Kane (Face-Off 2)

A broad smile crosses her lips. “Good. I’m counting on it.”

After two weeks of living with Kennedy, Donovan had convinced me it was time for a boys night. It had been months since we last chilled out at my house without women around. We sent Kennedy and Sydney to the spa together for whatever all-day treatments they wanted, followed by drinks and dinner at a restaurant in the city.

With the house to ourselves, we did what we would normally do and spread out on the large couches, the two of us fucking off, drinking beers, and watching a UFC fight on Pay-Per-View. This is part of our regular off-season ritual, our way to unwind before we get back to the grueling workouts, intense practices, and travelling all the time. Kennedy hasn’t been around for that part of my life. Living in this house alone while I am on the road will not be easy or her, but at least she’ll have Roxie around to keep her company while I am gone.

“Can you hand me another?” Donovan tries to reach for the six-pack on the coffee table and misses, too lazy to get up. Roxie jumps up and runs her long tongue down the length of his forearm. “Bad girl,” he tells her, wiping the slobber from his skin with a disgusted look on his face.

“Good girl,” I tell her, flashing a grin in Donovan’s direction that makes his mouth twist in anger. Then, I hold out my arm for Roxie to come over to me. At the sound of my voice, she’s at my side in an instant, her cold nose wetting my forearm as I pet her thick coat.

“Stop encouraging her.” Donovan sits up and opens two bottles of Heineken with the opener on the table. He passes a beer to me, waiting for me to tap his bottle before we both take a sip.

“She’s just a baby. You don’t have to be such an ass about it.”

His cell phone buzzes along the table, and before he can respond to me, he picks it up and glances at the text that came through. He sucks in a deep breath, holding it far too long before letting it out. “Fucking women,” he deadpans and drops the phone back to where he found it. “Sydney is giving me a fucking headache, man.”

“Is she still playing hard to get?”

Kennedy has told me all about Sydney’s games that she uses to bait men into doing what she wants though I am not so sure Donovan will hang around long enough and call her bluff. He has been complaining about her all week, at least one phone call per day bitching about something Sydney did that annoyed him.

Both Sydney and Kennedy think it’s hilarious, and as much as I want to tell him that Sydney is fucking with him, I had to choose between breaking my promise to Sydney or letting Donovan know he is being played. I haven’t said anything to him because I think she likes him, despite her rules and games that keep them apart.

“You have no idea, bro. This girl is like the Queen of Blue Balls. She’ll send me half naked pics along with a sex scene from her book or one she made up, which is fine with me. But I’ll get a pic with one nipple of an unknown woman—because who the fuck knows if they’re even her tits—and then I’ll get a few paragraphs of a story about the picture she sent. I’ve jerked off at least a twenty times to the pictures, and I haven’t even touched her yet. She’s weird and crazy, and I like her—”

“She likes you, too,” I interrupt, trying to throw him a bone since he seems so upset over Sydney. “Just go with it. She’s all about the head games and drama. If Kennedy pulled that shit with me, I doubt we would be where we are now, but if you like her, I would suggest sticking with it until she puts out.”

He takes a sip of his beer, chugging half of it down before he sinks back into the couch cushions. “Listen to you giving me advice about women. You think you’re an expert now that you have a live-in girlfriend.”

“Kennedy is more than some girl who lives with me, and you know it.”

Roxie nudges me at the sound of Kennedy’s name. She loves her, follows her everywhere when she’s home. I love that Roxie had taken so well to Kennedy from the start. It was one of the reasons I connected with Kennedy. Seeing her on the floor of my bedroom, her legs wide open and her pussy on display for me, as she loved my puppy instead of me, tugged at something inside me in more ways than one.

“Do you think you will marry this one? I honestly can’t believe you’re settling down after all the shit Payton put you through. I have been here through some pretty dark years with you I just don’t want to see you go down the same road again if this doesn’t work out with Kennedy.”

“It will work out, and we are nowhere near the marriage stage, but it will happen when the time is right.” My confidence shines through as I say the words. There is no way I am letting Kennedy slip away from me. “From the first time I met her, I just had this feeling. You know what I mean?” I smile at the thought of our first encounter.

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He kicks his feet up on the table in front of him and takes a swig from his bottle. “Sydney is fucking killing me. She has me doing all sorts of stupid shit for her but still hasn’t let me kiss her.”

His gaze shifts to the massive flat screen hung on the wall and to the fighters that are giving each other a run for their money. The men are so evenly matched that it’s a battle of skill and wits and the kind of matchup I like to see.

“Kennedy says she’s like the master of manipulation. If you play your cards right with Sydney, I’m sure it will all pay off in the long run.”

“It better.” His voice is so deep and loud it sounds like a growl. “That woman is driving my insane. My balls can’t take much more of her mind tricks.”

Donovan jumps up from the couch, attracting the attention of Roxie, as he throws his hands in the air, yelling at the TV screen. One fighter has the other in a chokehold, his opponent’s face changing from a shade of pink to red within seconds.

Roxie hops up on Donovan’s thick thigh, clawing at his jeans with each outburst he makes. He has money on a few of the fights tonight, and while I could care less who wins this match, I sit up and cheer on the man who’s winning the fight to show my team spirit.

“C’mere, girl,” I say to Roxie, snapping my fingers to get her to come over to me. Pointing at the ground, I tell her to sit, and she does as I ask, always good at following my orders.

“Yes!” Donovan punches the air with excitement as the fight ends and the referee announces the winner by knockout. “Dude, I had ten G’s riding on him to win.”

“Congrats, bro.” I lean down to pet Roxie, looking up at Donovan who’s standing in front of the table, his eyes pointed at the TV. “It’s your turn to buy the pizza so get to it now that you have all this money.”

He turns around, pushing his hands to his hips with a smirk already on his lips. “Get out of here. I bought the last two.”

“House rules,” I tell him, my tone serious. “You won money, so you have to pay for the food.”

Before he can answer, his phone vibrates along the wood, causing Roxie to get up from her spot on the floor at my feet to see who’s messaging him. It must be Sydney by the look on his face. Except for this time, he doesn’t look so pissed off. In fact, he seems happier than he was over winning money from the fight.