AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Can I talk to you?” He glances around, eyeing everyone suspiciously. “In private?”
“Uh, okay.”
What’s this about?
He grabs his jacket off the coat rack and I follow suit, walking up the basement steps behind him toward the parking lot.
He stops at his SUV, turning to me. “Sorry about the secrecy, but I didn’t want anyone to overhear. I heard you’re replacing Steve this weekend. Is that true?”
I nod, watching him stroke his beard. The fading bruise I gave him last week in the ring is barely visible on his cheek.
“I want you as my cornerman for the tournament,” he says, surprising the hell out of me.
“But you have Lawrence.” Everyone fights for him. I’m taking all the guys that aren’t lucky enough to get him.
“I know. He’s great at guiding me when I’m practicing here at the gym. But…” He looks around again, but we’re the only ones in the lot. “You know how I bombed pretty bad at the last tournament, right?”
“Yeah.” It was his first time, though. Lots of guys need more practice before they win.
“Not that Lawrence could have made much of a difference because of who my opponent was and all, but I wish I’d had more guidance in the ring during the fight. So that’s why I’d rather have you. I need your eyes looking at the big picture. Telling me what the guy has planned and what I should watch out for. And once I get punched a few times and my brain starts scrambling, what I should do to get back on track. Is that cool with you?”
“Yeah, of course.” I’m flattered, especially since he lobbied so hard to get Lawrence in the first place as his primary trainer.
He sighs in relief. “Good.”
“What are you going to tell Lawrence, though?”
He grimaces. “That’s the thing. It’s a delicate situation. He’s my girlfriend’s dad, so I can’t burn any bridges. I was thinking of telling him I want to support you during your first tournament as a cornerman. So don’t blab anything to him about why I’m really switching.”
I mime locking my lips with a key.
“So you’re quitting your regular job and everything? You’ll be a trainer full-time?”
“Yeah, at first. Uncle Marty and I talked about me possibly becoming general manager one day, then taking over for him.”
He nods, looking impressed. “Congrats. You’ll be good at it. And maybe you can get some things updated around here. Lexie keeps complaining about all the stuff she suggests to Marty to improve the place that he doesn’t want to deal with.”
“One thing at a time, man.”
He grins. “Right. My match is Sunday afternoon, so start coming up with some strategy for me, okay?”
I nod. Shouldn’t be hard. I’m pretty familiar with Ethan’s strengths and weaknesses. Just have to see who he’s paired with.
“And hopefully I’m not fighting some Russian monster robot,” he says, shaking his head.
Who the hell did he fight last time?
“I’ve got you covered, don’t worry.”
We say goodbye and I head home, those nerves from earlier returning and multiplying the closer it gets to nine-thirty. I shouldn’t be nervous. Tessa made it pretty clear she’s on board with the plan for tonight. I mean, she asked me to lick her pussy. I still can’t believe my sweet, innocent Tessa said that. Talk about an instant hard-on. What else will she say once we’re in bed? Is she a dirty talker?
Fuck, am I? I’ve never felt compelled to before, but as soon as she’d mentioned what we did last night, it was like a switch had flipped and all I’d wanted to do was have us acknowledge this attraction between us. The one I could have sworn was only in my mind. But after everything that’s happened so far…
I pull up in front of our building and head inside to shower, finding a text from her when I get out.
Tessa:On my way home now. See you soon!
Damn, she sounds eager. Almost as much as me. That’s just how I want her, too.
