Due Date
Dante
Drew rented out the gym for a few hours so we won’t have to worry about someone overhearing us. Or maybe he didn’t want anyone to step in and stop us from beating up Tom.
I wrap my hands with tape.
The process centers me. Because this has to be it. This is the make or break in our relationship with Tom. Finn sits across from me with his elbows on his knees.
The others are already out in the gym getting warmed up.
“Do you think he can do anything to make us forgive him?” Finn glances at the door. His words are low just in case the others are nearby.
I breathe out and finish with the tape. Lifting my gaze to his, I hold his eyes. “I don’t know that I can ever forgive him for what he did to Sara. Yes, he was in love and that made him reckless, but he’s lucky Peter was the kind to send diamonds instead of bits of our girl back to us.”
Finn’s mouth draws tight. He had to have thought it. The image of him checking those trash cans in the park will haunt me forever. In his heart, he knew he had to check, but I hate that thought went through his head.
“And Wyatt.” I shake my head. “If we’d known what he was holding over Wyatt’s head, would we have stayed friends with him?”
They were both kids when it happened. It makes sense they blamed themselves—and for Tom to temporarily blame Wyatt—but he could have stopped being friends with him. That would have made more sense. But Tom wanted to keep Wyatt from Sara and used Wyatt’s guilt to do it. If we’d known...
“We just have to decide, if Wyatt and Sara are willing to still have Tom as part of their lives, then how much of ourselves can we give to Tom?” I stand and tap Finn on the shoulder. “He’s been our friend practically our whole lives.”
Finn lifts his head. “He’s also been an asshole for most of it. Maybe we’ve outgrown him.”
I don’t know the answer to that. It’s true Tom can be an ass, but he’s also the one I called when a fight went wrong because he wouldn’t judge me for it.
And he and Finn would sometimes go out to find girls but return home without hooking up to play video games into the night.
While he dropped the ball on Sara this time, he would be the first to drop everything to help her or their mom.
He’s been our best friend. He didn’t care about our heritage like some guys at our school. He gave us a safe place and Sara. I’m willing to do almost anything for Sara. Which means I’ll tolerate Tom and consider living with his betrayal. For her.
Maybe we can rediscover our friendship or build something new, but it’s going to take time to build up that trust again.
Finn stands and follows me out into the main part of the gym. Tom is on the treadmill. Drew is on another a few down.
Wyatt uses a towel to wipe down some equipment. He turns to watch us come out. Tossing the towel into a bin, he walks over to meet us.
“How do you want to play this?” Wyatt glances over at Tom.
Drew’s a part of us now, but this is what we’ve always done to clear up any beefs between us. Tom, Wyatt, Finn, and I, even as kids, would throw down rather than break up our friendship.
But Drew has a right to be angry at Tom for the fuckery he caused, even if it’s not as deep a cut to him as it was to us.
We’ve been friends since we were children. We grew up as brothers. And maybe Tom feels we betrayed him with how we feel about Sara, but there’s no denying Sara is ours. There could never have been another option when it comes to her.
“We need to get this out of our systems.” I glance toward Finn.
He’s always used the front of being the flirt to hide his darker side, but right now, that darker side is out to play.
He needs this. “But we also need to find out what he might have that will help keep Alexander at bay. I may not like Tom right now, but I don’t want to see him dead either. ”
Wyatt nods. We haven’t really sat down and talked about what Wyatt went through. He bottled it all up and held it down with guilt for years. I don’t know if he’ll ever be ready to share more than what he’s already told us.
“It’s time,” Finn yells to Tom and Drew.
They stop their treadmills and grab their water bottles and towels to head over to us.
“So, is this the time we get to pound on Tom some more?” Drew asks as he sets his things down. He turns and smiles at Tom. “Sorry, man, but you were an ass and deserve a beat down.”
Tom sighs. “I get it, but you’re the guy fucking my sister, so I’m not going to stand there and take it.”
Drew chuckles and murmurs, “I’m not the only one fucking your sister.”
Tom’s already red face brightens and his mouth tightens. Yeah, he probably keeps trying to forget that fact. I don’t blame him. If I had a little sister, I’d punch Tom for fucking with her. But the difference is, we’re not just fucking with her. We love her.
“Tom, why don’t you choose who you want to fight first?” I offer, because I know I’m going last. And Tom won’t always be in the ring because he’ll need a break.
Tom squirts water in his mouth and swallows it while he looks the others over. Like I said, he won’t go for me because he knows I’ll take him out quickly. He sets his water bottle down and grabs his gloves. They’re slim, not full-on boxing gloves, but they’ll help keep the damage to a minimum.
“Drew,” Tom says.
“Coward,” Finn mutters and sits on the bench.
“Look.” Tom puffs up. “I need a warm-up. And while you guys are my best friends and I deserve every hit I take, this guy is new and I need to play the older brother card.”
“So you want to beat me up for fucking your sister?” Drew smirks and shrugs. “Sounds good to me. But you were the one who left when we first started dating. And I was always Sara’s choice. I didn’t call her. She called me and asked me out.”
