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CHAPTER 18

ADAM

W atching Drew with Max, and then Caine with Max, has me wondering what I’m missing. I know Caine is a loose cannon, especially when it comes to women, but Drew usually keeps any interest he has in anyone subtle. And he’s never interested in anyone from the gym. Except me, but we have a mutual understanding as to what this is. Or was.

Plus things didn’t start between us because of any hidden feelings or pining. It has been purely sexual from the start. Tension, frustration, and a mutual trust we built that we use to find release with each other.

Yet, I can’t help but think that part of what he’s doing is to make me jealous and is using Max to do it. Or to piss off Caine.

Or maybe he really is interested in her.

Not that I would blame him. She’s beautiful and her attitude only adds to her appeal. She hasn’t backed down once since she’s been here. Not even when I touched her, which I almost never do with students, but I wanted to see how she felt in my hands. My skin, tattooed, covered in scars and calluses against her pale, smooth skin felt like it should be wrong. Like I was tainting her, yet it only drew me in even more. I was too close to her, and I knew it. But I didn’t care.

All I know is that trying to figure any of this out right now is making my head hurt and I have a job to do.

“Caine, into the cage,” I call out, distracting myself by getting to work.

He’s still distracted, standing there, watching the direction Max went, even though she’s out of eyesight. With how tightly he’s coiled, it’s almost as if he’s going to run after her.

“Aldridge,” I shout out his last name, and he turns with a scowl. He hates when I use his last name. I know it’s because it reminds him of the family he wants to distance himself from. Which is why we rarely use it.

“Cage,” I demand. I almost call him out for the way he was watching Max but decide against it for now.

Cal doesn’t seem to care though. Especially as he approaches Caine who’s wrapping his hands and says, “Caine is too busy eye fucking the new girl to give a shit about practice.”

“Come in here and I’ll show you why actually fucking her is making me a better fighter than ever,” Caine responds, already in position, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

I groan inwardly, wanting to put a stop to this, but knowing that sometimes I need to let the guys run their mouths and allow it to play out like it should. I may have learned that fighting isn’t actually an answer and shouldn’t be used all the time. These guys are still young and need to learn their own lessons.

Cal joins Caine, his form much less practiced as he steps up to him, but I hang back. Drew comes up next to me, arms folded across his chest. We don’t look at each other, both keeping our gazes forward.

“You just letting this happen?” he asks as Cal throws a sloppy first hit.

“For a minute.”

We stand next to each other in silence watching Caine easily submit Cal in less than a minute. It’s not awkward between Drew and I, though I can tell he wants to say something. But he doesn’t and neither do I.

“Again!” Cal calls.

“No, that’s enough. Let’s get started.” I climb into the cage in case I have to actually separate them. Caine isn’t even out of breath as he steps back against the edge, leaning casually as he adjusts his hand wraps.

Cal already has sweat dotting his brow, showing just how much energy he’s already exerted.

“Don’t worry, man, I’ll kick your ass any time you want,” Caine taunts.

“Bag,” I tell him, because he is clearly in the mood to be a shit stirrer. Which isn’t entirely new, it’s just something I don’t feel like putting up with today.

On his way out of the cage he acts like he’s about to start something with Cal again, making him flinch before he leaves.

“Playtime’s over,” I call, then we get started.

I’m finishing up with the last few cleaning tasks before stepping up to the desk. Drew stands there texting on his phone while he ignores me. For some reason, I glance at the screen and my eye catches on the name at the top— Max. I don’t see any of their messages, but I say something anyway.

“You moving in on Caine’s girl? Seems unlike you.”

He scoffs. “He doesn’t have a girl. And I’ll ask again, you jealous?”

Shaking my head. “Not at all.”

And I’m really not, we’ve talked about what it may be like to watch each other with a girl. What it would be like to bring a girl in between us. These are just a few things that we would discuss in the heat of the moment that I still think about.

The thought of it being Max between us sends a shot of arousal straight to my neglected dick. She doesn’t even reach our shoulders; we would practically crush her and yet the thought of it only turns me on even more.

“I’m heading out, then.” He pockets his phone, glancing at me and I just nod.

After he leaves, instead of doing the same, I end up in my office. Even weirder, I find myself pulling up Max’s information. I don’t know what it is that I’m doing—or why—and it feels wrong, but I can’t help it. I want to see what it is about her that’s causing those two to show so much interest in her.

