Zephyr barked a laugh of disbelief.
“Fuck, Aiden. We’re trying to have fun here.” Rafe looked a little pale.
“That was unnecessarily deep,” Wyatt agreed, rolling his shoulders as he stretched.
“Were you all not being serious? Because I am. She’s definitely killing us.” My arms shook slightly. Skye was really going to be pissed. And not in a fun, edging me all night kind of way.
“Aiden, I already told you. She’s not going to kill you. You’re the favorite.” Rafe sighed.
Zephyr offered Wyatt the athletic tape and he waved him away. Zephyr rolled his eyes before looking at me. “That was sweet, Aiden. I’m glad to know you’ll be with me when we die later.”
Joking or not, a bit of warmth filled my chest and I smiled. Zephyr had become a brother to me so quickly and naturally. I felt like I’d known him my whole life already. Skye probably wouldn’t kill him.
Rafe didn’t know what he was talking about. Obviously Skye’s brother would rank above me.
“Are we doing this or are you scared?” Zephyr snarked.
“God, do you ever shut up?” Wyatt hissed.
“Nope,” Zephyr said happily, popping theP. “Get on the mat, shrink.”
Wyatt scowled, but stepped onto the mat, bouncing on the balls of his feet while he warmed up. Zephyr stretched his arms over his head one more time, exposing his washboard abs as his tank top rode up. Rafe laughed, nudging me as he saw the same thing.
Wyatt was about to get crushed.
“Remember, no affinities.” Zephyr said.
“I don’t need any affinities.” Wyatt muttered.
Fuck. Now I wasn’t sure who was about to win.
Zephyr threw the first punch, advancing on Wyatt quickly. But Wyatt was an experienced fighter, trained in the Royal military. He blocked Zephyr easily before landing a few jabs to his ribs.
Zephyr barely winced, dodging another punch before he nailed Wyatt in the stomach. Wyatt grunted, but otherwise didn’t react.
They traded blows for several minutes, and it quickly became obvious that they were evenly matched. I started to relax slightly. Maybe if they didn’t hurt each other too badly, Skye wouldn’t be too angry. Or maybe if they hurt each other equally, Skye wouldn’t be too angry. At least not at me.
I glanced at Rafe next to me, unsurprised to see he was totally focused, his dark eyes darting back and forth in time with the punches. His hands were clenched into fists, his arms wincing to block or punch in time with Wyatt.
“This is too easy,” Zephyr panted slightly after nailing Wyatt in the jaw. Wyatt’s head snapped back, and he grunted.
“Fuck, not the face!” Wyatt growled.
“My sister is stuck with you, she won’t care if I break your jaw.” Zephyr said roughly. Wyatt threw a combo to Zephyr’s face, clipping his cheekbone. “Dude! She’ll be pissed if you hurtmyface, though.”
“Your sister is already mad at me, how much worse could it get?” Wyatt said.
She actually wasn’t mad at him at all anymore, I was pretty sure. She and Wyatt had shared a desperate kiss outside the door and then she’d invited him to stay with us. Rafe and I made eye contact as he was obviously thinking the same. Zephyr must’ve been too busy with Willow and Mia already to have known.
“Why are you okay with that?!” Zephyr shouted suddenly. He shoved Wyatt in a very non-sparring way. Rafe cringed.
Wyatt stumbled backward, then caught himself. “I’m not!” He cried, his voice raised. “It fuckingkillsme!”
Rafe hissed through his teeth.
“Why don’t you fucking fix it?!” Zephyr swung hard, and Wyatt barely shifted away in time. “Why do you keep making it worse?!”
“I’m fucking trying,” Wyatt panted as Zephyr landed a punch to his stomach. “I’m trying to–”
