Page 80 of Love at First Rep

God, I hope so.

“I, uh—” His voice cracked and he stopped to clear his throat. “I still have a lot of questions, but I’ll help you finish this mission. I promised Rafe I would.”

The edge of Rafe’s lips tilted up, teasing at a smile. The fear in his eyes remained. They needed to get through this and see what happens when they get to the other side. Rafe leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Garrett’s.

Despite the anger and frustration, a burst of amusement hit Garrett when he remembered their plans for the night. It turned out they were more appropriate than he expected, and judging by the confusion now written on his face, Rafe had forgotten about them entirely.

“Perfect,” McHugh said, clapping his hands and bringing everyone’s attention back to him. “Let’s hit the command center and break down the plan for tomorrow.”

It was like McHugh hit a button that launched everyone out of their seats, all of them moving as a unit as they headed toward a door in the corner of the main area. Rafe climbed off Garrett’s lap and pulled him off the couch, his arm wrapping around Garrett as they followed the group.

“You look really… excited all of a sudden,” Rafe whispered as they walked. “Did I miss something? Or are you trying to decide how you want to kill me?”

Garrett snorted as he threw an arm around Rafe’s shoulders. “Oh, Rafe, my little imp. Have you forgotten our plans for later tonight? Before, I planned on going easy on you. Now? I’ll be taking out all my frustration on your ass.”

Rafe stopped and blinked at him in confusion. “But I let you do that anyway.”

Garrett choked back his laughter. “Dude. I mean in the boxing ring. Where we planned on sparring tonight? With all the guys from the gym to watch? Ringing any bells?”

It took everything in Garrett not to burst out laughing as he watched the realization hit Rafe, the color draining from his face.

“Whatever, I’ll ring your bell. I’ll ring all your bells,” Rafe muttered, his voice growly and annoyed. Garrett had to stifle his snickering.

Would kicking Rafe’s ass be enough of a punishment for his years of lies and the hell Garrett had been through the last week? No. Would it make him feel better? Abso-fucking-lutely.

Buckle up, Rafe. It’s time for some payback.

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“Cole, why do you have a giant wrestling belt?”

Cole peered at the large item in one of his hands.

“Isn’t it awesome? I got it at the party supply store,” Cole said, then held up a pile of large cardstock paper. “I also made these cards to display for each round, like one of those ring girls? I asked Elena if she wanted to do it, but, uh, yeah, so that’s why I’m late.”

“Why would that make you late?” Garrett asked.

Cole’s smile turned sheepish. “You don’t want to know.”

Garrett chuckled. He knew way too much about his friends’ sex lives. He turned away from Cole and continued his stretching while he watched everyone prepare for his and Rafe’s sparring session.

“I brought popcorn!” Hunter shouted.

“And I got candy!” Lucas added from where they stood at a line of chairs set in front of the gym’s boxing ring, the announcements drawing cheers from the group.

“Sweet. I have a playlist and stuff ready to go,” Chase added. He stood at the front of the room with Tobias, everyone dressed down in sweats and T-shirts for the late-night event. Both him and Rafe planned on fighting shirtless and they both wore shorts with compression shorts underneath. The fact that all of his friends would be sitting there watching didn’t guarantee Garrett wouldn’t pop a boner while rolling around a canvas with Rafe. Hopefully, the compression shorts would help hide any unwanted hardness.

A part of him wished they were alone so he could have his wicked way with Rafe in the middle of that ring. When they were kids, they’d often wrestle to settle arguments or get out some excess energy. Once they were combat-trained, those wrestling matches turned into sparring sessions and intense training, so they knew how to avoid giving each other any major injuries. Even so, they’d wear mouthguards, headgear and gloves to give them extra protection.

Another part of Garrett was furious and needed to release some of his pent-up rage. He didn’t want to hurt Rafe. Not really. For guys like them, a punch to the face while taking the proper precautions wasn’t all that painful. Adrenaline coursed through their bodies while they fought, making the pain easier to ignore. Of course, at their age, they’d likely both feel like shit for a couple days after. They’d also fight until one of them got pinned rather than trying to knock each other out.

Rafe sat nearby doing his own warmup, and Garrett took the opportunity to drink him in and watch him stretch those enticing muscles of his.

Rafe had been quiet since they left the team’s headquarters a couple hours before. The first thing they did was grab some food before heading over to let Riley and Josh know they were okay. The meal made for a nice peace offering for scaring the absolute shit out of them.

When they opened the door, Riley held a broom, Batman mask on, while Josh wielded a baseball bat. They didn’t put them down until Garrett confirmed they were all safe. Even though Rafe and the rest of his team said the guys were okay, seeing them with his own eyes doused some of the flames burning inside him. Thank fuck none of it was real. Riley and Josh wrestled each other a lot, but they were no match for military-trained attackers. Now, they were wrapped up in each other, Riley on Josh’s lap even though he didn’t weigh much less than Josh. Seeing them safe and sound was such a relief.

Carson sat next to them. He filled them in on his part in all this. Before they’d left headquarters, they’d discussed how much to tell their friends. In the end, they decided none of them needed to know about their mission to track down the kingpin behind Anaviqa. Since their friends knew not to ask questions about cop stuff, Garrett and the others figured they could let Riley and Josh know the basics so they understood nothing would happen to them. Carson decided he wanted to let Riley and Josh know about his skills and that he was the one behind wiping the stolen drive on Riley’s computer. He figured that knowledge would be a relief to Riley, and based on Riley and Josh’s relaxed smiles as they talked to Carson, he was right. He was always right.