AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good, good. Pants off. I’ll get you… blue shorts, I think. Match your eyes.” Walt smirked and walked away.
Theo dropped to sit on the bench fronting the lockers, waffling on if he’d made the right decision, pretending to be some punk-ass MMA fighter. But if it helped Daniel…
Walt returned with the shorts, and after a quick strip and change, led him over to the medic, who gave him a clean bill of health. When they offered him a mouthguard, he checked with Walt, who nodded. They took him through the steps of molding the piece of plastic around his teeth while Walt wandered off to find him some gloves.
With Walt gone, the medic stepped closer. “Last chance to back out.”
Theo stared at the young guy scanning the room before his gaze returned to rest somewhere around Theo’s chest. “You okay?”
The medic shrugged. “A friend asked me to help out one night and now I’m kinda stuck.”
As the medic turned away, Theo snagged his arm with one finger, just enough to freeze the guy in place. He wanted to say, “Just give it a few more days,” but wanting to be a little less conspicuous, instead said, “Have faith.”
His name is Glen.
Theo gratefully acknowledged Father’s help, so when Glen finally lifted his head to look at him, he repeated himself. “Have faith, Glen. Trust in Him.” He sent a pulse of warmth into Glen’s arm and then quickly pulled his hand away.
Glen stared at his arm, mouth gaping. He caressed the spot Theo had touched and whispered something Theo didn’t catch, but when he finally looked up, a single tear tracked down his cheek.
“Pull yourself together. I’m good here.”
“Thank you,” Glen whispered, grabbing a tissue, blowing his nose, and discretely wiping his cheek. “Just knowing… it’s enough.”
“Theo!” Walt called from across the room. “Get your ass over here. You need to warm up.”
After ensuring Glen was okay, he hurried across the locker room. Walt slapped a pair of open-fingered gloves into his hand and ordered him to put them on as they headed into the hallway and down two doors into a small gym. One of two fighters jogged slowly on a treadmill while the other pedaled on a stationary bicycle. When the fighters’ heads turned to check out their potential competition, Theo steeled his body to stop from taking an involuntary step back. Seriously, if looks could kill…
“Ignore them. They fight after you. Find an open treadmill or bike. You’re up first, so you got…” —Walt peeked at his digital watch— “twenty minutes to warm up and stretch. Then I’ll come collect you for the match. Hop to.” He slapped Theo’s ass and skedaddled, leaving him to do as he was told: warm-up, try to find his center, and pray that he hadn’t gotten in over his head.
Daniel
Daniel followed Mr. Troy through the back entrance into the underground fight club. The route would take them past the locker room and the warm-up rooms the fighters utilized. So, of course, he kept his eyes peeled for Theo.
He’d hoped to get a few minutes alone with the angel before he got started, but the room full of treadmills and bicycles only held a few men and the solid closed door to the locker room defied his intentions.
He placed the cash box on the table just moments before Bull and Sabre let the first of the gamblers inside. From that moment on, it was rush, rush, rush. As he took cash in one hand, he pointed out with the other where they needed to go. VIPs were ushered by scantily clad young men and women to their seats where Troy greeted them and had other nubile masked youths serving them alcohol and offering “treats:” cigars, drugs, lap dances, public blow jobs, all for a price.
Daniel had been horrified the first time he’d worked one of these events because they looked so young, but when he asked, they all—thankfully—confirmed that they were over eighteen and were paid handsomely for their services. For any humiliation they suffered in the form of hair-pulling, crude words, or insults, they replied with a shrug, “The money is just too good to not.” He bit his tongue on a scathing reply. That had been his answer, too, once upon a time.
As the line dwindled, allowing Daniel to catch his breath, Sabre approached, and he remembered why he was really there.Theo.Oh shit. A wave of dizziness slammed into him, and he had just enough forethought to brace one hand on the table and, with the other, drag out the chair and sit heavily upon it.
“Dan, you okay?” Sabre took a knee beside him.
“Yeah,” he breathed out heavily. “Yeah, just… it hit me.”
“That your friend is going to get into the ring and maybe get the shit kicked out of him?”
Daniel stared into the concern-filled gaze of a man he never thought of as friendly, but for whatever reason, suddenly seemed to give a fuck about him. “Something like that.” He laughed lightly, with not a single drop of humor behind it. “Physically, I think he’ll do fine, but mentally—and I meanmymentally—it’s scary as all hell. I’ve seen too many men, when I could stomach watching, with broken wrists and ribs, dislocated shoulders, a fuck-ton of concussions… Why would Theo be any different even though he’s…”
He clamped his mouth shut. Damn it, he’d almost blurted out Theo’s secret. Sabre’s brows raised, silently questioning him and urging him to continue. Needing to give Sabre something, he offered, “He’s got more experience fighting than he told Mr. Troy, but it’s a different kind of fighting. I just hope he does okay tonight.”
“Theo’s a big guy.” Sabre clapped Daniel’s shoulder and squeezed it as he stood. “He looks like he’s got muscles and brains. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” He peered at his smartwatch. “You got about ten minutes before they bring him out. Go give him a kiss for good luck.” Sabre winked and smirked.
Daniel rolled his eyes. “It’s not like that.”
“But you wish. And don’t deny it. I’ve seen the two of you making moony eyes at each other when you think the other isn’t looking.” Sabre shooed him away. “Scooch. Nine minutes.”
Daniel lurched from the chair, nearly knocking it over in his haste. He quick-stepped to the locker room. He’d been in there a few times before matches, so he expected to see Theo dressed and ready to come out. What he hadn’t expected was to find the handsome angel in all his glory, wearing only a pair of shorts, the rest of his chiseled body on full display.
