Takedown (7 page)

B
eing
a fighter made everything more complicated. Going out to someone’s house for lunch was one of the little things nobody else thought about, but Luke had to plan for.

He’d loaded his cooler up with his meals for the afternoon before driving over to James and Troy’s apartment. They split a place these days since they worked and trained at the same place, and neither could keep a girlfriend to save his life.

Sometimes Luke wondered about them, but… no. They were a little too aggressively straight, but not yet in the overly-aggressively-straight-probably-closeted camp.

At least they didn’t seem to hold a grudge against him for kicking the shit out of Troy. On the contrary, they seemed to like to get his advice and shoot the shit with him. Luke liked that he could talk about bulking up and supplements and all the weird stuff nobody else cared about.

Troy easily welcomed him inside as they headed through to the backyard. They left the food cooler inside to keep it colder, but sat outside in the yard.

That was the great thing about this apartment: it was a full house, with its own fenced, private yard. There were bars and weights lying around. The poor tree in the corner of the yard had been used to brace equipment more than once.

“So, you hear what Alex did the other day?” James greeted once he was in the yard and settled on a deck chair.

“No, what?”

“Shit, man, he broke his personal leg press.”

Luke clapped his hands once, sharply, startling Troy. “Nice! By how much?”

“Twenty pounds.”

“Not bad. He’s coming along fast.”

“He’ll plateau soon,” Troy commented as he ate Greek yogurt, licking his spoon. “As long as he knows to keep pushing through it.”

“He should hire Hugh. Hugh will talk him through.”

“Not all of us have purses to pay him with,” Troy said. He idly bounced a rubber ball on the pavement underneath their chairs. Tossing and manipulating it helped with dexterity, which could be surprisingly helpful, and reflexes.

“Not all of us have full-time jobs to pay him with,” Luke retorted. He added an easygoing grin to show he wasn’t being too snarky.

James laughed. “Good one, bro. Hey, so, when are you and Hugh flying out?”

“We’re only going out the day before for the weigh-in,” Luke answered. He didn’t even need to ask what James meant. There was only one big event everyone was interested in. Though they tried to keep their excitement low-key so as not to stress him out, he understood. It
was
a big deal. In a way, Luke relished the pressure.

“Cool,” James nodded. “Looking for someone to run the place while you’re gone?”

“I think Hugh has a couple people in mind. Want me to throw your name in there?”

“If it pays, sure,” James laughed. “Nah, bro, just kidding. I’ll do it free. I owe you guys one, and I’m taking those days off anyway.”

“What for?”

“Doctor’s appointments,” James rolled his eyes. At Luke’s questioning look he shook his head. “Just checkups. Given what we do…”

“Yeah,” Luke laughed. Doctors weren’t always forgiving of their tendency to get themselves beaten up and then come in for help, but regular checkups were important. “How’s work going?”

“Same old, same old. Kinda nice though. I like being able to count on the shift times.”

“Yeah, that’s the best part,” Troy agreed. “Hey, man, how did that kid do? Aidan?”

Luke made a face. He’d fought him that morning again, but the guy was starting to get frustrated and lash out too easily. “Needs more emotional control. We all started out there, though.”

“I guess,” Troy agreed dubiously, getting up for a glass of water. “Want anything?”

“Water, and grab my chicken strips. Thanks.”

After a few minutes of listening to Troy and James complain about how hard it was to get snacks in at work, Luke had to say something. “Yeah, it sucks, but you can see good gains just from three meals a day, plus a snack in the evening, maybe two.”

Troy frowned. “Bitching’s for losers. Yeah, I know.”

“There you go, you can be your own trainer,” Luke laughed, and James joined in. “Now kick yourself in the nuts and say you should’ve seen it coming.”

Troy feigned a downward punch and hung head of apology. “Sorry, Troy. Okay, Troy, do better next time.”

Luke laughed. “Hey, man, if you want me to give you more of a hand, though… just say the word. I’m getting bored of only helping newbies.”

“Hugh said not to get in your hair until after the fight.”

That was a fair point. Hugh was riding him hard to keep in perfect form until he dropped water weight for the weigh-in.

“After, though,” Luke promised. It would take him a couple days to be ready to train hard again if Pascal was as brutal as he had been in past fights. That was the perfect time to get in some training, and test whether he wanted to give more training services himself.

That would be a big deciding factor in whether he bought this gym—if Mitchell let him—or fled for another city. If he left, he was gonna have to do something to pay bills between purses.

