Worth the fight

Chapter 26

Nico

“The chick the other night had some rack, hey Lady Killer?” Frank Lawson is a complete asshole. Always has been. I didn’t even notice he was in the gym the other night when Elle and I walked through.

“She’s not some chick and keep your eyes off her when she’s in here, or you’ll be finding a new place to train.” The whole room goes quiet. “After I kick your ass.”

Frank throws his hands up in exaggerated surrender and I hear a few of the guys quietly laugh in the background.

“Hey Frank, Nico can use a sparring partner, whatta you say?” Preach chimes in. Gotta love Preach always looking out for me. He just gave me an excuse to knock that asshole on his ass and call it practice.

My stare is icy when Frank looks at me. He knows I’m pissed. But the whole place is still quiet and now he’ll look like a pussy if he says no. “Umm…sure.”

Preach winks at me as I turn to finish my warm up. On a bad day I can take Frank with one hand tied behind my back. Today I won’t need either.

A few hours later, Preach and I lock up and I make us both a protein shake. I need to replenish the calories, Preach is working on a little gut.

“Put some extra peanut butter in mine.”

I slap Preach in the gut. “You don’t need any extra peanut butter, old man.”

“You better hope you look as good as I do when you’re my age.” He sucks in his gut and throws back his shoulders as he speaks.

“I’ll worry about it in seventy or eighty years when I’m almost your age.” I answer back to Preach with sarcasm. This is who we are. We bust chops, fight, argue, and get pissed off at each other. But he’s like a father to me, the old bastard.

“Yeah, well, with the quantity of food you inhale, I’m thinking you might not make it to my ripe old age. Your new lady cook good?”

I laugh. “Ah, that would be a no. I made her eggs the other morning and she thought it was magic that I made them taste so good. All I put in was salt and pepper.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing she looks like that if she can’t cook.” Preach goads me.

“Watch it old man, or I’ll knock you on your ass, too.” I hand him his shake, with a double scoop of peanut butter.