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Ten
Seven months.I could have been watching this for seven months, and they kept this from me? There are things in life that are forgivable. This is not one of them. They would pay. I wasn’t sure how or when, but I promised myself they would pay for keeping this a secret.
Every single one of them failed to mention they practiced shirtless.
It would have been nice to have a bit of a heads up, so I could mentally prepare myself for the display of muscles and skill. The practice mat covered almost the entire back half of a warehouse that had been converted into a martial arts studio, so there was plenty of room for the guys to stretch, warm-up, and spar with each other.
I spent the first half-hour stretching with Vince and Sky before finding a safe place to sit away from the action where I could watch each of them.
Without speaking, they each tugged their shirts off, and Vince faced Luca while Sky and Gavin moved to a different area. Noah stood in the middle while the pairs fist-bumped each other.
“Fight,” Noah called, and both pairs stepped toward their opponents. My eyes darted back and forth trying to trail the movements of both fights.
I expected something more along the lines of kicks and punches like I learned in my self-defense lessons, but there was a fluidity and grace that I knew I never showed. I’d watched UFC fights with them before. Well, they were on while I read on my phone, but this didn’t seem to be the same either.
With Vince’s superhuman strength, I doubted Luca would be much of a challenge, but I was so very wrong. Where Vince was bulk and raw strength, Luca was quick and agile. He seemed to never stop moving, making Vince waste his energy on just keeping up with him. I cringed when Vince got a solid punch in, but Luca countered with a low kick that took Vince’s feet out from under him. He used his falling momentum to roll over his shoulder, away from Luca and landed on the balls of his feet in a crouch. Luca grinned and roundhouse kicked, aiming at Vince’s head.
Vince blocked the blow and stood, continuing the fight as I directed my focus to Sky and Gavin. They seemed to be much more evenly matched in strength and speed, which actually made me more nervous. They returned each strike and kick almost instantly. It was almost like they knew what the other was about to do. Was that a part of being at their skill level? Being able to predict their opponent, or was it from years of training together?
Gavin ducked and spun around Sky’s back and flipped both of them on the ground with Sky in a hold.
Noah counted to three, then Gavin released Sky. They both jumped to their feet.
“That was a good one. I thought you were going for a kidney shot.” Sky laughed while they waited for the other fight to finish.
Vince was visibly tiring but wasn’t going easy on Luca. They were both dripping sweat, and I forced myself to look away before any of them caught me staring at their bare chests.
Luca got in two punches to Vince’s stomach before Vince growled and wrapped his arms around Luca’s and threw him to the ground. In one swift move, he had Luca pinned, and Noah counted to three again.
“Nice job.” Noah moved in and started talking to them. He was mimicking some of the punches, and Vince nodded along.
“Is it easier or harder fighting each other when you’ve been training together your whole lives?” I asked Gavin and Sky.
“It depends. We know each other's weaknesses and strengths and know how to play on those, but at the same time, they know ours.” Sky shrugged.
“I think it makes it harder because we can’t get lazy and be predictable or fall into patterns because it’s easy for us to recognize that,” Gavin replied.
“I guess it works for us cause none of us win every time? We can each beat each other, but it’s up to how hard we’re trying.”
I guess that made sense although I was surprised any of them could win against Vince. I guess his strength wasn’t as impossible to overcome as I thought.
Noah rotated in against Luca, and Gavin faced off against Vince, leaving Sky to act as referee. If that’s what they were called in fighting.
I didn’t think Gavin stood a chance against Vince, not that I would ever say that aloud, but he surprised me. He used his speed to avoid most of Vince’s advances.
It was mesmerizing watching them, and I did not mind one bit. When we first met, it was hard not to compare them to each other. Now, they were each so attractive and important to me that I saw them as they are rather than if they’re shorter than one or broader than another.
I also didn’t know that I found sweat sexy. Up until this moment in my life, I thought it was gross, stinky, and something that should be avoided at all cost.
Oh, no.
No.
Seeing them work hard enough that sweat was streaming down their stomachs and dripping off their arms was more attractive here than in the stinky school weight room where there was always the audience of the girls’ soccer team. Thoughts of touching them kept creeping up faster than I could push them away. I wanted to run my fingers over each of their chests and down their abs––
“Ave?” Sky called.
I glanced over at him to see him staring at me with concern across his brows. “Are you okay?”