Troy was right, though. Whining
was
for losers, and he’d been whining to himself about relationships for too long. Hugh could tell it was distracting him, which was a very bad sign. He had to get in the open that he wasn’t supposed to be distracted by dating Mitchell.

When he headed home, that thought still on his mind a few hours later, he stumbled into Mitchell in the hallway and raised a hand in a quick wave. Mitchell was wearing the light linen shirt and sleek pants that exemplified his style these days, and he was smiling tentatively as if nothing had happened the other night.

“Hey,” Mitchell greeted.

God, he’s pretty.
Luke shifted the cooler in his hands and nodded. “Hey, man. Can I grab a word later? Gotta drop this off and then I gotta clean up after a fight,” Luke told him. There were too many people around to talk about it properly, or even to ask him out.

Mitchell probably wouldn’t want it known that he was going out with Luke… if he even said yes.

“Of course. Catch you in a bit?” Mitchell nodded smoothly.

In reality, Luke got sucked into his work the moment he was back downstairs from his apartment. Even when he took the morning off, there was always a little too much work for Hugh to handle alone. The cage took a little effort to clean to keep within health standards, even if it was slightly overkill for what it actually
needed
.

By the time he was done that, the gym was mostly empty. He was on his way to let Hugh kick his ass into shape again for the day when he remembered Mitchell.

Luke knocked on the half-open office door and stuck his head in, then smiled. “Hey, man.”

“Hey,” Mitchell answered, glancing up from his papers with another light smile.

The moment their eyes locked, Luke couldn’t look away from those pretty eyes and the broad bottom lip that had so wonderfully fluttered along the underside of his cock…

Fuck. Far from burning off tension, that night had just been the beginning, hadn’t it?

Luke kept his mind on the subject, more or less. “Wanna come to my place for supper? The whole ten feet over to my place, that is.” The gym closed early on Sundays, so it was the one day a week he could be assured of having suppertime to himself, and of having privacy.

Mitchell looked startled for a moment before a smile spread across his face. “Yeah, sure. Let me know when you’re done training. You’re always at work.”

“So are you. You even left the office today?” Luke snorted. The morning after their blowjobs, Mitchell had been out for half a day. Today, though, he’d been locked in that damn office since seven. “Get some sunshine. God.”

Mitchell laughed. “I’ll keep your feedback in mind. Go on, before Hugh accuses me of working with Pascal,” he waved.

That made Luke grin, too. “Fine. See ya.”

His heart was light now that he could put Mitchell out of his mind. He had a date to look forward to, and that made it much easier to focus on his roundhouse kicks and balance. Hugh didn’t even manage to knock him off-balance once that day.

“
I
t’s open
!”

Mitchell drew a deep breath and steeled his nerves before pushing open Luke’s apartment door. He wasn’t sure what to expect from the man. Except for earlier that day, they hadn’t talked since that night of adrenaline-fueled passion. It was late at night for a supper, eight-thirty now, but closing the gym always took time.

When he stepped inside, though, he smiled at the sight of Luke in the kitchen grabbing two beer cans. “Hey,” Mitchell nodded. “Aren’t you supposed to be on a no-alcohol diet?”

Luke winked. “I gotta break the rules once in a while. Don’t tell Hugh. He’ll kill me.”

Mitchell laughed. “Okay, I won’t,” he promised. “Thanks.” He took the beer can from Luke, and as their fingers brushed even for a second, he shivered.

God, Luke was hot.

“Training go well?” he asked, trying to distract himself.

Luke leaned against the counter while the pot of soup on the stove bubbled. “Yeah, really well. Hugh’s been trying to mix it up on me.”

“Keeping you sharp, huh?” Mitchell sipped his beer, watching as Luke stirred the soup. “What’s for supper?”

“Chicken salad and miso soup. Hope you’re okay with that. I got crusty bread, too.”

“Oh, crusty bread. As opposed to…?” Mitchell smirked.

“Regular bread. You know, it’s the kind with the crusty crust.”

Mitchell smirked. “A baguette?”

“That’s it.”

“Okay,” Mitchell laughed. “Want me to butter it?”

“Butter my baguette,” Luke winked and handed over the paper-wrapped bread, his hand sliding down the shaft of it to reveal the tip. “Oops.”

Mitchell smacked Luke in the thigh as he ducked around him to look for a bread knife. “You’re insufferable.” Oh, God, even this little bit of flirting had him hot, though.

