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“Of course it is. We’ve got a few people tagging along for the ride, but I guess that’s okay.”
Jacob has Leo, Ivy has Wyatt, and they have each other. They’ll keep her safe, look after her in the ways I can’t.I’m not needed here.
“Let’s get some food in you,” I say, stroking my hands up and down her arms as I ignore the twist in my stomach. “Then maybe a girls night up here would help?”
“Are you sick of us already?” she asks, but finally a smile graces her face.
“Never,” I reply, kissing her quickly. “But you need to remember you have friends around you, as well as us. You’re not alone.”
“Thank you,” she replies, her fingers still tracing patterns along the back of my neck. “Did you manage to get Oliver sorted out?”
“I did, but that’s not a story for before dinner. Come on, let’s get some food in you.”
She shrugs, accepting that as an answer for now whilst we gather everyone up and head down to dinner, and it’s not nearly as awkward as I expect it to be.
Oliver laughs with Stephanie, and Aimee and Charlotte talk together as we enter en masse, but nobody stops and makes a fuss, smiling and waving at Ivy, but otherwise unphased. It’s not quite the reception I was expecting, but it’s appreciated nonetheless.
The chefs somehow manage to cook for everyone without any prior warning, and damn is the food good. They even agree to put some snack palates together for the girls and their movie night—clearly they’ve been charmed by the gorgeous women milling around just as much as we have, and I guess it’s no surprise.
“So, as marvellous as you all are, who’s up for some sparring?” I ask as we finish up.
There’s been a lot going on, a lot of shit changing, and fighting helps me focus, it always has. It’s the reason our older brother started taking us boxing in the first place, not that Jacob ever really appreciated that, but I did the shit he liked to do too.
“Absolutely,” Jacob replies, cracking his knuckles.
“Fine,” Leo says with a roll of his eyes, even though I know he loves the opportunity to get a hit or two in.
“After this afternoon, you damn well better be joining us,” I say, pointing at Oliver.
“Sorry, babe, it looks like you’re with the girls tonight,” he says, kissing Stephanie’s head and standing.
Wyatt and Jasper opt to join us but not spar, and after bringing us all together, we split into the Devils and the Angels, just for the night.
“So, what was more important than your brother and his band-swapping thing?” Jacob asks, throwing his shirt on the floor as I fasten the gloves securely. No holding back then, eh?
“Do you want to ask me that now, or when you can hit me?”
Leo smirks, pulling the straps on my brother’s gloves before holding the ropes for him to climb through to the ring where I wait, bouncing on the balls of my feet.
“Oliver, do you want to explain this?” I call.
“Nah, you’re good,” he replies from the rowing machine.
“Enough stalling,” Jacob says, feigning a shot to the left before catching me with a right kick. “Just spit it out.”
“Someonesaveda bird from the back garden this afternoon.”
“A bird?” Leo asks. “His emergency was a fucking bird? A flapping around bird, with wings…”
“Yep. I guess a cat got hold of it or something. There was a lot of blood, to be fair,” I say, my fist glancing off his chest as he moves at the last second. “And feathers.”
“So, he found a bird and the two of you magically fixed it, took it to a bird vet, or what?” Jacob asks.
“Neither of the above. It was pretty fucked up by the time it had finished attempting to flap its way out of the changing room.”
“Well, at least you cleaned it,” Leo grumbles, watching Jacob land a clean hit against my jaw, following it up by getting in close against my chest.The shithead.
Our conversation falls to the wayside as I pummel his ribs, attempting to make space to parry. We go at each other a little longer, the entire thing forgotten as we knock the shit out of each other, that is, until we finish up.
