Chapter 16
Present Day
Zack
I woke up with a pounding headache. The feeling had become pretty common for me over the last few months, and even more so during the last week.
I should have been jumping out of bed, excited, and a little nervous, for my twin brother. Tonight he'd face the biggest fight of his life, the best opponent he'd ever come up against. It was a massive opportunity for him to really stake his claim on the title, and any normal brother would have been right behind him every step of the way.
But I didn't feel normal anymore. I felt broken.
I stepped out of bed and sunk several painkillers to try to calm down the incessant beating in my head. I had to man up and move past all of this, it was really eating away at me. It was about a week ago now, since I stormed off after a few minutes of light sparring with Cade, and I hadn't spoken to him since.
He was probably wondering what the f*ck I was doing, why I was acting like a spoilt brat, throwing my toys out of the pram and walking out on him when he needed my help. If only I was honest and actually told him what was going on in my head, he'd probably understand. But no, I just kept it all inside, unwilling to reveal my insecurities to anyone.
Gemma was at the source of it all. I couldn't help my feelings for her and yet there was nothing I could do about them. Every time I saw her with him I felt this constriction in my chest, this hopeless feeling that I could never have her. It was something I'd always wanted, and now Cade had just waltzed in, as he did, and taken her from under my nose.
I walked into my bathroom and looked in the mirror. My eyes were dark and sullen, my hair unkempt and wild. I could taste the smoke still lingering on the edge of my tongue, remnants of yet another night spent smoking and drinking late into the night.
It had to stop. Stop smoking, stop partying, stop f*cking random chicks.
I turned back to my bed to see a thatch of hair splayed out over the duvet, an arm hanging down the side of the bed. It was that girl Tess, the girl who was always chasing me down. She was the third different girl I'd taken home this week.
I walked out into my living room. There were empty bottles of vodka and beer scattered everywhere, the remains of a week of heavy drinking.
I was young, wealthy, and powerful in my own way. I had dozens of women coming onto me every night, a flash apartment in the center of town, and a large network of family and friends, and, right now, a f*cking hot girl in my bed.
So why the f*ck wasn't it enough?! What was my f*cking problem?!
My phone started ringing loudly somewhere over in the living room, stuck down the side of the sofa where I'd f*cked Tess the night before. I walked over and reached in, dragging it out and picking it up without even looking at the number.
“Yeah,” I said dryly. It didn't seem to matter to me who it was.
“Hey Zack, you sound terrible!” The voice perked me up immediately. It was Gemma.
“Oh hey Gem, sorry, yeah, rough night. What's up?”
“Oh nothing, I just wondered if you wanted to grab a drink before the fight later on? It might be nice to catch up and everything, get all excited for later.”
I shook the cobwebs out of my head. “Oh yeah, that sounds great. Shall we meet near the arena? Like 6ish?” I glanced at my watch. It was already nearing 2 PM.
“Errr, yeah, 6 works well for me.”
“OK, great, I'll text you where to meet.”
“Cool, see you later,” she finished, her voice excited and energetic.
I shut off the phone and threw it back down onto the sofa, collapsing next to it.
“Hey you,” I heard the voice come from behind me.
I arched my neck to see Tess come walking in, one of my shirts hanging down over the tops of her thighs. She stumbled slightly as she got closer and giggled drunkenly, before climbing on top of me, straddling my lap as I sat there.
She started kissing my neck and sucking on my earlobe, whispering something about repeating what we did last night. But that was with the alcohol still dominating my actions. Now I was sober, and wanted nothing to do with her.
“Sorry babe,” I said casually, “I think you should go.”
She leaned back and unbuttoned the top of her shirt, revealing nothing but skin underneath. “Are you sure?” she teased, her hand sliding down to my crotch.
I could feel myself hardening against my wishes, thoughts of Gemma now shooting around in my head. Suddenly this girl, pretty as she was, didn't seem all that appealing to me.
I pulled her hand back up and lifted her off me, standing up as I did. She was light as a feather, her slim frame not carrying the curves I liked.
“Sorry Tess,” I really do have things to do.
Her expression turned to one of anger and disappointment as she turned and huffed back towards my bedroom, storming off like a child. A moment later she came back out, glaring at me through evil eyes as she pulled her skimpy dress back over her pink underwear.
I couldn't help but laugh inside at the sight of her storming around like a child. It was kinda pathetic the way she'd behave when she wasn't getting what she wanted. I guess, in a way, I was being the same.
I watched on as she walked out and slammed the door, ready to complete the walk of shame back to her dorm room on the other side of the town.
It was time for me to get past all this shit. Tonight would be a new beginning. I'd support my brother as he fought for his future. I'd be behind him every step of the way.