New to New York

Back in the front room Addi had wondered over to the massive stereo system and was flipping through Jimmy’s collection.

“Hey Jim?” she called. “Why do you have a CD that’s completely in Spanish?”
Jake came up beside her carrying two frosty beers, one in each hand. “Yeah, and one in Japanese? Can you speak these languages?”

He came in from the kitchen holding an old Chinese food carton, “The Japanese? Yeah. But only a little Spanish. Both I bought for the beats though. Put in the Japanese one and be amazed.

Addi did as was instructed and heavy beats shook the window panes. Jimmy grinned from ear to ear across the room. She turned it down quickly to background music, afraid to get Jimmy in trouble with his neighbors. “Wow, Jimmy.” A smooth voice flooded through the speakers. It was angry and fast; almost techno-y.

Hatter and Will emerged from the hallway. They both seemed a lot lighter, happier. “So that’s where all my CDs went?” Hatter said making is way over to the shelf upon shelf upon shelf. “Jimmy, dude, you gotta stop borrowing my stuff. I’ve been looking for this one for months,” he said holding up a jewel case where a Latino man leaned against a red low rider; the title was not in English.

“You wanna listen to it now?” Addi asked reaching for it.

“Of course!” Soon the room was shaking with the pounding beats and heavy undertone of the Mexican culture. Hatter pulled Willow close to him, moving both their hips in time together. He sang along with the CD close to her hear.

“Since when do you speak Spanish?” she asked over the music.

“I spend some time in Mexico every now and then.” The song changed to something faster and sexier; Willow and Addi adapted quickly. “Mi Dios,” he said close to her ear.

&&&&&

They danced around Jimmy’s apartment a few more hours before splitting up and passing out. Willow mumbled a good night/morning to Addi and Jake heading off to find a comfy bed to fall into. She realized she hadn’t really seen Jason in about an hour; he’d wondered off down this hall somewhere….

But Will decided she was too tired to go on a scavenger hunt. Putting all her weight on the first door she came to, almost falling on the floor, it opened to a deep green room with dark wood accents.

Best thing though was the half naked Jason lying on the bed. He’d been asleep but had jumped awake even though the door didn’t make any noise. Black and grey tattoos marked his skin in places, to the untrained eye, would seem completely random; she knew they all had some meaning. A Celtic pattern ran up his side; a chaos star on his left collar bone; three stars on his right shoulder, two of them were filled in to solid black. Many others were on his back, some peeking up from his waist band.

“Hi,” he said shyly looking at the ground for his shirt. “I – I – you can,” yawn, “You can have the bed if you want.” But Will wasn’t even aware words were coming out of his perfectly sculpted lips, she was just trying to drink in every ounce of his lean muscled body.

She took a step closer to him and he stopped talking. The man who would fight another twice his size and win, he could stare down a drug dealer and not break a sweat, he’s jumped across buildings’ rooftops in pursuit of people who owed money, he was called the Mad Hatter because he’d do things with no fear or regard for safety.
But a girl takes one step to him and he can’t even finish a sentence.

“What does this mean?” Will asked pointing to the star on his collar bone.

“It was like an initiation thing. It’s just stating who I’m associated with.” Did she notice the tremble when she touched him?

“And what does this one mean?” she asked referring to the Celtic pattern on his side.

“That, um, that’s just what all the fighters have. They’re not exactly the same, but they’re related. Our boss is from Ireland and underground fighting and gambling are big there. Or so he says,” he tone let her know how much stock he put into what his boss said.

“Oh. And the three stars? Are they important?”She said this while turning him to where she could see them clearly.

“You don’t want to know about those, Low,” he turning away from her. How are you supposed to tell a girl like Low that the filled in stars show how many men you’ve killed in the ring? Each star represented five people; he’d killed ten and was now working on fifteen.

“Okay,” Will tried not to be hurt by his secretiveness. Maybe she didn’t want to know after all. “Well, I’m really -” but she couldn’t finish before Jason’s lips found hers.

Soft and gentle, smooth and sweet. That’s how she’d describe the kisses before. This one though was rough and hungry, passionate. In no time his hands were tangled in her hair, pulling her as close as possible to him.

She moved her hands over his back and shoulders to his hard muscled stomach where it trembled under her fingers as she passed over long time scars.

Will wondered about them briefly before her attention was pulled away by something a bit more intriguing…Jason’s hands at the buttons of her jeans. He had those done quickly and Will tried her best to shimmy out of them without breaking the kiss.