“I know,” Luke winked. “So, how about paperwork?”

“Can’t complain. It’s coming along.” Luke sliced the heel of the bread off. “Will you eat this?”

“No. Do I look like a loser?”

“I’ll eat it, then.” Luke buttered it up for himself and popped it into his mouth.

Mitchell cut another bunch of baguette slices and buttered each of them. Beside him, Luke dished soup into bowls and salad onto plates next to it, neatly arranging it.

Mitchell popped four slices onto each plate. He carried one plate with the soup bowl balanced on it over to the table while Luke followed with his own.

“Thanks for buttering me up,” Luke grinned.

Mitchell laughed. “No problem. It’s not hard.”

“No,” Luke hummed. “Yet.” There was something else in his expression, though, as he settled down. “Bon appetit, or whatever.”

Mitchell laughed. “Or whatever to you too.”

Luke kicked him under the table as he reached for his beer and held it out. As they clinked cans, Mitchell relaxed and smiled back at Luke.

Then they dug into soup and salad, Mitchell appreciating the light meal nonetheless. After they satisfied their hunger, conversation started again.

“So you’re starting to cut for the weigh-in?”

Luke looked surprised. “Yeah.”

“I don’t know
nothing
about it, you know,” Mitchell rolled his eyes. “Everyone knows a few things. And I watched some fights in high school.”

“No way. Without me?”

“Yeah,” Mitchell laughed. They hadn’t been close back then. It was senior year of high school that they’d wound up being assigned to the same AP psychology class. Luke had needed to partner up with someone for a project and everyone else had acted like he had the plague.

Mitchell knew a little of how that felt now.

He pushed that aside and slurped the last of his soup, then hummed. It was salty and just right. “Very nice.”

“Isn’t it? I like this week. Next week I cut more,” Luke grimaced. “I’m a little heavier than usual for this stage. I might have to cut back training, too, which would suck.”

“What happens if you’re over the weight?” Mitchell frowned. “Aren’t you allowed to compete?”

“You lose part of your purse.”

“Ouch.” Mitchell winced. “That’s… not good.”

“No. You lose money if you lose the fight, too. It’s all very… money-motivated,” Luke sighed, then raised his shoulders in a little shrug. “But other people worry about their Christmas bonuses, and I don’t have to lick any assholes—”

“Shame,” Mitchell winked as they stood up to gather their dishes. It was bold, for him, but something about Luke made him feel bold. He wanted to shock him.

“—any assholes’ boots, I was
going
to say,” Luke laughed richly, his eyes sparkling. He bumped Mitchell’s side lightly as he brought the dishes to the sink. He looked beautiful when he smiled like that. “Er, not to make it awkward, but on that note…”

Mitchell laughed breathily as he leaned on the counter and they faced each other again. He crinkled the beer can in his hand, popping a dent in and out of it. “Yeah?”

“Is what happened between us the other day going to be a thing or not? Because I need to know,” Luke frowned. “I don’t think I can commit to a relationship while I’m in the middle of fight prep, you know? But we’re both old enough and mature enough now not to dance around this shit.”

Mitchell could see what he meant. He’d never had a chance to go through a slutty phase, but he’d witnessed the drama involved from his buddies—frenemies or otherwise—in NYC. He didn’t want any of that.

But it also put him on the spot. He sipped his second beer, his gaze flickering between Luke’s intensely focused eyes.

He’d imagined drifting along like this a little more, maybe experimenting even more, sexually, before he committed to Luke.

Was he ready to be his boyfriend before they’d even fucked?

“I…”

Then the buzzer outside the gym’s office door buzzed. It was a faint but distinct whine that echoed through the floorboards.

“Oh, Jesus.” His sudden, frustrated exclamation made Luke laugh. “Worst timing ever, but—” Hugh hadn’t locked the front door when he’d left.

“No, no. We should get that,” Luke agreed, stepping back from him and setting his beer can aside.

Mitchell moved over to the door. There was a little sedan in the parking lot, and he recognized that car from somewhere… It took him a second, but then he let the curtain drop and cursed. “It’s the goddamn reporter.”

Luke’s eyebrows shot up. “Reporter?”

“This guy, Derek.”

“Oh yeah, he’s with the paper.”

“I know. He cornered me and asked for an interview. I was supposed to call him back today. I knew he’d want to sneak around, though…” Mitchell muttered, rubbing his face. “Let me just get that.”

