Chapter 3

"That's when I called you." She stated pulling her sore legs up on the well loved couch. She took her carton of food into her lap and continued to nibble at it absently, he stomach was not to sure it was ready for food yet.

"That's so like you. Your my favorite little shit starter. I swear." Colt mused rubbing the back of his bald head looking at her with blatant amusement in his eyes. "When your good and fired up there is no doubt in my mind you wouldn't take down a tank."

"While wearing four inch heels." she added joining him in a good laugh.

"Well your welcome to my couch for as long as you need it. I know it's not much but it's yours." Colt squeezed her good shoulder and she leaned into him for a hug. She felt calm for the first time in the last 24 hours and the fact that her old friend was here made it even better.

"Right now your couch seems like the Hilton. Your a good friend Colt. You always patched me up after a good bar fight and now here we are again. Though this time I was stone cold sober. You know even in that big crowd I still stuck out? I've lived in NYC for six years and they still eye me funny for my accent." She leaned against his shoulder for a moment almost needing the support, her eyes growing heavy.

"Well you don't see many Memphians that relocate to NYC. The accent is so cute though. I hope it never goes away." That earned him a playful smack on the side of the head. "OK OK. You look like your about to fall out let me get you some blankets and you need to be 'getting some beauty sleep'." he put on his best southern accent as he headed down the hall and Ren Rolled her eyes, thumping her feet up on the coffee table.

While Colt disappeared Ren pulled out another smoke taking a few drags before slowly making her way to the fridge grabbing a beer that she knew would be in there. Returning to the living room she smiled looking around Colts apartment. For a guy that owns a gym he had a modest one bedroom apartment and it was such a man cave filled with MMA and UFC memorabilia. Colt returned about half a beer later with his arms full with a couple of warn but fluffy blankets and an extra pillow. She thanked him and insisted on making the couch up herself . She snubbed her smoke and sat about spreading the blankets over the blue plaid cushions.

She turned back to Colt and gave him another hug before he retreated to his room leaving Ren alone as she settled on her good shoulder pulling the blanket over her head. As sleep claimed her again she found her thoughts wondering to thoughts of gray-green eyes.

-A-

"Morning Colt." Fenroy Greeted him as he entered the gym. He spied Tommy in the back working on a punching bag stopping for a second to acknowledge Colt with a quick nod before turning back to continue pounding on the bag. Colt nodded back and headed to his glassed in office.

He sighed as he sat down and started rummaging through the paperwork that was already building up on his desk. Starting from the top he started working through the forms and messages. It's almost 1pm when Tommy pushed open the door to his office. He looked slightly annoyed and it peaked Colts interest.

"How's your friend?" he asked causally dropping in a chair across from him. Colt raised his eyes from the expense report he was in the middle of and rubbed his face, dropping the report and leaning back in the chair giving his friend a sly grin.

"You wouldn't believe how beat up she is. How she even walked in here yesterday is beyond me.. Wait not it's not.. She's stubborn as a mule." They shared a grin and Tommy had a curious look on his face. He cleared his throat shifting in the chair a little.

"Um what happened? If it's OK for me to ask?" Colt gave Tommy a half smile sensing his friend might have some interest in his little pixie and he fully intended to make him squirm.

"Well she was up at the occupy protest and things started to get rough. They started mixing it up with some cops. Apparently she was maced, twice, in the face, tased, and jumped out of a moving police car." Colt couldn't stop the laugh when he saw Tommy's shocked expression.

"That's not what I was expecting to hear. She was so quite and shy I figured she was running from an abusive boyfriend. So she's tougher than she looks eh?" Tommy tried not to look too interested as he pulled out a tooth pick and started twirling it in his mouth.

"Yeah she is." Colt looked in to space as memories flashed through his mind. "When she gets riled up even I wouldn't fuck with her. She's got some very real anger there and she isn't afraid to 'unleash the beast' so to speak, when she's pushed."

"Anger? Why?" Tommy's voice dropped nearly to a whisper.

"Well... I'm not sure. She doesn't talk about her father so I assume it comes from there. She's only talked about him once to me and she was wasted, crying in the bathtub, at the time. She just cursed him and yelled over and over again that he had no power over her." He cleared his throat fearing he might have said too much but Tommy only nodded.

"Lunch?" Tommy asked, changing the subject, looking away.

"Sure."

-A-

She was dreaming. She knew it. But She dreamed of full lips. Full lips on her neck, lips running down over her skin. She felt ripple of muscles under her finger tips a hard body pressed her against up against the cool wall. She didn't know where she was and she didn't really care.

She gave a content sigh as fingers brushed up her sides and grabbed a little roughly at her hips. A thigh found it's way between her spreading them so that he could press more firmly against her.

Fingers ghosted over her panties and she felt a chuckle against her neck at the wetness he found there. She ran her fingers through short cropped hair, scratching at his scalp, before pulling him into another kiss. In the distance she heard music but she ignored it, grinding her hips against exploring fingers. The music grew louder and her attention started to slip.

"The Ramones? Really?"

