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“Fine, I’ll take a fucking shower,” Ford retorts, pushing open the door to the changing room and stomping off inside.
“What an ungrateful fuck,” Beast grumbles, shaking his head. “You’d think I’d asked him to cut open a vein the way he just reacted.”
I grab a towel from the stack and run it over my sweaty face, stifling a laugh. “So, what do you think?”
“I think the kid’s got major issues and a shitload of baggage. Did you see those marks on his wrists?”
“I did, and what else…?”
“And I wanna know why he’sreallyhere.”
“You don’t believe his story?” I ask, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge situated besides the shelving unit. We treat our members well, providing them with a supply of chilled water, fresh towels, toiletries and snacks. It’s not all blood and violence at Tales. I like a little balance.
“Oh, that I do believe. It won’t be long before that kid is beating the shit out of his stepdad. Pretty sure I’ll be there to cheer him on when he does.”
“But—” I persist.
“But there’s more to it than that. He sought out you and this club for another reason and I wanna know why.”
“Yeah, he’s hiding something for sure,” I reply, chucking the used towel in the washbag and side-stepping Beast so I can follow Ford into the changing room and question him some more.
“Where are you going?” Beast asks, gripping my arm and pulling me in for a kiss.
I relent, kissing him back until I hear the sound of people entering the gym and step out of his hold. Most members by now know that we’re an item, but I refuse to give public displays of affection, not because I don’t love Beast, but because I don’t want to share what we have with any other fucker, and especially not the fuckers who choose to train at my gym.
“There’s no time like the present. I want answers.”
“But he’s taking a shower.”
I give Beast a scathing look. “I’m well aware. I’ll wait in the changing room. Keep them out for a bit. I want this conversation in private.”
“Fine, but if the little shit starts something just give me a shout.”
“He’s a kid. I’ve taken on men twice his age and size, and won.”
“I know this, but he’s also a kid who’s clearly been beaten down in life, and those kids are the ones you need to watch out for.”
“Are you talking from experience?” I ask, my voice softening as I look up at him.
“Yeah, I am,” he admits.
“Beast…” I begin, then stop, remembering we’re not alone.
“Go talk to him. I’ll keep this lot out,” he replies, then strides over to the two men who just entered and greets them both with a fist bump and a slap on the back.
Entering the changing room, I take a seat on the bench in the main locker area and wait for Ford to appear. When the shower switches off, I call out letting him know I’m here. The last thing I need is for the kid to walk out naked as the day he was born.
“What’s this, checking to see if I’ve cleaned up to your standards?” he asks, glaring at me from across the room. Thankfully he’s wearing his jogging pants.
“I wanted to talk, that’s all,” I reply, trying and failing not to notice the bruises covering his chest and arms. “That happen often?”
“Often enough,” he shrugs, pressing his finger against a particularly nasty looking bruise on his abdomen. “I got this from my stepdad because I refused to steal money from one of the care workers in the childrens’ home I live at.”
“I see,” I reply, at a loss of fucking words despite the anger coiling in my stomach. “So you don’t live with your parents then?”
“Nah, been in care for the last few years, since I was ten.”
“So how come this still happens?” I ask, gritting my jaw at the abuse scattered across his undernourished frame.
