as I think of what we could have if she said yes, I nod faster.

Then with a smile like she already agreed, I nod again. “Yeah, I am.”