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I gave him a dry look.
Beckham smiled. “The details, I mean. How well do you remember?”
Over a career that spanned almost a decade, I had a few fights that I remembered every move, every pivot, every fall to the mat, every strike as it hit my body, and that was one of them. I knew it was my last, not that I’d announced it yet.
It was my quickest win, over and done in less than three minutes.
Pure rage, anger that was being funneled through my fists and feet and legs, fueled those three minutes. Inside that ring, I was in control. As I thought about it now, until I decided to move and buy Wilson’s Gym, it was the last time I really felt that way.
But instead of explaining that to Beckham, I simply said, “I remember enough.”
“Do you miss it?”
“Yes.” I took a drink of beer and sighed. “And no.”
Before he answered, Beckham stared through the window by the kitchen sink overlooking the lake. “You sure you want to be stuck at a desk all day?”
I shrugged. “I don’t think I will be, once I get the lay of the land. Amy said I could call her if I needed help, and there’s a manager that’s been running the place for her for the past seven or so years.”
“He any good?”
“Don’t be sexist, Beckham.”
He grinned. “She any good?”
“She is not aware she has a new boss, so I don’t know anything other than what Amy told me,” I admitted.
“That’ll be fun.”
I rubbed a hand over my eyes. “Appreciate you pointing that out.”
“It wouldn’t be so bad if you weren’t so … you.”
My hand dropped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He tipped his beer in my direction. “Aiden, you have the charm of a rabid porcupine.”
“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”
“Nope. Just quality time with my brothers while we assemble bright pink princess furniture.”
I rolled my eyes.
Deacon poked his head into the kitchen. “Anya just called for you.” He held out a measuring tape, which I took with a sigh.
I took the steps two at a time and schooled my face when I pushed open her door.
“Was the tape measure lost?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Sorry, gingersnap, I was talking to Uncle Beckham about my new job.”
She snuggled back underneath her blanket, and in the dim light of her room, I could see the curiosity light her eyes. The canopy was effectively forgotten, which wasn’t a bad thing. Surreptitiously, I tucked the measuring tape into the pocket of my gym shorts.
“Is it your first day tomorrow?”
With a nod, I sat on the edge of her bed. “I signed all the papers today, but I’m going to go just for a little bit in the morning so Miss Amy can show me a few things on the computer. Grandma will be here when I leave, so she’ll probably make you breakfast when you wake up.”
Her lips pursed in thought. “Can I have blueberry pancakes?”
