“No worries. Don’t you worry at all. This place needs a little excitement to keep us all on our toes, anyway.” His voice was gentle, kind. There was no trace of anger.
A knock at the door to the room made her jump, despite knowing there was at least one trusted police officer and Alex between her and anyone planning to take her away. Not to mention any number of children and their returning parents still downstairs as witnesses if anything should happen at this point.
Greg entered the room carrying a small tray with three steaming mugs. “I brought up some tea.”
Gary made an odd noise. Sort of a cross between a growl and a groan.
Greg rolled his eyes. “I brought coffee for you, ruffian.”
“You like it rough, lover.” Gary grinned and took a mug covered in cat images.
Greg rolled his eyes, but there was an affectionate smile playing around the corners of his mouth. Maybe they’d interrupted a good date night between Gary and Greg.
Another thing Elisa felt guilty about.
“I noticed you like the mint tea in the evenings when you’ve come back.” Greg sat next to her and brought the tray close enough for her to see. “I brewed us a couple of mugs of this fantastic blend of mint and chamomile, with a hint of orange and rose blossoms. Doesn’t it smell incredible? Most of the people we have training here don’t have the palate to appreciate it.”
Most of the people training at Revolution MMA drank water or sports drinks, as far as Elisa had seen. They always had their sports bottles with them and the only people drinking tea or coffee were parents waiting as kids were taking classes.
But then, it was one of those thoughtful touches. Elisa imagined other places might only have a water station. Gary and Greg went out of their way to have comforts and conveniences available for the people who came to their school. Even this room had been created for people who trained with them to have a quiet place to rest the night before a fight. It spoke volumes about the two men and the environment they’d created within their school.
Thinking about it, Brandon had wanted those sorts of touches for Hope’s Crossing Kennels, too.
Here she was, bringing insanity down on all these wonderful people. “I’m not good for all of you. Every time I think I might be in a place to stand up for myself, my ex yanks the footing right out from under me. Worse, he threatens to hurt the people around me. I shouldn’t stay anywhere near any of you.”
“You should stay right where you want to be,” Gary said quietly. He leaned against the far wall, sipping his coffee from his cat mug.
Greg lifted a mug with a German Shepherd Dog silhouette and a caption that said I can make it to the fence in 2 seconds. Can you?, holding it out to her until she took it from him. He took up his own mug, covered in cockatiels, and breathed in the rising steam from it. “You’re a kind person, Elisa. And I can understand why you wouldn’t want to cause trouble for the people around you. But you’d do more harm than good just up and leaving us all. For one thing, we’d miss you. And Boom would be heartbroken.”
Elisa bit her lip, wrapping her hands around her mug until the heat almost burned her palms. “How is staying and letting my ex take potshots at you any way he can better? He’s going to try to ruin your school or the kennels next. This was too public not to cause some trouble for you. He’ll try to mess up the careers of anyone who gets between him and me.”
“He’ll try,” Gary agreed. “But trust me. Greg and I have had plenty of people try to ruin us over the years. It’d be one more challenge. Not the end of the world.”
Greg nodded. “And don’t you worry about the boys at Hope’s Crossing. Every one of them can handle himself.”
She didn’t reply, chewing on her lower lip.
“You’re worth it.” Gary came over to sit on her other side. “Don’t doubt it for a minute. Alex is out there doing what he does because there’s something about you that brings out the best in him.”
“I don’t know if it’s the best.” The words fell out of her mouth, and she grimaced at how bitter they sounded.
“He’s got his issues to work through, and they’re a little closer to the surface around you,” Gary agreed. “But he’d have kept trying to bury them to be the perfect father for Boom if you hadn’t come along. He doesn’t need to be perfect around you. And he definitely doesn’t need to be a father figure.”
Greg snickered.
Finally, Elisa had to crack a smile. “You two are incorrigible with the innuendoes.”
“Who, us?” Greg spread his free hand wide across his chest in mock affront. “If you catch what we’re throwing around, your mind went there, too.”
Elisa shook her head. With everything so serious, she’d been wound up so tightly she’d thought she’d snap. Being here with Gary and Greg, going on about completely inappropriate things, seemed silly.