SEVENTEEN

Cain

I

could do nothing now, but Alicia had something coming back to her with interest. For now, I would play the part. It was still early enough that I still had some time before the Saturday classes would commence. For that performance alone, I felt like I owed Alicia something. Perhaps she had something in the kitchen that I could cook for her. I rolled out of bed, but Alicia’s arm found me again.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Thought I could make you some breakfast.”

Alicia’s eyes lit up in response. “You can cook?”

“Did you expect anything less?”

“No, but I’m surprised. What other secret talents are you hiding, Mister

Weaver?”

I raised an eyebrow at her, sarcasm written all over my face. “It’s Mister Weaver now is it? Considering what we covered last night, I thought it was sir.”

“It still is. Am I not allowed to show some respect?”

162 M.A. DARKE, MATT MEMEMARO

She played this game well and our back and forth was unlike other banter that I had had with anyone else. “You are. Now what have you got in your kitchen?”

“Surprise me!”

Alicia let go of my arm, and I stood up. I forewent any clothing. Alicia did not have any housemates, or a husband that I needed to worry about. She had told me as much during our sessions together. I made my way downstairs, determined to see what was in her kitchen. My legs were somewhat shaky, but I was not going to let on that she had a similar eBect on me than what I had on her. I needed to use the railing, unfamiliar with the sensation of being fucked that well by anyone. There was something diBerent about her that I could not put my jnger on.

Alicia’s bag and other belongings were still on the kitchen counter where we had left them last night. I passed by them and dove into the fridge and pantry, looking for whatever I could use. zeing in the kitchen was not something I was uncomfortable with, having done several months inside a culinary school before I had Loined the gym full time. Alicia’s pantry was simple enough, with all of the basic ingredients needed for me to create something of a breakfast platter. I went to work and soon I had pans siHHling away, with a full plate almost ready to go. The challenge was not so much the preparation, but more so the jnding my way around how she had organised it.

I heard a loud groan from upstairs like Alicia was stretching and a few moments later, she was coming down the stairs. 3ike me, she wore nothing and looked like she was stepping from the gates of heaven. Alicia’s hair was tangled as a result of our activities, but she was very much what I had hoped to see in the morning. She smiled at me as she reached the ground level and crossed the living room to stand beside me in the kitchen. 4er eyes spied the plates I had prepared, and she cried out with glee.

“Cain! You didn’t have to do all of this!”

“I felt like it was deserved. zut I want something again.”

4ARD KNOCKS 16q

“No, Cain. We should eat while it’s hot.”

“I could Lust eat it oB you.”

“Cain!”

I grunted, conceding defeat. “Alright then. We’ll eat.”

I grabbed both plates up, along with an accompanying knife and fork

for both of us. The eggs were Lust right, and the avocado was ripe as well. It was almost a race to the jnish for the two of us. Everything else on the plate had been demolished by Alicia, but I took notice of the picture on the table. I pointed to it as I took a bite. It was much the same as the picture I had seen upstairs, except this time it was Lust with Alicia and the old man. They were both smiling at the camera, both happy to be in each other’s arms.

“Who’s this?”

“That was dad. I lost him a few years back to cancer.”

I nodded slowly and moved away from the picture. Part of me wished I

had not asked, not wanting to bring up painful memories for Alicia. Yet all around her, it seemed even in her happiest moments there were moments of sorrow. “Yeah, fuck cancer.”

We ate the rest of the meal in silence, before I nodded and went to get up from the table. I glanced around at the room, searching for any sign of the time. I had class soon, but surely it was not time yet.

“Fuck, wait, what’s the time?”

“Eight-thirty, why?”

“Fuck. I need to get back to the gym. Duncan will be expecting me to

run the morning classes.”

“Do you ever get a day oB?”

I raised an eyebrow at Alicia. “Do you?”

“No, you raise a good point. You’d better hurry!”

I swore again and sprang up from my chair. With urgency, I ran upstairs,

blasting into the bedroom. Suddenly all of my energy had returned to me. I grabbed my phone from the bedside table. It only had ten percent battery

16U M.A. DARKE, MATT MEMEMARO

left. It would do. No doubt it was going to die soon. I re5uested an Gber, which was thankfully only a couple of minutes away. There was no time to ensure that I was dressed well. I threw my clothes on in a hurry before storming back downstairs.

I checked my phone again as I reached the bottom of the stairs. As I looked up from my phone I smiled as I saw Alicia still standing there, as beautiful as she had been the jrst time I had taken her dress oB last night. If it was not for the class, I would have taken her against the kitchen counter once again. Instead, I darted across the room to her and gave her a 5uick kiss. I wanted more, but it was all I had time for. 4er body tensed as I caressed her naked body.

“I’ll see you later.”

“Will you?” She was looking at me with puppy eyes. She wanted reassurance and an answer that I was not going to leave her.

“Yes. I expect to see you at the gym on Monday.”

Alicia perked up a smile spreading across her face. “I’ll be there!”

“I know you will.”

