Chapter 23
Rafi
I make my way down the hallway past the elevator bank. Emma kicked me out of the hotel room so she could get dressed and pack her clothes without me pawing at her.
We didn't have sex this morning, she was still too tired and sore, but no one told my dick, because one look at her this morning and I was all ready to go again. Recalling the image of her in that red lingerie. Fuck.
I find Stetson sitting on a small couch in the lounge, no one around this early except for a few security guards.
I have a cup of coffee I grabbed from the room before leaving, figuring I might as well treat myself this morning.
"Hey, man," I say, sitting in a chair next to me. "Listen, did you come back into the room last night?"
"Huh? You mean after… No, why?"
"Weird. Emma said she heard someone in the room." I sip my coffee. She must have imagined it. "You okay?" I ask, amused by the expression on his face. He looks awkward, a new look for him. Normally so confident, it's kind of funny it took me and Emma to knock him off his game.
"Yeah. Umm, is Emma okay?" He's serious.
"Yeah…" I say slowly, waiting for him to elaborate.
"It's just. I mean. Last night…" he hedges.
"Last night you had your dick in my girlfriend's ass? Yeah, I remember." I laugh at him and he hangs his head.
"Ugh, I hate you man," his voice a bit lighter. "I just hope I wasn't too rough on her. She's normally so… reserved. I hope I didn't scare her."
"Look, I'm going to share something with you that obviously is not to be shared with anyone else. The only reason I'm even telling you this is because of last night, so you don't get all weird around her." He nods for me to continue.
"I have fucked Emma in the ass many times before. She's got certain… proclivities. She's not fragile, and you didn't scare her. You don't have to be weird around her. Just know I'm never doing that with you again, and you're never going to see Emma naked again."
He laughs, and nods in agreement. "Yeah, I have to admit, I had a moment this morning where I was like, kind of hung up on the fact that I came in your girlfriend. But if you say it's not weird, I won't be weird. It was… fun. I'm glad we're cool. Do you guys do shit like that a lot?"
"With other people? No. We usually use a lot of toys and shit."
"Wait, seriously?"
I nod and sip my coffee, realizing I'm sharing too much.
"You're a lucky fucking asshole, you know that?"
"I know."
"Seriously. Emma is so fucking hot. And that lingerie getup? Holy fuck. I had no idea she was so..."
"Remove the image from your brain if you know what's good for you," I growl. There's a lilt to his voice, I know he's trying to fuck with me. He chuckles until we see Emma walking toward us, away from the elevators and Stetson stiffens.
Emma doesn't even hesitate, her smile bright but tired. She's got her glasses on and she's wearing her overalls again. She thinks they look frumpy but I kind of dig 'em. She's wearing a tiny shirt underneath, and it makes you wonder what she's hiding under there.
She comes toward us and drops her bag on the ground and sits on my knee, stealing my coffee and taking a big sip.
"Morning." She smiles at me, but frowns when she looks at Stetson, who's gone rigid again, posture straight and taut. "Hey, are you okay Stetson?" She asks, light amusement in her voice.
I'm trying to hide my smile.
He clears his throat and adjusts in his seat a bit, "Yeah, yeah I'm good. I'm fine. Why?"
"Well, because you fucked me in the ass last night. You look a little nervous." She deadpans. I can't help it, a laugh bursts out of me and I drop my forehead to her arm, she's shaking with laughter too.
"I hate you both. Did you plan this?" He's shaking his head, standing to leave, but he has nowhere to go since we're waiting on Coach. He puts his hands on his hips and looks around the room uncomfortably, trying to get anywhere but here.
"I think we broke him," she giggles.
"You guys suck."
She starts laughing again, but it slows when Coach makes his way toward us. Stetson sits back down again, and shifts his attention to our coach, who has a grim expression on his face.
He sits down next to Stetson, leaning in, facing us all.
"Well, you want the good news or the bad news first?"
"Good," Emma says for all of us.
"The good news is, everyone is accounted for and safe. A few bumps and bruises, but nothing serious. It seemed to be a freak accident, a bolt snapped, and the whole thing just came tumbling down, one piece after another. It was a series of problems, and everything had to be not working quite right for that thing to fall down on our heads. Does not appear to be any foul play involved, but they are still investigating."
I nod, and say, "That's the good news?"
He grumbles, "Yeah, that's the good news. The bad news is, Gonsales's team is claiming you never actually won and they want a rematch. They proposed the Friday after Thanksgiving."
"That's bullshit. The announcer was literally calling it when that whole fucking place came down." Stetson argues on my behalf.
"I know, I agree. And honestly, I think I can push them to agree you won. But I know you and figured I'd see what you thought before I responded."
"No." I say simply, and he nods in understanding. "I'm not winning Nationals like that, no fucking way. I don't want any dispute that I won fair and square."
"Yeah, I figured you'd say that. For the record, I agree. But keep in mind, he's fought you now. He has a better chance of winning next time around. He knows you better, knows how you move."
"I'd rather lose a fair fight than win on a technicality. If I can't beat him in two weeks then I had no business winning the title last night."
Coach nods, pride lighting his face, but he clears his approval and stands, back to business. "Alright, let me make some calls and we'll get it scheduled. This arena won't be ready in time, so we'll have to schedule it somewhere else."
