Since Eric and I had gotten back together, I had received a steady stream of texts from him on a daily basis throughout the gym day. I looked forward to those texts, because who wouldn't look forward to hot gym selfies from their sexy boyfriend?

But something was obviously wrong today, because I hadn't received so much as a solitary text from Eric. I had worried about it enough that I had sent two of my own, one before lunch and one about an hour ago.

I supposed he was simply busy. He had mentioned something about a match later tonight, so I guessed it was simply a case of needing to get in plenty of training. Still, he'd said he was going to spend most of the day packing and moving stuff over to our house. I hadn't figured that he would need to be so busy that he couldn't send me a text.

I dismissed the feeling in my gut that reminded me that the last time Eric had stopped communicating with me, he’d left. I wasn’t going to hold that over him. I had already decided not to be that kind of person.

Ignoring the worried feeling in the back of my mind, I contemplated my sessions. My current session was a fun loving college professor who dreamed of being dominated by a younger man. I wasn't the picture that many people had in mind these days when they thought about "younger men," but I fit the 50 year old's preferences.

Isaiah was a good customer, and I made sure to tell him how wonderfully he'd done as I put the paddle away.

He was flushed but happy, and I turned my back to give him privacy as he slipped his jacket back on and slid back into his shoes. I bid him farewell then began to clean up the bed that he had laid across for the session. After cleansing my toys, I washed my hands.

I would have stayed in the parlor for a few extra minutes, but Lila came to knock on my door.

"Hello, Ms. Paige, what can I do for you?" I asked. "I thought I was pretty much done with clients today?"

"You are," she said. "But there's a special guy waiting on you out in the waiting area. Some handsome guy in a hoodie."

At the mention of the hoodie, I grinned. Of course it was a hoodie.

"Thanks, Ms. Paige," I told her.

I followed her out of the parlor and into the waiting room. I was excited to see Eric coming by for me, but his appearance made me pause in my enthusiasm. He was slumped over, with his hoodie obstructing his face, and he looked miserable.

"Hey," I said, sitting down beside him. "What's wrong?"

He looked up at me and shook his head. "Nothing's wrong," he denied.

I shook my head. "We agreed not to have any secrets, remember? You definitely do not look like someone who had a great day."

"I'm just tired," he said. "You know, too much training. Drains me, mentally and physically. I love it, but it makes me tired."

"I guess I can understand that," I said reluctantly.

Taking his hand in mine, I gave it a tiny squeeze. His whole body froze up when I did that, and I wondered if sleep could really explain that. As much as I tried not to think about it, this was the same man who had ran away two years ago. Was he getting cold feet again? Had something else came up that he hadn't felt the need to tell me about?

But no, he had already answered my question, and I had to take him at his word. That's what a good boyfriend did.

"Anyway, I was thinking," Eric said slowly. "How would you like to come to the fight tonight? It's not televised, so it's pretty low key. It's pretty small, too, just about 8,000 people."

"Okay," I agreed slowly.

Going to fights had never really been my favorite activity, but I supposed that I was willing to make a sacrifice for Eric, especially when he seemed so miserable.

"Great!" Just like that, he seemed incredibly happy, and I knew that I was doing the right thing.

"What time do you need me there? And where am I going?"

"It's a 7," he answered. "And here's a pamphlet. It's just straight down town, across from the old boot warehouse. Come for the show, and see me afterwards, okay? Backstage?"

I nodded, and I watched Eric go. The hope in his eyes was the last thing I remembered before he put his sunglasses back on, slid his hoodie up, and slipped out the door. It was weird to watch him put his disguise back on. Recently, he'd been much more free about his public persona. But maybe he was simply getting nervous this soon before the big show.

Regardless, I watched him slip out the door and sat there for a few minutes. Apparently, it was long enough that Lila came to find me.

"Everything alright in paradise?" she asked.

"Everything's great," I told her, and I hoped that it sounded cheerful enough that she believed it.

Checking out of work a few hours early meant that I wasn't around in case of any emergency clients. But Lila and Cassidy seemed fine with that arrangement, so I made my way downtown to the arena where Eric was going to be fighting.

It was definitely not my sport. In fact, you could tell that from the casual wear that most of the audience wore. This was a fight, and I guess it made sense to wear jeans and t-shirts to the game instead of business casual. My khakis and plaid dress shirt definitely looked out of place, and I wished that I had gone home to change before coming here.

"You look like you're new," the man sitting down next to me said.

"Ah, well, I'm here to - " I paused, trying to respect the fact that Eric wasn't comfortable with his fans knowing about his personal life. "I'm here to see an old friend of mine compete."

"You here for Hitch or Albert?" the guy asked.

"Hitch," I said.

"Ah," my newfound companion said. "He's pretty good. Has three championships under his belt, you know?"