She moved her hands to his waistline, but found she wasn’t as talented as him and he had to move to help her. Jason took her hands, moving them up and behind his neck, while he undid his pants and lifted her legs around his torso, carrying her to the bed.

Just before falling on the mattress he broke away to look her in the eyes, “You’re sure about this?” he said a little breathless and tracing her cheekbones with his thumbs.

She nodded her head, her kiss swollen lips spreading into a smile, “Absolutely.” Butterflies wreaked havoc in her stomach as she lifted her arms up and he pulled Addi’s shimmery top off, throwing it somewhere on the floor.

His grin was all smoke and mischief, total bad boy. “I’ll try my best then,” he said laying her down.

&&&&&

Will woke up when Jason rolled over to look at his phone. It was 3:45pm and he’d already missed a call from the fight’s coordinator. He’d have to leave here at six in order to be on time in the Village.

“Hey,” Will said sliding her small hand over his chest. He had winged tattoo across his shoulder blades that moved when he breathed.

Jason rolled over. “Hey,” his hair was sticking up in funny directions, his cheeks were a little flushed and his eyes a little glazed. Willow thought he still looked he could be on the cover of any rocker magazine.

“What are we doing tonight?” she asked lifting his arm and putting it under her head while simultaneously snuggling closer to his side. “Going out again?”

“Uh, actually no. It’s Sunday night so…Addi and I have to go to work…”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, but you can stay here or go over to my and Jake’s place. I don’t really think its super safe for you to go back to your apartment, ya know?” She just looked up at him. Maybe it was sleep but something was stopping her from completely understanding what he was saying. What did he mean by work? Jason took her staring as disagreement. “But you can do whatever you want. I’m not trying to control you or anything. If you want to go back to your place, ya know, it’s whatever you want.”

“Work?”

“What?” he asked. Will’s expression scared him a little and he moved so he was more leaning over her than beside her.

“You said work. What does that mean?”

“I have a fight tonight, Low,” he said tracing circles on her stomach next to her bellybutton. “I have to leave around six to be where I have to be and get ready and stuff.”

“Oh.” Will still wasn’t really understanding. “Will you be hurt? Fighting I mean.”

“It depends on which way the boss says I have to go. If he’s got someone with money on the other guy than I have to take one for the team, but if it’s me they’re betting on…well if I do it right then there’ll barely be a scratch.” He smiled like this was a good thing; bragging about beating someone’s head in, or worse.

“Can – can I come and watch?” she asked watching his hand on her belly when it suddenly stopped and went ridged.

“No,” he said firmly. “The people – cheaters and – just bad people, Low. No. I don’t ever want you to meet the people I have to deal with.”

“Okay,” she said looking up at him, trying her best to squish the bud of jealousy towards Addi for being able to see him when he didn't want her to. “Just be careful.”

Jason’s hand started up again and he smiled warmly down at her. “No one has ever told me that before.” He pulled her closer and kissed roughly again. “I like it,” he said low and husky in her ear making her laugh before they both dived under the sheets again.

&&&&&

Jason left a sleeping Willow at 5:55pm, the sun just starting to go down over the skyline. He’d left a note that had his number on it and told her how beautiful he thought she was when she was asleep.

When he opened the door and stepped out silently, Addi was down the hall doing the same exact thing. Except when his door had opened there hadn’t been any noise; he could easily recognize Jake’s light snores and gave Addi a raised eyebrow look. Addi looked down quickly and Jason could almost swear he saw the-girl-who-never-blushed blush.

Addi had changed into expensive designer jeans from the Upper East Side, a tight low cut navy blouse, and the same heels she’d worn the night before. She and Jason both kept changes of clothes here in just in case emergencies.

He walked up to her suppressing the smile from spread across his face. “So…” he said not being able to stop himself.

“Shut up,” she retorted not looking over at him as they walked, but she smiled in spite of herself. She pulled out her phone and groaned. “Bucky called twice. He really wants you to ‘get your scrawny ass over here or he will hunt you down’ blah, blah, blah.” Addi sighed loudly and returned her phone. “Are you ready for tonight? You’re going up against the Italian’s Pretty Boy Peter. I think he’s twice your size.”

Jason just nodded. He recognized this as Addi telling him to put up the front that kept him a safe distance from what he was about to do; he knew he’d have to put on the Hatter façade.