Grace for Drowning

Nothing moved in the space in front of us. If you stared long enough, you could almost convince yourself the whole world stood absolutely still. A sense of peace began to descend on me, and it wasn't just the peace of seclusion and silence, it was something deeper. Something that seemed to seep through me all the way to my bones. That constant undercurrent of tension that underlined everything I did felt more muted than it had in years.

"Will you sit here with me for a while?" I asked.

"As long as you want."

Chapter Fifteen

Logan

A night on the sofa with Grace was easier said than done. Between our rotating schedules and my training, simultaneous nights free were few and far between. We squeezed in time together where we could. We had the gym, but there was only so much goofing around Tony would tolerate before he got that look on his face, the one that said "you don't pay me enough for this shit." If it was any other time, I'd have just said "fuck it," but I had another fight coming up and I needed to be ready.

Thankfully, there was still one place we could reliably be together; cleanup time at Charlie's. We weren't always alone, but with everything between us out in the open, there was nothing stopping us from being that sickening new couple that's all over one another, much to Joy's chagrin.

"Seriously, I will pay for a hotel room right now," she said. "I'm not even joking. It's my gift to you."

Grace pulled her mouth away from mine. "But there's a perfectly good pool table right here." She seemed to take great pleasure in torturing her friend.

Joy made a retching sound and dramatically thrust a finger down her throat, though she grinned as she did it. It was obvious that despite the song and dance, she approved of our relationship. I'd never made much effort to get to know her — more to do with my general approach of keeping everyone at a distance than anything personal — but the last few nights had taught me she really was a lot of fun. More importantly, she was good for Grace. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't be everything for her. She needed friends, people to look out for her when I couldn't, people to bitch to when my shit got out of control, and I got the sense Joy was one of those.

That impression was only confirmed when she pulled me aside a few minutes later while Grace was out back.

"I need a word, mister." She wore a look of mock severity, but something in her voice told me that this really was important.

"What's up?"

She glanced over her shoulder. "This is the part where I go all pseudo big sister on your ass."

I couldn't help but smile. "Is that so?"

"It is." And then more seriously. "You better not just be messing around here, Logan. Grace may not have been here long enough to remember Sheryl, but I sure as hell do."

I grimaced. Sheryl had been a bartender here about a year ago. We'd had a fling during my "fuck anything that moves" phase. I'm not proud of it but, at the time, I was in a really dark place and just snatching whatever moments of light I could. I never intended it to be serious, but apparently I wasn't clear about that and it blew up in my face. After a screaming match one busy Friday night, she quit, and nobody ever heard from her again.

"This isn't like that."

"I hope not. Grace has been through a lot. She cares about you, and if you screw her over, it's going to crush her."

She was absolutely right. "I don't do that anymore. This thing is the real deal. I'd cut off my own arm before I hurt her."

Joy stared for several seconds, weighing my words, then gave a quick nod. Apparently I'd passed the test.

Her smile reappeared. "Well, good. Just keep in mind, you'll be answering to me if you're lying. You may be some hotshot in the ring, but we fight street rules, out here. You'll never even see me coming."

I laughed. "I believe you."

Half an hour later, I was out on the sidewalk with Grace, lips locked together. My hands had started around her hips, but it had only taken a matter of seconds for them to gravitate downwards. I swear to God, that ass was fucking magnetic. I could have played with it for hours. In fact, I planned to.

After what was probably far longer than appropriate in public, I broke away. "So I'll see you at the gym?"

Disappointment flashed across her face, although she hid it well. "Sure."

We may not have had much time together, but we had plenty of opportunities to sneak in a quick fuck after work. I think if it were up to her, that's exactly what we'd have been doing. But despite the fact that certain parts of me were vocal advocates for that course of action, I'd held off. It felt too cheap, too familiar, like all those throwaway relationships I'd had in the past. Obviously the dinner and movie plan was beyond me, but that didn't mean we couldn't have some semblance of a normal relationship. Thankfully, after a week of negotiating, I'd finally changed shifts so we both had tomorrow off for a quiet evening on the sofa. Twenty four hours, and that body was mine.

"Do I need to bring anything to your place?" she asked.

I gave her a playful little slap. "Just this...and maybe some chips."

She laughed. "Ass and chips. Got it."