I considered taking on one of the ParaSquad shifts for the fight to be in the arena but thought better of it. Luke obviously didn’t want me there.
“You want to. Which is why I’m going to help you.”
I shook my head. “Tanisha, I’m not taking over Brandi or anyone else’s shift.”
She waved me off. “You don’t need to. Here.” She stood and placed a ticket for the fight in the center of my laptop.
Blinking, I stared at the ticket and up at Tanisha. I’d forgotten that she purchased a ticket months earlier.
“It’s front row. You’ll have a clear view of the entire fight. It’s not the same as being in his corner but…” She shrugged.
“I can’t,” I said, staring at the ticket.
Luke
I scanned the room filled with my crew, Lenny, David the yoga instructor hired by Syd, a few months back, and Greyson. Since I was out of town for the past few weeks, I chose him on a whim to be in my corner during the fight.
Whatever.
Despite all the people in the room, I felt a hollowness in my chest that’d been with me for weeks. Jumping out of an airplane, riding ATVs, and all the other shit I did while in Vander City, never fully alleviated the emptiness. Spending time with the crew, doing crazy shit, or focusing on an upcoming fight always worked in the past to get rid of any emptiness brought on by bullshit emotions.
Not that time.
I clenched my jaw and flexed my fists as I surveyed the room, scanning it for the one person I knew wouldn’t be there.
“Are you ready for this?” Pit asked as he approached.
I grunted and caught him with a side-eye. “You’re starting to act like Lenny. Asking the wrong questions at the last minute.”
“Watch your mouth. If you weren’t around here looking like a sad puppy for weeks now, I wouldn’t have to ask.”
“I’m fine,” I said, looking over his shoulder. I nodded at Greyson. He approached with the tape and began taping my hands.
“He’s got this,” Greyson said, looking between Pit and me with a smile on his face.
Pit made a face. “Did I ask you anything?”
Greyson blinked but then looked at me as if expecting me to intervene.
“Did he?” I asked.
Greyson shook his head. “No, but I mean, now that you’ve taken me on as your trainer, I think—”
“Who said you were my trainer?”
His mouth fell open before saying, “I meant that, now that Syd’s out of the picture, you can take some advice from a real trainer. She was cute and all, but she didn’t know what she was doing. I even told her—”
“You told her what?” I asked with a harshness in my voice.
Greyson’s eyes grew wide and he opened and closed his mouth a few times, not saying anything.
I heard Pit chuckle, but I kept my attention on the dickhead on front of me.
“You approached her? When?”
“A few months ago. She needed to know what she wasn’t helping, and she was a distraction to the real training that you needed.”
I hopped off the table I sat on and got in Greyson’s face. His face reddened.
