I’m saved from coming up with some plausible answer as the doors to the gym suddenly open and Jensen strides through them. His frantic eyes land on me and fill with relief until his eyes zero in on my nose and that feral darkness eclipses any other emotion in his eyes.
“Shit” I mutter and jog straight past Rusty and another guy who I’m guessing is a trainer, aware that I’m giving them all quite a show today.
Jensen catches me and pulls me in close, hugging me as if he lost me and I realise that it was incredibly selfish of me to just run off on them like that, especially since the last time I disappeared I was taken.
I am such a dick.
“I am so sorry, I didn’t think. It just, I was angry and hurt and didn’t want to take it out on you guys” I mutter.
He nods once but then pulls back as his hand comes up to my cheek. When I meet his gaze it becomes abundantly clear that I’m not the only one that is irrationally angry at the situation. Seeing me hurt has just pushed him over the edge.
“Who, the fuck hurt you?” he growls.
“Just some cocky fucker, Jensen. I took care of it” I reply and grin, he returns it with a slightly unhinged feral grin of his own, I really scared him running off and I vow never to do it again no matter how angry I am. His body is vibrating and I know that he needs to fight out the anger and fear, which gives me an idea.
“Hey, Rusty!” I call out, not that there was much need since most of the gym is not so subtly watching us.
“Yes?” He says as he makes his way over, eyeing Jensen and his body language.
“This is Jensen, I actually bought him MMA lessons” I say and Rusty’s eyes light with understanding.
He’s a fighter himself, he can see the war going on inside Jensen just like he saw my need to beat the crap out of a punching bag.
“Alright boy. Wrap your hands and into the ring” he instructs Jensen and I nod when Jensen glances at me. “Rico since you thought it was ok to grab his girl maybe you should step into the ring?” Rusty chuckles and several of the guys join in.
“He grabbed you?” Jensen says deceptively calm and his eyes flash with violence.
“I’m fine I took care of it, remember” I lower my voice and lean closer, “I know you are fucking mad, at everything right now but remember where you are. You can’t kill him” I warn.
“Fine” he growls, “text the guys and let them know you’re safe and what’s going on” he tells me handing me his phone as he takes the tape off of one of the guys and starts wrapping his hands.
“I promise Jensen I will never run off again no matter how angry I am. I had a nightmare and just kept seeing Atty get shot in graphic detail over and over again and I got angry. I needed to fight it out” I explain and turns to me, and kisses my temple.
“I get it Angel. I do but please, please don’t do it again. You scared the fucking shit out of all of us especially since Atlas hasn’t dealt with Jeremy yet” he says and I nod.
I really am an idiot.
I send a message to the guys explaining the same thing and they all message back similar things to what Jensen said.
“Hey Rusty, I think this ones too soft for here” that idiot, Rico yells.
Rusty shakes his head as some of the guys shoot him disgusted looks, apparently I’m not the only one that doesn’t like this asshole.
Jensen ignores him completely as he finishes wrapping his hands and I see respect for him grow in the eyes of the guys paying attention and Rusty.
He stretches out and then hops into the ring. Rico jumping in too and behaving far too cocky.
“Alright, same rules as a normal fight. Knock out or tap out wins. No broken bones” Rusty says.
“As if he could break bones” Rico scoffs.
“And fight” Rusty says as he crosses his arms and comes to stand next to me.
“You might need to line up a few fighters” I say and Rusty and the trainer from before look at me in surprise, I shrug, “we lost someone recently” I explain.
“Ok” Rusty says simply but I can tell he doesn’t believe me. especially since Jensen just stands there his arms loosely at his sides whilst Rico tries to goad him.
“There’s probably five more guys about to show up” I add. “You’ll get a better judge of Jensen’s fighting style if he fights one of them. They’ve been training with him for years.”
Rico get’s tired of waiting and charges Jensen expecting him to be a novice fighter. Jensen moves at the last second and strikes out with his fist knocking Rico out cold as he stands there looking bored as fuck.
The gym falls silent as someone checks Rico and then drags him out.
“Interesting” Rusty mutters, “Lewis, up next” he says.
Lewis is a more respectful fighter and exchanges a couple of words with Jensen that has him flashing a smile.
“Fight!” Rusty yells.
This time the fight lasts for a bit longer but I can tell that Jensen is holding back.
“Jensen, stop playing with him” Trick yells from the door.
Rusty chuckles next to me as the guys who were watching the fight turn to the door and the rest of my guys.
I’m so fucking ashamed of my behaviour that my eyes stay glued to the fight in front of me.
Jensen smirks at Trick’s words and visibly sighs before he quickly takes Lewis down making sure he doesn’t properly hurt him.
“Holy shit” Rusty mutters.
I’m suddenly surrounded by the guys and they all hug me tightly as I whisper sorry.
There’s a few curious looks but no leering or comments. Other than Rico it seems that Rusty runs his gym well.
“Lewis is one of the best fighters we have” the trainer says, “I’m Trent” he adds.
“You need to see Jensen’s skills, yeah?” Trick asks.
“Yes” Rusty replies a curious lilt to his voice.
