Chapter Six
Fenton
It was worse after I dropped Kya at her hotel. At the gym, there were constant reminders of my work. On the trail, there was the heart-pumping climb. In the car, there was the quiet of our impasse. Kya was convinced she needed me to get what she wanted, while I was fighting hard to get what I wanted alone.
She had made a convincing case for getting an agent before the title fight. I would need someone to take care of the details, secure the right money, and watch the contracts. Someone I trusted. And, I trusted Kya Allen. It felt strange, but not when I thought about how she hid nothing.
Kya had even confessed her life plan. She was going to work until she earned a certain security – the career, the bank account, and the house. Things that had always stayed out of reach for my mother. My mother did not have the education for a career. She had worked two jobs, sometimes adding hours as a house cleaner, and still her bank account was always empty. We had rented a one-bedroom apartment where the kids had the room and my mother slept on the couch.
That was exactly why I refused to share my life with anyone. Until I could provide those things, I was better off alone. If my father had done that, they would have been happy. He would not have left. My mother would have recovered. My sister would not have skipped school to make easy money.
It was dangerous that Kya and I wanted the same things. Even though the ride back to the Strip was silent, I feared she heard me thinking her same thoughts.
I went back to the MGM Grand to shower. Instead of shadowboxing my new moves under the spray, I closed my eyes. She was there, her breasts heaving from the hike. Her copper hair brushed back into a loose ponytail, her neck showing the lightest sheen of sweat. I wanted to lick it, to taste her.
I imagined her in a hidden turn just off the trail, her skin like warm honey in the sun. Kya below me, open, wanting. I squeezed my eyes shut to hold her there and pleasured myself under the hot spray of the shower.
Thinking she was out of my system at least for the night, I considered ordering room service. When I reached for the phone, I thought about inviting Kya to join me. I slammed the phone down and got dressed. I needed to get out.
Two floors down, the elevator doors opened on the perfect distraction. Talia tossed her silky black hair over her shoulder and strolled in.
"What floor?" I asked.
"Pick one," she said.
She stepped forward as I leaned around her to press the ground floor button. Her breasts brushed under my chin and she plumped them up and then heaved a little sigh.
"Glad I ran into you," she said. "Are you glad to see me?"
I admired the cleavage she kept in front of my eyes. "You look beautiful, as always."
Talia spun around so I could admire her skimpy blue dress. The material shone and slipped around her body like liquid. She backed up and pressed herself the length of me. "Hmm, I like seeing us in the mirror."
From her hard nipples to the shimmy her backside did against my pelvis, it was easy to imagine what she was suggesting. I could slip that shiny blue dress up to her waist and be inside her before the next floor. She nodded encouragement and leaned forward to place her palms against the mirror. I bet she would not even care if I did not hit the stop button. The doors could open on the main lobby and she would still be hot and ready.
Stopping the elevator made me think of Kya. The jolt had made her giggle then her green eyes had gotten brighter. She had pushed me into the corner of the elevator and kissed me until we sunk together to the floor.
"I know you like to be bad, I do, too," Talia said. She swayed the short hem of her dress in front of my belt loop.
I felt my blood rush to where she brushed against me, but it was not Talia I wanted. "Not here," I told her.
She stood up and leaned back against me. The position gave me an open view down the front of her dress. She was not wearing a bra, her breasts firm and rounded against the material, nipples aroused as she squirmed inside the fabric. "I know a dark corner where no one plays the slots at this hour."
I had to try. I reached around Talia and cupped both her firm breasts in my hands. She moaned loudly as I squeezed, and her hands sneaked between us to my belt loop. I fingered her nipples, feeling every shudder through her sensual body. She undid my zipper, but before she could reach me and work me hard with her hands, I had to admit the truth – all I could think about was Kya.
"Damn, sorry. I…I just can't do this now," I said.
The elevator doors slid open just as I buckled my belt. Talia was still teasing me, her breasts pressed to my arm, one hand cupping my ass.
"Don't let me interrupt," my manager said. He stepped onto the elevator and licked his lips at Talia. "I was coming to get you for dinner, but I understand if you're ordering in."
"No, dinner is great," I said.
"Gimme the restaurant," Kev said into his phone. "Yeah, make it three. We're on our way."
Talia bounced happily and wrapped her arms around mine. Kev nodded his head along with her still erect nipples and whistled. He stayed distracted by her shiny dress until we were seated at the restaurant.
"Alright, tell me about Kya Allen. I'm dying to know what happened after the nightclub. You two were looking pretty hot and heavy on the way out," Kev said.
