The Fighter

by E. L. Todd

  Colton looked up when he detected the tension in the room. “What? Do you want me to disinvite him?”

  “No,” I said quickly. “I just didn’t know he was coming—”

  “Yes,” Brutus interrupted. “It would be nice if you didn’t invite him to every little thing.”

  Colton shifted his gaze back and forth between us.

  Tom was still.

  I took a long drink of my wine and depleted the entire glass until it was empty.

  Colton finally addressed what Brutus said. “Noted…I just thought he could play with Tatum.”

  “You can play games with an odd number of people.” Brutus grabbed his beer and took a drink.

  The situation was just getting worse. “Brutus, let it go…”

  Brutus dropped his arm from my side and didn’t say anything, but it was obvious he was mad. “I’m going to wash up.” He excused himself to the bathroom.

  Colton rounded on me the second he was gone. “What happened?”

  “Finn and I had a long conversation a few nights ago about getting back together… Brutus wasn’t happy about it.”

  “Well, I don’t think Finn is gonna stop anytime soon, so Brutus’ll have to get used to it. And since Finn is my brother, I can’t just exclude him from game night.”

  “No, I understand. He’s just kinda grumpy about the whole thing.”

  The front door opened, and Finn walked inside, wearing a dark blue shirt with a leather jacket. When he’d first returned to Seattle, the size of his body had shrunk from the lack of exercise and proper nutrition. He’d been hitting the gym religiously, and now he looked like the behemoth he used to be.

  I was the first thing he looked at, as if Colton and Tom weren’t in the room.

  I turned my gaze and looked at Colton again, refusing to let my eyes settle on him for too long.

  Finn approached the kitchen and grabbed a beer without acknowledging anyone.

  “Hey, Finn,” Colton finally said. “We’re trying to decide what game we should play.”

  He twisted off the cap of his bottle. “Baby, why don’t you decide?”

  I stilled at the nickname because Brutus was right behind him. He’d returned from the bathroom, and he’d obviously heard what Finn said because his eyes narrowed like two bullets. He rejoined us and slid his arm around my waist, his eyes full of menace so Finn would know he’d overheard his endearment.

  Soon, these two men would never be able to be in the same room together.

  Or maybe soon was now.

  Finn drank his beer and looked at Brutus like he didn’t give a damn if he pissed him off.

  Colton cleared his throat. “You’re right, Monopoly is too long. Let’s play Cranium.”

  “No,” Tom said. “Finn will kick our asses.”

  Finn kept staring at Brutus, having a silent confrontation with just his eyes.

  I felt Brutus’s arm tighten around my waist, like he was restraining himself as much as possible.

  “What about Sorry?” Colton asked, doing his best to dissipate the hostility in the room.

  “Too boring,” Tom said.

  “Well, that leaves us with Monopoly,” Colton said. “Unless we want to do Pictionary.”

  “Not a bad idea.” Tom nodded.

  Finn finally broke eye contact and glanced at my empty glass. “More wine, baby?” Now he said it directly to Brutus’s face, staking a claim on me even though he wasn’t touching me. He grabbed the bottle from the counter and refilled my glass.

  Brutus was turning red in the face. “You really don’t want to do that…” The threat was subtle but there nonetheless.

  “Or what?” Finn corked the wine and returned it to the counter. “You’re gonna write me a check to make me stop?”

  It was an odd insult, but it was obviously effective because Brutus tensed beside me.

  Brutus clenched his jaw. “You don’t want to find out what I’ll do…so I suggest you shut your mouth.”

  Colton eyed them back and forth then looked at me, his eyes wide with terror as the two men continued to exert hostility in the kitchen. He looked at me like he hoped I would have a solution to bring this standoff to an end.

  “Maybe other men are afraid of your wallet, but I’m not.” Finn took another drink of his beer. “Real men fight with fists, not cash. But you’ve probably never been in a fight in your entire life…or rolled up your sleeves and got your hands dirty. Pepper fell in love with me because I’m a man who puts his money where his mouth is. She’s just using you to keep her bed warm. We both know you don’t mean a damn thing to—”

  Brutus lunged at Finn.

