Page 61 of The Fighter

I grinned at him, and he exhaled before running a hand through his hair and adjusting his pants. He pointed at my crotch, where the outline of my dick was clearly visible through the fabric. “Fix that, because Nik and Ben will be here in?—”

Down the hallway, Con’s front door beeped and opened.

He sighed heavily. “They’re here.”

“You better not be fucking!” A man’s voice called out from the direction of the door. It wasn’t Nik’s but it was vaguely familiar. “He’s got a concussion!”

Con lifted his gaze to the ceiling for a minute before eyeing me again. “I’m serious, do something about that.” He pointed to my dick again before marching out the door of the gym.

“There you are!” The same voice said, closer now.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do with my dick other than tuck it in my waistband and hope for the best. Although it was already softening at the sound of two more men in the apartment who I wasn’t friendly with.

I emerged from the gym and shut the door behind me. Nik, my nemesis, stood in the kitchen. His gaze immediately shifted to me, and he gave me a head-to-toe scan that should have been offensive but instead felt almost caring. He gave me a chin nod, like we were old friends.

The other man had his back to me, and at Nik’s gesture, he spun quickly. His blond hair was perfectly tousled, and his light eyes shone in the morning light invading Con’s apartment. He stood a few inches shorter than both Con and Nik and beamed a bright smile at me with his handsome face. While Con stood with a tight expression, clearly uncomfortable with the company, the man acted like this washishome. “Hey, we didn’t get a chance to meet before, because you were out of it, but I’m Ben.” He pointed a thumb at Con. “He has two friends, and I’m one of them. The other is this guy,” Now he pointed to Nik, “Who you apparently almost stabbed.” He wiggled his light eyebrows. “Would have paid to see that.”

Ben approached me, and I almost took a step back, unsure about this strange man in my space, but he caught me before I could. His arms wrapped around my waist, and hehuggedme. I stared at Con over his shoulder, dumbfounded at being touched so casually.

Con rubbed at his eyes like he was in pain. “Ben, for Christ’s sake, don’t just touch people without asking.”

“But he’s not justpeople.” He pulled out of the hug and patted my chest. “Wow, you really are a big boy.”

“Ben!” Con barked.

He backed away, palms in the air. “Sorry, I got carried away. This is an exciting time for Conrad.”

“I’m not a teenager on a first date.” Con was seething, but I liked it that he had friends that didn’t let him lose himself to guilt and memories. Maybe if I had someone like Ben, I could have handled the last five years better.

Con turned his ire to Nik. “Why do you always invite him along to things? I askedyouto come, nothim.”

“Hey,” Ben frowned. “I’m starting to feel unwelcome here.”

“You think?” Con snapped.

Nik shrugged and grabbed an apple from a bowl on Con’s island. “He showed up at my apartment this morning and demanded to join me on my errands. This was one of my errands, so he’s here.”

“Were you at the fight?” I asked Ben. His familiar voice was starting to trigger some memories.

Ben met my gaze, and his expression lost a lot of its humor. “Yeah, kid. I was.”

I let the kid comment go. But Con didn’t. “Don’t call him a kid.”

“You know what, Conrad?” Ben grabbed Nik’s apple, took a bite, and then handed it back to him. Nik didn’t even blink. “This is an A-B conversation between me and Tav. C your way out.”

Con’s nostrils flared. “I’m going to C you into your grave?—”

I placed a hand on Con’s back, and he snapped his jaw shut.

“Thanks for being with him there as a friend and someone he trusted,” I said.

Ben’s lips parted slightly in surprise, and Nik stopped mid-chew. Ben blinked and then smiled. “Yeah, of course. You feeling all right? You look better than when I last saw you, but that’s not saying much.”

“Better. Con knows a good doctor.”

Ben blinked again, his gaze shifting to Conrad before returning to me. “Yeah.Condoes.”

Conrad shifted next to me, and I got the feeling he was about to snap at his friend about something else, so I headed that off. “Did you guys eat? Want me to make you something?”