Page 27 of Fight

“I let Marie go home,” he says. “She left me banana bags filled with saline and meds for the girl. You should find a room to sleep in if you’re staying, I’m fucking exhausted.”

I start to ask if he’s going to sleep in the bed with her when I watch him strip down to his boxers before pulling on a pair of joggers and folding his body into a lounge chair in the corner of the room.

It gives Cerenity room to sleep but gives Tommy time to get to her if needed.

Approving, I sigh as I walk out of his room to crash for the night in a guest bedroom across from him. I’m exhausted, but I need to check on something before I do. Tossing my bag on the bed, I pull out my phone to send out a text to Gabriel to make sure he’ll be able to train in the next hour with the other fighters and I.

A sleepless night won’t kill me, though I’ll be chugging energy drinks to stay awake later today.

It may seem callous to some, but he still has a fight coming up, and there’s a lot of money on the line.

Hey, you still running in the morning? Any issues?

Gabriel: None, Sir. I’ll be there.

There’s no explanation, though I was hoping for a little more. Gabriel is pretty tight lipped about his life, and I could tell there’s something between him and Augustine. Are they in a relationship? Would Augustine do that to his scent match if he knew he had one?

I know life is complicated, and I’m making it more so by refusing to tell Augustine that Cerenity is here, but he’s had her in his life for long enough. We deserve to find out if she’s really ours too, because the pull Tommy and I have to her is too strong for her not to be.

GABRIEL

I had to punch Augustine in the face to get him to stop freaking out so he’d sleep. Glancing over at the love of my life where he’s sleeping fitfully, I sigh as I see the bruise blooming on his cheek.

Fuck, I really tried to pull back my strength on it too, but since I fight for a living, my body is a weapon.

I have a bad feeling about what’s happening to Cerenity, and the way Tommy stonewalled Augustine and me. There’s something they didn’t want to tell us, even though they didn’t have all of the necessary information.

I don’t know what’s happening in this crime family, but I know it’s important to unravel some of it because it’s hurting Augustine.

Cerenity and Augustine are eternally entangled together through their scent match, and destiny isn’t really something I’m willing to fuck with. I know Auggie loves me too, even though we aren’t mushy about it.

That’s enough for me. I don’t want to get jealous or push him away, because that didn’t end well for either one of us two years ago. We didn’t even speak to the other until he went to one of my fights and he came to speak to me in the locker room.

This is all so fucking messy.

Shaking my head, I leave Auggie sleeping in my bed as I change into a pair of running shorts, sweat wicking tank-top, socks, and shoes. I didn’t sleep at all as my mind raced, especially after I got a text from Jasper. I think he was trying to remind me of where my loyalties lie, but not in the way he intended.

Jasper gave me a chance to get off the streets after my dad threw me out at eighteen when I presented as a beta. I’m the oldest son, and everyone expected me to be an alpha, just like him.

His last words to me were that at least if I was an omega I’d be worth something to sell. I walked out without a second glance, only speaking to my sister now, since my brothers think the same way my dad does.

None of that was the end of the world, because Augustine stayed by my side through it all. We met when we were fifteen at the beginning of high school when his family moved into our neighborhood, lost our virginities to each other at seventeen, and have languished between best friends and lovers for years. It’s my fault that I kept pushing him away to find an omega that could give him the things he needs.

Augustine let me sleep on his couch when I got kicked out, helped me when I was down and out, and I’ll never forget it. We lived together until he went to that dating mixer six years ago on a dare in Minneapolis, and everything changed.

My fights bring in good money, allow me to help my sister as needed, and squirrel away money for the day I walk away. I’m twenty-seven-years old, I won’t be able to fight forever. I train hard for the big paydays, which is what my next fight is going to be. I haven’t told Jasper yet, but it may be my last one.

I have enough money to open up a place of my own, somewhere kids can learn martial arts to defend themselves growing up. It’s something parents who have congratulated me on my wins have mentioned a need for, and it would make me feel as if I’m contributing to the safety of the next generation.

I know damn well that Cerenity can take care of herself, but getting hit by a vehicle larger than you in an intersection is enough to put anyone out of commission.

Picking up my water from the kitchen and strapping my phone to my arm, I make sure I also have my AirPods before leaving the apartment and locking up. I left Augustine a spare key in case he wants to leave if he wakes up before I come back.

To be honest, I don’t know what kind of mood he’ll be in when he remembers I punched him.

Standing out front of my building, I turn on my music and begin to stretch. Jasper and the guys will run right past me in about fifteen minutes, which is when I’ll join them. We do this routine every day, as the fighters Jasper trains all live in the same area. He’ll park his vehicle at the end of the road where the first two fighters live, and slowly collect us all as they run.

It’s also pretty effective as the pick up order also happens to run in line with who needs more endurance training.