I set my coffee mug down on the counter and looked around the apartment. "Where is Nathan?"
"Where do you think?" Darian snorted as he changed channels on the television. "He's at the gym."
"Again?" I leaned against the marble counter and sighed. "This is his fifth time this week and he was supposed to bring me today but he left without waking me up."
My roommate shrugged. "Liam came to the apartment again when you and Samara went to Starbucks yesterday. I think he just needs to let out some steam."
I sighed and placed my mug in the sink. "I'm going to go see him."
Darian turned around and gave me a confused look. "Why?"
"Because he is upset and now I'm upset because he didn't wake me up to train," I replied, stomping over to the coat rack by the front door. I grabbed my navy peacoat and tied up my laced boots. I opened the door and turned back to Darian. "I'll be back later."
***
I stood in front of the rickety old building and I sighed. The place looked even worse than when I had last seen it. The bricks were more chipped and all the windows were broken and sealed up with either duct tape or wooden planks.
As I went down the stairs, I braced myself for the grossness and creepiness I was about to endure. Usually, when I came here with Nathan, no one paid any attention to me, but whenever I dared to come alone to meet him here, all I got were perverted looks and flirtatious comments. I opened the door and I was harshly greeted with the metallic smell of blood and sweat. I made my way through the crowd, ignoring the flirtatious stares and whistles I received as I walked by.
Once I made my way to the room, I slammed the door and stood with my arms crossed, staring at Nathan intently. "Fancy seeing you here."
Nathan stopped attacking the bag and he gave me an annoyed look.
Sweat dripped down his face and his hair looked soaked. He wasn't wearing a shirt, which caused me to feel distracted as he walked slowly over to me, his muscles bulging as he did so. Once he was right in front of me, he stopped and gave me a pointed glare.
"What have I said about coming here alone?" He said, in a dangerously low voice.
"You can't blame me for that one seeing as you were supposed to train me today but blew me off instead." I countered, taking a step around him and going deeper into the room. "You give me a beautiful necklace, we had a fake relationship, and we spent the night together, yeah, it was just sleeping but still. You can't go from acting all cute one day and ignoring Darian and me the next."
Nathan's serious face soon was replaced with a cocky grin. "You thought I was cute?"
"That is not the point!" I argued, feeling flustered. Without further thought, I punched the punching bag in front of me with my left bare hand. Pain pierced through my knuckles and up my arm. Why would I do that? "Shit that hurt!"
Nathan chuckled as he took off his gloves and then he went to grab some wraps from his gym bag that was on the bench near the equipment and began to wrap up my hand. "You're supposed to punch with the gloves on, princess. C'mon, I know I taught you better than that."
I scowled at him. "I'm still mad at you. Darian may not say it because he doesn't want to piss you off but he's worried about you and the fighting and everything else that's going on with you."
"What fighting?" Nathan questioned, scrunching his eyebrows in a fake confusion.
I rolled my eyes and looked down at his hands carefully wrapping up my probably sprained hand. "We've seen the bruises, Nate. You need to stop. Do you really want that pretty face of yours all bruised up?"
Nathan tilted his head to ponder what I had said and then gave me a smirk. "You think my face is pretty?"
"Nathan," I stared at him intently. "Please stop, I'm worried about you. Darian is worried about you."
Nathan finished wrapping my hand and turned away, not wanting to face me. He scratched his head and sighed. "I have a match tonight. And even if I didn't, boxing is my life. It makes me feel free."
I stayed silent and Nathan continued, now looking directly at me. "You had once told me you write to escape your life, to feel free of it. It made you soar. Well, doing this makes me feel the exact same way. I'm not going to give it up."
I nodded my head in understanding. His boxing may concern me but I didn't want to be the reason he doesn't feel free, the reason why he doesn't have that escape like I do.
I touched his arm and gave it a small squeeze. "If it's what makes you happy, I'd never want to be the reason it's gone. But can you promise me something?"
Nathan shrugged and smiled slightly. "Anything."
"If it ever becomes too much, if you ever get hurt to the point you need to go to the hospital and you're coughing up blood or you got your face so smashed in that I can't even recognize you, promise me you'll stop," I licked my lips and continued. "It's okay to love something, but it's not okay if you love it to the point you'll let it kill you. I know it's a far stretch and overdramatic but people have died from this, Nate. So, promise me."
Nathan walked up to me slowly and gently held both my hands. His forehead rested on mine and his eyes glinted with an emotion I had never seen before, causing my heart to pick up in pace. "I promise you, princess. Nothing will happen to me, but if it does, I promise you I'll stop."
