something people in my circle do. I’ve always loved it, and I planned to devote a lot more time to it once I moved here, since I don’t have a bunch of people breathing down my neck and judging me. Except I just haven’t had the time. So I’m stuck fighting in the amateur circuit.”
“So?” She shook her head. “Be the best freakin’ amateur fighter in the damn circuit.”
“You’re a ‘when life gives you lemons’ kind of woman, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I am. And you’re a ‘when life gives you lemons, you say fuck the lemons and bail’ kind of man.”
He laughed. “You’re always ready with a comeback, aren’t you?”
“That’s from a movie, by the way. Forgetting Sarah Marshall. So funny.”
“Never seen it,” he said.
“Yeah, I figured. We’re so different, you and I.”
“Are we?” He turned to look at her. “Maybe I’m not who you think I am. Hell, maybe I’m not who I think I am. Maybe I’ve just been stuck in a life I didn’t want to be in, and maybe this is where I’m supposed to be, and maybe I want to change.”
“That’s deep, Enzo,” she said with a laugh.
“I can be deep.” He smiled back, then wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “So you think I should just embrace my situation and fight in the amateur circuit?”
“I think your problem is that you’ve never been denied anything. You’ve never been anything but the best at whatever it is that you do, and now you’re in a huff about not fighting professionally. You said it yourself—you’re a thirty-two-year-old man with a successful career. Not a job, but a career. You’re not Slade or Tony or Travis, whose lives revolve around fighting. It defines them. It’s their careers. That’s not you. You’re the nerdy but hot banker. So, suck it up, Pretty Boy, and fight in the amateur circuit, for fun. It doesn’t have to be a life-defining career change.”
“You really think you’ve got me pegged, don’t you?” he said, leaning slightly toward her.
“I don’t think I’ve you pegged. I know I’ve got you pegged.” She turned and rose onto her knees to look at him. “You’re on a date with me because I’m different. I’m taboo. I’m the kind of girl your parents hate. You’re rebelling.”
In a swift motion he pushed her down, and she squealed. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m on a date with you because you’re the most beautiful, sexiest woman I’ve ever met.”
“And I’m different. Different from what you’re used to.”
“You could say the same thing about me, couldn’t you?” he said as he leaned into her, his body almost on top of her, his thumb rubbing her cheek.
She pushed him off and quickly switched their positions around so that she was on top. “Nah. You have that wrong. I’ve dated you before. Preppy suits. Been there, done that, have the bumper sticker.”
“Yeah? What did the bumper sticker say?”
“Nothing good.” She laid her head down on her laced fingers on his chest. “That’s why I like to stay away from men like you.”
“But here we are.”
“But here we are,” she repeated softly, then rolled onto her back next to him.
Jamie Lynn was quiet for a little longer than necessary, which made him uneasy.
“It’s just one date,” she said finally, as if she was trying to convince herself. “One long date, though,” she amended with a cute laugh.
And it was turning out to be one of the best dates he’d ever had.
“So, back to this fight situation,” she said. “I think you should suck it up and just work on kicking ass. Who do you fight?”
“His name is Raymundo Hernandez. He’s a total jerk. He wins every fight. Doesn’t go pro because he gets into trouble all the time and has been banned from most circuits.”
“Nice.”
“Yep. He’s crazy. Literally. He has a tattoo on his head that says CRAZY.”
“Ouch,” she said with a laugh. “You want to TP his house? We can do that next. It can be part of our date. Toilet paper’s on me.”
He rolled onto his side to look at her. “The funny thing is that I think you’d really do it. I don’t think you’re just teasing.”
She turned her body and looked at him seriously. “I’m usually pretty straightforward, if you haven’t noticed yet.”
“Yes, I’ve definitely noticed,” he said, placing his palm on the side of her face and caressing her cheek with his thumb. “So aside from being brutally honest and busting balls, what else do you