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Me: Are either of you around?
Alex: Yeah mate. What’s up?
Luke: Do you know what time it is? Too fucking early!
Me: Meet at the gym? I need some advice.
Alex: You? Advice from us?! I need to hear this *crying laughing emoji*
Luke: Have you seen the time?!
Me: I don’t ask for much. I could use your opinion, as shocking as it is.
Luke: *need coffee GIF*
Luke: I’ll be there. Give me an hour.
Me: Thanks boys. See you there.
Alex: *thumbs up emoji*
The weights area in Savage Boxing Gym was quiet, for once, most of the action concentrated around one of the three boxing rings where Axel Savage, eldest of the four brothers who owned the gym, was sparring with John “Behemoth” O’Flaherty. I changed and headed over to the weights, where Alex was waiting for me. We lifted in silence for a while until Luke turned up. As he lay back on the bench, lifting the barbell with Alex spotting him, I put down my weights and sank onto the empty bench next to them. I waited until Luke had finished his first set of reps, then turned to them both.
“Thanks for meeting me. I have a question, and I want honest answers.” I paused to wipe my face with a towel. “Do you think I have a good work-life balance?”
Alex was the first to reply, with brutal honesty. “Fuck, no. Your life is work. You eat, sleep, and breathe it. Why?”
Luke sat up, giving me his full attention, his gaze speculative. “Sorry, mate, I agree with Alex. Is this something to do with Avery?”
“Avery? You still seeing her? When do I get to meet her?” Alex spoke before I could reply.
“Yes, it’s Avery. No, I’m not still seeing her, so you won’t get to meet her.”
“What did you do?” Luke gave me an accusing look.
I ran a hand through my hair, defeated. “I messed up. I’d planned a restaurant date for us, only, I got so caught up in work I lost track of the time. By the time I remembered and the taxi had picked me up, she’d been left waiting
for me for over an hour. I turned up as she was leaving the restaurant, and she told me she wanted to break things off.”
“You, my friend, are a fucking idiot. Fix it.”
“It’s not that simple, Alex.”
“You know,” Luke said slowly, “she asked me the other day if you cancel plans with me. Sounds like you had problems before this.”
Fuck. I pinched my brow, nausea churning in my stomach. My friends were right. “What do I do?”
Alex shrugged. “You’re better at this shit than I am. Don’t women like flowers and grovelling apologies? So I’ve heard, not that I’ve ever needed to use them.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course you haven’t. Luke? Any words of wisdom?”
“Me? Not likely. What about asking a woman for advice. Delia?”
“Hmm. That’s not a bad idea actually. Thanks.”
“Sorted.” Alex stood up straight. “Back to it. I don’t get a body like this without putting the work in.” He flexed his muscles, posing like a bodybuilder in a competition, and Luke and I both groaned in unison.
When our workout came to an end, and we were standing at the gym entrance ready to go our separate ways, Alex turned to me and Luke.