And possibly even myself.

Maxine Barclay . She’s only twenty-five, which should make me feel gross about the thoughts I had while touching her today considering I’m forty-two. But Drew is only four years older than her and if anything, the age gap only adds to her appeal.

I find myself entering her name into Google and am shocked when I see multiple news articles pop up. It’s the top one that catches my eye with its title. Once I click on it, my screen is filled with a picture of Max, her long deep red hair curled wearing a black dress that’s tight against her body and is shining against the lights that are on her. She’s standing next to a man who looks about a half a foot taller than her and looks like an entitled prick.

Clean cut, in a suit, hair greased back on his head and there’s something about his beady little eyes that makes me want to punch him in the face. Or maybe it’s the pull on his lips, the small smirk, like he knows something that everyone else doesn’t.

My eyes catch on Max’s hand that’s resting on his chest and zero in on the large diamond shining on her ring finger. I haven’t seen her wear a ring and if there was a guy with her, we would’ve known about it. Especially with the way his hand is wrapped around her wrist. That’s when I see the way she’s looking at the camera—it isn’t a smile of joy, it’s pained.

Maxine Barclay to marry Carson Bradford.

Both families are thrilled to announce the union between the two, set to marry in January.

I furrow my brow, double checking the calendar, noting that it’s February. Scrolling, I find no marriage article and she’s here alone. It only makes me more curious about the woman that’s new to town.

The more research I do, the more obvious it is that her family is well off. It only feeds into my curiosity and the questions I have about her and how she ended up here.

Eventually, I give up and head home. It’s too late and I’ve spent too much time looking into Max. I feel like a creep and my eyes feel heavy from how intensely I’ve been staring at the screen.

Once, I’m home, I greet Athena, my piebald ball python in her cage. I find her sunbathing under the heat lamp. She’s the first and only pet I’ve ever had. Once I moved out on my own, the first thing I did was search for the perfect color. That’s when I found her. I’ve always had a fascination with snakes, even growing up, bouncing from foster home to foster home. Some of the foster parents I had would get freaked out with how much I would talk about them, but I didn't care. None of them let me have one, and maybe if they had, I wouldn’t have gone out and caused all the trouble I did.

Who am I kidding, I still would’ve gone out and caused trouble. Street fighting turned into underground fighting. Anything risky and dangerous had my name written all over it. It was like that for a while. It’s crazy to think about how much different my life looks now than it did back then.

Taking Athena out of her enclosure, my twenty-three year old snake slides around my shoulders easily as she always does. Her mostly white scales meet her patterned ones in spots on her body. She slithers around on me before moving down my body onto the floor to have some freedom. I leave her to explore the living room as I shower and change.

I’m reclining on my couch wearing just a pair of sweatpants when Athena slides up the couch and around to the back of it.

“Hey girl,” I greet, knowing she won’t respond. That doesn’t stop me from talking to her, especially at times like this. When we are alone, like we almost always are. Ever since I got her, she’s been my best friend. The one constant in my life that I can always count on.

I’ve questioned my loneliness many times. Wondered if I should have tried dating more seriously and settled down with someone. My life has been filled with purely physical relationships because they’re easy, and I’ve never had the desire to deal with any of the drama that comes with a relationship. I’ve also never blurred any lines with anyone at the gym, except Drew, and I can already feel the drama potentially starting as a result of that.

Especially since Max is now involved. I sigh, looking at Athena who’s starting to curl into a ball on the highest part of the couch.

“There’s a new girl that’s been coming to the gym and I think Drew is interested in her,” I tell her, feeling like I need to get my thoughts out, even to a snake.

“Caine is too. She’s beautiful, but I feel like shit is going to hit the fan at some point and I’m going to have a front row seat to all of it.”

With another sigh, I get up and take Athena from the spot she’s settled on. She doesn’t uncurl from the ball she’s in when I set her back into her enclosure and turn her night lights on before going to bed.

My mind is a mess, and I know I’m just going to toss and turn, so it’s not surprising when that’s exactly what happens. What is surprising is the fact that I pull up the article about Max again and end up staring at the picture of her with another man for way too long. I don’t even notice when I fall asleep, phone still in my hand with her picture still pulled up.