Of Kings and Aces

Now or Never

    Nobody saw me take that shot. I just hoped nobody ever finds out that I did it.

    The lights went out just after Jacob drank, and I took the opportunity to down my drink. I needed it more than anything. A few minutes later, my mother called asking me to go back home because Cole was looking for me. I fumbled and hit the table as I walked around it, spilling various drinks and shots all over. It was not intentional, but I mentally high-fived myself, knowing that it somehow answered any questions about why my shot glass was empty.

    When the electricity came back an hour later, I was already home lying on the couch in my brother’s room. I don’t know how long they stayed after I left. I just prayed they didn’t find out that I took that shot.

    After that night, Jacob invited me to hang out a couple of times, but I said yes only twice, maybe out of ten times. The first time we hung out, he brought me to the gym where he trained and introduced me to the other fighters.

    “This place is pretty, uh, rough,” I said, for the lack of a better word. It was located in an area in Makati that I usually just drove by because there didn’t seem to be anything there. We had to walk a block from the main road to get to rows of apartments with chipping paint and many hangers-on. Behind the complex, there was a small gymnasium with a signboard.

    The streetlights were just enough to light up where we were walking, though the neighborhood itself did not scream major danger. Just maybe a little, especially that we were walking at eight in the evening.

    Inside, almost three-fourths of the floor area was covered in mats that had seen better days. Several punching bags hung in different areas around two center boxing rings. There were mirrors on the walls. One section had a makeshift gym with weights and a few machines. Another was dedicated to sparring or shadow fighting. A door led to what he said was the office, and another to the locker and shower rooms. Not to be snooty or judgmental, but I was surprised the place even had shower rooms. It wasn’t dilapidated; it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

    He chuckled and just led me to the lockers where we changed. I stepped out of the locker in a plain white shirt and gym shorts and walked on the worn-out mats barefooted. He smiled broadly when he saw me inspecting the place with distrustful eyes.

    “Stop judging. It doesn’t look good on you,” he whispered lowly to avoid being heard.

    “I’m trying, but I also fear for my life,” I said as I saw some of the guys eyeing me pejoratively. He saw them and just chuckled. He handed me two rolls of what I suppose were the things they use to wrap their hands.

    “I’m assuming you don’t know how to put those on,” he said.

    “You are correct in that assumption,” I chuckled. “Show me,” I handed back one of the rolls and held one in my hand, awaiting his demonstration on his hand so I could follow. However, he did something else.

    “Here,” he grinned and took my free hand. He began to wrap the tape around it, giving out instructions on how to do it as he did. My brain didn’t follow. It short-circuited the moment he touched my hand. I looked at him occasionally though he was concentrating on wrapping my hand. When he was done, his bright eyes caught me staring blankly at him.

    He c****d an eyebrow and smirked. “Let me do this other one for you to save time.”

    He introduced me to the other guys, and I found that they were actually pleasant despite judging me earlier. Well, I judged them too. My bad.

    While he trained with his coach, I joined the other guys in their warm-up and stretching. Rovy, one of the older guys, started us with the drills and introduced me to the stances, punches, and kicks later on. By this time, I was already a fountain of sweat.

    “Do you have any background in any martial arts? Tae Kwon Do, Judo, MMA,” Rovy asked while held the punching bag for me.

    “Nope. Not a violent bone in this body,” I panted.

    “It’s pretty obvious. But you’re doing good. Your form needs a little refinement, but you’ll learn those things along the way,” he encouraged me.

    “I’m not sure I want to fight. I’m just here because he brought me here,” I said.

    “Maybe he thinks you’d make a good fighter if you’re interested,” he insisted.

    “Or maybe you guys told him to find recruits, and I was the first target in his mind,” I said sardonically, and he laughed. I endured training with Rovy for the next hour. After that, I was too spent even to move off the mat where I lay like a dying starfish.

    As we were leaving, he bumped my shoulder and looked at me, eyes shining. His smile reminded me of a kindergarten student who just showed his parents he could tie his shoelaces by himself. It was filled with pride and begging for approval.

    “How did you like it?”

    “It was interesting. Great work out. Not excited to spar, but I don’t mind practicing on the bags and pads,” I returned his smile. He nodded.

    “You think you’d go back there to learn to fight?”

    “That’s a compound question, but the answer to both is maybe,” I said. Not satisfied with my answer, I explained further. “I most probably would go back there, but to learn to fight? Maybe. Hard maybe. You know how uncomfortable I am with people hitting one another.”

    Once again, he just nodded with a knowing smile on his lips. “Thanks for coming, though.”

    “Sure. Thanks for taking me. I wouldn’t have gone there voluntarily,” I chuckled.

    We continued to walk and converse. I didn’t notice that we had walked almost eight blocks all the way back to my building. He suddenly just stopped walking, and when I c****d my head in question, he looked up the building and laughed lightly.

    “I believe this is your stop,” he grinned, his dimple showing as he did.

    “Wow, you talk a lot. I didn’t even notice we were walking towards my place,” I laughed. “Thanks, man.”

    “Anytime,” his smile slowly faded but he did not move. His eyes flicked down to my mouth or chin, but he quickly looked away, biting his lip. When he looked back at me, he opened his mouth to say something but then changed his mind. Instead, he looked down and sighed before looking back at me with a smaller smile.

    “Goodnight, Ace. See you tomorrow,” he said before giving me a small salute and walking away.

    After that, we hung out but it was always with other people – Bart, Jaxx, the guys, and sometimes Val. He still hasn’t met Cara. I don’t know why, but we both seemed to refrain from hitting on other girls and going home with them. I don’t know what his reason was, but for me, I just didn’t feel like it.

