Priest (A Standalone Bad Boy Romance Love Story) (76 page)

“Hey there, who pissed in your cheerios?”
It was Justin the marathon runner. I smiled at him and he said, “That’s better.
You okay?”

“I’m fine,” I told him. “I’m pissed and
frustrated, but fine.”

“What happened? That creep Mitch isn’t
bothering you again, is he?”

“Not me specifically,” I told him.
“Yesterday they let him out of jail though and in the morning he attacked Paul
with a crow bar. It was at a gas station and it was a whole big mess…the police
almost arrested Paul because he ended up kicking Mitch’s chicken-shit ass.
Luckily there was a video…”

“Damn, that sucks. I’m sorry. Is Paul
okay?”

“He’s in there,” I said, gesturing towards
the gym.

“Hmm, let me guess…you don’t think he
should be working out yet?”

“He got beat with a crowbar for crying out
loud. He’s as sore as hell and he refused to go to the hospital. He could have
broken bones for all we know. Yet he’s still in there going full-bore on a bag
because he has a big fight coming up. What if he permanently hurts something?”

“Athletes are a stubborn lot,” he said
with a grin.

“You think? Athletes…and men. The
combination is lethal. A woman would take care of herself.”

He smiled but he was smart enough to leave
that one alone. “I can try and talk to him if you want. I had to sit out on one
of the biggest marathons of my life because of a torn ACL once. It sucked,
hard.”

“Thanks,” I told him, “But he won’t listen
to me or Sam, I don’t think he’s going to listen to anyone. He’s going to do
what Paul wants to do, period.”

“Is that creep Mitch at least back in jail
where he needs to be?”

“Yeah…at least as far as I know, they took
him in after he got out of the hospital yesterday. The cop I talked to on the
phone last night said he doubted that they’d grant bail to him again after
committing assault the first time he was let out.”

“Well that’s good news anyways. When’s his
big fight?”

“A week from today,” I told him. “I
seriously doubt he’s going to be healed by then.”

“He’s not going to consider postponing
that, I assume.”

“I shudder to think of what he might do to
someone who even dared to suggest it,” I said, only half-joking.

“Hey Jessie!”
 
I looked over towards the voice. It was
Victor running towards me and Marie following along behind hi holding a big
Tupperware bowl.

“Hey Victor! How are you?”

“I’m good. Is Uncle Paul okay?”

“He’s a stubborn old…” Victor grinned and
I ruffled his hair. “He’s good. He’s too tough to be kept down. He’s in the
back with Sam, go tell him to take a break,” I told him. He ran in and I looked
over at Marie. As I did, I realized that she and Justin were looking at each
other appreciatively. “Hi Marie,” I said. She tore her eyes from Justin and
looked at me.

“Hi Jessie. How are you?”

“I’m good. Your brother on the other hand
is a stubborn ass.”

She laughed and said, “Do you have any new
information?” she glanced back towards Justin.

“Oh hey, I’m sorry. Justin, this is Marie
Delport. She’s Paul’s sister…but don’t hold that against her.”

Justin chuckled and then looked at Marie
and smiled. The smile she gave him back was dazzling. I could almost hear them
click. “It’s nice to meet you,” Justin told her, putting out his hand.

“Nice to meet you too, Justin,” she said.
She shifted the Tupperware bowl to her left hand and shook his with her right.
They locked eyes again and I realized they’d all but forgotten I was there.

I cleared my throat and said, “What’s in
the bowl?”

Marie acted like she hadn’t remembered it
was there. She looked down at it and said, “Oh, lunch…for Paul…and you too, Jessie
if you want some. It’s baked chicken and steamed rice and vegetables. I just
feel so damned bad about what Mitch did…to both of you…”

“Hey, stop that,” I said. I glanced at
Justin, he was politely trying not to listen in. “Not your fault, remember?”

“I remember,” she said. “I just have to
keep telling myself that. I’m going to take this on it to him.”

“Good,” I said with a smile, “Then maybe
he’ll take a break to eat at least. I’ll be in in a few.”

“It was nice meeting you Justin,” she told
him again with another beautiful smile.

“You too,” he said, his smile just as
bright. When she’d stepped inside he looked at my face and said, “What?”

I laughed. “Nothing…but just so you know,
she’s single.”

He grinned, “And beautiful,” he said.

“Yeah, and that.”

CHAPTER
THREE

A few mornings later after several
restless nights for us both…because my stubborn boyfriend is in so much pain he
can’t turn over without groaning and grunting…Paul and I were having breakfast
together. After I put the whole grain waffles, oatmeal and fruit on the table I
went out to get the paper. When I came back inside I unrolled it and sat down
next to him.

“How is it?”

“Delicious,” he said with a smile, “Like
you.”

“You’re just kissing up because you want
to go back in and work-out and you don’t want me to nag you about it.”

“True, is it working?”

I glanced down at my paper while I ignored
him. I could see him grinning out of the corner of my eye. He was going in
whether I objected or not…the stubborn ass. As my eyes scanned the paper and I
worried about Paul a familiar name caught my eye. “I’ll be damned,” I said.

“What?”

“Listen to this,” I told him, reading the
article out loud.
“Local police detective
Mitch (XXX) was arrested on Monday for assault with a deadly weapon. He was
booked into the L.A. County jail. It was discovered by this reporter that the
detective had been released on bail that morning after being booked in only a
week earlier for…you guessed it, assault. The question on my mind is this…Does
the L.A.P.D. have different standards for one of their own? I can’t answer
that, but what I can tell you is that Judge Hal Young who he went in front of
today and our county District Attorney Dean Lane have no sympathy for him. He
was charged today with not only felony assault for the first assault, but
stalking, assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder for the second.
It’s nice to know the judicial system has our back.”

