Driving through the large black gates, I couldn't help but fiddle with the hem of my skirt as I nervously kept my eyes off of Heath as he easily navigated through the suburb.
It was strange. We had spoken a great deal throughout the week since the night in the gym but it was the first time that we had been alone together.
"You're fidgeting," He murmured quietly, glancing at my face before concentrating on the road. "Is everything ok?"
My breath was shaky, "Sorry. I'm not sure why I'm so nervous."
"Hey, hey, Kitten," His hand reached over to cover my own, dragging one onto his thigh. "There is nothing to be worried about. It's just me."
"I know." I shrugged, feeling slightly more settled after he twined our fingers together. "Maybe because this is something unfamiliar. It's my first date."
"I'm not exactly the best at this either," He chuckled. "Aren't we just meant to hang out away from prying eyes?" He paused, "And your father's gun collection."
I scoffed, "He doesn't have a collection."
"No, maybe not but he did make sure to mention that he has friends in low places with the means to make my body disappear."
I laughed, tension bleeding out of me. "My mother said that he's been perfecting his threats since they found out I was a girl."
His hand tightened around my own, "Oh, I have no problems with his methods. I'd probably be worse with my own little girl. In fact, she'd never date until after they put me in the ground."
My lips twitching, "I doubt that you'd be ok with her dating a fighter then."
"Absolutely fucking no," He growled out before he sent me a quick wink. "Luckily your Dad seems to like me though."
"Are you ever going to tell me what happened when he dragged you into his office?"
He cleared his throat, "I'd really rather not."
I frowned, "Did he threaten you? I know that he can go overboard sometimes."
"No," He drawled out, refusing to look at me. "It was just a casual chat. He wanted to know about me and what plans I have."
"Plans in regards to what?"
He shrugged again, pulling out onto an unfamiliar road, "My future. You. Us."
"I'm sorry about that," I curled my fingers on his thigh, hopeful that he wasn't too upset with how inquisitive my father was.
"Don't be sorry. Its fine," He grinned at me, waggling his eyebrows. "We're nearly there."
I groaned, "Will you please just tell me what is happening?"
"We're going to meet some friends of mine." He chuckled.
"Friends?" I squeaked, looking out of the window, as though that could help me. "What friends? You have friends and you want me to meet them? I'm not dressed to meet people, Heath. And I thought that this was meant to be a date. Why are we driving out to meet people that I don't know?"
His grinning became laughs as he moved his hand from mine to wrap it heavily around the back of my neck, "Calm down, Kitten. This is a date and my friends won't actually be there the whole time. I just thought that it might be a good idea for you to see what hanging out with me means. My life doesn't centre completely on my family all of the time and I want to be able to share this with you. Dating a fighter is not always the easiest, Alira. I travel quite a bit and with my movie career actually starting to take off a little, I don't think that it would be fair to keep you feeling left out." He blew out a breath, retracting that comforting touch to grip the steering wheel tightly, "If you want to give this relationship a real chance, I understand that there will have to be things that I..."
I hummed sharply, "Not everything needs to be worked out right this second, Heath. I knew all about your career before even meeting you and yes, I know that you're busy, but that doesn't mean that I will be scared off. Maybe we won't work but neither of needs to be looking for reasons and issues before we've even gotten started."
"I've organised for us to have dinner privately but there is a function on there tonight for the participants and all of the local supporters." He seemed to bite his lip, "Will that ruin it for you?"
Feeling maybe the tiniest sliver of disappointment that it wouldn't be some sort of spectacular romantic evening, I still shook my head, "Of course not. I'll admit I'm not good at meeting new people and meeting your people really freaks me out but like you said earlier, a date is what we make of it. There's no set criteria."
He pulled into the outside lane before taking a left turn, "It will be fun, I promise."
I smiled, ignoring the nervous fluttering of my stomach. "If it's not, I'll just steal your car and go home without you."
"That is just so mean," He whined, making me laugh.
... ...
"This is just ridiculous," I announced, trying to crane my head back to identify the roof of the building which was lit up in front of us. When Heath had announced that we were going to the place where his fights were going to be held, I had expected a fancier version of a gym but this...this was just overboard.
The place was frigging HUGE.
I knew that sport was a big thing in America but I had assumed that it was all mostly football, basketball and baseball but the arena was enough to rival any of the large stadiums that I had seen whilst travelling around with my parents.