"So, when exactly does your match start and who are you fighting?" I asked, sitting on the bench watching Nathan attack the bag.
Despite Nathan's best efforts to get me out of the gym for the day, I refused to go. After an hour of arguing, he finally caved and told me to sit on the bench while he practiced. I offered to practice too, but he said that boxing in high-heeled boots was not the most appropriate choice. Personally, I think he's being overdramatic seeing as I could just take off my shoes and do it in socks, but at least I get to stay.
He paused for a moment and tilted his head, trying to remember the details of his upcoming fight. "It's at midnight and it's some guy from another gym. I don't remember his name."
"Why would you be fighting someone from another gym?" I scrunch my nose in confusion.
Nathan sighed and walked over to the bench I was sitting on and took a seat beside me. He looked down at the floor and fidgeted his right leg. "Because this gym likes to host matches, you know, so we can place bets on who will win. It makes money, gains traction, and hell even recruits new members."
I looked at Nathan, my eyes wide with worry. "So you fight for money? Like what, your own personal Fight Club?'"
He only shook his head and muttered under his breath. "It doesn't matter because you aren't going to be here when it happens. Understood?"
I jumped to my feet and crossed my arms, trying to emphasize my point. "Like hell, I'm not going to be here! And you can't tell me what to do, I'm not your property!"
Nathan got on his feet and positioned his head so our eyes were meeting at the perfect height. "You may not be my property but in this gym, you are mine because those guys would jump on the chance to get with you. As long as you are in this gym, you listen to me so nobody gets hurt."
I rolled my eyes. "Please, Nathan. They wouldn't do anything!"
"Oh yeah?" He licked his lips and I felt his breath on my face as he got even closer. "Then how did I know you were in this gym before I even saw you? Oh, it's because I could hear the whistles and the comments and all the guys trying to get a better view. If you were just some random girl stumbling in, you would be a goner. I've seen it."
I gulped and took a step back from him. "Did you ever try to stop it?"
"Of course!" Nathan responded quickly. "Every time I'm in this gym and I see that they're preying on some girl, I get her the hell out of here! It pisses the guys off but they get over it."
I nodded my head slowly and started walking back to the bench. Not meeting Nathan's gaze, I said, "I'm still staying. If something happens to you, someone has to take care of you or take you to the hospital."
Nathan chuckled and bent down to meet my gaze once again. And once again, I got immersed in his hazel eyes, entranced by the flakes of gold that floated about. "You really don't have much faith in me, princess. But I promise you, I never lose."
A few hours later, the match was set to begin. Nathan stood with me, arms around my waist and holding me close as the announcer was talking. It was hard to hear what he was saying seeing as everyone was hooting and hollering but soon, he managed to get the crowd quiet.
***
"Alright, alright," the man began. He ran his hand through his greasy dark hair. His beady eyes scanned the room and he had a mischievous smile on his face. "Now you all know there's been a little trouble stirring between a few of our boys and the St. Claire boys." The crowd booed and the announcer smiled cheekily. "But tonight, we are settling it once and for all!"
Everyone began to cheer and Nathan's grip on my waist tightened. I craned my neck to look at him and I saw his jaw tightened as his eyes scanned the crowd. His eyebrows creased in uncertainty and his eyes looked darker than usual--almost black.
Once the crowd settled again, the man in the ring continued on with his speech. "Now, tonight isn't our usual typical match. Tonight, the rules are that there are no rules." The crowd cheered again and the announcer licked his lips while he upturned the right sight of his mouth into a smirk. "Except one--the first one to bleed loses."
My heart stopped in my chest and I turned to Nathan. He remained the same as the last time I looked at him. Stiff, distant, and focused. I opened my mouth to speak but I got cut off by the sleazy man on stage. "Give it up for our boy Nathan West!"
Nathan locked eyes with me briefly and proceeded to go on stage. As he walked, he glanced at everyone in the crowd--as if he were inspecting each and every one of them.
My stomach churned in uneasiness as the announcer proceeded to speak. "From St. Claire's, Reed Thomas!"
Reed was huge. Like Nathan, he wasn't wearing a shirt, instead, his toned chest was bare and his muscles were bulging as he prowled over to the ring. His eyes were a dark brown and they were menacing. He searched the crowd and once his eyes met mine, he gave me a challenging smirk. I quickly shifted my gaze and focused on Nathan, who looked completely unfazed that this guy was the size of a gorilla. Instead, he was smirking, like he knew something I didn't.
I was so lost in my thoughts, I didn't hear the ring of the bell go off, indicating the match starting.
