Undefeated - A New Adult Romance Novel (7 page)

KACE.
When I woke up, my face felt as if it were stuck to the tile floor. I lifted my head from the large spot of dried blood on the floor. My mouth was throbbing. I reached up toward my face and felt my lips. They were both mangled. I had a piece of Josh’s boot heel in my mouth. I spit it onto the floor.

White.

I picked it up and looked at it. I blinked and looked again.

Oh no. He didn’t.

I circled my tongue around my front teeth. It caught on an opening in the front.

I looked at what I held in my hand.

That motherfucker kicked my tooth out.

I could hear the video game playing as he screamed in the other room. I looked around the kitchen. Two empty beer cans sat on the kitchen counter. The cookies were gone. My bowl sat on top of the counter where I had left it.

Who beats their girlfriend to a pulp on the floor, kicks her teeth out, and then takes a beer and cookies into the other room to play video games while she lie in a puddle of blood on the floor?

Fucking Buster.

I stuck my tooth in my jeans pocket.

I picked up the bowl and felt it in my hands.

Not heavy enough
.

I opened the bottom cabinet and looked inside. I
quietly pulled the largest cast-iron skillet from the cabinet that I had.
This should do.
I tip-toed out of the kitchen and to the rear of the living room. He was facing the television, sitting on the couch and playing video games. His back was toward me.

This could be just perfect. Fucking cocksucker.

I could see the back of his head over the top of the couch. I knew if I
walked
in behind him, he might see me and catch me. As he screamed at the television, I ran as fast as I could toward him, the cast-iron skillet held high above my head with both hands. As he looked to his right, his mouth began to open and his eyes were as big as saucers.

The skillet came down hard. When it hit his forehead, it made an awful thud. I hated to, but I smiled when it bounced off of his head.

I stood over him and admired my handy work.

I dropped the skillet on the floor behind the couch and looked at him. His forehead had already developed a knot the size of a half of a baseball. His head was split open, but not as bad as my lips were. I looked at him slumped int
o the couch and shook my head. Although my heart was beating at a very rapid pace, I was surprisingly calm.

I walked to my bedroom and grabbed my purse, Kindle, and cell phone. I walked out into the living room and checked Josh. He was still unconscious. I reached down on the floor and grabbed the cast iron skillet and took it with me
as I walked into the bedroom again.

I opened the closet door and pulled
out the largest piece of luggage I had. I unzipped it and began stuffing all of my work clothes into it. I ran to the dresser and grabbed socks, panties, and shirts. When the bag was almost full, I shoved in as many pairs of shoes as I could. I zipped the luggage and drug it into the other room.

Still unconscious.

I dropped the luggage on the floor and walked back into the bedroom and grabbed the skillet.

Slowly, I walked toward the couch. I reached down and picked up his cell phone from the floor. I stepped back and thought
as I looked at him. The crotch of his pants was soaked.

Fuck this asshole.

I leaned over his body and pushed my hand into his pants pocket.
There we go.
I pulled out the keys to his truck. I looked to the side of the couch toward where he had removed his boots and smiled. I slid my purse over my shoulder and walked toward his boots. I dropped the keys and phone into his boots and picked them up. I walked back, grabbed the luggage, and drug it to the front door.

As I opened the front door, I looked around the house. There was nothing I needed here. I guess, ultimately, what Shane said was right.
When walking away from something we were once committed to, we often hesitate.
Deciding to make a major change in life is difficult. But we all reach a point when we’re done - done giving to a world that only takes. Until then, you’ll want, you’ll wait, and you’ll contemplate change. When you’re truly done, you’ll know. You’ll know when the time comes.

You’
ll know when the time comes.

The time has come.

SHANE.
“Hand me those tongs, this side of the chicken is done,” I said toward Ripp.

“Fuck, I don’t know where they are,” he screamed back.

“They’re right beside you, Jesus,” I screamed, holding the lid of the barbeque grill up in the air, “right where you set them. And why the fuck are we screaming?”

He turned and looked at the table on the edge of the deck. As he reached for the tongs, my phone rang.

“Phone’s ringing, Dekk,” he screamed as he tossed me the tongs.

I grasped each piece of chicken with the tongs, and
flipped them over on the grill. Ripp and I had somewhat of a tradition of eating barbequed chicken every Saturday evening. I loved to eat healthy, and usually ate turkey, chicken, or lean beef. Ripp wasn’t as concerned as I was with food, and typically would eat whatever someone handed him. He worked harder in his exercise routines to get rid of it.

