*E*
Well, I fucked that up spectacularly.
That was pretty much my only thought as I watched Cora's back retreating down the hallway.
I hadn't meant to yell at her, I really hadn't, but when I saw her tear-stained, distraught face waiting at the door of the room I know Jay had just been wheeled into, I couldn't help it.
She'd kissed him! Or he'd kissed her! It didn't really matter which to me.
My brother and almost-girlfriend had played me and I'd let it happen right behind my back.
I felt like a complete idiot.
No, I felt like a complete and pissed off idiot.
As much as I tried, I couldn't keep the image of the kiss from assaulting my brain yet again.
Suddenly, I didn't feel so bad about yelling.
Immediately following that, I felt worse about it.
I sighed and leaned back against Jay's door, resting my head on it too and closing my eyes. I knew I owed Cora the chance to explain, but part of me didn't want to hear what could only be the inevitable. I didn't want to hear that she and Jay had gotten together and were just biding their time.
I didn't want to hear that she didn't want me.
The worst part is that I was mad at Jay. From the time that we'd met, we'd never had an argument that either lasted or mattered, and part of me knew that this one would. I could never hate him, but I could sure as hell resent him.
Especially if I had to watch him and Cora be happy together when it should be me and Cora.
She's my Pip, not his.
But maybe that's not my choice anymore.
I wasn't really sure that I believed they were together, but the evidence was piling up.
I fought back the tears I felt coming, but suddenly I felt a single tear make its way past my closed eyes and down my face and at the same second, I heard light footsteps in front of me.
Wearily, I opened my eyes to see... Cora? She looked nervous and terrified and worried and I had absolutely nothing to say to her.
"Theo..." Her voice came out soft, like she had more to say but didn't know how or what that was going to be.
"You're back?" I asked, hating how my hoarse my voice came out. She didn't need to know that I felt this strongly about it.
She nodded, her mouth open, ready to speak, but I couldn't let that happen. If this was gonna be brought up, it was going to be me that did it.
So it turned out I did have something to say to her. "How long? How long have you two been... together?" There was no better way to ask it. Why don't I just punch myself in the face while I'm at it?
Her mouth snapped shut and she shook her head. "Theo, we're not together."
My tore up brain didn't quite get that. "But-"
"Theo." She interrupted, barely pitching her voice over mine "He was delusional. He thought he was kissing Elle."
For half a second, I wondered how Jay could make such a distinct error, but then I remembered the reason we're in this situation and mentally slapped myself. I felt a wave of relief roll over me and then slowly but steadily the guilt made its presence known again. "You mean, he was kissing you, but in his head you were really Elle?" She nodded, but I was still a bit skeptical. "How do you know?"
Cora held my eyes and a soft smile touched her lips. "He saw me and said her name, then pulled me down and kissed me."
I dropped my head and mentally kicked myself. It made sense and I should've known my brain was just being melodramatic because there's no way Jay would ever go behind me like that. Not that I thought Cora would because I know she wouldn't, but Jay and I aren't just friends, we're brothers. Have been for years and neither of us treat that lightly.
I couldn't believe what I'd just done to Cora. I had literally just watched Jay get probably the worst concussion of his life and I'd automatically assumed he just had a thing for Cora.
I hadn't even let her explain after she did what I couldn't. I'd doubted her based on one crazy moment I had no context on.
When Jay got hurt, I froze. My panic took over I could only focus on the one thought that I couldn't live without him. Nothing like that had ever happened before and I got too upset and emotional and I took it out on the one person that had been there for him when I wasn't and I... "And I yelled at you. I..." I wasn't sure how to apologize for everything in a way that showed how sorry I am. I looked up at her gorgeous face. "I am a dick. Cora, I'm so sorry. So fucking sorry. I'm not gonna give you an excuse, I'm just horrible. If you want to go, I'll get you and Elle, if she wants, a ride home." I held her eyes, pleading her to forgive me and give me another chance.
I needed her here tonight if I wanted to win. She was and is my motivation to win. I made a promise to her and I didn't plan on breaking it.
Her smile grew a bit. "E, if you think I'm leaving you now, you're insane. I understand what you were thinking. Having it happen right after Jay got attacked really didn't help anything either, I bet."
I took in every inch of this small girl in front of me who seemed, in this moment, 6' tall herself. My eyes roamed her face and I wondered how I got so lucky. How did I find myself the most beautiful girl who understand when I screw up?
She took a few small steps forward and she was within my reach. I didn't even think twice before pulling her into me and burying my face in her neck, completely breathing her in.
I felt the tears come and I didn't care. "Thank you," I whispered.
After a while, I broke away. I had to, my fight was next.
Pip, my beautiful Pip, looked up at me. "I have to change and get warmed up for my fight, which starts in..." I checked my phone. 10:23 "...About 30 minutes."
Pip's green eyes flashed and grew wide. "You're still fighting?!"
I grinned but it was mostly humorless. "Yeah. My best friend got injured, I didn't. Neither did Bo, so if we're both fit to fight, the fight goes on. No sense in delaying if they don't have to. The head honchos shelled out a lot of cash over having the finals at the end of September, so if they delayed now, they'd be minor league screwed over it. So, yeah. I'm still fighting."
Pip nodded, strong as ever, but I could tell that she hated the idea of me fighting.
"Hey." I nudged her chin up with my finger until she was looking me in the eyes yet again. "It'll be ok. I'll be ok. I promise." She nodded again, still unconvinced. "Pip, have I ever broken a promise to you?"