“Alright, Rafe and Riot you’re up” Trick says grinning and the two of them chuckle before warming up quickly.
“Two of them?” Trent asks.
“Oh yeah, we haven’t been able to give him a decent fight one on one for a while” Trick says and several of the guys scoff, looking seriously sceptical, which I can’t blame them for, I would be too if I didn’t know the guys.
Rafe and Riot hop into the ring and I chuckle as we now have the few guys that were in the gym working our, surrounding the ring, obviously curious.
“Traditional rules” Trick suddenly yells.
“Spoil sport” Jensen yells back smirking.
Rusty shoots Trick a curious look and he just shrugs.
“Well it’s safe to say that we are all intrigued by this point” Rusty chuckles, “fight.”
Unlike the previous fights there’s no slow and steady start, Rafe and Riot attack simultaneously in a way that could only come from years of fighting together and Jensen ducks and dives returning punches and kicks. The grin on his face widening. I love watching Jensen fight. Rafe and Riot take more hits than Jensen does but Jensen by no means escapes unscathed. It’s obvious to me that they are all holding back and I’m interested to see what they’re usual fighting rules are. I drag my eyes away to look around at the guys watching and see respect shinning in most of their eyes as well as some impressed looks too.
The guys haven’t been professionally trained but they do have a lot of experience behind them.
The fight goes on for a while, until all of them are dripping with sweat and blood, breathing heavily but none of them slow down.
“They’ll just keep going until someone gets a knock out. It can go on for a while, I’d call it” Cash suggests, from beside me his hand squeezing mine.
“You boys are something else” Trent mutters.
“Enough” Trick yells.
The guys instantly break apart, grinning and out of breath looking lighter than they did when they arrived. They hop out of the ring and Jensen immediately makes his way over to me, wraps me in sweaty arms and pulls me against h
is chest.
“Thanks for that, dude” I chuckle when he pulls back.
“I needed that, thanks Angel” he mutters.
“Jensen your finger’s dislocated” Trent says, “we can get some ice. I suggest you get to the hospital and set it.”
Trick chuckles.
“Oh well fuck,” Jensen says as he lifts his hand and inspects his finger that’s at an odd angle, “put it back for me Angel?” He grins and a challenging light enters his eyes.
I smirk and grab his hand, quickly but efficiently putting his finger back in place. Ignoring the shocked looks from the surrounding people who obviously expected me to get all girly and Jensen to get it set like a normal human.
“Fuck, that sound always gets me” Luc shudders and I giggle.
“Thanks Angel” Jensen says as he kisses me.
“Jensen can I have a word, actually all of you if you can fight like that?” Rusty says.
“We can, not like Jensen though. He’d be the only one that would be interested in actual fights and not just sparring” Cash answers.
“Ok. You’re all a bit rough around the edges but what I’ve seen has me very impressed. I can work a training schedule for you Jensen and have you in the ring by the next fight which is in the next couple of weeks. I think the main problem is going to be making sure you don’t start playing, as one of your friends called it.”
Jensen just smirks.
As the guys all talk with Rusty, the excitement from the fight and my, lets call it a workout and not emotional breakdown, earlier, all of it drains away, taking my energy and my mood starts to dip again. Atlas would’ve gotten a kick out of this and would’ve truly shown Jensen’s skills. I have a feeling he can still take Jensen on, one on one.
Trick’s arm’s suddenly wraps around me and he tucks me into his side. I practically slump against him.
“Alright, I’ll see you in a couple of days. Ever, you too. There’s no girls in the gym at the moment but I don’t think you’ll mind sparring with the boys” Rusty chuckles and I smile as best I can before nodding.
He frowns slightly.
“I’d get her back. She turned up soaking wet at five a.m this morning and hasn’t stopped since” Rusty says.
“I forgot my jacket” I mutter.
The guys say goodbye and I grab my stuff promising to come back. We all make our way out of the gym and Luc holds his hand out for my keys. I know there’s no point in arguing so I hand them over and hop into Jensen’s car with him, sensing that he needs me near the most.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Cash
I watch as Ever get’s into Jensen’s car and he immediately grabs her hand. She scared the living shit out of us this morning and I don’t ever want to feel that way again. I understand where she’s coming from, especially after she explained the dream in the message to us. Atlas has us all on edge. What makes it worse though is that he wouldn’t have had the chance to deal with Jeremy yet and because of that he is still very much a threat. He already nearly took her from us.
I hop into the front of the truck and turn to the guys as I get an idea.
“I hate seeing her hurting like this.”
“She practically crumpled against me near the end” Trick says worriedly.
“It’s understandable, she has a bond with him like she has with us. I have to admit I’m finding it a fuck load harder now that we know for certain that he’s in danger and won’t fucking bring us in” Rafe growls.
“Me too” Riot mutters and we all mutter our agreement.
“All of us are on edge and I don’t think that’s going to change until we hear from him or know what’s going on” Trick says.
“For now we just need to try and make it easier for all of us but especially Ever she’s strong and all but that fucking nightmare was horrific, it’s no wonder she bolted to the first place she could think of that would give her the fight she needed.” I say, “lets go to the store and pick up some stuff to help her feel better, and us actually.”
