I picked up my shoe and chucked it at him, but he closed the door before it hit him.
I didn’t care that he was teasing me about Aspen. What bothered me was that he noticed to begin with. Had I been that obvious?
As I turned back to my window, I realized maybe I had. And then I thought, why did it matter?
* * *
When my alarmwent off the next morning, I had to drag myself out of bed. Aspen stayed up until well after one o’clock in the morning, which meant I had too. Then, I tossed and turned all night, waking up at least once every hour. Hopefully, it would be a slow day, and I’d have a chance to catch a nap in my office.
Unfortunately, I had no such luck. The gym was packed almost from the moment we opened the doors. One employee called in sick, and then Bronze had to leave early to take Blue to the doctor. Which meant I had to fill in for him as a sparring partner for one of the fighters he was training for Lorcan.
I usually didn’t mind sparring with the fighters. It was a great workout and helped me keep my skills finely tuned. But I was tired from the lack of sleep, and Bronze was working with my least favorite of the fighters. I couldn’t say why, but there was something about the guy I didn’t like.
So, when he landed a kick to my ribs much harder than anyone should have in a practice setting, I didn’t hesitate to put him in his place.
“What the fuck?” he screamed. “You broke my fucking nose!”
“And you damn near broke my ribs! This is practice. You pull your punches and kicks. I won’t tell you again.”
“Shane, go get cleaned up and get out of here. You’re done for the day,” Savior said and stepped into the ring.
“This is bullshit!” Shane yelled and stormed off like an angry child.
“Let’s have a look,” Savior said and carefully raised my shirt. “Damn. It might be broken.”
“It better not be.”
“I’ll get some ice and meet you upstairs.”
He found me resting awkwardly on the couch in my office. I wasn’t comfortable by any means, but it was the only position I could manage that didn’t make my ribs hurt worse.
I groaned in pain when he placed the bag of ice on my side.
“I’m going to have a word with Bronze about him. He’s hurt two other fighters since he’s been here, and he consistently has a bad attitude.”
“Maybe he got the adjustment he needed today.”
“Dude, you should’ve seen it from where I was standing. His feet came off the ground, and he went flying when you hit him.”
“You’ll have to save the video for me so I can watch it when it doesn’t hurt to laugh.”
“Why don’t you go ahead and go home for the day? Game and I can handle things until Bronze gets back,” he suggested.
“Yeah, I think I will. My bed will be much more comfortable than this couch.”
I was right. My bed was better, but getting to it was hell. I felt every bump and bounce on the way home. Not to mention, some woman on a cell phone pulled out in front of me, and I had to slam on my brakes to keep from plowing into her.
Once I made it home, I crawled into bed, happy I was at least getting to take the nap I’d been hoping for all day. I was almost asleep when my phone dinged with a text.
“Mother fucker,” I growled in frustration and damn near ripped the cord out of the wall when I snatched my phone from my nightstand. But my mood suddenly changed when I saw who it was from.
Aspen:I was wondering if I could make dinner for you tonight to thank you for all of your help this week.
Coal:I’d like that. What time?
Aspen:Can you be here around seven?
Coal:Yes. Can I bring anything?
