Fighting for Love (Second Chances #4)(27)
Gritting my teeth, I ripped off my gloves and threw them in my bag. What the hell did I just do?
LEXI ARRIVED AT MY HOUSE a couple of hours early and said that Will and Caleb were going to pick us up together; it was her suggestion so that she could pilfer through my closet. After getting out of the shower, I came out to find a pile of dresses scattered on my bed and about ten pairs of shoes on the floor.
“Um … what are you doing?” I asked, holding the towel around my body. “You better be putting my stuff back once you figure out what you’re going to wear. What’s wrong with the dress you wore here?”
She walked out of my closet with only her bra and panties on, but when she showed up at my house she was dressed in a skin tight, red mini-dress that fit her body perfectly.
Lexi exclaimed, “The dress I was wearing was one I wore two years ago. I wanted something new and I knew you would have a dress I liked. Did you actually go shopping without me? You have some new ones here that you didn’t have before.”
No, I didn’t go shopping without her. I hardly had time to shop, so I took the easy way out and ordered a bunch of new clothes online. Victoria’s Secret had some of the cutest and sexiest clothes in their catalogs and I was shocked that a lot of people didn’t realize they had stuff other than bras, lingerie, and underwear. I’d get a new catalog in every few weeks and I couldn’t help but buy something; I was addicted to their stuff.
“Lexi, you know very well that I don’t go shopping alone, not unless you or Jace are with me. I ordered them all online,” I said.
Speaking of Jace, I hadn’t seen him since I got home. He left kind of mad yesterday and the last thing I wanted was for there to be tension between us when all he tried to do was protect me. While Lexi sorted through the dresses on my bed, I made sure to snag the one I wanted to wear before she had the chance to see it. It was a gray and black lacy dress with a square neckline and see through black lace sleeves. It was kind of short, reaching about mid-thigh, but it was going to look gorgeous with my jewel strapped high heels. Getting all dressed up wasn’t exactly my favorite thing to do, but since we were going to Bay Ridge Restaurant and to a party, I figured I had no choice.
Once I got through putting on my makeup and drying my hair, Lexi came in wearing my sleeveless, navy blue corset dress with my phone in her hand. She even had her blonde hair in waves down her back, when earlier she had it pulled up into a messy bun. It was much prettier down, maybe it was because I hardly ever saw it like that.
“It’s Matt,” she told me, but then she covered the phone and whispered, “He sounds kind of upset about something.”
She handed me the phone and immediately I answered it, “Matt, is everything okay?”
He sighed, his voice sounding much deeper over the phone when he spoke, “Yeah, I guess so. I just wanted to give you a heads up just in case.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Tell me,” I demanded nervously.
“I had a run in with another fighter today and it wasn’t good. If you see a guy with bleached-out white, spiky hair and two different colored eyes stay away from him. Even if he seems like a nice guy … stay away,” he warned me.
“You didn’t do anything stupid, did you?”
He paused for a second and then huffed, “No, Shelby, I didn’t.”
Whew … thank goodness. The last thing he needed was to get kicked out of competing. That would make for an interesting magazine article.
“Okay, well then should I be worried? Why would he come near me?” I asked. If the altercation was between them, what did I have to do with it?
I could sense Matt’s hesitance over the phone, especially by the awkward moments of silence. “Angel,” he pleaded. “I don’t want to go into detail with what happened, but this guy will do anything to screw with me. He plays dirty, and knows that by getting to you it will get to me. I’m not saying he’s going to mess with you, but I don’t want to underestimate him.”
Just the thought of someone coming after me to mess with Matt pissed me off. What kind of man could actually call himself a man by doing that mess? It was a cheap shot, and only a coward would result to that. I honestly wasn’t worried about it because if that guy did approach me I’d be more than happy to tell him to f*ck off.
“Shelby, you still there? The silence is killing me,” he said, his voice laced with worry. Before I could speak, he started again, “I know when you came back to me that you didn’t anticipate having to deal with this shit along with my past. If you want to walk I wouldn’t blame you. I don’t want to see you suffer because of me—”
“Matt, stop,” I gasped.
The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was going to walk away again. I learned from my mistake ten years ago that you don’t do that when things get tough or complicated. Walking away was never going to be an option again … ever.
Releasing a heavy sigh, I leaned against the bathroom wall and closed my eyes. “Matt, I’m not going to walk away. I promised that I wouldn’t and I don’t plan on ever doing it, even if this guy tries to cause problems. I’m not worried about him and neither should you. I’ll be okay.”
“Shelby, it’s about time to go, babe,” Lexi called out. “The guys will be here in about five minutes.”