Fuck it. The Gber would not be here for another minute and it was not that far out of her driveway. I ran back across the kitchen and planted another jrm kiss on her within arm’s reach of where our lips had met for the jrst time. Alicia melted, swaying at the hips and I grabbed her, drawing her close to me. I did not want to leave, but if I was late to class, Duncan would kill me. It went against the values of the gym. No doubt, my phone would be blowing up with calls at any second, with Duncan demanding to know where I was.

My phone battery was being drained as I checked it. It was probably time for a new device. The Gber was pulling up outside Alicia’s house and I opened the front door, seeing the silver Camry pull into the driveway. I was running out of time. Flying into the car, I was half expecting the driver to set all time speed records, but it was too much. I made idle conversation with the driver, but my eyes were solely focused on the clock watching the time tick away. Why was Alicia so addicting?

Now that I had her, I wanted her even more. She was all consuming and I could still feel her on me, even though it had been at least an hour since I had last been inside her. The Gber had barely come to a stop before I was out the door, sprinting inside to 4ard Knocks. The class was already assembled, with Duncan on the mats facing away from me. I ran in beside him, the class members all showing me a sign of recognition, happy to see me. One of the older boys, Thomas, who had been the one who had helped me with the picnic last night gave me a knowing smirk.

Duncan cast me a side eye. “You’re late.”

“Sorry, I was caught up.”

Duncan ignored my comment, shaking his head at me. I could see the visible frustration running through his mind. For the jrst time in a long time, he took the introduction to the class.

“4ands and feet together. zowing in.”

The class all dipped into a bow as they waited for the next instructions to come that were always the same. There were only half a doHen students in this class, but each of them was dedicated and included Nathan, one of my jghters. It was good to see that he was dedicated again, and I would have to work with him during the pad rounds today. That was jne, but my mind was elsewhere.

“ rab your skipping ropes. 3et’s get started.”

Duncan’s voice was less than enthusiastic as he turned towards me. The students all dispersed, grabbing their ropes as Duncan and I made our way towards the clock. I raised my arm towards it and pressed it with authority as Duncan got close to my face. I could see the veins starting to spread across his forehead. 4e was more frustrated than he had any right to be.

“I don’t give a fuck what else you’ve got going on, but if you want to have this gym all on your own in the next few years, you need to be more responsible.”

166 M.A. DARKE, MATT MEMEMARO

“The gym is my only concern.”

Duncan raised an eyebrow. “Is it? zecause since you’ve had a new certain physio hanging around, you’ve been distracted. Are you even going to be able to jght for the title in three months?”

My lips tightened as I tried not to convey any emotion to Duncan. “Alicia says my recovery is going well.”

“Is it? Or is that Lust what she wants you to hear? This isn’t something to mess around with, Cain. Darcy never did.”

“And look where that got him.”

Duncan’s eyes narrowed as he raised a pointed jnger towards my face. “Don’t even mention what happened to him. You know that was an accident!”

“Am I wrong?”

“You’re lucky we’re in class. I’ll speak to you after. Make sure you get your head screwed on straight, boy, otherwise you’re never going to see the inside of a ring again. Do you want the jght or not?”

“You know I live for the jght.”

“Then get serious. Damien’s beaten you once before. I’m not going to allow you to lose. You need that title back.”

“Do I need the title back, or do you need it? I’m not here to relive your past glories. Or Darcy’s for that matter.”

Duncan narrowed his eyes at me even more than he had already done before. “Don’t you dare speak to me like that again. You know what that means to us.”

I stuck my chin out at him. “I do. Now do you have something constructive to say, or can I run this class, dad?”

Duncan’s scowl was prevalent. 4e wanted to say more based on the grinding of his Law that he was doing, but considering we were surrounded by half a doHen students, he thought better of it. 4e nodded at me and then moved away, helping some of the newer students with their techni5ue. When Duncan moved away from me, I caught Thomas out of the corner of my eye. The skipping round was counting down and I moved towards him.

Thomas dropped his rope early as he darted over towards me. 4e was a skinny kid, having Lust turned eighteen. Thomas had dark messy hair that was completed with a rat’s tail on the end of it. Thomas was typical of most of the teenagers in the gym and had Lust recently gotten his license. 4e was fresh out of school and most of his social interaction came through the gym.

“So, how did it go with your physio?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“ ood then?”

I breathed in and glanced around to make sure Duncan still had not seen us. For now he had his back to us as the buHHer sounded overhead. If he caught any of the students slacking in between rounds, he would give them extra work as a punishment. Considering Thomas had done me a favour, I was going to look out for him.

“Yeah, really good. Thank you for all of your help. I really appreciate it man.”

“Are you seeing her again?”

I frowned, not sure what to make of the situation. Obviously, I wanted her, but was the feeling reciprocated? I would need to investigate further, but Alicia needed to make up her mind.

“I’m not sure. zut again, thank you for your help. et ready for shadowboxing.”

Thomas held out his closed jst, ready for me to jst bump. “Any time coach. 3et me know if you need any more help.”

If ads affect your reading experience, click here to remove ads on this page.