Page 132 of The Clinch
I should hate the violence. The absurd, deliberate stupidity of refining men into weapons. I should be horrified by how much of it is beautiful.
Leo slips left, fires back, pivots out. Lukas adjusts. They circle. Reset. Go again. Sweat flying in brief bright arcs under the hard overhead lights. Ray calling instructions like commandments. No one in the room wasting a single ounce of attention.
It’s ugly and mesmerizing at once.
A glove lands to Leo’s ribs. Not hard enough to injure. Hard enough to count.
The bell finally cuts through the round.
Leo steps back. Lukas drops his guard at once, breathing hard, and nods once at Leo before ducking through the ropes. Ray is already talking before either man fully stops moving.
Leo drags the hem of his shirt over his face. And this time, when he lowers it, he sees me.
I see the reaction before he buries it. His attention finds me so directly it feels physical. Like being found.
Then his gaze shifts to Eden beside me, and one corner of his mouth lifts because he knows exactly who orchestrated this.
Eden gives him a tiny, innocent wave. He almost rolls his eyes.
“Okay,” I say, because suddenly I’m too aware of myself. My clothes. My face. The fact that I’ve been standing here staring at him like a woman in a nineteenth-century novel about to faint over a cavalry officer. “We can go.”
Eden turns to me. “Already?”
“Yes.”
“You lasted longer than I expected.”
“You’re a bitch.”
She grins. “You’re welcome.”
Ray says something sharp from the ring, and Leo’s focus snaps back at once.
That does it.
I touch Eden’s arm. “Seriously. Let’s go before your brother gets yelled at because of me.”
“Fine.” Laughing, she lets me steer her toward the door.
As we pass the far side of the gym, Lukas is peeling off his gloves. He glances up, and his expression opens—easy warmth, no agenda.
“Hey, ladies.”
Then to Eden, “Tomorrow morning?”
“Seven,” she says.
He looks at me. “You ever want to try, I’m available.”
“I prefer watching,” I say.
“Fair.” He jerks his chin toward the door. “I’ll walk you out. Ray’s got Leo for at least another forty-five.”
Before I can answer, Eden says easily, “We’re good. Thanks.”
“All right.” Lukas is already turning back to his gloves. “See you tomorrow, Carver.”
Outside, the brightness hits hard after the dim, brutal focus of the gym. The whole block looks overexposed.
