Page 55 of Bad Habit
“We need to move.” Oliver reminds them, fully annoyed.
“Or you can tell me why you are fighting twice tonight. We don’t put ourselves at unnecessary risk.” Eli reminds him of a conversation that I clearly was not present for. And I can’t help the feeling that if AJ was here, Oliver would be cowering. She seems to be the only one that he doesn’t want to disappoint.
“Either walk out there with me, or don’t. I don’t have to explain why I’m fighting twice. I just am.” There is definitely a defiance in Oliver’s voice. I know that he fights here to prove something. And I get it. I do what I do to prove something too. But Eli and Maxwell seem actuallyconcerned about Oliver at this moment and I feel like he needs someone to be on his side instead of everyone attacking him.
I move to wedge myself in front of him. And stand as tall as I can even though I’m shorter than all three of them. I look up at Eli, his eyes still digging into Oliver. “We can all talk about this later.” I speak confidently but softly. The tension is tight between the three of them. I glance at Maxwell and his clenched jaw releases. He pulls Eli at his elbow.
“She’s right. You know he won’t get hurt tonight. We will all talk later.” Maxwell assures Eli as he basically drags him out of the room.
I’m still standing so close to Oliver that he pushes my body forward as he takes a deep breath in. I turn to face him but keep our bodies close. He is already looking down at me, but he no longer looks guarded. He’s just staring at me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” The words come out choppy and in a broken breath.
“I’m not.” He’s so fast to respond. He reaches up and unclasps his chain and puts it around my neck. “Thanks for that.”
“For what?”
“Standing beside me.”
“Don’t you dare get fucking hurt tonight and make me regret it.” The cold metal is stinging my skin as it falls between my breasts. Oliver’s eyes soften then light up before he leans down and gives me the softest kiss on the highest part of my cheek bone.
“Yes ma’am.” He whispers.
OLIVER
Iknew they would freak out when I told them that I was fighting twice tonight. They’re validated in their reaction. Mia wasn’t there when AJ nearly let herself break her body. She would take every fight offered to her because she was addicted to the pain and the exhilaration of spilling someone else’s blood. But she pushed too far and she couldn’t even be classified as a shell of a person, she was a ghost. And we couldn’t stop her. Then she walked away. Something in her broke and she left this place and didn’t come back for months.
She hasn’t fought since. But everyone knows and remembers. It’s why they always make room for her when she walks through and why no one touches her.
I’m not going to be like her. I don’t fight to spill blood or have the power. This is what I’m good at. The money I win is nice, and it’s one of the reasons I can afford to do all the renovations to my house. But I also have an impact here. It doesn’t seem like it. You walk into this and it’s just a pit of partying and drinking and fighting. But there are countless young people here hungry for somewhere to belong.
AJ and Mia have their sponsorships for memberships to hand out to youth that need a home. I meet young guys here all the time and they want to know where I train and I get the opportunity to send them to the gym. They don’t last long because our gym isn’t a boys club. We train hard there and we have a variety of classes. Dad has spent hiswhole life creating the gym to be a haven for everyone who needs it. But every once in a while, I get to bring someone in who needs that haven too. And we wouldn’t find them if it weren’t for the fighting here.
Then there’s the feeling that engulfs me when I’m in that cement hole in the ground. I’ve spent my whole life training for something that I lost in one moment. Eli never wanted to go pro. Maxie just lives each day doing whatever he loves at the moment. Dad had to pivot because he met mom and we became priority. I had the shot and I lost it. This is the closest I will ever be to reaching everything I never got. There’s a million reasons why someone would choose to spend their weekend nights taking hit after hit or delivering them. These are mine. This is where I matter.
Walking through the crowd is routine. Mia’s hand in mine is not. I feel her fingers grip mine a little tighter as the people start to close in more and I pull her closer to me in reflex. I don’t know what I did to deserve for her to want to be here with me, but I won’t let anything happen to her to make her regret her decision. We reach the side of the pool I always fight in as the crowd grows even larger. Mia comes down the ladder and I watch her look around excitedly. I go to remind her to stay in the corner but she beats me to it.
“I won’t move. I know your dumb ass rule.” She rolls her eyes at me before nodding her head over to where the guy I’m about to fight is lazily shadowboxing. “He’s taller than you.”
I shake out my shoulders as I invade her space. “I’m bigger.”
“Oh I’m sure.” Her lips twitch and her eyes dance. They are more of a honey color tonight.
I want to kiss her smart mouth but we don’t do that in public.
“Fight now. Fuck later. Or I’m leaving.” Eli complains from beside us.
“We only fuck sometimes.” I correct him.
“Yeah. It’s like a bad habit. Sometimes you just need a fix.” Mia plays along.
“I love a good bad habit.” I wink at her, turning to go to the center before Eli has a conniption.
I stand across from the other guy. I think his name is Alex. A flash of nervousness crosses his face and is gone just as fast. He’s maybe a year younger than me but he’s broad. I’m going to bet that he will be a heavy striker just like Eli thinks. He comes in strong, throwing a punch straight down the middle, which I easily side step out of the way of.
He chases my movements and throws a lazy kick but does land a quick hit to my ribs. There is no power behind his movements though, it’s like he is running through drills in his head. He throws a hook this time, I duck. Another kick, this time to the lower leg. He is fast, Eli was right about that too. I spend the last half of the first round letting him chase me and watching his movements.
Eli meets me in the corner and hands me some water. “He seems new.”