The owner and the main star of the gym—both gay—eating supper together? Could Luke’s career handle that, if he decided he wanted some trashy piece on it?

But no, what was Mitchell thinking? Derek didn’t have to know they were eating supper. He wasn’t inviting him into their apartments. And it was normal for an owner and star athlete to hang out together… even if they
were
both gay.

“Want me to talk to him?” Luke offered casually.

Mitchell tore himself away from the window with a quick shake of his head. “Oh, no, it’s fine. It’ll only be a minute, and it’s my responsibility. See you in a minute.”

“See ya.” Luke looked troubled as he watched after him.

Mitchell burst down the stairs and out into the gym, then down the hallway. There was rustling from the office, so he turned sharply into the office doorway to take the intruder by surprise.

Derek was lingering in the office, trailing his finger along the training sign-in book. He spun on his heel when he heard Mitchell’s steps, then smiled. “Hi. I’m here about the interview. I never heard back from you.”

“Right, right. Sorry. I’ve been drowning in paperwork. As you can tell,” Mitchell curtly added, waving his hand at the papers on the desk.

There wasn’t anything too personal or newsworthy on the desk anyway, but he
hated
people coming in uninvited. The guy was obviously snooping through training records.

“Would now be a good time to talk yet? Looks like you’re more caught up now,” Derek gestured around the desk.

Mitchell politely slid between Derek and the desk, then started to walk him out of the office with a friendly hand on his shoulder. “Not now, actually. Sorry. I’m a little busy with management issues right now.”

“Oh?” That was a push for info, but Mitchell wasn’t giving this kid another tidbit.

“Yep. I’ll be in touch this week sometime. I’d suggest not rummaging around my office next time, though,” Mitchell added with a friendly wink.

Derek at least had the grace to blush as he cleared his throat. “Right. If I don’t hear back from you within the week I’ll get in touch again.”

“By the phone.” Mitchell held his pinky and thumb to his ear and lips to emphasize it. “That really works better than in-person. I want to make sure I’m around so I don’t leave you waiting again.”

Derek was defeated. “Of course.”

“See you, then,” he bade the kid reporter. He pushed the heavy steel door of the gym open and held it for him, then shook hands. “I won’t forget about you.”

“Okay. See you around. Good luck with your management issues.” The way he said that made Mitchell wonder if he was putting
that
in his article too.

“Thank you.” Mitchell let the doors swing shut, then twisted the lock to keep them shut and shook his head as he strode back down the hall.

When he got to the top of the stairs, Luke was leaning in his doorway, having no doubt heard his footsteps coming upstairs. “Everything all right?”

“Fine, fine,” Mitchell smiled. “Sorry ’bout that. The guy was snooping around. If you see him around, don’t let him wander around the office.”

“Jesus, he wasn’t.”

“He was.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Toby didn’t like him much. I can see why.”

Mitchell came to a halt in front of Luke, wondering why he wasn’t stepping back into the apartment. Then he remembered: Luke had a five a.m. wakeup call. It was probably past nine already, and he needed to be well-rested.

“So, we’ll talk tomorrow, right?” Luke asked, his face set in a light frown. “I have to be up early is all, and Hugh
will
kill me if I have beer and don’t sleep eight hours…”

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Mitchell smiled. “Don’t want that.”

“No, we don’t.” The hallway was narrow, and even standing a good foot away from Luke, he could feel the heat between their bodies.

And his body remembered the scorching heat of that hard body pressed against his. Mitchell gulped. It was hard not to focus on the memory of a cock pressing through denim into his hip, strong hands gripping him almost firmly enough to bruise…

“But think about it, okay? We don’t have to figure things out right away… but it’d be smart not to be on different pages,” Luke offered, his voice slow and tentative.

Mitchell nodded. “Yeah.”

“Yeah…”

Mitchell
had
to break this sexual tension, or they were going to end up fucking in the hallway. He turned sideways to unlock his own door, then smiled. “Cool. See you tomorrow, then. Thanks for supper.”

“Thanks for coming over.”

Even then, they paused for a second before moving at the same moment to step into their apartments. They swapped a casual wave, pushing their doors closed on either side of the hallway.

Once he was inside, Mitchell let out a breath and shook his head.

This
was what sexual chemistry felt like. No wonder he hadn’t been that motivated to pursue anyone in the years since the breakup. He’d never felt anything like this before. And whatever he said to Luke tomorrow about their relationship, he had to think carefully about it first.

Now that he’d experienced this, just the thought of losing it was crushing.