  “Stop it.” I grabbed Brutus by the arm and dragged him back. “I mean it.”

  Brutus obeyed me but kept his eyes on Finn.

  Finn hadn’t moved an inch, drinking his beer like he wasn’t afraid of any kind of swing coming his way.

  I was angry Brutus jumped to violence, but I couldn’t blame him because Finn had antagonized him. Finn had the upper hand, and he knew it. “Finn, you’re being an asshole, and we all see it. Don’t call me baby, and don’t insult Brutus like that. If you can’t play nice with everyone, then you should leave.”

  Finn didn’t move an inch.

  Colton bowed his head because he wanted to stay out of it.

  Brutus calmed slightly when I finally addressed Finn’s obnoxious behavior.

  “Pissing off Brutus isn’t the way to get me back,” I snapped. “Instead of all of us having a good night and enjoying ourselves, you decided to ruin it. I’m not your baby, and I’ll never be your baby again. So get out, and don’t come back until you understand what kind of behavior is acceptable.”

  Finn set down his beer and stared at me, his hands still on the counter like he might not move. Brutus and everyone else didn’t seem to exist. It was just the two of us. His eyes were full of disappointment, like I’d somehow crossed the line. “You are my baby. He may have his arm around your waist, but I have you forever. If you were madly in love with someone, I would back off and leave you in peace. But you don’t love this guy. You’re just using him to feel good about yourself. Everyone in this room knows it—including Brutus.” He stepped away from the counter and walked toward the door. “But I’ll go—because you asked.”

  Game night wasn’t much fun because we kept thinking about the episode with Finn.

  No one seemed to be paying attention.

  At the end of the night, we started to clean up the crumbs and empty bottles. Brutus filled the trash bags with old beer bottles then carried them into the hallway to drop into the chute.

  “Well, that was fun,” Colton said sarcastically.

  “My god, this is a nightmare…”

  “And I don’t think Finn is going to back off.”

  “It’d surprise me if he did.”

  Colton rinsed off the dishes and placed them on the right side of the sink to be scrubbed later. “What are you going to do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Finn seems determined, and Brutus seems fed up. You’re going to have to choose at some point.”

  “Choose? I have chosen.” I told Finn I wanted to be with Brutus. End of story.

  “Until you break it off with Brutus to be with Finn, or you marry Brutus, I think this problem isn’t going to go away. Maybe if Brutus weren’t so proud, he would leave. No guy would deal with this otherwise.”

  “Yeah…”

  “Unless he’s in love with you.”

  “I doubt it.”

  He shrugged. “You never know. Either way, you need to put a stop to this somehow. Because kicking Finn out of your life just isn’t possible, not when we are best friends who live across the hall from each other.”

  “Yeah…I think you’re right.”

  18

  Finn

  I worked an additional two hours of overtime because the ER was swamped.

  There weren’t enough rooms for the patients, so beds were parked in ha
llways and even near the printers. Two codes came in that night, which stopped the flow of patients. Patients kept piling up, and eventually, it turned into a shitshow.

  So I stayed.

  I saw a couple more patients until the craziness of the ER died down. I discharged a few of my patients and admitted a few others. The remaining critical patients were handed off to Layla, whom I worked with often.

  “Heading out?” Dressed in her blue scrubs and white coat, most of her tattoos were hidden from view. The stethoscope around her neck hid some of the ink that appeared out of her deep V-neck.

  “Yeah.” I pulled on my leather jacket. “If I don’t leave now, I’ll be here forever.” I set the charts next to her computer, signing out my remaining patients to her care. I didn’t even bother doing my dictations like usual because I was fried.

  “Alright, have a good night.” Ever since Pepper had confronted her outside the airport, our relationship had been professional. She only spoke to me if it was work-related. Sometimes she asked what was being served in the cafeteria. But that was the extent of it. If she knew Pepper and I weren’t together, I suspected she would be playing a different tune.

