CHAPTER 9
Kyle
Fuck my life. He couldn’t just stay away like I asked? Nope, Preston’s currently standing outside my front door ringing the doorbell repeatedly like a fucking idiot.
He left the next morning after my party and I haven’t seen him since. Figures once he finds out I have a kid he shows up.
Finally, I swing the door open and level him with a glare. “Some people like to sleep at five in the morning asshole.”
“Ain’t no rest for the wicked Ky Ky!” He rolls his suitcase in and pushes it to the corner.
“That luggage makes you look like a prick.”
“I am a prick.” He smiles and pulls me into a hug. But a manly one, don’t get it twisted.
“It’s good to see you man. I figured you needed me down here to keep you on track. How’s training?”
“It’s good. I’ve been training with my brothers.”
“Is that the best idea? I thought we talked about this.”
“If you came down here to give me shit you can turn the fuck around and hop back on that plane. I have enough on my plate right now, I don’t need shit from you.”
“Whoa, no need to pull out your inner drama queen. Like I said, I’m just here to keep you on track.”
“Sorry, I just have a lot going on. It’s a lot to juggle and today we’re having Gabe’s birthday party. Leah should be here in an hour to start setting up.”
“You didn’t tell me you were throwing him a birthday party. Especially since it’s here.”
I walk away ignoring his comment with every intention of going back to sleep for an hour. I didn’t get home until late last night. After Gabe went to sleep I decided to get another round in at the gym and didn’t get home until after midnight.
“Where are you going?” Preston yells at me.
“Back to bed.”
“Did you miss me at all?”
“Not even a little.” I laugh.
Once my head hits the pillow I’m dead to the world. Then my alarm goes off and I’m cursing Preston for waking me up earlier. When I check my phone, sure as shit it’s an hour later and I know my event planner should be here anytime. Why the hell do we have to set up for this party so early?
I sit up and stretch out my sore muscles when I hear the doorbell ring.
“I got it K-Money!” Preston yells and I quickly rush to find a shirt and book it for the front door. I can’t let him ruin this party by scaring the event planner away.
With urgency I make my way towards the front door and cringe when I hear Preston laying it on thick.
“You sure are a pretty little thing, Ky’s asleep why don’t we…”
“Preston a word!” I interrupt him and pull him by the collar to the kitchen.
“Christ man, I was laying the foundation. You’ve never cock blocked me before!”
“You are not to make any moves on anyone in town. Hell, in a three-town radius. Keep it in your pants.” I think for a second as I appraise my friend. “Actually, you’re leaving. Go into the city, get on the plane and head back home. Whatever I don’t care, I just need you out of here.”
He looks like I’ve offended him but I know better. He doesn’t get offended.
“You’re kicking me out? Your best friend? Your amigo. Now I didn’t want to say anything but since you’ve been down here…”
“Nope. I don’t want to hear whatever asshole remark you’re about to say. You and Sophie aren’t the best of friends and I don’t want to give her any reason to run for the hills. You know you’re my best friend but I can’t have you here today.”
“Fine. But only because Leslie text me last night saying she was in the city.” He shoots me a glare and leaves the kitchen.
Crisis averted. God knows what would happen if Sophie knew he was in town let alone my manager. He’s a great guy. He has my best interest at heart and is as ruthless as they come. The deals and endorsements he’s gotten me are far superior to any other asshole in MMA and he’s made me the golden boy single handedly by steering me in the right direction for the past couple years.
I hear something dragging and meet Preston near the front door. He’s openly staring at Leah like he’s ready to fucking pounce. Christ, he’s never like this in Vegas. Actually, that’s a lie. He’s worse in Vegas and that’s usually when he’s my wingman.
I stare him down and shove his shoulder. He chuckles a bit before finally stepping out the front door and walking towards his rental.
“The fights in two months Ky, keep your head in the game.”
“What do you think I’ve been doing? I’ve been training every day, sometime twice a day.”
“It’s not your body I’m worried about.” He taps his finger to his temple before jumping in his rental and hightailing it out of my driveway.
He couldn’t be more wrong. Seeing how much my boy idolizes me makes me want to kick the shit out of Trip Gibson even more. I can’t look like a pussy in front of my kid and I plan on him being there. I’m giving Sophie a little more time before I suggest it and quite frankly, I’m waiting to see if there’s anything left between us. She can say there’s nothing until she’s blue in the face but I know when she’s lying.
