The Fighter

Chapter 3

|Andy|

School the next day was nerve racking as hell. Simon and I had very few classes together, and I was really paranoid. We went to my place after school so we could get ready.


"Andy, you trust me, correct?"


"Yeah, I mean-"


"Then trust me right now." He leaned down to my neck and pressed his lips against it hard

.
"Simon, wh...what are you doing?"


"Giving you a hickey; it'll put the other boys off a bit." He finished, then pulled his shirt off. "And now, you're going to leave marks on my back." He placed my fingers on his back. I scraped them upwards, kind of worried I'd hurt him.
"Harder, Andy, there have to be visible marks." You raked your nails up his back, hard. He winced a little, then smiled. "Good girl."


Simon didn't hold my hand when we showed up later, he carried me in with my legs wrapped around his waist and my face buried in his neck. He set me down, kissing the top of my head and pointing me to where some of the other fighters would be.


"Well, what do we have here?" There were two fighters in the hallway, and I wasn't sure which had spoken. They were eyeing me up big time, and it was a bit uncomfortable.


"A girl, genius. Ever seen one before?"


"Come on, baby, don't be like that. Let me introduce myself; I'm Arthur Westfield. They call me Quick Foot."


"And I'm Jack Burrows. They call me Heavy Fist."


"And you can call me real far out of your league." I watched Arthur's eyes widen when he noticed the hickey on my neck.


"Now, pretty girl, is that any way to speak to a man who just wants to show you a good time?" Jack asked. Arthur nudged him and whispered something about Simon, to which Jack laughed and walked off.
I felt someone touch my waist and turned to be engulfed by Simon. He lifted me up, pulling my legs around his waist again. He then proceeded to kiss me, knowing full and well Arthur was still watching.


"Tell Jack to stay away from her. She's way too good for him."


"I know she's too good for him, but she's too good for you as well."


"She's too good for any of us. Just tell Jack. I don't want him to touch her, or look at her, or speak to her."


"I can tell him, doesn't mean he'll listen." Simon just walked away, still holding me.
"For the love of God, is it going to take me pretending to bang you in a dressing room every night to get them to leave you alone?" Simon was stood between my legs as I sat on the counter. He'd insisted we make everything we did while at these fights look as sexual or couple-like as possible.


"I don't know." It was barely audible as I ran my fingers through his hair. He ran a hand up my leg and leaned his head against my shoulder.


"You smell really nice. I keep forgetting to tell you that." I let out a tiny laugh at the randomness of the statement.


"Thanks, I guess. Um, Simon?"


"Yeah?"


"Do you think they'll try anything tonight? Like get into the house again?"


"If they do, you won't be there for them to do anything to. You're going home with me."
 When he sent me off to go stand with the crowd, he kissed me sweetly on the cheek, making sure Arthur and Jack could see it.


Another victory to help Simon push through the ranks. You were nearly asleep by the time Ryan came back to say you could leave. In fact, you acted asleep, per Simon's request.


"What are those marks on your back? You never let girls scratch you."


"This one's different."


"So cliché, Simon."


"Yeah, I'm taking her home. We'll be back for the next fight."
Once you were in the car, you opened your eyes and rubbed them tiredly before yawning.


"You should get some sleep."


"It's fine."


"Andy-"


"I said it's fine." We didn't talk the rest of the way. He lived in the nicest apartments downtown, Rixley Place.
It didn't occur to me until I was upstairs that I didn't have any clothes.


"Simon, I didn't bring anything to change into." He walked over to where you were and placed a few articles of clothing in your hands.


"Wear these tonight and we'll find you something in the morning." I stepped into the bathroom and unfolded what he'd given me. A pair of boxers and a t-shirt. The t-shirt hung off of one of my shoulders and came down far enough it almost completely covered the boxers.
 Simon stopped what he was doing and just stared at me when I left the bathroom. I felt my face heat up and I looked down at my feet.


"I'll, uh, show you where you're sleeping." He offered me his hand and started walking. "I hope it works."