I used this as a means of making him eat healthy.
It was my way of letting him relax a little.

I closed the lid of the grill
and pulled my phone from my pocket.
Kace.

Okay, this i
s weird. She never calls or texts.

I pushed redial and called the number back.

“Who was it?” Ripp asked.

“Kace,” I said and turned to face away from him.

She answered the phone and began to talk a hundred miles an hour. I could understand about every other word.

“Slow down…
slow down, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“I left,”
she responded.

“Like left, left?” I asked.

“Left left,”
she responded.

“Can I come to where you are? Ju
st for a little bit? I need to thee you,”
she asked.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I turned to face Ripp.

I placed my hand over the mouth piece of the phone.

“Can she come here for a bit?” I whispered toward Ripp

He shrugged his shoulders, turned his palms to face me, and nodded his head.

“Yeah you can come here, you have a way to write down the address?” I asked.

“Tetht it to me,”
she said.

“Your voice sounds funny, you have a lisp,” I said.

“I’ll tell you about it when I get there,”
she said.

“Alright, I’ll text it to you. Who’s the most beautiful woman in the world,” I asked.

“Right now, I have no idea. I’ll thee you in a minute,”
she laughed.

She hung up and I placed my phone in my pocket. We had never seen each other on the weekends, only during lunch at the diner across the street. My mind raced. I thought of all of the possibilities. It had been about a month since we first met at the diner, and I knew she was becoming fond of me – she never hesitated to tell me.

I suspected that there had to be something to drive her over the edge. Her lisp had me worried. I stood and stared at the barbeque grill.

“Dekk, you alright?” Ripp asked as he walked up to my side.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think so,” I responded.

“You sure? You’re friend alright?”
he asked as he opened the grill.

“I don’t know. I have a feeling something happened,” I responded.

“Like?” he asked.

“I don’t know. But I know this. If she so much as has a fingerprint on her, I’m going to go beat the brakes off of this dirt bag. Where’s my fucking hoodie?” I asked.

“It’s on the lounge,” Ripp said, pointing to the lounge chair.

“Brother, if he touched a hair on her head, you’ll have to beat me to him. I’ll beat his ass for you.
Until he’s a pile of bones. No one beats a woman that I know about. Not and gets away with it. So, I got this, Dekk.
I got it.
Just because that’s how we do it here in Texas,” he laughed.

“I’m serious,” I said.

“So am I,” he responded as he made a fist and held it out in front of him.

He nodded toward his hand.

“C’mon, do it,” he said.

I gritted my teeth and made a fist.

He nodded his head again, “I got this.”

I bumped his fist with mine.

And I knew.

KACE.
We make decisions that have an effect on our lives, and at times we regret the decisions we have made in the past. I try to live my life without regret. There have been plenty of times that I wish my life were different, but I never regret the path I have taken that got me to where I stand.

I looked in the rearview mirror. My face was covered in blood, my lips split open, my tooth
was missing, and my hair matted with blood.

I smiled.

I pulled my car in the driveway, checked the address, backed up and parked in the street in front of the house. I looked at the text message again.
724 All Hallows. We’re in the back on the deck. Gate is unlocked.
I sat in my car, looking like a murder victim that had survived, and was happier than I have ever been in my life. My only regret was that I didn’t hit Josh in the head with that skillet ten years ago.

I opened the car door and took a deep breath.
Just as well get this over with.
I stepped out and started up the driveway toward the gate in the fence. I reached for the handle and took another deep breath, exhaled, and pulled the gate open.

I stood at the opened gate and stared.

“Hey babe. So what’s going on?” Shane asked from on top of the deck as he started walking my direction.

As he got closer to me, his eyes opened wide. His face filled with surprise. His lips began to quiver. He stood in front of me and slowly reached
out to move my hair from my cheeks. He lowered his face down toward mine and looked into my eyes.

“What the
fuck
happened to you?” he said in a calm but stern tone.

I stood and stared
at the deck, incapable of speaking.

Holy Mary mother of Christ himself.

“Ripp, get over here, I think she’s in shock. She’s had the shit beat out of her,” he said over his shoulder.

“Holy fuck. I’ll call an ambulance,” the shirtless man said.

I shook my head.

“No,” I blurted.

“Babe, you’re in shock. We’ll get an ambulance. And I need the address. Where is he?” he said softly as he pushed my hair over my ears.

“Ambulanthe
,” I muttered, then took a deep breath.