He heads toward the bar, since it's empty this time of the morning and starts making calls. We were supposed to leave for the airport in a couple of hours. Now, I'm not so sure. This is confirmed twenty minutes later when Coach rejoins us. We were just about to get up and start deciding on plans for the day when he interrupts us.
"More bad news. Press is going wild, have you checked your feed today?"
"Not really, why?"
"Well, check it. I'm wondering what the word on your account is. But we have about two-hundred requests for interviews. I'll obviously whittle that down, but I doubt I can get it under thirty. You're gonna need to stick around for a few more days. Promote the next fight, talk about last night."
"Fuck. No, no way." I say, but without conviction. This is part of the job. I don't want to stay and I know Emma won't want to. She won't be able to, either, the coffee shop relies on her.
"I'm sorry kid, but this is the gig. I'll keep it as quick as possible. Five days max. Maybe seven," he hedges without looking up from his phone. I look down and Emma, who's standing with me.
She holds a reluctant smile, rubbing my arm, "It's okay Rafi. I won't be far. It's only a few more days."
I promised her that after the fight last night, things would start to change, and I'm already breaking that promise.
"I don't suppose you could stay?" I ask, but I feel bad even asking.
She pulls her lips in and looks down at the ground, but I stop her from retreating. We have to be able to live our lives, I don't want her to feel bad that she doesn't want to sit in a hotel room in Vegas for the next 5-7 days.
I put my hand under her chin and lift her head. "I get it. It's okay. You better video call me every night okay?" She nods and wraps her arms around me.
* * *
We have enough time to grab lunch and I tell Stetson to beat it. He was happy to, but I'm relying on him to keep an eye on Emma at the airport and getting her safely back to Wescott, and I tell him as much. I don't love that they'll be alone together after last night. But I know she doesn't have feelings for him and last night had more to do with her growing out of her shell and our relationship than it does having a third person—Stetson—in the room with us.
We sit down in a small booth at the back of a cafe. I was getting recognized on the street so we had to backtrack through an alleyway and as soon as we came out the other side, there was a cafe and we walked right in. I kept my head down and Emma got us a table, leading us to the back.
"It won't be like this in Wescott, everyone there already knows me," I remind her, when I watch her nerves start to take over. The couple at the booth across from us is whispering my name.
"I know. And after what happened last night, you're big news today. It's okay, I get it." Her words are sincere, but I still hate putting her in this position. We order food and, even though I broke with coffee this morning, I stick to my diet since I'll have to keep training for the next couple of weeks.
Emma asks what my week will be like since I'll be here for a while and I tell her between my coach and my agent, they'll find me some place to work out in between interviews.
"Whatever, I'd rather hear about you. How are your stories doing?" I ask her, knowing she posted another couple this past week. The first ones she put on there had great responses. She has the most ridiculous imagination, other people love it just as much as I do.
"They're doing well. Actually I umm, I got another offer…"
I raise my eyebrows, but wait for her to explain further. Her cheeks are starting to turn pink, and it makes me even more curious.
"This uhh… this company that sells various products. They want me to review them on my blog."
"Various products? Care to elaborate?"
"Well. Various… you know, items that are used for personal pleasure." She starts to laugh and drops her head in her hand, covering her eyes.
"Wait, wait, wait. You got an offer from a company that sells dildos? Is that what you're saying? How the fuck did they know?!"
She throws a french fry at me. "They don't know that! It's just a good audience for them. They would pay me a monthly stipend to keep the reviews with a link to their website where you can buy the toys, and I'd get a bonus for each new review."
I'm grinning wide. "Babe. Are you fucking kidding me?"
"I got the email a couple of days ago. I don't know what to say. I mean, they want to pay me to…"
"To try out their vibrators. That's fucking awesome."
"Yeah, but it's got nothing to do with reading. It feels weird. Like, my hobby or peculiar interests are being exploited somehow."
"I get that. If you don't feel comfortable with it, then definitely don't do it. But getting paid for your hobby is what people who love their jobs do. It's what I do. Just because you enjoy it, don't let your fear of the subject material be what holds you back. Be brave."
She sighs, but changes the subject. She's going to have to think about it. I think it's great for her, maybe will help her quit that fucking coffee shop that doesn't appreciate her or pay her nearly enough for how much she does. But it's her decision and I'll support her no matter what. She could quit her job, and I would still have her back. Besides, we're moving in together soon, which reminds me…
"I think you should move into my place."
She blinks, surprised. "But I thought you agreed you’d move into mine? And you're almost done training for the year. I work at 6 am and live above the coffee shop."
"What if you quit?"
"What?"
The rest of our conversation devolves until we both try to assess the pros and cons of her place over mine. My place has more space, the hot tub, the gym downstairs, and a big ass bedroom that will be easier for her to move into. She lives above her work, which is her only argument in the pro.
Well, that plus she loves the place more than either of us love mine. I don't want to fight about it, so we agree to talk about it again when I get back to town.
We don't argue much, but I hate on the rare occasion we do. It doesn't feel like a bad thing, it does feel healthy. But I'm about to send her off for a few days, and I don't want to leave on a bad note.
After lunch, I have a driver take us to pick up Stetson at the hotel and we head back to the airport. Emma and I have a long goodbye and as I watch her walk away I realize this will be the longest I'll go without seeing her since we met in real life.
An uncomfortable feeling settles in my gut, but I shake it off and I head back to the hotel.