Metamorphosis

Chapter 2

After being at the warehouse for half an hour, I considered turning down the sixteen hundred dollars, because I'd done nothing to earn my pay. All I could focus on—in spite of the commotion surrounding me—was the sweat glistening on Eren's abs and the way beads of it trailed down to the scrumptious V of muscle that disappeared beneath the waistband of his jeans. I'd never been more attracted to anyone in my life, my imagination providing me with vivid imagery as to what lay under those jeans of his. With how worked up I was, it amazed me that I was capable of standing here without losing my cool.

As for Reiner, I hadn't given him a moment's consideration since the fight began. Though now that I took the time to look at him it was hard to miss the damage that'd been done to his face. Other than the bruise blossoming around his left eye in patches of purple, he had a deep gash across his cheekbone. It was bleeding pretty badly, but that didn't seem to faze him in the least. On the contrary, it seemed to fuel him, to drive him to win.

"Wipe that smug look off your face, Jaeger," Reiner said, turning his head to spit out a mouthful of saliva tinged red with blood. "I haven't lost yet." The men raised their fists in the air and hollered in agreement, but Eren smiled like it made no difference to him, which it probably didn't. From the start, he had complete control of the fight, landing every punch he threw and dodging those aimed at him. The only injury he'd sustained throughout this was a cut above his right eyebrow. To put it simply, in comparison to Reiner, he looked like he'd just taken a stroll around the park.

When everyone quieted down, Eren responded with, "But I'm just getting warmed up and you look like you're about to collapse."

God, he was delicious. How was I ever going to face Izzy after tonight? I had pictured her brother naked far too many times in the past hour. It was irredeemable.

"Levi?" Eren said out of the blue.

Startled, I jerked back, cheeks warming up in a matter of seconds. I needed to calm down before I embarrassed myself again. If I was going to accomplish that any time soon, I had to stop thinking about him in ways that made me fidget. I was here to referee the fight, not to drool over him. "Yes?" I replied, hoping my voice didn't give me away.

"Do you want me to wrap this up soon? Or can I drag it out a little longer?"

Reiner made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded more animal than human. I couldn't blame him. Eren wasn't taking him seriously, belittling his skills in front of everyone here. "Don't think it'll be that easy, Jaeger!"

Eren effortlessly dodged a jab while he waited for me to answer. Truth be told, I could watch him fight for hours and not get tired of it, but I was in way over my head. The entire night had gone in a whole different direction than what I'd been expecting it to. Right now I wanted to go home, eat greasy food that wasn't good for me, and then take an incredibly long bath to process this. One, I was attracted to my best friend's older brother, who was the very definition of hot. And two, I was going to earn a good sum of money illegally.

Yeah, now was a good time to go home and eat a pint of ice cream. That would keep me comforted while I internally screamed for hours on end.

Eren eyed me. "What's it going to be?"

"Well, you see, I'm a little tired..."

Before I could finish, he swung his fist up, smacking Reiner beneath the chin hard enough to make his teeth clank together. Profound silence followed. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the inevitable. Then Reiner hit the floor in a heap of dead weight and all the men yelled at once, drowning out the silence with the intensity of their voices. In one minute flat, with one hit, Eren had won the fight without even trying. Through the crowd that was surrounding him, our eyes met and I knew that I was in trouble. So much trouble, because I couldn't tear my gaze from his.