Nathan and Reed hovered around each other, blocking their faces but making no effort to hit one another. After a few minutes of their dance, Reed swung his right fist in an effort to hit Nathan square in the jaw, but instead, he hit nothing but air.
I gasped and rushed closer to the ring. Sure, he didn't hit Nathan yet but he certainly will at some point. There's no way Nathan could avoid it. That man was ripped.
Reed attempted to take another swing but Nathan continued to dodge his hits. I looked at the clock and it read that five minutes had gone by. Five minutes of Reed punching nothing but air and Nathan making no effort to hit him. Nathan's opponent looked frustrated that the match was yet to be over. I guess causing people to bleed doesn't take that long for him. I heard him groan in frustration as he tried to swing his fist again.
Nathan continued to taunt him by chuckling and I heard him murmur, "Nice try, dude. But the point is to hit me."
Reed yelled incoherent things as he whipped his knee upwards and it connected with Nathan's ribs. I brought my hands up to my face and let out a gasp. Nathan was doubled over and Reed hit Nathan again in the ribs.
"Do something!" I yelled at the announcer who was near the spot I was standing at.
The guy simply shrugged and gave me a sheepish grin. "No can do, little girl. The first one to bleed wins. But I wouldn't worry, Nathan's pretty good."
The referee that I didn't even notice in the ring separated the two and I heard him tell Reed to give Nathan the time to catch his breath. Nathan had his hands on his knees and he was panting heavily and Reed laughed at the sight of him.
Having enough of this and the thought of Nathan doing nothing made me feel frustrated. The thought of him being hurt made me feel sick. Running to the edge of the ring, I yelled, "FOR FUCK SAKE NATHAN, JUST HIT HIM!"
Nathan's head snapped upward and he smirked slightly. He studied Reed as he continued to chuckle about causing Nathan to get out of breath. In a blink of an eye, Nathan bolted fully upward and his fist connected with Reed's jaw, hard. Reed flung backwards and could barely catch his balance when Nathan stalked over to him slowly and punched him again in the nose, causing blood to instantly flow.
The crowd erupted in cheers and the building shook as everyone celebrated Nathan's sneak attack and it dawned me that he had planned to get hit. Just so Reed could feel like he won, only for a brief moment until Nate knocked him out. Like Nathan had said, I never lose.
I found Nathan across the ring and I ran over to him as fast as I could. When he saw me approaching, he opened his arms and gave me a dazzling smile. "Come here, princess."
Jumping into his embrace and wrapping my legs around his waist, he gripped me tightly and I let out a breath. "You scared the crap out of me! Why wouldn't you tell me what kind of match it was?"
I felt him chuckle and he leaned back slightly, looking me in the eyes. He moved a strand of hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear. "I knew if I told you, you would convince me to not do it."
"That's not true," I pouted but then after a moment of thinking about it, I cocked my head to the right. "No, you're right, I probably would have."
Nathan laughed and nodded. He brought his face closer and rested his forehead on mine. "I know I'm right, princess."
The way he looked at me, with such warmth and care, caused my heart to flutter. Staring at him, I sighed. "I just don't want you to get hurt, seeing you get kicked over and over scared me." I lowered my eyes. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
"Nothing will happen to me, I promise you that," Nathan said softly.
We were silent for a moment and I realized the position we were in. My legs were still wrapped around his waist and his arms still supporting me so I didn't fall. We were so close; I could feel his heartbeat against my chest. Starting to blush, I let out an awkward cough and unwrapped myself to stand up. "Sorry, was caught in the moment."
Nathan crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean, princess? The moment you ran into my arms?"
"Ugh," I rolled my eyes and threw my head back in frustration. I tried to formulate words about why I jumped into his arms like that but I couldn't come up with anything that didn't sound weird. After a moment of thinking, I licked my lips and felt a smirk emerge on my face. "You know, the moment where I thought you'd die or at least break a rib but didn't?"
He shook his head and then rubbed his jaw as he chuckled to himself. "You seem to forget I told you I never lose. But if getting kneed in the ribs is what it takes to get you in my arms, maybe I should do it more often."
My jaw dropped and I smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "You sir, are an idiot."
I peered through the crowd that was now dispersing and I jerked my head towards the door. "Want to go to Ed's before we head home, my treat?"
Nathan grinned and nodded his head. He grabbed his bag that was in his corner of the ring and placed his hand on the small of my back. "That sounds good to me, princess."