“Good idea, I’ll text Jensen and let him know what we’re up to” Riot says from the back.
“I’m not leaving tonight. Ever needs us and last night it just felt weird being separated after staying together at the cabin” Rafe says firmly.
“No I don’t think mom will make you guys leave. She can tell somethings going on. It was surreal, realising that I felt more at home with you guys and Ever at the cabin than in my childhood home” Trick says.
“Tell me about it” Rafe mutters.
“We’ve always known Ever was it for us. We got a taste of a future we could have at the cabin” Riot says thoughtfully and throws the car into contemplative silence.
He’s right. It was like getting a little snapshot into what our future with Ever could be, with Atlas included and I think that’s what made it even harder this time. Not only because we know he’s in danger but before the cabin there has always been a member of our chosen family missing. When Atlas was around it was Ever and when we finally got Ever back we’d lost Atlas. At the cabin we were all together for the first time and it just felt right.
The guys were different too, more relaxed.
I’m pulled from my musings when the truck doors slam shut and I hop out of the truck and join the guys.
“What are we doing here?” Luc asks me having followed behind the truck on Ever’s bike.
“Getting stuff to make Ever feel better and for a movie afternoon” Riot explains.
“Alright, it was your idea, other than food what do we need get?” Rafe asks me.
“I don’t know. Mom always wraps herself up in blankets and fluffy socks when she’s sad” I start to list.
“My mom eats loads of chocolate and puts on a comedy show or film” Trick muses as we grab a cart and make our way through the door to the store.
“Dad always gives mom lots of cuddles” Rafe signs.
Now we’re back he’s gone back to signing around strangers and simpler sentences around our parents. He’s never really been one for talking though and to be honest I think we all expected it. He doesn’t like attention and our town is small enough that if he suddenly started talking, far too much attention would be on him.
“Ok, so lots of food. Some fluffy blankets and socks and loads of cuddles from us?” Riot sums up.
“Yeah that sounds about right” I chuckle.
“Got to admit cuddling up with Ever all day, eating junk and watching films sounds pretty damn perfect” Luc chuckles.
“Damn right, brother” I reply.
“I might make some chicken soup for her too. Rusty said she was soaked when she turned up and I don’t want her to get sick. Everyone makes chicken soup when people are sick although I’m not entirely sure why” Rafe signs before trailing off as he get distracted thinking about why chicken soup is what people eat when they’re sick.
I chuckle as Riot leans over and kisses him, completely distracting him from his spiralling thoughts.
“Anyway, it’s really comforting winter food” Rafe adds again and the others laugh.
“I’m always up for anything you’ve cooked” Luc shrugs and it’s decided.
To be honest I don’t think Rafe will get away with not cooking for us now, from the happy smile on his face though I don’t think he minds.
Fortunately we now know Ever well enough to know her favourite foods and the store has a homeware section where we get a fluffy blanket each, because none of us are too proud that we can’t admit that we want one. We also pick up fluffy socks for all of us knowing that Ever will get a kick out of that. It doesn’t take long for us to get to the checkout and I’m just paying when one of the main guys from Tomlinson approaches.
“Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that everything is set up for the ring to start back up on Friday nights. When we go back. There’s been a couple of fights break out since you’ve not been in town but I’m sure your boys will fill you in. Nothing that gained any attention from the
cops” Trey tells us before dipping his head and then walking out the doors.
“Another thing we need to catch up on. This all seems incredibly unimportant right now. I’ll send out a text and ask for a report” Trick sighs as he pulls out his phone and sends the text before we start loading the truck up and make our way back to Trick’s house.
When we walk through the door, Jenny eyes our bags curiously.
“Are you all ok? Ever since you got back yesterday you’ve all been different” she says, as observant as her son.
“We’re fine, Mom. Promise” Trick says giving her hug. “We’re going to take this stuff upstairs and watch some films.”
“Ok, boys. If you’re sure.”
“Jenny would it be ok if I made lunch?” Rafe asks out loud.
“Of course, Rafe. Your mom has told me all about your cooking. I’m excited to try it” Jenny says, enthusiastically.
“Thank you” Rafe grins, sounding completely unsurprised that his mom spilt the beans and told Jenny.
He takes the bags with the ingredients through to the kitchen and Jenny follows asking lots of questions.
Once she gone we rush up the stairs, each of us eager to get to Ever. She really fucking scared us and I don’t think I have ever seen Trick panic quite like he did when he video called us because she was gone. Not even when she was taken, this time it was worse because she was right under his nose and he had more time to think about what could have happened to her. As soon as we were actively searching for her though he got back his control and became the leader we all know.
When we push through Ever’s door Jensen is sprawled out on her bed a frown on his face and staring sightlessly at the TV.
“You alright man?” Riot asks concerned as we dump the bags and start unloading all the shit we bought.
“I guess. I just hate seeing her like this and I hate that Atlas is in fucking danger and we can’t fucking help because he won’t let us.”
“I know man, we all feel it. Let’s set this all up for her and then we can have that talk about how we’re going to handle what ever Atlas has going on” Trick instructs.
Secrets Worth Keeping (Finding my Home Book 2) Page 35