“No!” I screamed.

He jumped back.

Frantically, I waved my hands in front of me and pointed to my mouth.

“Babe, I can see. Your lips. And I see the tooth babe. We’ll get this prick, don’t worry. We got this. It will
never
happen again,” he assured me.

“Where’s my fucking phone, Dekk?” the shirtless man screamed.

Please don’t come over here.

“Fuck, I’m brain dead. Mine’s in my pocket. Here,” Shane said as he pulled his phone from his po
cket and held it beside his waist. His hands were shaking.

I reached out and slapped the phone from his hand, knocking it to the ground.

“Babe, we need to get you an ambulance, you’re in shock,” he said as he bent down to pick up the phone.

I kicked it across the concrete patio before he touched it.

“Thirt. Tattooth,” I screamed as I pointed to the shirtless man.

He scrunched his brow and looked confused. He turned and looked at the shirtless man, who was walking our direction.

“Dude, I can’t find it, where’s yours?” he asked as he put his hand on Shane’s shoulder.

I peed a little.

I crossed my legs, and pointed to my crotch.

Shan
e’s mouth slowly formed a smile. He shook his head.

“Ripp, go put on a shirt,” Shane said as he smiled at me.

I nodded over and over,
and then I remembered
.

I reached over and tapped his shoulder
once.

“Dude, it’s a hundred and five degrees. I ain’t putting on a shirt,” he said.

Shane took off his hoodie and handed it over his shoulder to the other man. He maintained eye contact with me the entire time, smiling.

He’s proud of me for remembering to tap him once.

“Don’t ask, Ripp. For
me
, put it on,
please
,” Shane said softly.

“Alright, Dekk. Damn, my bad,” he said as he pulled the hoodie over his shoulders.

He stood with the hoodie unzipped. It barely covered half of him. His chest and stomach were exposed. His stomach muscles rippled. Hints of tattoos on his chest were exposed.

I pointed to the other man and shook my head. I motioned with my hands as if I were zipping the hoodie. Shane slowly turned and looked at the other man.

“Zip it up, Ripp.
Damn
,” he said.

“It’s too fucking small,” he complained.

“It’s an extra fucking large. You’re just too god damned big. She’s fucking bleeding and can’t speak. Zip the damned thing up. Son of a bitch, Ripp. I told you she has anxiety. She can’t talk because you’re fucking intimidating her,” he started laughing as he spoke.

He
zipped the hoodie up to his neck, turned and walked to the upper wooden deck.

I exhaled.

I closed my eyes and nodded my head slowly. I took a slow breath and exhaled. I opened my eyes and pointed to the deck. Shane turned and put his right arm over my shoulder and his left behind my legs. Swiftly, he picked me up and carried me toward the deck. As he walked, I laid my head on his shoulder.

He lowered himself into a lounge chair on the deck, and sat me down besid
e him. He scooted across the lounge a little bit, and looked at my face. His lips started to quiver again.

“Go get a shirt, Ripp, and give me my hoodie back,” he said as he pointed to the back door of the house.

He reached up to his chest and rubbed his dog tags.

“So, what happened? Slowly, Kace. Tell me slowly,” he almost whispered as he spoke.

“Joth came home drunk. He was being an athhole. We argued about thome beer he was mithing, and he hit me. He knocked me on the floor and kicked me in the fathe. When I woke up, I got a thkillet and hit him in the head,” I paused and took a slow breath.

“Hard,” I smiled.

Shane shook his head from side to side.

“That motherfucker. He’s alive, right?” he raised his eyebrows and nodded his head once.

I thought about what Josh looked like on the couch and how hard I hit him.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Probably?” I said, wondering.

He laughed and patted my knee, “You did good.”

The other man came through the back door and tossed Shane his hoodie. He was wearing a pull over hoodie that said “Gold’s Gym” on the front.

“Ripp, this is Kace,” Shane said as he leaned back and pointed to me.

“Pleasure to meet you. Mike Ripton. Call me Ripp or Mike,” he said as he held his massive hand in front of me.

I leaned forward and shook his hand.

“You’re huge,” I said.

“
Ith he mean?” I whispered to Shane.

Shane laughed.

“She wants to know if you’re mean, Ripp” he laughed over his shoulder.

“Ripp’s like a pit bull puppy. He’s a hell of a lot of fun until you piss him off.” Shane chuckled.

Ripp slid a chair across the floor and sat in front of us with a plate of chicken and a bottle of water.

