“That makes me feel like I’m being selfish and a dick.”
“You’re neither. Everyone, including Chase, wants you to succeed, Hollis. Take a few weeks off, spend some time with Chase, and things will slowly get back to being okay.”
“Will they ever be okay for Chase?”
“I don’t know, but I have a huge amount of faith that they will be.”
“Why? This is terrible shit, Morgan.”
“I know. But look at Patrick. Surrounded by people who care about him, Patrick turned out pretty good.”
“That’s true.” I nodded. I didn’t need to tell Morgan that there were still times when Patrick had a stray nightmare, or his insecurities got the best of him. Morgan knew all of this. “You know, when I heard everything that had happened, I wanted to find that man, take him out to the middle of nowhere, and beat him until he was an inch away from death. Then just leave him so he could die a slow and painful death,” I admitted.
“I know. But regardless of it being justified, you’d go to jail. And it’d probably be for a really long time because you’re basically a weapon. So instead of all of us coming together to help, it would tear the family apart. And guess who would bear the brunt of that guilt?”
“Chase.”
“Exactly. Chase doesn’t need you to get revenge for him. He needs his oldest brother whom he looks up to the most.” I nodded as Morgan flung his arm around my shoulders. “Take some time off. That’s what he needs, and that’s what you need.”
“I will,” I promised. I began to think about my training schedule and how much I could afford to take off from a training perspective.
“How’s Patrick doing?” Morgan asked out of nowhere. My mind flashed to the shower that Patrick and I shared before everyone came over for dinner.
“Patrick is doing good.”
“He looks really good. He looks happy.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I quickly thought back to what he said to our grandma during dinner about me being a great catch for anyone. It was the way he said anyone rather than a girl like Grandma had said. Did he think there was something going on between Patrick and me? I decided to not let on that I was possibly onto him for thinking something was up.
“He’s happy. He loves what he does for a living,” I confirmed.
I felt Morgan’s eyes on me and slowly turned my head to look at him. The expression on his face was one that silently asked if we were both going to play dumb. And yes, yes we were. We finished our beers and then headed inside.
“I’m going to get going. Our flight is early.”
“Thank you for coming to the fight and for helping Grandma and Grandpa get around.”
Morgan hugged me and said, “You looked good out there. You’re in the best shape of your life.” He looked me in the eyes as soon as we pulled apart. “I know your mind and heart have taken somewhat of a beating lately. Make sure you’re taking care of this,” Morgan said as he patted the side of my head.
“I am and will.” I walked him to the door. “And Patrick watches out for me.”
Morgan turned around and had a smile on his face.
“I know he does. Patrick would take a bullet for you.” I started to feel warm and nodded at Morgan. “I’ll see you back home over the next few days, Hollis.”
“See you then.”
For the rest of the evening, I watched junk TV with Patrick while in bed. Everyone had been right, I needed to at least take a few weeks to decompress and be around to support my family with Chase. Patrick and I shared a Twix candy bar in between kissing and the noise of the TV. When I turned the TV off, I rolled onto my side to face him.
“I lost tonight,” I murmured the obvious. “My perfect record is gone.”
“Yeah, but you know what?”
“What?”
“You aren’t a fighter because you’re obsessed with the records. You fight because you love it and you love to compete.”
“You’re right. It still stings, though.”
