Twisted Loyalties [GL Version]

CHAPTER FOUR

Sam

     Her eyes were unreadable. What was she thinking?  Perhaps I was starting to annoy her with my constant talk about the brutality of fighting.
Cage fighting was obviously important to her. I was still trying to bring together the three sides of her I’d seen so far: the business woman, the girl next door and the fighter. Though I now realized that only the latter had seemed natural, like it was the only one where he didn’t feel dressed up.

      “I should probably leave,” I said. It wasn’t the best idea to be in the changing room with her. People might get ideas and start talking, and that was something I really didn’t want.

She nodded. The way she was watching me sent a shiver down my back.
Her eyes, always so keen and cautious, and blue like the sky over Texas in spring, kept me frozen. Get a grip. I turned and strode toward the door.

Before I walked out, I risked one more glance over my shoulder. “I don’t even know your name,” I said.

“Alex,” she said. The name seemed too normal, too gentle for a woman like her, especially now, covered in blood.

“I’m Sam,” I told her. I wasn’t even sure why, but for some reason she made me curious. She hooked her fingers in her shorts and I quickly left but before I closed the door, I caught a glimpse of her backside as she headed for the shower. With every step her muscles flexed. Oh hell. I tore my gaze from her butt. There were scars all over her back but they didn’t look like flaws on her. Heat shot into my head and I quickly turned around, only to stare into Cherry’s face. “Hon, don’t play with the big boys or girls. They don’t play nicely,” she said cryptically.

“I’m not playing with anyone,” I said, embarrassed that she had caught me spying on Alex.
She patted my shoulder. “Just stay away from the likes of her.”

I didn’t get the chance to ask her what she meant. Roger shouted for her to come into his office. She thrust the mop at me. “Here, you have to clean the cage.” Then she rushed off.

It was already two in the night and I was incredibly tired. Only a few guests were scattered around tables, drinking their last beer. But most people had left after Alex’s fight. I shuddered when my eyes took in the bloody mess that was the fighting cage. I’d never had trouble with blood, but this was more than I’d seen in a long time. The last time I’d had to clean up such a mess was when my mother had hit her head on the bathtub in her crystal meth stupor.

     I sighed. There was no use in postponing the inevitable. I climbed through the cage doors and began mopping. Around me the last guests gathered their things, about to leave. I waved at them when they called out a good night to me.

I kept my eyes open for Roger, hoping he’d give me some cash for today’s work. I really needed a few bucks to buy food and perhaps another pair of shoes. I grimaced when I saw a few blotches of blood had gotten on my naked toes. Sandals definitely weren’t a wise choice for a job like this.

I also occasionally allowed myself a glance in the direction of the changing room door, but Alex seemed to be taking her time showering. An image of her naked under a water stream came up, and I quickly wiped the last bloodstain away and got out of the cage. I was too tired to think straight.

I needed to get home, though the idea of walking home in the dark for over a mile didn’t sit well with me. I wasn’t easily scared but I had a healthy sense of self-preservation.

After I’d put the mop and bucket away, I continued into the corridor that led to Roger’s office, but I hesitated half way through it. A woman was screaming. I shivered. Then I heard Roger’s voice. “Yes, you like it up your ass, you slut. Yes, just like that.”