CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE #2
He said something else and she repeated it and began to walk off.
“Don’t fucking walk away from me, you mail-order bitch,” he snarled.
They all heard that well enough. His hand shot out and he grabbed for her arm. Gabe felt his pulse quicken in a very different way as he saw that and found himself on the threshold of doing something potentially stupid.
But then he was reminded that Kim was very fast, and knew how to defend herself.
She saw the grab coming a mile away, and not just because the guy was clearly a little drunk. She dodged it easily.
“Watch it, motherfucker,” she said clearly.
Gabe had hung out with her after it had been made clear he wasn’t going to pursue her romantically.
She had a temper, but even then she’d done a lot of work to rein it in.
He could see all the warning alarms ringing though.
She was on her way to being royally wicked pissed and laying hands on this guy.
Not that he didn’t deserve it.
“Oh, fuck you, bitch!” he snarled, and now everyone was paying attention and it had gone quiet, though he didn’t seem to notice. “You think you can talk tough to me just because you know how to box you skinny little–”
His hand swung out to slap her in a fit of rage. Kim had already dropped into a defensive stance and she saw that coming from a mile away, too. She dodged it easily and knocked him smartly in the mouth. He cried out and staggered backwards, but managed to stay upright.
“Jesus, she’s fast as hell,” Ellen muttered.
“You done or you want more?” Kim asked.
“You fucking…”
The asshole touched his lip, which had split and begun to bleed. He looked at the blood on his fingertips and for a moment seemed unable to comprehend it. Then his expression abruptly changed that indicated he indeed wanted more.
This time he actually swung on her, fist and all. And she dodged it easily, ducking under it and delivering three rapid, hard jabs to his gut and then delivering another, harder blow to his jaw. This time he lost his balance and went down flat on his ass.
“Wow,” Sadie murmured.
A couple of other guys who had a similar vibe to the first one stepped up uncertainly. Kim swiveled to face them. Everyone else was still watching uncertainly, though there was some appreciative murmuring with regards to Kim’s moves.
“You his friends?” she snapped.
“Yeah,” one of them said.
“You should get him out of here before he does something really stupid and the consequences are more than a fat lip and an upset stomach.”
They looked at each other, then down at their friend, who seemed to have been rendered deeply uncertain by the consequences of his actions.
Like it was finally dawning on him, either what he had done or, more likely, he’d just gotten socked five times in a row by this angry woman he’d been hitting on.
Apparently done with them, Kim took a quick look around, as though taking a measure of the crowd, and that’s when her eyes fell on Gabe.
They locked gazes and he saw recognition not just spark but flare instantly. An almost feral smile split her face and she suddenly began stalking over to him.
“Well, she recognizes you,” Ellen murmured.
Gabe had no idea what she was going to do when she got to him, and even if he had, it would have been wrong.
Because she came to stand before him, said, “Hi, Gabe!”, and kissed him on the mouth.
It was the kind of kiss he hadn’t quite experienced before. It was with a stranger who wasn’t really a stranger, a friend who wasn’t quite a friend, and it was utterly spur of the moment. A kind of ‘caught up in the moment’ kiss.
She tasted sultry somehow, intense, fiery, passionate, like her kiss. She pushed her tongue into his mouth and right as he was about to start reacting more than he already had, she pulled back and stood there staring at him, grinning wildly, panting a little.
“...hi, Kim,” he said, a foolish grin spreading slowly across his face.
“It’s good to see you,” she replied, reaching up and pushing some of her hair from her forehead.
That was when she seemed to notice Ellen standing right beside him. She began to say something, possibly putting together that she might be involved with him, when her eyes darted to the medallion hanging from her choker collar.
“Gabe’s Girl…” she whispered, and her eyes widened in sheer horror. “Um, oh-oh my God. Are you two-oh wow, I’m so sorry.”
Gabe looked at Ellen, who looked probably as amused as he had ever seen her.
Before she could respond, the frat bro let out a shout. “Hey, bitch! I’m not fucking done with you!”
Gabe looked over and saw he was back on his feet, though his friends were holding him back, one of them muttering in his ear.
“You are done with her,” Ellen said suddenly, straightening up to her full six foot five height and stepping around Kim and closer.
Gabe saw actual fear enter the idiot’s eyes.
“You are going to leave with your friends. Unless you want the cops called. We’ve got a few dozen people here who saw you grab her and swing on her twice. Leave. Now.”
The fire seemed to go out of his eyes and his stance as he actually looked around and it really seemed to hit home just how many people were not just staring, but glaring at him.
