Page 52 of Dominate

“Give me a minute,” I manage.

“Take it.”

I stare at the worn patch on the knee of his sweatpants. He lets me. After a while, I loosen my grip on the chair.

“Can I?” he asks, holding out his hand.

I put mine in it.

“Dan knows I’m hiding something.” The words come slowly. “He doesn’t know what. But he keeps pushing. Trying to beat me back into the right shape.”

Micah rubs his thumb over my knuckles.

“Is it working?”

“I have no idea.” I lift my head to meet his dark, steady gaze. “I feel like I’m tearing straight down the middle. I can’t keep being his champion all day and coming here in pieces.”

“They cannot.” Micah keeps his tone gentle but firm. “Not forever.”

“I know.” I clench my jaw, fighting the tremor in my voice. “But I have to maintain the illusion for five more days. I can’t detonate my life this close to the bell. It would be professional suicide. Dan would destroy me in the press. Jason would ruin my legacy. I would never fight again.”

Micah nods in complete understanding. “So you stay the course.”

“I stay. I perform the routine.” I drag a ragged breath into my lungs. “And then I step into that octagon with you. I don’t know how to do both. I don’t know how to throw punches with intent to harm when you are the only person who anchors me to the earth.”

Micah lifts his hands. He cups my face, his calloused palms warm against my cold cheeks. He forces me to look directly into his unwavering eyes.

“You fight me like you respect my skill.” Micah issues the instruction with certainty. “You fight me like you know my chin can take your best shot. You fight me like the elite competitor you are. We both earned exactly that. A true contest. Not a compromised performance.”

“And when it ends?”

“When it ends, we figure out the rest. Together.” Micah brushes his thumbs over my cheekbones, wiping away the lingering tension. “Five more days of hiding in the shadows. Then we are entirely done. Then we walk out of that cage together. Let the world choke on their own opinions.”

“You make the explosion sound incredibly simple.”

“The choice is simple.” Micah pulls me close again. “The execution is brutal. But the worst part is almost over. You just have to survive the countdown.”

I lean into his strength. I stop trying to hide how much I’m shaking.

“I don’t know if I can take it,” I admit to the empty room.

“I do not doubt you.” Micah rests his cheek against my temple. “Because you are no longer enduring it alone. Whatever Dan demands on the mats. Whatever Ironside expects from their golden boy. You come straight back here. You let me rebuild you. We survive it one hour at a time.”

One hour at a time.

Five more days.

I close my eyes. I drag a deep, cleansing breath into my chest.

“Okay,” I whisper the surrender into the quiet room. “Okay.”

We move to the mattress in the corner of the room. We lie tangled on top of the quilted comforter. We don’t shed our clothes. We don’t push for intimacy. We simply share the physical space.

Micah rests his hand on my back. He traces slow, rhythmic patterns across my spine. My thoughts begin to slow. It pulls me back from the terrifying cliff edge I stared over all afternoon.

The city sounds filter through the cheap window glass. A car engine revs. A dog barks in a nearby alley. The orange glow of a streetlight paints faint shadows on the ceiling.

“Stay tonight,” Micah requests quietly.