Tom shakes his head. “I know who you are. It’s not like we haven’t fucked the same women. I just thought Sara was smart enough to stay away from you.”
Wyatt pushes Tom toward the ropes. “Keep the trash talk for in the ring unless you want to go home to your wife with a broken nose.”
Tom narrows his eyes at Wyatt but doesn’t keep running his mouth.
Those two could probably just smack talk each other until they’re blue in the face.
Instead, he climbs into the ring and Drew follows him.
I’m actually curious to see how Drew fights.
The guy works out, but I’m not sure he actually fights.
They circle each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move.
“I got twenty on Drew taking out Tom,” Wyatt says, loud enough for the others to hear.
“Does that mean I have to bet on Tom?” Finn grumbles.
Tom glances toward Finn with a what-the-fuck expression and Drew comes in with a left hook, which Tom blocks, but Drew follows with a right that hits Tom in the cheek before Drew bounces backward, out of reach.
“I honestly should be thanking you,” Drew says with a cheeky smile.
Tom rubs his jaw before eyeing Drew warily. “Why?”
“If you hadn’t been an ass to your friends, Sara would have been claimed long before I came into her life.
” Drew comes close to swing and Tom blocks, but Drew chuckles and bounces back.
“So, thanks. I’m sure Sara would thank you too if she considered she might have only had one boyfriend instead of four. ”
“Fuck, man, that’s my sister.” Tom charges and gets a hit in on Drew before Drew blocks and pushes him away.
“Yes, she is.” Drew’s face turns serious.
“And that’s why we’re all furious at what you did.
I know the kind of clientele I deal with.
People who want a safe place to do business and easy access to women.
But I’m not about to let any of the women that work for me go unprotected. Let alone someone I claim to love.”
Drew and Tom begin to circle and trade punches.
“I didn’t leave her unprotected.” Tom gets in a sneaky left hook to Drew’s jaw.
“You did. You might not want to believe it, but everything you did to your friends made it impossible for them to step up and take charge of Sara’s life.
” Drew drops his hands and steps back. “You know your sister, right? Did you expect her to go meekly where you told her to go? Did you really consider how she felt after years of being told she couldn’t go near them?
Fuck, man. You set them all up for failure, and if it had been anyone else’s club but mine, they would have lost her.
Pull on your big boy shorts and get the fuck over yourself.
Take responsibility for driving the wedge so deep Sara might have been in even more danger because you didn’t take the time to talk to your friends before you ran away. ”
Tom’s mouth presses into a fine line, but he doesn’t say anything. What more can he say? He fucked up. He knows he fucked up. We can’t go back and fix the past. We can only go forward.
“What you did made it possible for me to worm my way into your sister’s heart, so I can’t really hate you. Everything you did led us to here, where we’re talking about building a future together with your sister. You may hate us, but fuck, I can’t hate you.”
Drew glances at us and smiles.
“I’m good. I got a few hits and he got to punch me for fucking his sister.
” Drew walks over and taps Tom’s glove with his.
“They’re far from done with you though. You didn’t just betray Sara with them.
You betrayed their friendship with what you did to Wyatt.
So work that shit out so we can figure out how to work together to protect our futures. ”
Drew steps out of the ring and pushes his glove against Wyatt’s shoulder. “You should go next.”
Wyatt nods and puts on his gloves before climbing into the ring.
“So is this just an everyone-punch-Tom clusterfuck?” Tom raises his eyebrow and glances at me because I’m usually the one to rein us in.
“You want to punch us for being with your sister.” I shrug. “I figure it’s a fair fight. We’ll give you a break here and there, but honestly, what did you expect?”
Tom takes in a breath and hardens his jaw. He gives me a sharp nod. “Fine, if this is what I need to do to repair our friendship—”
“It’s not even close to enough.” I meet his startled green eyes. “Sara made it through and that’s why you aren’t a bloody mess, but she has nightmares now she shouldn’t have. You put her through something that would have been avoidable if you’d just been honest with us from the start.”
“This shit has to stop.” Finn’s gaze narrows on Tom. “You can’t keep us out and then expect us to rescue you when you’re in too deep. It’s going to take time before we’ll trust you again, but just show up and be the friend you always were before all the shit went down. Fuck, man, be better.”
“Sara loves us.” Wyatt draws Tom’s gaze. “She loves you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. Nothing I wouldn’t forgive. But you need to grow the fuck up so you’re everything your wife and child need.”
Tom nods. “I don’t want to lose you guys. That was never what I wanted.”
“So stop making this harder than it has to be.” I release my breath and grab the rope. “Be our friend and realize that whatever you want to call our relationship with Sara, it’s for real and won’t end because of anything you do. If it ends, it will be Sara’s decision.”
“Come on.” Wyatt gestures at Tom with his gloves. “Let’s fuck each other up so we can go home and figure out how to make Alexander a king without sacrificing the queen.”