Gabe thought he was going to say something stupid–these idiots always needed to have the last word–but he said nothing, just turned around and marched off with his friends.
“Um...wow, thank you,” Kim murmured, slowly turning back to Ellen.
“It’s fine. You were amazing. And yes, we’re together, and no, I’m not angry. I’d say you should probably ask next time, but we all knew this is what Gabe wanted.”
“We all…” Kim muttered uncertainly, then looked over at Holly, and at her medallion. “Wait, you both-oh man.”
“And me,” Sadie murmured with a small smile.
“I...oh my God, what have I shoved myself into? I should go.”
“No, Kim, wait,” Gabe said. “We’re not angry. And that was really nice. Unexpected, but nice. As hell. Just...we can talk if you want to. You seem like you want to, given the kiss.”
“I…” Kim looked around suddenly, and she seemed to abruptly realize that everyone was looking at her now. “Okay yeah, I’d like to talk, but can we do it somewhere private?”
“Sure. Um, can they come?” he asked.
A moment of indecision. “Yeah.”
As they began leaving, a general sort of cheer and a bit of actual applause went up from the crowd. They all paused and Kim looked back. She hesitated for a moment, then grinned and raised one fist. That elicited more of a response.
She laughed awkwardly and they kept walking.
“Don’t know how I should feel about that,” she muttered. “I’m generally not a fan of actual violence.”
“It was self defense, he was an absolute shitbag, and I think most everyone here would agree with that assessment,” Gabe replied.
“Yeah...Jesus Christ, you are really different.”
“Am I?”
“Yeah. I mean-sorry, that probably came off wrong.”
“No, it’s fine. I mean, I am.”
“He really is,” Ellen agreed.
“Also,” Gabe said as a thought occurred to him while they headed up onto the deck, “not to freak you out more, but there’s a very real possibility that we may be joined by three other women.”
“Three!? Do you mean girlfriends? What?” Kim asked, stopping.
“...yes,” he replied.
“I don’t...are you fucking with me right now?”
“No. Sorry. I just wanted to warn you.”
“I...all right. I have so many questions.”
“I have one,” Gabe said, leading them back inside.
“That’s fair. Shoot.”
“Not that I’m complaining, but why did you kiss me?” Gabe asked.
Kim began to respond, but then he heard Krystal shout out, “Did someone kiss my man?! What!?”
“Oh no,” Kim whispered.
Gabe sighed heavily and turned to see Krystal coming out of the video game room. Chloe appeared a few seconds later.
“Babe, take it down a notch, we just had a whole thing,” Gabe said.
“What whole thing? What happened?” Krystal replied, dropping into a more serious tone immediately.
“Some douchefuck took a swing at her and she laid his ass out,” Ellen said.
“Oh. Wow. Nice.”
“Thanks,” Kim murmured awkwardly. “You weren’t kidding with that warning.”
“Who is this?” Chloe asked. “Also, sorry some asshole took a swing at you.”
“He got what he had coming...my name’s Kim.”
“Wait,” Krystal said, her eyes widening. “Is this the boxer?!”
Gabe laughed. “Uh, yeah. Yes. This is her.”
“Oh wow, what have you been telling them about me? I’m sorry-are you seriously all dating Gabe? Like, as in you are his girlfriends? Oh shit, you’ve got those necklaces, too…” she murmured, now looking like a woman in a dream.
“We are overwhelming her. Here, you all stay here. Kim, uh, why don’t you come with me?” he suggested.
“Yeah, all right,” she replied.
Krystal, Chloe, and Ellen made complaining noises, but he ignored them for the moment and led Kim out through the front door. Once he shut it behind them, all the sound but the distant hum of traffic fell away.
“That’s better,” he muttered. “Sorry, that must have been a lot.”
“Yeah. I...did not expect any of this tonight,” Kim replied.
He waited, letting her get her head screwed back on.
She closed her eyes, counted a bit, then opened them.
“Okay. So, your question: I kissed you because, well...basically, I regretted not doing it when we were living together. After you got dumped, I mean, not before, obviously. And at some point I promised myself: if I ever see that boy again, I am going to kiss him. At least once. I...don’t know why I didn’t consider if you’d be with someone or not.
I guess I just assumed you’d still want to kiss me. ”
“You assumed correctly. And again, no one’s complaining. That was a really nice kiss. Just unexpected.”
He hesitated and was unsure of what to say. Kim seemed to, though.
“Okay, what is going on with you now? You’re dating four-five women? I just...what happened?! I’m not trying to be a bitch, but when we were hanging out, you seemed to struggle with women.”