When she shook her head, I continued. "Right. And I have no reason to break this promise, remember? This goes right along with the promise I made at Punch Drunk. Remember that?"
Her cheeks flushed red, letting me know that she remembered.
For the first time in quite a while that night, I felt a real grin tug at my mouth. "C'mon, Pip." I grabbed her hand and started making my way back to where I'd left Elle.
I felt a little bit bad about it, but I knew she was safe. I left her with Dagg, Jay and I's "bodyguard," for lack of a better word. Dagg is the only other person here that knows who we actually are, and he basically keeps everyone else from finding that out.
"Where are we going?" Pip's quiet voice sounded from my side.
I glanced around, looking for the familiar bald head and muscles. "I'm taking you to Elle."
Pip stopped walking and pulled me around to look at her. Her eyes were wide with panic. "Oh, my God. Elle! Is she ok? All you said is that she's safe!"
I brushed my thumb across her knuckles to sooth her. "She's with Dagg." At her blank look, I filled in who Dagg was.
"Wait, so Dagg. Is he, like... big? With tattoos and big eyebrows? Deep voice and a chrome dome?" I could see her brain working and I wondered how she knew Dagg because she just described him perfectly.
I nodded. Then my brain did a double take. "Pip, did you just say... 'chrome dome?'" I started chuckling when I saw her cheeks go red again.
"Maybe." She grinned. "I met him when I ran up to help Jay." At my nod of understanding, she continued, "If she's ok... then I... I want to go with you." Her voice got progressively quieter as the sentence went along, like she was unsure what my response would be.
Now, don't get me wrong here, I wanted her to come, badly. But here's the thing: there was no reason for her to come, all I was doing was changing and getting warmed up. I'm not sure what she thought I was doing, but it was probably nowhere near what was really about to happen.
I cocked my head, knowing she thought that motion was cute. "I mean, you can come if you want, but it's not going to be anything extraordinary. I'm just changing and prepping for the match." Not to mention, I wasn't sure if she was still upset at my yelling at her. I couldn't imagine she'd have forgiven me so easily.
She smiled. "I wanna come." But then again...
I changed our direction and smiled back at her.
God, she's awesome.
Ten minutes later, we were in the back changing room and we were in a companionable silence as I took out my contacts. They didn't change my vision, just my eye color. When I realized I was never gonna be able to change my look enough to disguise me by just changing my hair style, I opted to go for the extreme change.
I didn't think it through though because fighting in contacts is pretty risky with the chance of one being knocked out being high. For normal contact wearers it was a different fear. They literally went blind if that happened, probably throwing off their game. For me, though, I risked something higher: my and Jay's, and now Pip and Elle's, safety. I took them out to start because it would be less noticed if my eyes just changed slightly than if suddenly I had one different colored eye.
Plus, it's not like these tournaments were ever televised or anything. My biggest worry was my competitor recognizing me and, in my experience, the type of guys that fought in these tournaments didn't expect to see Theo Archer in the ring fighting him. Over the past two years, I've learned that people see what they expect to see. And what they expect to see is usually not the real me.
I finished messing with my contacts and turned around. It was then that I realized what was about to happen... "Pip... I have to change." I expected her to blush and get all embarrassed and nervous.
Pip, who was sitting on a stool I'd found, had been glancing around the room, taking it in, stopped suddenly and her eyes flashed to mine mischievously. "Ok."
Hmmm.
I paused, eyes narrowed, waiting for her to move, turn around, cover her eyes, anything, but no. My little Pip kept staring me straight in the eyes and then I knew what was about to happen. Man, did it affect me in some way too...
Without breaking eye contact, I started to unbutton my shirt and was pleased to hear a small intake of breath from her as my eyes broke from hers to find my buttons. My shirt freed itself from my shoulders and my eyes found her face, searching for her eyes, but stopping short at her lips when I noticed she was biting her bottom one extremely and unconsciously seductively.
I stared at her lips for a solid minute before reluctantly dragging my eyes up to hers only to find hers fixed on my stomach. I know she'd seen me shirtless before, but this was different. This was private, secluded, only we knew this moment was happening. Oh God, the way she could affect me, and she wasn't even touching me.
Before I could make a move, Pip slid off the stool she was on and walked slowly over to me. She placed her palms flat on my chest and I felt that familiar burning sensation where her hands touched my skin.
I looked down and got lost in her green eyes.
"Kiss me," she murmured.
As if I wasn't already going to.
I snaked one of my hands around her waist and the other cupped the back of her neck, my fingers tangling in her soft hair. Her hands too, traced up my chest to cup the back of my neck and her fingertips found their way into mt hair.
I knew I'd kissed her only last night, but she was addicting. I wanted her lips so badly.
I leaned in and...
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
I tore away from Pip in shock and said a very impolite curse before striding over to the door and nearly ripping it off its hinges.
"What?!" I nearly shouted into the face in front of me, the one hand not gripping the door was held low in front of me. No need to spread more rumors.
"Twenty-minute warning," the guy outside told me, unfazed at my disheveled appearance.
I swore again and shut the door. Pip was too damn intoxicating.
I looked back to see her standing in the same spot but turned to face me. Her eyes were clear and bright, and her cheeks flushed from anticipation.
"Pip. I have to get ready. I fight in 20 minutes. I haven't even changed yet. Well, finished changing. You're distracting me."
Pip bit her lip again, this time to stop from grinning. "I'll beoutside."