  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find her attractive. I’d also be lying if I said I wasn’t extremely hard up. The last time I got laid was in Kenya. I missed sex. But sex with someone else wouldn’t be fulfilling. Pepper was the only woman I wanted to screw. It would be amazing, just the way it used to be.

  That’s what I wanted.

  So I kept holding out for it.

  It bothered me that she was sleeping with Brutus, but I tried not to think about it. I always felt sick to my stomach whenever I did. “Bye, Layla.” I pulled my satchel over my shoulder and walked out to the rear entrance. My truck was in the parking lot, so I walked into the cold evening air and moved down the line of cars until I saw my vehicle under the lamppost.

  I stopped when I spotted a group of men leaning against the bed of my truck.

  In the center was Brutus, dressed in his dark jeans and black blazer. His eyes locked on me, and an evil sneer spread across his face, like he’d been waiting hours out in the cold for me to emerge under the light, exhausted from my fourteen-hour shift saving people’s lives.

  I never turned down a fight, even when I was tired and outnumbered. There was still time to turn around and run, but that wasn’t my style—especially when Brutus was my opponent. I kept walking.

  Brutus righted himself then sauntered toward me, his shoulders relaxed like he’d already won the battle about the take place. Four large men were behind him, looking like bouncers doing security inside a club. “You look like shit.”

  “That’s what happens after a long day of work…not that you would understand.” I stood a few feet in front of him and pulled my satchel off my shoulder. I let it fall to the ground beside me, ready for the fight about to take place. It was cheap of him to catch me off guard after work, but at least we could settle this once and for all.

  His eyes flashed with menace. “I warned you not to piss me off.”

  “I told you I don’t want your money.”

  When he came closer to me, his men crowded around him. “Why didn’t you tell her?”

  I had no idea what Pepper saw in this guy. He didn’t possess an ounce of honor. He was slimy like a snake. “Because I thought you’d be man enough to tell her yourself.”

  His eyes narrowed. “One more chance, Finn. Disappear or suffer. What’s it going to be?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

  “I’d love the chance to break that pretty-boy face.” I stripped off my jacket and tossed it on the ground. “If you think you’re ever gonna get rid of me, you’re wasting your time. I love her and she loves me. You’re only borrowing her for the time being.”

  “If you really loved her that much, you wouldn’t have left. All I see is a pathetic guy who stalks his ex-girlfriend and makes her miserable.”

  My hands balled into fists.

  “If you won’t walk away, I’ll make you walk away.” He gave a slight nod, an indication to his men.

  The four of them started to move forward.

  “Wow, you’re that much of a pussy?” I took a step back, and my fists came up automatically, prepared for a fight. “Won’t even fight me like a man?”

  He leaned against the bed of my truck and got comfortable. He crossed his ankles and grinned. “I’d rather watch.”

  The four men converged on me, all much bigger than I was. I had more experience in combat and could stay calm and conserve my energy to survive, but I knew I couldn’t outmatch this many guys, maybe two at the most.

  My other option was to run.

  But I’d rather break every bone in my body than cave.

  Fists started to fly, and I did my best to keep moving, to evade their hits and stop my limbs from being snatched. But that only lasted a few seconds. Two of the men grabbed both of my arms then kicked my knees out from underneath me, making me fall to the concrete.

  “Last chance, Finn.” Brutus was enjoying his victory, grinning wider than I’d ever seen.

  These men would beat my face until my features were indistinguishable. I’d probably have broken bones and a long recovery. If they hit me in the wrong place too many times, I could even die. But I refused to give him what he wanted. I refused to cave to this psychopath. I refused to let him win. “There are cameras everywhere. All I have to do is press charges and take you to court.”

  “Then do it,” he said. “Be a rat.”