"It is pretty overboard but there are only a few of the larger arenas around and the UFC wants them to be spectacular and professional," Heath replied as he carefully helped me from the car. "Aside from my mother loving the house, this was another reason I chose the city. It's close enough to New York to draw the crowds but far enough that I'm not likely to get mobbed all of the time."
"Was it common in California? Adoring fans throwing themselves at you?"
"There were a few times when things got uncomfortable after Division came out but it wasn't anything major. The worst times were after my fights when I was trying to head home or after I turned 21 and I was on my way out with other boys."
"I bet you've had some interesting nights," I murmured, smiling up at him as he offered me an elbow. The indoor arena was lit up with laughing groups heading towards the open doorway, dressed with comfortable elegance.
"Maybe but nothing can beat this," He replied, missing my glance. Sometimes the way he seemed to just lay everything out there shocked me and made that guarded part of me rear its ugly head. I wasn't naïve when it came to the games that guys sometimes played – movies and books had given me a basic education – but every time that I found myself acting cautious, I decided to put my faith in what I had seen of him and what filled his family's voice whenever they talked with or about him.
"What exactly will be happening tonight?" There was music pouring from beyond the entrance and not the kind that I would expect from an event which celebrated such an extreme sport. And I wasn't being critical or relying on assumption – curiosity had eventually gotten the better of me and I had spent an entire afternoon researching Heath 'The Demon' Daimon. The internet loved him.
"Food, dancing, socialising with some of the crazy bastards who regularly try and take my head off," He grinned, inclining his head when a group of older women in cocktail gowns called out his name.
I pressed in closer to him as we stepped through the doors, heads turning to stare. I may have found the blatant attention comical if it wasn't all centred on me.
"Why are they all looking at me? Is there something wrong with my dress?" I glanced down, trying to distract myself. I knew exactly why all of those eyes tracked us as Heath slowly glided us across the floor.
He had admitted that dating hadn't really been a priority while he was trying to establish a career but surely being seen with someone shouldn't call for a whole room to stop.
"You look perfect. Don't worry about them."
"I thought that this was a UFC centre. How does it have a function room?" After we had stepped through the main exterior door, a foyer had given way to large double doors and into a large room which would have suited as the backdrop at even the most exclusive of parties. "It's gorgeous."
"Well thank you," A chirpy feminine voice came from behind us.
I jumped slightly, the invisible bubble around the both of us popping as noise flooded back in a people started to go back to their own conversations.
Heath tightened his arm around my waist before turning us both, "Susannah." He greeted, "How are you? The place looks good tonight."
"Not as good as you, handsome," She replied, winking at him before thrusting a hand at me, "I'm Susannah Rowlings."
"Resident pain the ass and sister to one of the managers of the UFC," Heath quipped.
"Naw, it warms my heart to know what you think of me, love. Now introduce the beautiful creature beside you before I do something drastic."
"And we wouldn't want that," He laughed. "This is Alira Heath. She's my date."
"Well, hell. I was hoping that she was just a good friend," Susannah grumped good-naturedly, her dark hair bobbed severely as I admired the sapphire colour of her fitted gown. "She is gorgeous."
"Nah ah, Susie Q. She doesn't swing that way."
Quickly realising what they were talking about, I blushed deeply before smiling with amused embarrassment. "How do you know that?"
Heath's head whipped around, his expression shocked. "What?"
"I don't...swing both ways that is but how would you actually know that I didn't? You've never asked," I giggled.
"Ooh, I like her," Susannah announced, smiling. "It's good to see you out with someone. The boys will all be thrilled." She turned to me, "The other guys are always giving him shit because he never takes advantage of his popularity with the ladies."
Heath snorted, "Because that's always a requirement."
"It's not but it does seem to come with the career," She replied, patting his shoulder gently once she realised that he wasn't all that happy with the topic of conversation. "Who have you spoken to?"
"No one. We just walked in," He looked around. "Where are they all hiding?"
Susannah snorted, "Considering they're all single and the only younger ladies here are either married or lesbian, I'm sure that they've all snuck off to the ring."
I quickly scanned the room and noticed that she was right. Even though this was meant to be a celebration of the sport, it seemed that none of the contributors belonged to the younger crowd.