I can tell from the way she checks me out when she thinks I’m not looking that she still has feelings for me. I just need to prove myself to her and show her that I’m going to be a great Dad. Just like mine was.
What I wouldn’t give to have my Dad with us today. I was young when he passed away so I have few memories of him. What I do remember I hold close to me. Our annual fishing trips, camping in the backyard and coaching my tee ball team.
Just some guidance from him would be appreciated right about now. At least I have my brothers to watch and the opportunity to learn from their fuck ups.
“What’s so funny?”
I look up and see Josh walking through the door.
“I was thinking about Dad.”
“Ah. I find myself doing that a lot lately myself.”
“Yeah. What’s up? Why are you here at seven in the morning?”
“I’m taking you to train. Leah called and said to get you out of the house.”
I groan. “I just had a late session last night. I was planning to take today off.”
He eyes me. “Can’t hack our training schedule pretty boy? It’s okay. Take the day off. Want me to call the spa and book you in for a facial?”
“Fuck you. Let me get my shit then check in with Leah before I go.”
I quickly grab my stuff and catch up with Leah to make sure everything is on track for Gabe’s party. She assures me everything will be fine and not to come back until noon. Fuck, I probably should have left Preston here to get everything done. To make sure everything stays on time.
“Let’s go Ky, she’s got it under control.” Josh throws his arms over my shoulders and steers me towards his minivan.
“How about I drive?”
“Scared to cruise around in a Mom mobile?”
“Fuck yes, let’s take my Ferrari.”
He chuckles and doesn’t change our direction. I sigh in defeat because he’s boxing me so I have no choice to jump in the passenger seat. When he starts the engine, a child starts singing and it’s the most torturous thing my ears have ever had to endure. And that’s saying something because I’ve had some women in my bed that sounded like dying llamas.
“Sorry. Ash lets them listen to that shit.”
“Yet, I can’t help but notice its cranked all the way up and there were no kids in the car on your ride over.”
“Shut up.” He growls and drives towards the gym.
Zander’s gym has been a gold mine since he first started it years ago. His retirement didn’t slow it down at all, if anything every MMA hopeful flocked to it hoping he’d train them personally with the extra time he had on his hands. They didn’t estimate how much time kids take.
When we walk through the doors of the gym I’m surprised to see it way emptier than usual. Not to toot my own horn but people are usually lined up to watch me train. Not that we let them but they hang around to get a glimpse at Reckless.
I see Z and Jay at the front desk and head for them. “Kind of quiet this morning huh?”
“I kicked everyone out. The new rule is the gym’s empty when you train. We’ve had an incident.”
“What incident?”
“Gibson had a lackey down here secretly recording your training sessions. As far as I can tell it was just the one time. At least that’s what I got out of the guy and believe me, he was about to shit his pants. You give a guy a couple jabs to the nose and throw him in an arm bar and they sing like a canary.”
“Wait, when the hell did this happen? Why didn’t I know about it?”
“We were taking care of it. You have a lot on your plate and didn’t want to add to the stress. Plus, there wasn’t anything you could do without getting in trouble. You’re here because you’re in hot water, you need to stay squeaky clean.”
“Guys…” I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a deep breath. “I’m not a loose cannon. I don’t do drugs and I don’t fuck prostitutes. I know I haven’t been around a lot but cut me some slack. I’m still your brother, still the same Kyle you know.”
“It’s been dealt with so deal. Now are we gonna spar or are we gonna have a fucking tea party?” Zander levels me with a glare.
“Let’s do this Z.”
“The rematch of the century!” Jay chants as he follows me back to the locker room.
“Hey, you didn’t need to know about that asshole. We’ve dealt with it and contacted the league. They’ll look into it and deal with it accordingly. My guess is he’ll get a slap on the wrist because they’ve invested way too much money in the fight right now.”
“Figures. I’m in hot water over something that was blown out of proportion and that asshole cheats and nothing’s going to happen. Shit, maybe I shouldn’t fight Z, I’m gonna crush him.” I quickly change my clothes and start stretching my arms as I exit the locker room.
“You might be surprised. He hasn’t fought professionally in two years but he hasn’t lost it. Not by a long shot.”
“That’s fine, because I beat him in his prime.”
Jay smiles and claps his hand on my back. “If you say so.”
I enter the ring with a smile on my face ready to kick some Hitman ass.