8. Evan
8
EVAN
I landed one hard blow then another, and Decker danced out of the way. He had his hands up, gloves on, protecting his face and head, and I was on fire.
“Looks like you’re losing steam, old man.” My razzing him seemed to get him going harder, but there was no way he was beating me today. I was on top and rising. The energy in my body felt like I was twenty years old again.
The gym hummed with energy too. People gathered around the ring as I sparred with my good friend, though he hadn’t landed a single blow today. Normally he bested me in a fair fight, which told me my positive mood the past few days was contributing to my dominance right now.
“Keep talkin’ trash, Evan, and I’ll lay you out.” Decker took another stab, then another. I backed away and dodged. When I sidestepped and spun around, he moved past me and I shoved him into the ropes.
The cheer that went up only egged me on. We never drew a crowd for our sparring, but today it started with a few teens who joined the gym last month. They watched every move we made. It was my habit to do a bit of sparring a few times a week, and this week felt amazing.
“Seems like you’re on a losing streak here, Decker. You better go home to Mommy.” I taunted and circled him, and when he stepped forward with a right hook, I nabbed him with a left jab, crossing my fist over his jaw. The helmet and pads protected him but he went down hard, probably seeing stars.
Cheers erupted around us again, and I raised my hands in victory and absorbed the praise for a moment. Then I helped Decker up by offering him a hand. He jumped up and bumped fists with me before spitting out his mouthguard.
“Dang, you’re on fire today.” He grinned at me as he shucked his sparring gloves and ripped the Velcro on his helmet open. I followed him to the edge of the ring, removing my sparring equipment at the same time, and we climbed out to let the next set of contenders have the space.
“Yeah, sort of…” I knew I had a dumb cheesy grin on my face, but I couldn’t help it. I’d felt like I was on cloud nine ever since Monday evening in my office. Things with Amber weren’t exactly fluid, and I had a lot of questions, but I loved working side by side with her. We hadn’t even spoken about the sex yet. It was awkward at times too. Still, she was a professional and we managed to muddle through the past few days without major incident.
I’d forgotten how she made me feel young and hopeful. It was such a dramatic shift from the way I felt working at R&D in Crescent Springs. Life had become mundane and repetitive. I hated waking up and going to work on repeat every week. The only thing that broke up the monotony was days like today, but that felt like a thing of the past now.
“What gives?” Decker grabbed a towel as we passed the racks along the wall near the equipment storage. I tossed my sparring gear into a bin to be washed and grabbed two towels for myself. One of them was gross instantly when I wiped the sweat from my face. The other I carried with me toward the showers.
“What gives is I have officially become reacquainted with a blast from my past and it has me seeing stars.” I’d never forget the way the squeak of Amber’s voice made my dick so hard. Bending her over that desk was incredible. I wanted to do it again, and frequently.
“Ah, a lady friend. I get it…” He chuckled and gave me a shove. “Who is she? Anyone I know?”
He pushed the locker room door open and I followed him through it. Decker didn’t know Amber, not the way I did. He’d met her once when she dropped me off at this very gym for a workout. That seemed like ages ago, and it was, but it felt like yesterday. The wild passion and strong affection I had for her all those years ago was still there. It’d just been buried by disappointment and busyness.
“Uh, yeah, maybe…” I threw my fist into my locker door and it sprang open. “I think you met her once…Curvy, short…long, dark hair. Her dad was the one who died years ago and we hooked up after the funeral.” It sounded horrible, but those were the most memorable things I’d told him.
His eyebrows went up in recognition. “That hottie? Yeah, she was way too young for you then. Dude, you’re pushing fifty now.” Decker chuckled and I sank onto the bench behind me with my duffel bag.
“You’re a jerk. I’m only forty-four.” My own laughter joined his and we paused our conversation as a few men walked past us out the door. When they were gone, I tore my shirt off over my head and tossed it into the locker. “Besides. She’s almost thirty now…”
The thought of Amber made my dick start to swell and given that I had to strip off and shower, I knew I had to stop that in its tracks. I thought of any reason why I could get my dick to stop swelling and the thought of Jacob boning her made that happen.
“You don’t seem sold. You said you’re seeing stars.” Decker pulled his own shirt off and then his shorts. He tossed them both into the locker, and I turned my gaze away as he shucked his boxers and wrapped the towel around his waist.
“She has a kid,” I told him. I couldn’t exactly tell him my suspicion about Jacob. I didn’t have any facts, only a gut feeling, and for all I knew the kid was someone else’s and nothing was happening. Besides, if it was true and Amber really did have Jake’s kid, I could never out my brother like that. It’d be shameful for both of us.
“Ah, well,” he sighed, shutting his locker door, “if you date the mom you date the kid.” He wrapped his hand around the towel and held it closed in the front, and I turned my eyes up to meet his.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean,” he said, “that you can’t just assume falling in love with her is enough. If she has a kid and you end up together, that makes you the stepdad. And in some cases, that makes you dad. You gotta make sure you and that kid get along too. You want to fall in love with someone whose kid you hate? What if that kid hates you? Your life would be miserable. You’d end up breaking up anyway.”
Decker waltzed off as I thought about his words. He had a good point. It didn’t matter who the child’s father was, if we didn’t gel, it’d never work anyway. Plus, Amber would be more likely to date me if she knew I was prepared to embrace the ready-made family.
I stripped off and wrapped my own towel around my hips, leaving my gym bag sitting on the bench. I found an empty shower stall and hung my towel over the door as I stepped into the hot water. If I wanted to impress her, I had to touch her heart, not just her body. The universe had given me a second chance to see if something could work between us. I didn’t want to blow that.
I shampooed my hair and washed the sweat off my body as I plotted a way to help her get more comfortable with me. The idea that she and Jacob had some sort of bond still niggled at my conscience, but even if they did, Jake was married. He couldn’t marry her or truly provide for her. He might be upset if he found out, but Amber was a big girl, a grown woman. She could make her own choices.
The idea occurred to me that I knew where she lived. I’d been there. I hadn’t known before this, but even if I had, I’d have dismissed the idea of just showing up. What we had was ancient history only last week. But now, working together with her again, I felt like I had a shot, an open door, if you will.
If I showed up at her home with dinner and a game, she’d have no choice but to invite me in. If she refused, I’d know where I stood. But if there was even an inkling of desire for something more with me, she’d let me come in. So it was settled. I would pick up some takeout and knock on her door with a deck of cards. Tonight, I planned to make my move.
I should’ve never gone to Europe, and I intended to make sure she knew I meant that.