Which just made me feel even more awkward. This was the type of event that my parents were used to attending whereas I was hoping that this 'date' wouldn't make feel as though I had to watch every word and gesture I made because I was in the presence of the adults.
"I'll do a round and then take Alira to join them," Heath murmured, unhooking my waist to intertwine our fingers. "I'll talk to you later."
She winked, "Sure, honey." Her smile widened, "And bring the sexy girl back with you."
I laughed, "It was nice to meet you, Susannah."
"Oh the pleasure is all mine, sugar. Have a good night and take care of our baby, ok?"
I nodded just as Heath grunted and began to pull me away.
"Sorry about her. I should have warned you."
"I liked her even after only 2 minutes."
His chuckles drew more attention as we weaved between the crowd, "She's an incorrigible flirt. There's only one person that I really want to introduce you to and then we'll slip out into the actual arena. This room is reserved for all the formal shit and is never open to the public but I'll give you a tour if you want."
With my feet already beginning to hurt, I still nodded with a sense of excitement. Although this may have not been what I had envisioned for a first date, he was sharing what was perhaps the biggest part of his life aside from his family. I could only hope that once we left the party there would be a chance to relax.
Finally stepping up behind a broad set of shoulders, Heath tightened his hold. "Gray!"
The man turned and I honestly wanted to start running. Heath could be intimidating with little effort but this man was just plain scary.
"Heath, where the hell have you been? You're not meant to leave me to do all the talking around these people." His fierce blue eyes landed on my own, his expression softening. "Well, hello. Who are you?"
Fighting back the urge to hide behind Heath, I peered up at him through my lashes, "I'm Alira."
"Alira," He repeated, looking across at the man holding my hand before he grinned. "Cute as a button. How long have you been in the picture and why is this the first time that I've heard about you?"
"Don't frighten her off, Gray. Her name is Alira Heath and tonight is our first date."
The man laughed, "The boys are going to give you both hell about her last name, Demon." He leaned down from his 6'5 height to grimace, "You may need to pick someone else if this is his idea of a fun date. Stuffy suits and perfumed dolls with foreign canapes which you can never flag down. I hope that you've got something more than this planned, buddy." He winked at us both as I started to giggle.
Heath let go of my hand and instead gently wrapped his arm around my neck, possessive but playful. "Kitten, this is my trainer and friend, Gray Hardy."
"It's nice to meet you."
"You too, petite. Why did he drag you over to meet my boring self?"
"I wanted her to meet the most important man in here before we sneak out the back."
"Well," He picked up my hand to kiss the back of it. "Take care of my boy and get out of here. Make sure that he brings you along to training at some point soon."
Smiling hesitantly, I nodded and retracted my hand. "It was nice to meet you, Gray."
"Get her out of here now before one of the fancies jumps at you," The trainer advised, tilting his head to the side. "Go."
"I'll come talk to you later," Heath assured, pulling me away and towards a door which I hadn't noticed on the way in.
"He was..."
"Impressive?"
Noting the affection and respect in his voice, I squeezed his hand. "I was going to say scary."
"He's not that scary."
"To you but I'm tiny and most definitely not a fighter. He was scary."
He dropped a kiss on my head, "He's a pussycat when he's not in the gym."
"I'll take your word for that, Tigger." The sound of our footsteps rang off the walls as the noise from the party faded. The hallway was long with dull, cream walls and there was nothing to indicate exactly what the building represented.
"What is this?"
He glanced around, "It's just a connecting hallway from the private areas to the public arena. It's quicker to go this way than back out and around the building."
Eventually I heard sounds of male voices laughing as we finally reached the end. "Do you think that they'll tease me too much?"
"They'll leave you be but I'll cop it when I see them alone next time." He stopped us just before we stepped out, tilting my head up so that his lips could skim across my own. "Half an hour and we'll go do something fun, ok?"
"How do you know that I'm not having fun now?"
"Because you're not smiling, Kitten."
I sighed and smoothed a hand down his shirt, "I love that you want to share all of this with me, I'm just nervous about meeting all of your friends. Especially if they look like Gray."
"They'll love you but don't worry if they start picking on me. They do it all the time because I'm the youngest." He leaned in until his lips scrapped across my ear, "I promise that I have something better planned."
I shivered, "Ok."