  My honor meant too much to me. Being a snitch was one of the worst things you could be. I could tell Pepper what happened tonight, but I wanted her to leave Brutus and be with me because she finally trusted me, not because I used this night to sabotage her relationship. All of these things were happening because I provoked them—so it was all my fault. “You’ll regret this, Brutus.”

  He nodded to his men again. “I don’t think I will.”

  My eyes were closed as I lay on the frozen asphalt. The distant sound of traffic reached to my ears, along with the sound of an ambulance. As I came into consciousness, the agonizing pain hit me so hard. Every time I tried to breathe, it hurt. Blood caked my face and stained my scrubs. When the panic set in, I tried to breathe harder—but it just hurt more.

  I was in worse shape than I thought.

  I could barely remember what happened after the first few punches.

  My hands pressed into the concrete to lift my body—but I couldn’t even do that.

  Too weak.

  “Finn?” Layla’s hysterical voice shrieked into the night when she found me. Her shift ended a few hours after mine, so I must have been lying there for a couple of hours. “Oh my god!” Her feet echoed against the pavement as she ran toward me then kneeled over me. “What the hell happened?” She turned my face toward her so she could get a better look at me.

  I opened my eyes, but everything was blurry.

  “Shit. Let me get the EMTs. I’ll be right back, okay? You’re going to be alright.”

  I’d said those same words to so many people before—then I watched them die.

  Was she saying the same thing to me? “Tell Pepper I love her, okay?” It hurt my chest to get those words out, but I forced them from my lungs. “Please tell her that for me…” My eyes closed again because I couldn’t keep them open.

  “Just rest, Finn.” She turned my face back against the asphalt. “Just stay awake. I’ll be right back.”

  I tried to stay awake but couldn’t. I slipped back into the darkness…and assumed I would never emerge.

  19

  Colton

  I’d just finished a load of dishes and laundry, so now I got to sit on the couch and watch Family Feud before bedtime. My ass had just touched the cushion when my phone started to ring. It was a number I didn’t recognize, so there was a good chance it was just spam.

  But it was almost midnight, so that seemed unlikely.

  That was the only reason I answered. “T
his is Colton.” I twisted off the cap on my beer and took a drink.

  “Colton Burke?” A hysterical woman was on the other line.

  “Uh, yeah. Who’s this?”

  “Finn’s brother, right? I remember he said your name was Colton.”

  This conversation was only getting weirder. “Yeah…what’s this about?”

  “God, I don’t know how to tell you this…but Finn is in the ER right now. I walked to my car in the parking lot and found him on the ground. A group of guys jumped him and messed him up pretty badly.”

  I had a million questions, but they all faded away when I heard the final thing she said. “Is he okay?”

  “Like I said, he’s in bad condition. He’ll live, but he has a lot of injuries. Blood loss, two broken ribs, lacerations everywhere… He’s in a lot of pain. This is Layla, by the way. He finished his shift hours before mine, so he must have been in the parking lot for a while.”

  “Jesus…” I got to my feet and stared blankly at the TV, ignoring Steve Harvey as he made another joke. I gripped the side of my skull as my heart started to pound with adrenaline. “Jesus Christ, I’ll be down there right away. Tell him I’m coming. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I left the beer on the coffee table and grabbed my keys and wallet from the counter.

  “He’s not awake right now, but if he does open his eyes, I’ll tell him.”

  “Thanks.” I hung up then sprinted out of the apartment. I moved to Pepper’s door and banged my fists hard against the wood because I didn’t want to waste any time. There was no sound on the other side, not the sound of footsteps or her TV. “Pepper?”

  No answer.

  She must be with Brutus.

  I didn’t have time to call her, so I left and got to the hospital as soon as I could.

  I burst into the room and found my brother lying there, broken. He was the strongest man I’d ever known, but he looked so lifeless in that bed, so small. His eyes were closed, but they were so swollen and purple it didn’t seem like he could open them anyway. He appeared to be asleep. An IV was in his arm, and the monitor beeped as his vitals were taken repeatedly.