"Um, Nathan?" I said, glancing over at his bare chest. Nathan looked at me quizzically and I giggled slightly at his genuinely puzzled stare. "You still need to put on a shirt."
***
When we got to the pub, very few people were there. Which struck me as strange because Ed's is a typically busy place, even after midnight. There were only a couple of people sitting at the bar stools and no one at the actual tables or booths. Ed himself was leaning against the counter and staring at the television screen across from him, watching the Simpsons.
As the door closed, Ed peered over to the entrance and his lazy gaze settled on Nathan and me. He grinned sheepishly and said, "Fancy seeing you two here at this hour."
"Good to see you too, Ed," Nathan rolled his eyes and gently placed his hand in mine and guided me to the back. I fought back a blush as he did so but I couldn't help it. Once we got to the booth I sat down and he sat across from me and smiled. "So what did you think of the match?"
I was about to respond but Ed came over to the table and set two chocolate milkshakes down. "On the house for my favourite couple."
Nathan chuckled and I felt an intense blush rush to my cheeks that were no doubt a deep scarlet. When Ed hobbled away, I took a sip of my shake and proceeded to answer Nathan's question. "The match was... honestly, kind of terrifying and annoying all at the same time."
"Terrifying, I get. But annoying how?" Nathan leaned back and stared at me curiously. His eyes glinted with challenge and I felt myself become increasingly flustered for whatever reason.
"Well," I began. "You and Reed were basically dancing around the ring the first five minutes and you refused to hit him. I knew you could beat him but you took so long just to simply get a hit in!" I leaned back and sighed, shaking my head. "And then as soon as threw your first punch, I knew. I knew you got kneed on purpose just so you could make your move. I damn near lost my shit at you," I finished my ramble and Nathan gave me a facial expression that said, are you done?
He leaned forward and smirked. "If I recall correctly, you did lose your shit. I believe the words were, 'For fuck sake Nathan, just hit him!'"
I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, I was worried."
"You were worried about me?" He questioned incredulously.
Nodding my head slowly, I studied Nathan. His brows were scrunched in confusion and his eyes looked distant as he stared at me. I tilted my head to the right. "Is it so hard to believe someone other than Darian cares for you?"
"Yes," he replied bluntly. He took a sip of his drink and sighed to himself as he placed it back on the table.
I reached over and grabbed his hand and gave it a small squeeze. He glanced up at me and I gave him a small smile. "Well, I do care for you, Nate. That's why watching that match was so terrifying."
"I'm sorry you had to watch that," he winced slightly, probably thinking about me yelling at him during the match.
I shook my head, my hand still on his. "No, it's okay. I'm the one who was so adamant about staying and I'm glad I did. I watched you kick some serious ass tonight."
Nathan cocked his head to the right and a smile started to play on his lips. "Were you proud of me?"
"Proud that you knocked some guy out and caused his nose to bleed like a bloody fountain?" I laughed. Nathan only grinned, waiting for my answer. I sighed, "I suppose it would be something to be proud of."
"You suppose?"
I held up my hands in surrender and laughed. "Alright, alright. I am proud of you for that gruesome but kind of awesome fight."
If possible, Nathan's grin grew more and his eyes seemed brighter. Even from across the table, I could see the flakes of gold and other various colours dancing about in his eyes. Feeling movement on my hand I looked down to see that Nathan had shifted our hands, instead of mine is on top, he was and his thumb was rubbing small circles. I blushed at the gesture and Nathan chuckled quietly. "What's wrong, princess?"
"N-nothing," I sputtered, cursing at myself for responding so weirdly to Nathan today. What is wrong with me? I pondered for a moment and quickly brushed my thoughts aside. Pulling myself together, I looked directly into his enticing eyes and smiled. "Nothing is wrong. Everything is absolutely perfect."
We walked home in comfortable silence. Nathan had his arm around my shoulders and I noticed him gazing up at the stars, despite the fact that there weren't very many due to the amount of light in the city. I nudged him gently and looked up at him with a smile. "Whatcha thinking about?"
He looked down at me with a small tired smile. "Just about how I had a really good time with you."
"Well, I had a good time with you too," I giggled like an idiot. If I could smack myself without looking stupid, I would.
Nathan suddenly stopped walking and he looked at me with a completely serious face. "Audrey, I need to do something and please don't hate me for it."
"W-what do you mean?" I stuttered out, my heart started to pound as Nathan gently grasped my hands and pulled me closer to him.
He lowered his forehead on mine and stared at me for a moment. Bringing his hands up, he placed them on either side of my face and sighed. "You're so beautiful."
And with that, his lips met mine.