Page 51 of Desperate Haste

“Hey there, pretty boy.” She looks at me, only at me, with a smirk as I stand in the ring still holding Harley’s hand because I’m too stunned to do anything else. Sensing my short-circuited brain, Harley smacks me hard in the back with his free hand, jolting me out of my frozen state.

“Hey.”

“Hey? You have a beautiful woman like her show up here and all you can say is ‘hey?’” Marshall scoffs from his seat and stands to face her. He offers her his hand, which she takes, and he encloses it between his.

“Excuse him. I promise he’s a bright boy, sometimes he just forgets his manners.” Ophelia laughs and when she does, the entire room is filled with a warmth that I’m sure everyone can feel.

“Trust me, mannersare something I’m working on with him. Isn’t that right?” She looks back at me with a smirk and I want nothing more than to leap out of the ring and press my lips to it. Her lavender shampoo can be smelled from where I’m standing and I gladly let it consume my senses.

“There’s a few things we’re working on together, if I remember correctly,” I challenge and walk towards the fence of the boxing ring, leaving Harley behind. I bend over and maneuver myself under the barrier before stepping down to the floor. When I make my way to her side, she scrunches her nose up and presses her lips together.

“You stink,” she announces, causing Marshall and Reese to nearly keel over from how hard they’re laughing.

“Listen here, boy, I don’t know who this pretty lady is, but I like her a lot,” Reese says through his laughs.

“She’s my?—”

“Friend. We’re friends,” she finishes for me.

“This is Ophelia,” I offer, making strong eye contact with Marshall who raises his eyebrows only enough for me to notice.

“Ahh, Ophelia. Pretty name,” he says, nodding his head towards her with a friendly smile.

“I like it a lot,” she hums with a wink which causes Marshall to chuckle again.

“Ophelia, this is Marshall.” I wave my hand between them and watch as her face lights up with knowing.

“The famous Marshall, we meet at last.” She extends her hand towards him and shakes it, formally this time. Watching the two of them meet does something unexpected to my insides.

“A good kind of famous, I hope,” he replies.

“The best kind of famous. You mean a lot to Malcolm, I hope you know that.” She looks at him and then to me. Her smile grows and causes her cheeks to push into her eyes.

Marshall slugs me in the arm, causing me to break my eye contact and shoot a look at him. “Yeah, he’s okay, too, I guess.”

I shake my head at him and look back towards Ophelia again. “Thanks for coming, I wasn’t sure if you were going to show up.”

“You said please, remember? Who am I to turn you down when you’re such a good boy and use your manners?” Her tone is playful and tells me that she’s finding great enjoyment out of busting my balls in front of everyone at the gym. I guess I opened myself up to this when I asked her to meet me here.

“I’m going to shower really quick and then we can go. Do you mind waiting?”

“Not at all. I’ll just hang out here with Marshall and…” she makes eye contact with Reese, unsure of his name.

“Reese,” he answers.

“Marshall and Reese. I’m sure they have some stories they can tell me that I can use against you later.” The two men laugh again and I can only imagine what they might say to her. Because I know she’s finding pleasure in all of this, I do something that I know will piss her off but make me happy.

“Don’t believe anything they say, little fox. They’re two senile old men who make shit up sometimes. They’re confused, be kind to them.” When I loop an arm around her waist and yank her into me, she has to brace herself by placing her hands on my sweaty torso and she grimaces being so close to me pre-shower.

“Eww, you’re gross.” She pushes away from me and wipes her hands down the front of her jeans. “Go shower you nasty ass.”

I chuckle softly next to her and before she can step away, I plant a quick kiss on her cheek. Her cheeks turn the faintest shade of pink at the move. “I’ll be back in a flash.”

As I hurry to grab my gym bag and head for the showers, I feel my heart rate start to pick up again. But this time, it’s because I’m excited to be close to her once more.

26

OPHELIA

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