"Liam?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. For being honest with me."
His smile was warm, genuine. "Always, Aria. With you, always."
I drove home in a daze, my mind replaying the conversation, the kiss, the weight of what I'd learned. Six men. One woman. A family built on unconventional foundations but held together by genuine care and commitment.
It should have seemed crazy. Maybe it was crazy.
But as I lay in bed that night, staring at the ceiling, all I could think was that it also felt like possibility. Like something I'd been searching for without knowing it.
Like maybe, just maybe, it could be exactly what I needed too.
Eight
Ethan
My muscles burned in a good way as I swung out towards Gabriel, hoping to make contact with one of my heavy, red boxing gloves.
I didn't have many releases for my pent-up frustrations, so whenever I got the opportunity, I liked to engage in my favourite pastime, boxing.
I was thrilled to learn that at least one of the other dads liked boxing as well, so Gabriel and I made it a point to get together to box once a week. I flattered myself as a better boxer than him, but I knew that, in reality, he could probably kick my ass.
My punch swung wide and Gabriel ducked out of the way, swinging his own fist down into my gut for a low blow.
"Fuck," I grunted.
"Come on," Gabriel huffed between breaths. "I know you can do better than that."
I stood upright and backed away from Gabriel. I sniffed in, recovering from the blow, and then went back in.
I was determined to land at least one solid hit against Gabriel before we ended our match for the day. He always got the best of me and I wanted the upper hand for once.
I swung out, but Gabriel threw up his forearm and blocked it with expertise. I threw my other fist, but he parried and stepped out to the side.
"Fuck. You move quick for a guy with a stick so far up his ass," I growled.
Gabriel relaxed his body and dropped his fists.
"What the fu–" I threw a punch and made hard contact with Gabriel's face. He stumbled back and dropped to his butt. He tilted his head back and then started laughing.
"Well played." Gabriel had one overarching weakness: his ego. I didn't like to exploit things like that unless I needed to, but I was getting tired and I wanted to take Gabriel down.
Mission accomplished.
I used my teeth to peel off the Velcro of my right glove and then reached out a hand and pulled Gabriel to his feet. We each pulled off our gloves and then climbed out of the ring.
"Fair match," Gabriel said with a smile, holding out his fist for a bump, "but you won't get me like that next time." I met his fist bump with my own.
"Sorry. I had to win."
Gabriel rolled his eyes and then we made our way over to our bags. I pulled out my phone and saw that I had a couple of missed calls from Liam. I looked over at Gabriel and saw that he had his head cocked to the side in confusion as well.
"Hey," I called over.
"Missed calls from Liam?"