    The second time we hung out alone, it was a quiet night at Spumantino, just talking. I got to know more about his family and his childhood. We headed home after I’d finished a bottle of wine and he had a couple of whiskey shots.

    “You all right to drive?” he asked. He had his helmet under one arm, but there was a worried look on his face.

    “Yeah, dude. It was just a Moscato,” I chuckled. However, as I got to my car, the attendant jogged towards me though he had a visible limp.

    “Sir, stop! Some guys slashed your tires just a few minutes ago. I tried to stop them but they beat me up,” said the lanky guy in his late teens.

    “Are you serious? Did you get a good look at their faces?” my voice raised, and I immediately checked my tires. They were slashed all right, all four of them.

    “No, but they were all lean and buff. I’m just glad I didn’t die when the guy with a crew cut punched my stomach and kicked my leg,” he said, scratching his head.

    “How many were they?” a voice suddenly spoke. It made me jump a little but not enough to crash into something.

    “Th-three,” he stammered. He looked at Jacob with awe and recognition. Was it the first time he saw a foreigner?

    “Are you… are you The King?” he asked. We were both taken aback. Neither of us expected him to recognize Jacob outside the cage.

    “No,” Jacob said sternly but gave the guy a tap on the shoulder and a small smile before going around examining my tires. The guy was giddy with excitement but he tried his best to be helpful to his idol.

    After explaining my situation to the manager, he let me leave my car without the overnight parking fee. We decided it would be best to deal with the matter the following day to avoid extra charges with the towing company. It wasn’t an emergency anyway. I can always take a taxi home.

    As I walked to the side of the road, Jacob called after me. “Hey, where are you going?”

    “Home?” I gave him a confused look.

    “Then why are you there?”

    “What do you mean? I’m waiting for a cab. I can’t wait for a cab from the parking, dork,” I lightly laughed.

    “Don’t be silly. Come on. I’m dropping you off,” he chuckled and took my wrist, and dragged me to his bike.

    “Here,” he handed me another helmet, after which he put on his. He was about to wear his jacket when he stopped and offered it to me.

    “Nah, I’m cool. Thanks,” I said, and he nodded and put it on. He hopped on the bike and brought the engine to life. The bike was not a huge ass big bike, it was more of a scrambler, but the sound of the engine revving excited me. I haven’t ridden a big bike before and I’ve only ever driven a Vespa. The idea of finally getting on one made me giddy like a ten-year-old kid trying a virtual reality game for the first time.

    “What are you waiting for? Get on!” he called, smiling broadly as he did. That didn’t help with the butterflies that were already fluttering in my stomach.

    “What’s with the goofy grin?” he asked as I got on.

    “I’m just excited. I haven’t ridden a big bike before,” I replied.

    “Is that so? Then let’s go for a ride!” he said before closing his face shield. He said something I didn’t quite understand and accidentally bumped our heads when I leaned forward to hear him better. He shook his head, grabbed both my hands, and placed them on his hips.

    I stiffened. It felt really, really awkward but I bet it was just me being paranoid because he revved again, and we sped away. He accelerated so fast I thought I might be blown away. My hands quickly gripped him to keep me from falling. Sensing I might actually fall off, he pulled over and wordlessly pulled my arms, wrapping it around his waist. When we leaned forward, he reached back and pulled me towards his back, telling me to lean forward as well. Once we were in position, he eased back in the traffic and sped away.

    I found the updated position more awkward than the first, but it was definitely safer. I probably would not think of all these wrong and nasty thoughts if one of my friends was driving. Unfortunately, it was Jacob and I think the insects in my stomach have invaded my head and have eaten away my brain, replacing it with their rainbow s**t because that’s all I could think of right now: little, curious shitty things about a guy that should not be in another guy’s brain.

    We rode around the city for about thirty minutes, occasionally stopping only to ask me where he should go next. As we drew closer to Makati, I tugged his jacket and he gave me a signal to wait as he pulled to a stop at the next traffic light.

    “I need to pee,” I said loudly over the traffic.

    “Now?”

    “No, I can hold it. I just want to tell you to hurry a bit,” I replied.

    And hurry, he did. However, traffic was still bad in Makati, and there were a lot of one-way streets. By the time we got to his condominium building, my bladder was about to burst. Thus, I didn’t bother asking why he didn’t drop me off at my place. I just went straight to the lift and rushed to his bathroom the moment he unlocked the door.

    When I got out of his bathroom, he stood near his door, leaning his elbow against the kitchen counter. He didn’t see me walk out as he was focused on his phone. He ran a hand through his hair and tousled it absent-mindedly while I absent-mindedly ogled at him.

    Son of a gun, Ace. Stop it. I scolded myself and sighed.

    “Hey. Thanks for the ride. It was really awesome,” I said, smiling as I walked towards him. I stopped a few steps away so that I can say goodbye before walking home. When he looked up, his blue eyes captivated me again. His navy blue shirt made them look darker than usual, while his dusty blond hair made them look brighter.

    “Anytime,” he grinned as he looked at me softly.

    “Yeah, so, uh, I’m going to… I’m heading… goodnight,” I finally said, flustered and absolutely perturbed how I could not finish my sentence just because he was looking at my lips. He tilted his head before taking slow, calculated steps towards me. My eyes grew wider but my feet remained glued to the floor.

    As he held my face with both hands, my mind went blank. I did not know what else to do. I was surprised at our proximity and the gentleness of his hands. Even the way he tilted my face up was tender. His azure eyes were swallowing me up in their depths, and this time, there was no escaping them.

    I swallowed hard, reassuring myself that I was still alive and breathing. His eyes fluttered closed as his nose touched mine. I heard him take a deep breath, caught between choices.

    It was now or never. Personal space be damned. Before I had the chance to change my mind, his warm, soft lips crashed into mine.

 ♤♡