“It’s that you two seem so different.”
“We are.” Lenny pushed a hand through his dark, almost jet-black hair, and not for the first time I noticed how handsome he was. Lenny kind of had a nerdy yet sophisticated look going on.
“High school.”
I lifted an eyebrow, not realizing they’d been friends for so long.
“One day, junior year, I was getting my ass beat by one of the school bullies named Shark. Not an uncommon occurrence in those days. When Luke walked into the bathroom, I expected him to join in. He already had a knack for being an ass.”
I snorted. “Never would’ve guessed that.”
He chuckled. “Yeah well, he surprised me that day. Told the guy to leave me the hell alone. When Shark got pissed off about it and went after him, Luke took him down. After that, he challenged anyone who thought it was a good idea to pick on me. They decided to leave me alone.” He shrugged. “When I went to thank him, he said,I didn’t do it for you, jack face, and don’t get all sappy over it either.”
“Now that sounds like Luke,” I said.
Lenny nodded. “It is, but you know, I kept hanging around him after that. We became friends. He kept me from getting my ass beat and I did his homework.” Lenny chuckled at the memory. “We ended up going to the same college. He dropped out, but once he started earning money in the NFA he paid for me to go to law school. Afterwards, I started my own firm primarily representing him and his interests. I’ve since taken on other athletes and entertainers, but Luke is more than just my client, obviously.”
I stared at the small grin on Lenny’s face. I could see in his eyes he had a tremendous amount of love and respect for his friend.
“He can definitely still be an ass… they all can.”
“They?”
He nodded. “He’s told you about his Asshole Club, I’m sure.”
I nodded.
“Yeah. I don’t know the others that well, but that’s one thing that brought them together. Their love of being the biggest shit stirrers in the room. That and the accident.”
“Accident?” I was reminded of Luke’s tattoo. The one with the scene of a crashed automobile around the ‘Asshole’ tattoo.
A look of concern crossed Lenny’s face. “You’ll have to ask Luke about that. I’m gonna’ head inside.” He jutted his head to the door.
I nodded, appreciative he took the time to tell me more about the man who waited inside.
I too, started to head back into the changing room to make sure Luke was warming up. I smirked at him telling the PT I’d hired recently, to fuck off when the guy was doing his job. And, when he did the same to David Novak, the yoga and karate instructor I’d added to his corner. Grumpy ass.
I smiled to myself.
“Focus, Syd,” I said to myself, shaking my head.
As I entered the back room, I saw Luke stretched out on the PT table, grumbling about something.
“Quit your bitching. You have a fight you need to win,” I harped, moving over to the side of the room where the physical trainer was warming up his muscles.
Luke snorted and turned to me. “Are you sure all these people know what they’re doing?” He asked, eyeing his PT with suspicion.
“I wouldn’t have hired them if they didn’t.” Placing my hand on Jeremy, the PT’s, shoulder, I said, “Trust me, Luke. They’re good at what they do.”
He frowned. “Turn around.”
“What? Why?” I asked, looking over my shoulder to see if anyone new entered the room.
“I wanna see your ass,” he said, causing the PT to laugh.
“You’re here to be my PT not my damn audience,” Luke said to Jeremy.
I pushed out a harsh breath.
