13. Risky – Mar
CHAPTER 13
RISKY
MAR
I decided to skip Sihn’s fight tonight. I don’t want to come across as some needy girlfriend. I’m not his girlfriend, and I don’t want to be. Do I? Confident Mar is sure she does not want to be his girlfriend. Confident Mar isn’t going to get her heart broken. Confident Mar is on her way to his place.
He asked me to come tonight—to watch—but I’m sure he didn’t really want me there. I’m sure it was just a way to make sure I would come over tonight.
I never replied to his message Monday night. He sent another one on Wednesday and another earlier today telling me that if I came there would be a ring seat waiting for me. I told him I couldn’t make the match, but I would come over to his place after.
I’m unsure if I’m doing anything right. He could have had sex with other women all week, and I would be none the wiser.
I’m caught off guard when I pull into his place and his car is already in the drive. I figured I’d beat him here.
His front door swings open before I get to the top of his porch steps. He’s not wearing his costume. I don’t know why I had pictured him still dressed in his small black Speedo, but he’s wearing sweatpants and the BUSH shirt he let me wear before. “Mar, you look…great.”
I give an anxious laugh knowing I put in a little effort, but not much. My hair is down and my curls are cooperative today. I’m wearing flat shoes as always and a very boring plain white sundress. It covers all the parts men usually take a liking to viewing. I smile, and he holds the door open as I walk inside.
“I hope you ate.”
I gulp, but he can’t see as he is behind me. “I did,” I say as I turn to face him. The door is shut behind him. “How did you beat me here?”
His eyebrows pull together, and he shakes his head slightly. “I live here…”
Another anxious laugh comes out of me before I reply, “No. I mean, did your match end early? Did you knock out your opponent first thing…” His last match seemed to be about twenty minutes long and this time last week he was still at the venue.
He gives a deep guttural laugh. “In wrestling, we call it pinning, but no, I didn’t. My match bailed out last minute, so I didn’t wrestle.”
We’re standing in the small space between his kitchen and living room. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Not really. I don’t make any money if I don’t have a match.” He reaches into his refrigerator and procures two beers. He pops the tops and hands one to me.
“Oh.” There is a ton about wrestling that I do not know. We’ve not talked about money much, but I know he owns this house, wrestles, and delivers for Dine on Demand.
Confident Mar asks, “Are you eating any other women as of late?”
“Pretty One, where did that come from? And the answer is no. Only you.”
“I just…I’m not with any other men, just you.”
I follow as he walks into his living room, and we sit next to each other on his sofa. “Okay.”
“Do you want to eat other women for dinner?”
Instantly, without any thought, he replies, “No.”
“Are you sure? Isn’t it fun getting to play the field?”
“It can be fun, but you’re the only woman I want to have fun with recently, and I’m not just saying that to you. It’s the truth.”
“What about now? Outside of work, what do you do for fun if you’re not bagging a different girl each night? And wrestling doesn’t count.”
He laughs and shrugs. “My friend Ruin is coming over tomorrow to hang out.”
“Friend?”
“Yeah. Actually, now might be a good time to talk about our past relationships.”
“Have you had a relationship that lasted longer than one night?” I question him. He doesn’t seem the type. Not that I have a lot of experience with relationships, but I did have two in college. One lasted three months and the other six. I broke up with the first and the second broke it off with me. He never seemed to want to spend time with me. He never put in any effort, but I still hung around waiting for what little he would give me until he finally just quit responding to me altogether. It was over.
“I have, but I’m really more interested in what boundaries you’ve pushed with your former partners…”
Boundaries pushed? What does that even mean? “Why? That’s weird.”
“I don’t want full-on details, just, have you ever done anything risky?”
“What do you mean by risky?”
“Have you ever had sex outside?”
Outside?! “One time I let a guy feel me up in a park late at night.”
Sihn laughs and tries to stifle it by biting his hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh, but I was referring to something more along the lines of sex on a balcony…”
“I’ve never had sex on a balcony. The closest I’ve come to indecent exposure was in college when both I and my boyfriend at the time had roommates, so we had sex a lot in the back of our cars. We did have sex once in the trunk…”
He raises an eyebrow. “The trunk? Like the trunk of a car? What was the guy, like five foot?”
“He was shorter than me but not by much. We laid the seats down and it wasn’t all that uncomfortable. I was tired of riding him every time. It seemed like the backseat was too lumpy for me to let him be on top all that long, so I had to ride him nearly every time. Which was exhausting, thankfully he never lasted too long.” I take two swigs of the beer he gave me. It’s not something I would normally drink, so I have to force it down.
“He probably enjoyed it while it lasted. Is that the only risky-ish thing you’ve tried?”
“I don’t know. The guys I’ve been with just never asked for anything out of the ordinary. Why, what have you done? Something illegal, I’m sure.” I’m not sure I want to know.
“If you’re implying that I have partaken in bestiality, that’s gross and I haven’t.”
“I was referring to something more along the lines of paying for sex, but that too, I guess.”
“I’ve never paid for sex, but I have had women offer to pay me to get to have sex with me.”
I turn and face him. I want to make sure I’m hearing this correctly. “No shit?! Tell me more. Did you go through with it?”
He nods and takes a sip of his beer. “I did. Do you really want to know this?”
“Um, I am unsure, probably, maybe, yes…” I do, but I don’t.
“That didn’t sound like you’re sure you want to know. It’s cool if you don’t.”
“I do, I mean…women really pay for that sort of stuff…or no, was it a man?” I’ve never taken him for being with men, but…
“It was definitely a woman. Not one of my finer moments, but at the time I needed the cash fast.”
“Was she an older lady?” I ask. He’s quiet for a minute and I add, “It doesn’t matter, sorry I asked.”
“No, I’ll answer. She was older than me if that’s what you’re asking. Mid-forties. She was married but they were in what she referred to as an open relationship. We hooked up a few times and then I never heard from her again.”
“Oh.” I’ve never known anyone in an open relationship before. Once I overheard my parents talking about how a friend couple of theirs were swingers, but they didn’t really go into details on how it worked.
“Do you think that makes me a bad person?”
I ponder his question. I don’t think I could ever do that. I hope I’m never that hard up for cash, either. If he’s being truthful, they were both consenting adults. “No, you weren’t in the wrong.”
“Do you feel like she was in the wrong?”
“Well, I don’t know. I’m not a part of her marriage and if that’s what works for hers… then to each their own.” I would not want to share my person I don’t think.
“Enough about that though. I’m hungry.”
I stand and dash toward the chair. He chases after me.
“Oh, I see how it is, I have to catch my dinner.”
I giggle and round the chair thinking I’ve outrun him, but he extends his arm out and pulls me over the back of the chair.
“That’s not fair.”
He moves his lips close to my ear as he holds me close to his chest. “I was unaware there were any rules…you must always state them in the beginning or else, it’s a free-for-all.”
I wiggle in his arms. “This isn’t a wrestling match.”
“I captured my dinner, and now I’m going to eat it if it’s okay with you?”
I nod and surrender. That’s why I’m here. “Where would you like your dinner served?”
Sihn picks me up and holds me bridal style. “I get to choose?”
I grin.