She jerked awake realizing it was her phone ringing. She fumbled for the offending object that was blasting 'Sheena in a punk rocker'.

Swiping her finger across the screen she held it too her ear as she laid back throwing the blankets back over her head, feeling a shiver of pain run through her reminding her of the night before.

"Hello?" she grumbled her voice husky with sleep.

"Wake up sleepy head. It's your ass crack of afternoon wake up call." Colt's voice filtered through the phone and she fought the urge to tell him to 'fuck off' and roll back over.

"I'm up." she muttered

"Now you are." He chuckled. "I was seeing if you needed anything while I was out. I'm out with Tommy for lunch and I can swing by to drop stuff off to you."

'Mm.. Tommy.' she thought as her dream came back to her. She gave a small moan and shifted feeling the soreness in her body. "Some smokes and lunch slash dinner would be nice. I haven't looked yet but I have a feeling your fridge only has beer an peanut butter."

"Still on the same cancer sticks?" She made a noise to the affirmative. "Any special you want for lunch? Or will you be happy with whatever?"

"Anything's fine. When have I ever been a picky eater?" She let out a yawn and winced slightly as she stretched under the blanket.

"OK, give us about an hour. You going to be up? I want to check that wrist again."

"Yes mother dearest." She heard Colt chuckling on the other end of the line before she swiped her finger across the screen disconnecting the call. The phone slid from her hand and thudded as it hit the floor.

'I should get up and get decent.' She attempted to move. She really did. But before she knew it her eyes drifted closed again and she absently hope to fall back into her dream.

-A-

Colt chuckled flipping his phone shut. "She was talking but I don't think she was awake. I wonder if she'll even remember that I called?" A grin hinted on Tommy's lips as he sipped on his black coffee.

"I can see her now: A big lump, curled in a ball, under the blanket with a puff of hair showing and maybe an arm or a leg sticking out." Colt and Tommy shared an amused look and Colt stopped the waitress as she crossed the diner and ordered a house salad and a chicken sandwich to-go. As they waited Colt could tell there was something Tommy wanted to ask but couldn't.

" You want to know how we met?" Tommy looked away but gave a small nod. "Well lets see. I met her in a club in NYC about four years ago. She was in the middle of a fight with another girl who apparently though Ren was after 'her man'. I watched that little thing beat the hell out of that girl until she was pulled off by a bouncer who had a hard time hanging on to her. She was thrown out the bar and the cops were called. I went out side and introduced myself and when she was arrested I bailed her out. We went for breakfast and she told me how she had just moved from Memphis TN to attend some art school and that she thought people were assholes around there. Needless to say I was a little.. how would she put it?.. 'smitten'. That angry little pixie caught my attention but the shy girl side drew me in." Colt sighed "We had a short fling but with me not living in NY and some other issues on the side, nothing could really come of it and after a while we drifted solidly into friend zone." He sipped his coffee a little embarrassed. "I'm OK with it thought. We became close friends and we got thrown out of more bars than I can count." Tommy smiled a little at that.

"What's she like?" Tommy asked shooting an angry glance at Colt when he raised a brow at him. He chewed his cheek for a moment as his friend studied him.

"You'll see. She's a pistol and hard to handle when she angry. But it takes a lot to get her to that point. When she's comfortable around people she rather infectious and she can be childish at times. God knows we did and still do stupid childish shit together. In other words she a lot of fun." He smiled at the waitress as she returned with two take out boxes in a bag and he dropped some bills on the table and standing. "Now.. let's go scare the shit out of her." Colt gave him a devilish grin and they walked out of the diner.

-A-

Ren didn't stir when the door opened letting the two men into the apartment. She was still happily lost in dreamland. Colt made a show of tiptoeing to the couch shushing Tommy as he shut the door. He motioned for Tommy to come closer and he handed him the bag of take out.

Colt stifled a chuckle pointing at Ren who was exactly as he said she would be; the worn blanket draped over her and arm hanging towards the floor, her hair was poking out near the pillow. The sound of slow steady heavy breathing was coming from under the blanket.

Colt gave Tommy a wink as he fought back a mirthful grin as he made a move to grab the edge of the blanket. He paused for a moment trying to hold back laughter before giving the blanket a hard yank, pulling it completely off the sleeping woman.

She started and opened her eyes slightly and before she could gather herself he jumped up on the couch causing her to jump nearly out of her skin.

"Wake up!" He yelled bouncing up and down on the cushions jostling the shocked woman and she flailed falling to the floor with a stream of curses. Looking up her bleary eyes focused on Colt and then narrowed and she kicked at him landing a blow to his knee causing him to hit the floor next to her. "Asshat." she spat.

Tommy couldn't stop laughing as Ren jumped up in only her tank top, that had ridden up to show a good amount of stomach, and her boy shorts, her hair was wild and her eyes flashed with an amused anger. She pounced on him straddling his hips as she wailed on him about the head.

