They didn’t speak much—just moved.Hit.Blocked.Grappled.For two solid hours they danced and fought and learned each other’s bodies in a language only warriors understood.Sweat pooled, breath came harsh, and still they didn’t stop.
At one point, as Ty circled and reset his stance, he caught a flicker of movement in the dark corner of the gym.Oren, half-shadowed, arms folded across his chest, was watching them—eyes fixed, unreadable, intense.Ty’s chest tightened, something primal stirring—but then Dale came at him fast, and Ty had no choice but to snap back into motion.
The fight dragged out in a blur of strikes and blocks, Ty pushing himself harder than he had in months.When it finally ended, he dropped to the mat with a grunt, muscles trembling, lungs burning.Dale, the fit bastard, didn’t even look winded—standing over him, barely glistening with sweat, like he’d just finished a light warm-up.
As Ty lay back, catching his breath, he looked toward the corner again.Oren was gone.
Dale noticed, too.His gaze tracked Ty’s.“He was watching?”
Ty nodded, still breathing hard.“Yeah, but he slipped out just before the end.”
Dale crouched down beside him, close enough to touch, voice low.“Why do you think he didn’t come over?”
Ty sat up slowly.“He’s only ever been kissed by a man twice.”
Dale’s brow rose.
Ty gave him a wicked smirk.“Both times were me.”
Dale’s eyes darkened with interest.“Lucky bastard.”
Ty leaned forward, close enough to feel the heat radiating between them.“Want to even the score?”
Dale didn’t answer.He just grabbed a fistful of Ty’s shirt, yanked him in, and kissed him.
It was a battle.
Not soft.Not hesitant.Tongues clashed, teeth scraped, hands grappled.Ty pressed forward with heat and demand, and Dale met him with fire—until, at last, Ty let go, eased back, and let Dale take control.
The groan that slipped from Dale’s throat was guttural.He broke the kiss only when his lungs screamed for air.
“Fuck,” he breathed.“That was ...different.”
Dale’s smirk was slow and feral.“Yeah.Confident.Sure.You’re a dangerous man, Monroe.”
Ty nodded, serious now.“If I am not mistaken, we both want a future with him and with each other.But before we get there ...we’ve got a past to face.”
Dale’s gaze sobered.“One he doesn’t even remember.”
Ty looked toward the empty doorway.“But we do.And it’s about time we stopped protecting him from the past.He deserves to know the truth—every bloody piece of it.”
