I move close to get Blake’s back when I see a few guys who just walked in stop and watch. Wade, Blake’s opponent, stalks in our direction, stopping just shy of the Reece-Blake faceoff. The tension is palpable.
“I’m giving you the opportunity to walk away, Reece,” Blake says, a heavy growl rumbling his words.
“Yeah?” Reece tilts his head and sneers. “Well I don’t appreciate you standing between me and a little pre-fight head.”
Oh shit.
Blake knocks Reece back into his buddies. They advance. The short shit, finally getting the fight he wanted, throws a punch. I grab his fist and twist. He drops to the ground. Blake moves on Reece again.
Wade wraps two arms around Blake’s shoulders. “Not worth it, man.”
“Get the fuck off me.” Blake jerks out of his hold.
“Daniels,” Wade says, jumping in front of Blake and pushing him back. “Don’t do this. You’re giving him what he wants.”
Blake lunges toward Reece, barely held back by Wade. “He disrespected my—”
“What the motherfuck is going on here?”
All eyes dart toward the furious voice of Cameron, who’s barreling toward us. His fists are clenched, eyebrows dropped low, and his body looks as if it’s about go all kinds of Hulk on his corporate business get-up.
He shoves Reece and steps into his space. “You pull this shit in my house?” Another shove. He points to the training center floor. “You’re a guest in my motherfucking house, and this is the respect you show? You little fuck. I could fire you right now. You want that? No more fat paychecks to buy all those trampy bitches you pay for.”
“Cam, man.” Reece shakes his head and throws his hands up. “I didn’t do shit! Daniels attacked me.”
What a *. I’m really going to enjoy knocking his ass out.
“Didn’t do shit? You disrespect my assistant in front of her man and you think that’s nothing?” He jabs a meaty finger toward Blake. “He had every right to crack your skull.” He turns to make eye contact with every one of us. His furious glare would make lesser men tuck tail and run. “Those of you who collect your paychecks from this organization will obey its principles. Loyalty. Honor. Respect. Self-control. If this is a problem for you, pack your bags and get the fuck out.”
“Yeah, bitch.” Blake’s tacked on words are aimed directly at Reece.
“Blake.” Cameron gives Blake one look that he shrugs off immediately. “If this is not your home training center”—he glares at the visitors from both Reece and Wade’s camps—“when you’re in my house I fucking own you.”
The group nods and keeps their mouths shut.
“I was fighting for the UFL before you all tried on your first jockstrap. It’s an organization that demands respect, or it was once. I will bring it back to where it was before Taylor Gibbs destroyed it, and that means crushing any piss-dicks that get in my way.” The room is silent. This guy is tough as shit. He must’ve been an animal in the octagon. I make a mental note to Google some of his old fight footage. “We have a multi-million dollar fight to showcase tomorrow night. Do not fuck this up.”
With that he turns and heads back to his office. Blake and I wait the few seconds it takes for everyone to break up and go their respective ways.
He steps up to me. “I owe you, man. Thanks for looking out for Layla.” He offers his fist and I raise mine for a bump.
“No problem, man. You’d do the same for me.”
“Yeah, I would.” He crosses his arms at his chest and smiles. “What’s up with you and Mac? Layla said you two are hookin’ up.”
I shake my head, trying to understand what’s up with Mac and me enough to put it into words.
“Oh shit.” He punches my chest. “You too, huh?” He laughs so loud he gets the attention of the room. “And another one bites the dust.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I’m grinning and pretty sure I know exactly what it means.
“Nothing, man.” He moves past me, chuckling and shaking his head. “I’m off to find my woman. She’s gonna love this.”
Yeah, she’s not the only one. I hide my grin and move to the locker room.
As if thoughts of Mac weren’t enough to have me flyin’ high, Cameron’s speech, along with my recent vendetta to take down Reece for fucking with my family, has me fired up.
Things couldn’t possibly get better, except taking the next step with Mac. Feeling stronger and braver than I’ve ever felt, I consider what sex with her would be like. I grin and welcome the tiny nauseating twist in my gut.
She could be it.
My cure.
Fifteen
I walk through the flames
Pulse throbbing, head light
Naked, exposed, and ashamed.
Only for you will I fight this fight.
--Ataxia
Mac
It’s funny how looking through the box feels different now. Rex’s no longer the boy who clung to me for survival, or the memory that I kept alive for my own. The relationship we had built on fear and revenge now seems insignificant. Today, we have so much more. Shared experiences and opening up vulnerabilities have replaced old feelings with new ones. Better ones.