"You asshole!" she screamed but soon her curses gave way to giggling as Colt blocked her with one hand and tickled her ribs with the other. She scuttled back against the couch trying to escape the tickling her giggles turning into full on laughter as Colt grabbed her feet tickling them mercilessly. "Ow! Stop! STOP! I'm gonna kick you in the fucking face!" she cried breathlessly trying to free her feet from the onslaught. Colt stopped his assault and leaned up on his elbows as Ren tried to catch her breath, wiping tears from her eyes. "Ow." she muttered. "I'm injured you dick."

Suddenly she realized they weren't alone in the room and for the second time in so many days blue eyes met gray-green. This time his eyes were full of mirth and she gasped grabbing the blanket trying to cover her bare legs. Her face turning a lovely shade of red and she lowered her chin letting her hair fall in her face to hide her blush.

"Sorry. It was all his idea." Tommy stated turning his back to set the boxes on the table before coming back to help Colt, who was still chuckling, to his feet then offering his hand to Ren. She took his hand with her left and pulled herself to her feet holding the blanket to keep her modesty.

"Well nice to see you again Tommy." Her voice was tinted with embarrassment. "Now if you two men would kindly turn your backs so I can put some pants on.."

Colt chuckled grabbing Tommy's shoulder turning Tommy with him. "It's not like you don't show that much skin in a club Ren." Colt commented as he heard her digging through her bag letting out a pained hiss as her aches made themselves known.

"That's not true!" She corrected. " I never show legs, ass, and stomach at the same time. I'm not a hoochie." she grumbled pulling on a pair of low rise jeans, the rough fabric grating against the bruise on her hip. She walked up behind Colt and smacked him on the back of the head and made her way to one of the kitchen chairs, her body obviously still sore. "This must be my lunch?" She asked picking at the bag curiously and Tommy nodded taking a seat next to her. Colt dug in his pocket and pulled out two packs of camel menthols and sat them on the table with a lighter. "oh my sweet sweet cancer sticks!" she cried opening a pack, flipping the first cigarette over and lighting another one up.

"Don't think your in the clear buddy." She eyed Colt with narrowed eyes. "Revenge is ever so sweet and you'll never see it coming."

Tommy studied her as she took a deep drag letting out a little sigh as she exhaled blowing a few smoke rings. He took notice of the gauze on her shoulder and felt a little bad at letting Colt harass her when she was still obviously hurting. Colt slapped him on the back as he took a seat between him and Ren.

"Before you get to into your spoils; let me check your shoulder." He grabbed the seat of her chair and pulled her between his knees turning her slightly so that her right side was to him causing the feet of the chair to squeak on the floor. The way Colt turned her forced her to face Tommy head on. Ren rolled her eyes giving Tommy a annoyed but amused look.

He kept his eyes on her face as Colt pulled the gauze away watching her wince and bite her lip when it caught on dried patches.

"One hell of a raspberry huh?" she asked noticing the weight Tommy gaze. He chewed his cheek in response furrowing his brow in sympathy. Colt asked him to grab him a wet cloth and Tommy disappeared into the kitchen for a moment.

To keep her mind off the aches of her body she started rummaging through the take out boxes giving an excited sound as she saw the salad and she sat it to the side and opened the other box, taking out a fry to nibble on.

Tommy returned and handed Colt the warm cloth and took his seat again watching as Colt whipped down the raw skin trying to remove any scabs.

"Not much of a talker are ya?" She asked tilting her head to the side catching his eyes. Tommy shrugged indifferently but found himself watching as she raised the fry to her lips. The bruising on her face was becoming a little more pronounced but he wasn't distracted by it.

"Once he knows you better he opens up a little. He's a regular chatty Kathy." Colt added absently as he took to spreading ointment on her shoulder.

Tommy narrowed his eyes at him and Ren snorted covering her mouth.

"Hey Colt?" she looked over her shoulder at him.

"Yeah?"

"What would you say to maybe training me? So next time I'm pinned to a brick wall by a pervy cop I might be able to fight him off better. Plus I'll have an outlet to unleash with. Punching bags can't press charges. And you know as well as I do I'm gonna get bored. And we both know I do stupid shit when bored."

Colt considered her for a moment. "Sure I could. But are you going to be comfortable in a gym full of men?" She stole a glance at Tommy before flicking her eyes back to Colt.

"I'm a big girl now Colt. I can handle a few lecherous stares as long as you keep any wondering hands off me. I'd hate to break someone's fingers. Again."

"OK. Will do." He chuckled cutting gauze to apply to her back. "Once your better we can start. I don't want you getting too bored. I don't want a repeat of the silly string incident."

"Dude I seriously didn't know it'd catch on fire like that!" Ren pouted.

Tommy grinned at the mental image of this petite woman pounding away at a bag in a gym full of men staring. She gave an excited 'yay' and Colt stilled her shoulders so he could continued to tape gauze on her shoulder.

"God that shit itches." She muttered absently scratching close to the gauze. She turned her eyes back to Tommy and her eyes narrowed mischievously. "Better watch out Tommy boy. I might just have to whoop your ass!" She winked at him and raised her fist playfully.

"I'd like to see you try." He grinned. 'I really would.' he thought.