Chapter Thirty-Eight
Tyler
“Come on, Ashley,” I said as she lay carefully on my chest, trying to be convincing later on that night, after my mother and her father had once again gone out for the night. “I really want you to be there.”
It had been a close call, but we had made it through without arousing any suspicion. However, in all honesty, it wasn’t like they were all that interested in us. They were far too busy sticking their tongues down one another’s damn throats to really care what we were doing there. They had accepted that we were returning from a workout easily and Ashley had brought the explanation home by explaining that I had a competition I was training for and that she had agreed to help.
My mother, tired of hearing about my competitions, which she never showed very much interest in anyway, brushed it off and moved on. Ashley’s father asked a few basic questions before following his wife, probably to engage in their own fuck session.
I didn’t give a shit either way.
Nonetheless, it was nice not having to explain anything to them and since they left soon after that, we were able to continue where we had left off in my room once we knew the coast was clear.
I heard her sigh in response to my question and I knew, even though I couldn’t see her eyes, that she was rolling them at me. “Why is it so important for me to come?”
“Because I fucking want you there,” I answered casually, squeezing her into my arms carefully but securely.
She shook her head and answered, “But there is going to be so many people there and I just don’t know if I can deal with seeing everyone from my past, all at once.”
“I’ll be there,” I assured her. “And you have to face them sometime.” I let out a cocky grin before I added “And besides, between the two of us, everyone is there to see me, not you. At most you will be uncomfortable for a few minutes, then the show will start, I will steal everyone’s heart and you returning to town will be old news.”
I could tell that she was thinking about it, which was fucking fine with me. At least I had shifted the tides of her opinion from a solid no to a maybe. Eventually, I would wear her down. After all, how could she say no to me? I couldn’t even say no to myself. I was just too damn irresistible.
Finally, she answered, “Okay. I guess I’ll come.” She paused and added, “But what if…I run into…you know…that guy?”
At this, I felt a flair of fury engulf me before I reared back and glowered down at her, while she stared back up at me. “If you have any problems with anyone, I will protect you. You don’t have to worry about anything. I will jump out of the fucking ring, in the middle of my competition and pound anyone who bothers you to the ground without hesitation.”
She smiled, knowing that I meant it. But what I realized then, and was too afraid to say at the moment, was that she was worth being disqualified, or anything really. I had never felt like that about anyone…and I fucking hated it.
Still, she seemed satisfied with that as she nodded her head and smiled at me. “Okay.”
“So, you’ll go?” I asked, far more hopeful than I had intended.
“Yes, I will go. I think it might be fun.”
“It will be fun!” I answered excitedly and then I laughed as I added, “I mean, shit! What could be more fun than watching me take home the gold? I know that I certainly enjoy it and I have a sneaking suspicion that you will too.”
At this, she laughed and snuggled into me. “You’re so modest,” she teased.
I just smiled back at her, knowing wholly that she was completely full of shit.
On the day of the competition, I felt like I was ready for anything.
In the last few days, I had not only improved my carrying, I had also perfected my deadlifting; just as I had assured Ashley I would. Everything else was falling nicely into place.
I also couldn’t believe how happy I was that Ashley was coming with me. I wasn’t exactly going to spell that out for her, but I was impressed by my level of excitement myself. I honestly hadn’t been completely sure that I would ever be so enthused by the thought of someone coming to watch my competition.
I had concluded a long time ago that growing up, with no one coming to anything that I had, at school or otherwise, that I had to rely solely on myself. However, now I knew that I was at least capable of feeling excitement over the presence of someone besides myself doing something, and I knew that was improvement.
Every little bit helps, I told myself, after Ashley had dropped me off in the area for the competitors and left to find a seat.
She had given me a kiss goodbye this morning, in my room, and although I wanted our relationship to be a little more public, I was beginning to understand, at least for her sake, why she didn’t want that shit to get out.
I still didn’t give a crap. It was my life I was living. Not my mother’s and certainly not Ashley’s father’s but I found that I had a sense of respect, buried deep inside of me, and I had chosen to show it for Ashley. I wanted her to know, without having to get all sentimental and shit, how I felt about her, even though I wasn’t even sure myself.
All of this, having a relationship that I cared about, as well as another person to take into consideration when I get all crazy, was something that I wasn’t sure I wanted, but still didn’t want to let go of.
I had to admit, I was having fucking fun with her and I was curious on where our life would take us. So, I kept the relationship going and stayed faithful, even though I had no guarantees that was what I even wanted.
I wasn’t the least bit nervous, but the time of registration and all of the other bullshit that needed to take place before the competition could commence went faster than normal.
I supposed I just wanted to get out there and start showing this little beach town what a real strong man looked like; and when I got a glimpse of the competition, I did my best not to laugh.
It was actually worse than anything I had imagined. The men in the competition were seriously worthless.
I’ll be surprised if any of these fuckers could even participate in the competitions, much less actually compete. I thought to myself and remembered what Ashley had said about challenging myself before anyone else. Today, it looks like I am going to be competing with myself after everyone else. These losers are laughable.
Then, as soon as the competition started, I was assured that things were definitely going to go my way.
The first competition, squatting, I won by a mile, or rather about a hundred pounds. It was so bad I almost fucking felt sorry for them.
Then, the next competition was loading, which I also aced, far among the rest of the other contestants.
Still, it was a hot day and I was breaking a very fluid sweat, but I wasn’t about to let that bring me down, seeing as all I had to do now was beat my own record. The gold in this competition was already mine.
A few more competitions were battled out, with myself staying in the fucking lead, far ahead of all the other piss-heads and wannabes. Eventually, they knew as well as I did that they were competing for second at the very least, but I didn’t allow the assurance of a win to break my stride.
I continued to work through the events one at a time, putting the maximum amount of effort into it, while keeping a keen eye on Ashley, who had managed a front row seat and cheered me on constantly.
Once again, I had to admit that it was pretty fucking awesome to have a woman who was continuously trying to help me to succeed. I definitely didn’t want to lose the shit I had going for me now. I couldn’t imagine the sense of disappointment I would feel if I lost the connection that Ashley and I had now.
Therefore, I vowed to try my best to continue to make it work.