Yes, I thought with amusement, I was well aware of that. "That's pretty cool," I said instead. "He must work pretty hard to earn those championships."

"Oh, they are brutal!" the guy on the other side of me said. "Your friend has to have crazy discipline to be able to train for and win those championships."

That was definitely true about Eric, but it wasn't something that was particularly any of their business.

"Yeah, you know he trains a lot," I agreed.

"There's an understatement of the year, I bet," my other companion said, and I fought back the urge to roll my eyes.

Fortunately, I was spared as the lights began to dim and the announcer took center stage. Watching a fight in person was a whole different experience to watching one on television. On television, I was able to relax and view I as something fictional. Even with my boyfriend on stage, it was easy to have an ideal of separation between me and what was happening on stage.

It wasn't easy to have that when I was sitting in the front row, watching Eric getting pummeled in the face by his opponent. Sure, part of every fight required him to get hit, and I reminded myself that he was okay with me being a dom to several lonely omegas every day, so I had to be okay with watching him get hit.

I couldn't be the overly worried and overly emotional boyfriend. Even if it was a normal alpha trait to want to take care of an omega, I had to bury it down deep. It didn't do anyone any good.

Still, my knuckles went white as I dug my fists into my knees. I was close enough that I could see blood trickling down from a blow to his face.

I swallowed hard and reminded myself that I could take really good care of him when he night was over.

"You okay, newbie?" the guy on my left asked me, and I wished I could throw a punch as well as my boyfriend could.

"Fine," I said. "Just a little closer than I'd planned on being."

"Yeah, your boy Hitch isn't doing too well," the guy on my right noted. "He is definitely getting his ass whooped."

"This might his first loss in a long time," the guy on left agreed. "That would be a shame. He could kiss that fourth championship goodbye."

I glared at both of them in turn. Of course Eric wasn't going to lose. He was just having a rough start.

"He'll do fine," I muttered.

By the second round, I was proven right. Eric came back with a vengeance, and was able to easily destroy the man by knocking him flat out on his back within the next thirty minutes.

The crowd loved it, because of course they did. What crowd didn't love a comeback story, even if it was a comeback of a short 30 minutes?

I joined the rest of them in standing up to cheer of course, and I was able to catch Eric's gaze as I did so. He looked so proud, and when he saw me in the front row, his pride turned to pure joy.

I wondered if my companions noticed. For Eric's sake, I hope they didn't, but part of me hoped they did.

Going backstage, I could see Kamal already patting Eric on the shoulder and congratulating him on the fight. I knocked lightly on the door, and Eric waved me in.

"Come on in," he said. "I have to get seen by a doctor and get paid, still, but it shouldn't take too long."

Kamal glanced over at me curiously. I extended my hand and he took it.

"I'm Samuel," I explained.

I didn't offer any other explanation, and neither did Eric. It wasn't really anyone else's business, if you were asking me.

Kamal continued to size me up for a moment, but then his attention turned back to Eric.

"Time to get paid, young man," he said. "Your standard fee, plus a winner's bonus. You did really good out there."

I was inclined to agree. Despite the pummeling, he really pulled through in the second round. In fact, he looked amazing, and those lean muscles had been intoxicatingly powerful.

I planned to let him know I thought so, too, but only much later.

Eric pocketed his pay, and groaned as a man in a white coat came over to stand next to him. I assumed it was the doctor, and Eric may not have liked the way that he was inspecting Eric's head, but I appreciated it. That pummeling had been a serious one, and who knew what kind of concussion the man could have after all of that activity in the ring?

Meanwhile, I stood a bit awkwardly off to the side. This wasn't like Eric coming into where I worked and waiting on me. For one thing, at my work, nobody had to hide their identity. For another thing, Eric had some idea about my world, and had even participated in it for a while.

I was never going to be a participant in this world. I was completely out of my element, and I was sure that it was obvious to anyone who was also in the room with us.

After Eric received a clean bill of health, Kamal nodded and started to turn to leave. Then he stopped and looked at both of us.

"I'm glad to finally meet Eric's squeeze," Kamal said. "And you seem like a good guy. But keep it on the down low. Eric had a lot of female admirers."

I bit back my retort. While I was willing to support Eric in his efforts to hide himself, doing the same for a stranger wasn't a conversation I was willing to have.

As I watched the doctor and Kamal leave, I turned my attention towards Eric.

"How are you feeling?" I asked. "That looked pretty rough out there."

Eric shook his head. "It was just a few bumps and bruises."

Well, that was an obvious lie. I pulled Eric close to me and pressed my face against his shoulder.

"I give you my word that I will kiss each and every one," I told him.

It should have been a happy promise, but I felt Eric shiver against me and I wondered why that feeling of dread had returned.