But before he can finish, the guy grins at me as he extends his hand. We bump our fists, and he pulls me into a one-armed hug. “Williams. Well, I’ll be damned. I’ve heard the rumors, but I figured it was all crap because you’d have already been here if you had actually moved back.”
“Been busy.” I pull away, looking around the gym. “Nice place you’ve got here.”
Quentin nods. “Top of the line. Perk of the job.”
It really is. The equipment is top notch. The whole place is. My gaze lands on the ring that’s placed in the center of the room where two guys are sparring already.
“You guys know each other?” Nico asks, clearly confused.
Quentin and I exchange a knowing look, the corner of my mouth tipping upward. “Went to school together.”
Quentin smirks. “That’s one way of putting it.”
Nico’s eyes narrow at us, but he doesn’t probe further.
It’s the truth. We went to school together. We played football, chased girls, and got into trouble together. He came from a fucked-up family, and saw the same demons he was fighting in me. He was the one who introduced me to boxing in the first place. He was big in the world of underground fighting back in the days, and he got me an in. The money was good, but more than that, I needed the release for all the pent-up tension and hurt I was dealing with.
Quentin eyes me. “Keeping in shape, I see.”
“Gotta do it so I can chase the bad guys.”
His brows shoot up. “Jenkins let you in?”
I shake my head. “Not willingly, that’s for damn sure.”
Quentin chuckles at that. He’s equally familiar with Jenkins, if not more so. “You here for a workout? I could use a sparring partner. It will be like in the good ol’ days.”
“You box?” This comes from Nico, who just shakes his head. “Forget I asked. I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Hey now. Nothing shady happening here, man,” Quentin slaps him on the shoulder. “Just two old friends catching up. So what do you say, Williams?”
“Hell yeah.”
We make our way to the ring where the two guys have to be pulled apart. Quentin tells them something that has them scurrying off. I peel off my shirt, tossing it into my gym bag, then grab some tape and start wrapping my fingers.
“Coming prepared.” Nico hums softly as he watches me with interest. “Didn’t take you for a fighter.”
“There is a lot you still gotta learn.”
I’m just finishing when Quentin comes to me and hands me a pair of red gloves before we climb through the ropes and into the ring.
From the corner of my eye, I can see a few heads turning in our direction when they see Quentin enter the ring, but all my focus is aimed at the man opposite me.
“I see the gym’s not just for show,” I murmur as we slowly start to circle one another.
It’s been a few years since we last fought each other, and he’s even more ripped than he was back in the day. He’s a few inches shorter than me, but what he lacks in height, he has in build.
“Not in the slightest.”
Before I can blink, his fist jabs toward me, quick and on point.
Wicked.
Can’t forget about that.
Quentin was always one wicked son of a bitch.
However, I’m faster, slipping out of his reach by half an inch.
