Baby For The Mountain Man

I took another bite of pizza. “Who is she with?”

She clutched

the beer in the plastic cup between her small hands. I could tell she was nervous. “These two guys. She was trying to set me up on a date.” She took a swig, liquid confidence. “I haven’t been out in a while. My last boyfriend was kind of a douche.”

“Did he treat you badly?” I couldn’t imagine anyone treating Berkley any way besides perfect. A girl like her deserved to be treated well.

“He was great at the beginning. But this last year had been rough, and in the end he broke up with me in a voicemail. Four years down the drain, all for nothing.” She sighed heavily looking back out through the window into the night, I could tell she was lost in her own thoughts and I gave her a moment of space. I ate the rest of my pizza until she spoke again, “What about you? I saw a lot of girls throw themselves at you tonight, but it didn’t seem like you paid any attention to them. What’s that all about?”

“I’m focused on the fight, not the shit that goes with it. Girls always throw themselves at fighters, I guess there’s something in the dangerousness of it all. But they want the fighter. They’re not really interested in me.”

She studied me carefully, her blue eyes sparkling under the fluorescent light. “I know all about that. But tell me what is interesting about you? What should a girl know?”

I smiled mostly to myself. A girl should know how beautiful she is and how she shouldn’t waste her time with anyone who treated her less than a princess. A girl should also know how sexy she looked in those tight jeans and how much I wanted to get her out of them. But I couldn’t say that to her, no matter how much I wanted to. “There’s not much to know about me. I spend most of my days at the gym, my nights in the cage, and I don’t even have a dog.”

She laughed, “Why would you have a dog?”

“I don’t know. Big guy like me, it seems like I would have a soft spot for like a rescued pit bull or something. But I don’t have time for a dog. I don’t have time for anyone.” She flinched a little like the last part stung her, but it was the truth. It was the reason that I couldn’t tell her that I thought that she was beautiful. I didn’t have time to waste on a girl like her, not when every goal in my career was finally within my grasp. I was too focused on my job for love. Not that I loved this girl—I hardly knew her—but she seemed like the type that I could fall in love with, if I was able.

But love was out of the question, regardless of any feelings I would ever have.

“Now tell me something interesting about you.”

She shrugged, “I go to BU, and my dad was a governor. That’s about it.”

“You are a college girl?”

“Yeah, why?”

I laughed, “Let me guess, sorority?”

“How did you know?”

“Just a lucky guess. So do you have pillow fights in skimpy underwear?” I built the mental image in my mind. Berkley in sexy pink undies, her bouncing breasts as she messed around with her sisters.

“No!” She protested. “That’s not how it is. I have a roommate, Naomi, and that’s it. No underwear parties, sorry.”

“I can’t say I’m not disappointed.”

“Why’s that?” She countered seductively.

“I would have liked to see you like that.” I paused. “You’d probably be good with a pillow.”

“Rude.” She gave me a playful scowl.

Suddenly I heard a banging on the window next to me. A girl with brightly colored hair had her face smashed up against the glass and was pointing at Berkley. I looked across the table to see her smile and wave back.

“Those are my friends. I have to go, but it was nice meeting you, Dillon. Thanks for the company.”

I waved at her as she grabbed her wristlet and bolted out the door, hugging the girl that had just been pounding on the window. At least she was reunited with her friend. I watched as they put their arms around each other and walked away out the night. She turned around and looked at me once, those blue eyes catching my gaze immediately. But then she turned away and I knew I would never see her again. I sat and ate the rest of the pizza alone. I was the last one in the shop when they announced it was closing time. I grabbed my belongings and walked out into the night. I had twenty five hundred dollars sitting in my pocket, a wad of cash that could get me mugged on the streets.

But I wasn’t worried.

Only one thing plagued my mind: I hoped that Berkley got home okay.

For some reason she was my only worry now.

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