Talia pouted and slid a little closer to me in the dark leather booth. I shook my head. "You know I was just messing with her. Distracting her from getting her pitch out. I'm not signing on to hock vitamin supplements."
Kev shrugged. "It'd be smart to pick something long-term like that. Shoes go out of style, but vitamins have a good long contract. Anyway, enough about business. What's the Country Club Princess like?"
"She sounds boring," Talia said.
"Apparently not," Kev said. "She kept our boy distracted all night long."
"Let's talk about something else," Talia pouted and ran a hand high up the inside of my thigh. She started to knead my muscles there in slow circles. "What kind of fun are we going to have tonight?"
"First cocktails, then steak, then more cocktails, then we hit the town," Kev said.
"Did you sign a deal I don't know about?" I asked. "Where are all these funds coming from?"
My manager shrugged again. He waved at a man across the bar. "Bran cereal, breakfast of champions, that sort of thing. I told him I would hand you this. Pretend to read over it, keep it out on the table, and he's picking up the tab."
I took the product information packet and glanced back at the endorsement agent. He raised his glass then turned back to the bar. Trying the soft sell. It seemed wrong to take advantage of him, but my manager had already ordered two bottles of wine and steak dinners for all of us.
"What did Ms. Allen offer you, or was it all below the table?" Kev asked.
Talia's hand gripped hard before she redoubled her efforts to arouse me. With my manager salivating across the table at us, she had a better chance of getting me to endorse jock straps.
"She hasn't tried her business pitch on you?" I asked. "Most agents are like our friend at the bar, they go through the manager."
"Well, everyone in the industry knows she's different. Likes to go straight for what she wants," he said. "Come on, you're really not gonna give me any details about the other night?"
"No, I'm not. Find your own details," I said.
"I wish! Hey, maybe Miss Wriggler there has a friend?" he asked.
"Sure. I know some girls are heading over to the new club at the Tropicana," Talia said.
"The Tropicana?" I asked, remembering that was where I had dropped Kya off that morning.
"Yeah, it’s retro cool, good music. The bathrooms are great." Talia batted her eyelashes at me and slipped her hand higher up my leg.
I was glad when the food and wine arrived because Talia had something else to do with her hands. The sight of Kevin Casey eating a rare steak was enough to turn anyone off. Fortunately, the wine was good and my manager had a slew of entertaining stories.
"And that is why you never challenge Chris Rock to a game of baseball," Kev finished his story and poured out the last of the second bottle of wine.
Talia giggled and swayed as she got out of the booth. "Chris Rock performed in Vegas a few years ago. My friend and I sneaked backstage, but we never made it further than his bodyguards."
Knowing her preference for tough guys first hand, I did not bother to ask what happened with the bodyguards. She wrapped both arms around my bicep and whispered it in my ear anyway. It may have been the strong wine, but her dirty memory got my blood pumping.
It seemed ridiculous to take a town car to a casino we could see from outside the MGM Grand, but the enormous buildings were deceptively far apart. Plus, the town car gave Talia the chance to sit in my lap. I ran my hands all over her curves, but somehow, Kya kept coming between me and Talia's thin dress. It was wrong to compare the two women, but it was all I could do.
I only wanted Kya. The only answer to that was to drink more. We messed around at the blackjack tables inside the Tropicana long enough to get served strong cocktails. Kev hit a hot streak and Talia had fun flirting with the dealer. I played conservatively and tried not to tally every loss against the free chips I was given for my minor celebrity.
Counting my savings in my head made me again think of Kya. I could understand how she did not want to let loose until she had a safety net. It made sense, and I operated the same way. That was why I needed to get Kya Allen out of my system. She was the only one in years that made me want to skip my personal parameters and start a relationship early.
Relationship – I shook my head. I have got to get her out of my head, I thought.
Too bad when I turned back to our blackjack game, I spotted Kya Allen across the casino floor. She paced in front of a video poker game on the end of a long row. As her phone conversation stretched on, she played a few hands. It was easy to see from the flashing lights of her machine that she was casually winning. Only Kya would win offhand while talking on the phone.
Talia caught me watching Kya. She gave up her seat and stood next to me. Her bouncing breasts were even with my cheek as she leaned into my stool. "Let's go dance, Fenton. Or better yet, let's go swimming. I bet we could convince the front desk to let us into the pool."
"You go ahead and join your friends," I told her. "I'm going to stick around here."
Talia bent lower, sucking on my ear lobe. "The best way to get over someone is to sleep with someone else," she said.
"You're right," I agreed. The cocktails had confused my hearing. "I gotta sleep with her to get over her."