“Awesome!” Paul said, finally that son of
a bitch will get what’s coming to him. Although I would have loved to kick his
ass myself…”

“I hate to say this, but I’m glad you
didn’t get that chance. You know how it goes; you would have ended up in jail.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “I’m happy just
knowing he’ll be gone long enough for my sister and her son to have a life for
a change.”

“And you,” I told him.

“Yeah, and me…and you,” I told him.

He drained his juice glass and said, “I’m
ready.”

I rolled my eyes again. I gave up trying
to convince him not to work out; it was a waste of energy. I did draw the line
at helping him. Sam and Greg were taking turns, but they both seem a little
wary around me now, like they’re afraid I’ll unleash on them. I just let them
think it was a possibility. It was more fun that way. I put down the paper and
he helped me straighten up the kitchen before we left. We were alternating
apartments, but we’d been together nearly every night and day since I got out
of the hospital. I liked it…a lot.

******

When we got to the gym, Paul went into the
back and I worked with Justin up front. I liked not even being able to see him
when he was wincing and doubling over in pain.

“Body weight squats?” I asked Justin when
he came out of the locker room.

Laughing he said, “I’m doing well today,
Jessie…thank you so much for asking.”

“I’m sorry. How are you Justin?”

“I’m doing well today, Jessie…thank you so
much for asking.”

“Okay smart guy, body weight squats, on
the mat, now.”

He stood on the mat and I told him, “Move
your right foot out a little bit…there you go. Have them both just in line with
your hips and make sure your toes are facing forward. Good.”

Justin got into position and hen he knew
what to do. He acted like he was sitting down into a chair that wasn’t there.
“Keep your knees out past your toes,” I told him. He adjusted and sat back
until his knees were at a ninety degree angle. Then he came back up. “Good,
one…”

With a grunt as he did the next one he
said, “How many are we doing?”

“We’ll do twelve without weight and then
we’ll add weight and do eight,” I told him. “That’s two.”

He grunted again as he went down a third
time. “So Marie is single?” he said. I laughed. It just seemed like an odd time
for him to ask. I could only assume that she’d been on his mind.

“Yep she’s single and now that her creepy
ex is in jail she’s available as well.”

“I look at her and it’s hard for me to
imagine what she would ever see in a guy like that.”

I thought about my drug-dealer Justin and
said, “Sometimes it takes a while before the monster within reveals itself and
by that time you feel trapped. That’s five.”

“I don’t know if I’d want to be a woman,”
he said.

I laughed and said, “Good to know. You’d
be a really tall woman.”

Laughing and grunting at the same time he
said, “Funny. You know what I mean. So, did you put in a good word for me?”

“That’s seven. No, sorry. I didn’t know
you wanted me to.”

“That’s eight, actually. You’re not paying
attention.”

“Excuse me. I will put a word in for you
next time I see Marie. That’s nine.”

“Thanks,” he said completely his next
squat. “That’s ten.”

“How are you with kids? You know she comes
as a package deal.”

“I saw that, cute kid.” He completed his
last squat and said, “Twelve.”

“Yeah, Victor is a great kid. Let’s do the
next set with the bar.”

“Just the bar?”

“No. Put some weight on it.” I was shaking
my head at him and he was grinning.

I watched as he added weight to the bar
and then said, “I like kids.”

“Okay, if you’ll focus the rest of the
work-out, I’ll call her tonight and tell her so.”

“Deal,” he said with a thousand-watt
smile. Now I was a match maker.

*****

Justin and I finished up in about an hour
and I went back to check on Paul. He was in the ring today with Greg, both of
them with headgear on and mouth guards in. I walked over by Sam who was
standing next to the ropes and said, “Are they making contact?”

Sam looked like he didn’t want to tell me.
Finally he said, “Yeah, Paul insisted. He’s favoring that right side. He says
he wants to practice fighting and he doesn’t want Greg to even pretend like he
knows that he’s hurting.”

“He’s an idiot. Why did Greg agree to
that?”

Sam laughed. Paul’s determined. He will
find someone to do it if he says no. Greg won’t hurt him, no matter what he
tells him. You know that.”

“Yeah, I know,” I told him. I watched for
a minute. Paul was blocking too much on his right side, leaving the left wide
open. If he fought Trent like that he wouldn’t win. Trent would use his
weakness to his advantage…any good fighter would. Greg connected a kick on
Paul’s left-side and he almost went down. I watched him stumble and wince as he
struggled upright. I couldn’t stand it. “When he’s finished, tell him to call
me. I have some errands to run. I can’t watch this.”

Sam winked at me. “He’s going to be okay.”

“I know he’s a tough guy. I’m just not
tough enough to watch him struggle like this.” I left, ran my errands and came
back a little over an hour later. He had just finished his shower and he was
ready to go. The first thing I noticed was that he looked like he could hardly
even stand up straight. As we walked out to the car, I took his arm. I
pretended like I just wanted to touch him, but I was really afraid that he was
going to fall over.

Once at home, he picked at his dinner and
avoided talking to me about his pain at all costs. We went to bed early and
once again, neither of us could go to sleep. It was different though, his
winces were almost cries that startled me out of a dead sleep.

Finally at about midnight I said, “This is
ridiculous. We have to take you to the hospital, Paul.”

He must have been hurting worse than ever,
because he agreed. I helped him to the car and on the way to the hospital he
said, “You know they’re not going to do anything. They’ll give me more pain
meds and muscle relaxers…”

“Let’s just wait and see what they say,
okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed.

I signed him in when we got there.
Thankfully there weren’t many people ahead of us. I knew that if we’d had to
wait a long time he would have tried to get me to leave. We were taken in back
and put into a room.