“Water?” he asked as he handed me a bottle of water.

“Thank you,” I responded as I reached for the water.

Quickly, he pulled the water close to his chest.

Holy shit, he’s fast.

I turned and looked at Shane
, surprised.

“I’ll give you this water if you tel
l us what happened, and where that piece of shit is,” he said.

“She already did,” Shane said.

Ripp stood up, set down the plate, and handed me the water. He licked the barbeque sauce from his fingers and popped his neck.

“Let’s go,” he said as he wiped his hands on his shorts.

“Sit down, Ripp,” Shane shook his head, “let her finish.”

Ripp turned and walked back into the house.

“He’s kind of a hot-head when he gets mad. Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s a great guy. He’s a lot like me. He hates it when men mistreat women. He’s not mad at you, okay?”

I nodded slowly.

“So,” he leaned forward and looked at my mouth, “You have the tooth?” he asked.

I nodded and patted my pants pocket.

Ripp walked back onto the deck with something in his hand. He leaned over and handed the object to me.

“It’s an icepack. Put it on your lips. Probably too late, but it won’t hurt. It’ll make them feel better,” he smiled.

“Thanks Ripp,” Shane said.

Ripton sat back down and grabbed his plate of chicken. I watched him as he devoured half a chicken in a matter of seconds.
Being around two men that were caring, kind, and treated me with respect was different. I have never had this type of care before. Not since I was sixteen, anyway. I continued to watch in amazement as Ripp ate chicken like an animal.

“Kace, you okay?” Shane asked as he patted my knee with his hand.

“Oh, yeah. Thorry. He eath a lot,” I said as I nodded toward Ripp.

Shane turned and looked at Ripp. He shook his head and laughed, “Yeah. He has to feed the machine.”

Ripp nodded, “We had a deal little girl. Tell your story.”

I moved the icepack from my face and set it in my lap.

“Joth and I have been together for ten yearths. He threatenth me, thlapth me, and chokth me all the time. He beat me today for the lath time. I hit him in the head with a thillet. Heeth uncontheeouth,” I said toward Ripp.

I wiped my palms on my jeans and smiled at Shane. I wanted him to be proud of me.

Ripp licked the barbeque sauce from his hands and stood up from his chair. He looked at Shane and shook his head slowly.

“I think I understood her, but with her lips and missing tooth, it’s tough. Wh
at’d she say, Dekk?” he asked as he wiped his hands on his shorts.

“She said he beats her, chokes her, threatens her, and slaps her as a matter of normal occurrence. They’ve been together ten years.
He kicked her teeth out today and it’ll, according to her, be the last time,” Shane paused, turned, and looked at me.

I nodded.

“She say she hit him with something?” He asked as he walked closer to me.

“Oh, yeah. She hit him in the head with a skillet. Hard. Split his head open and he was unconscious when she left,” Shane responded.

As I sat beside Shane, Ripp walked up to the chair we were sitting on and leaned over. Slowly, he reached toward my face and placed his cupped hand under my chin. Using his hand, he raised my chin up to look at my face. I moved the ice pack away from my mouth.

He squinted his eyes and gazed
at Shane. He looked back at me and moved his hand away from my chin.

“What do you weigh, a hundred pounds?” Ripp asked.

“Thometimeth,” I responded.

“Sometimes,” Shane said.

“Dependth on what I eat,” I said.

“Depends on what she…”
Shane started to say.

“I can fuc
king understand her. It just takes me a minute,” Ripp said angrily as he shook his head.

“He’s not mad at you, babe. He’s just mad,” Shane said as he rubbed my thigh.

Shane stood up from the lounge chair.

“I’m gonna kill him, Dekk. The dead kind,” Ripp said as pressed the knuckles of his right hand into his left palm.

“I’ll take care of this,” Shane said.

Ripp shook his head.

“Sorry, brother. Can’t let that happen. I gotta leave you here with the girl. If something goes to shit, if the cops get called, I can’t risk that. She
needs
you. Look at her. And I don’t just mean
now
. Shit, Dekk. When you tell me stories about you two eating lunch…well, your fucking eyes light up. This little girl means the world to you. Let’s let what happens between you two happen. If you’re in jail, she’s alone again. Hell, that fuck nugget might come back,” he said.

Shane pulled his hood over his head
and paced back and forth across the deck.

“I don’t know, Ripp. It’s
my
deal. It’s
my
fight. I don’t let people fight my fights for me,” Shane said as he shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets.