2. Asher
Asher
Ithrew a right hook, rolled, and then landed two hard jabs into the bag, the middle buckling under the force. I pivoted then swung another series of punches.
The loud music was vibrating through me as I took a break to do some burpees before I went back to the bag and threw another round of combinations.
Taking a step back, I blinked away the sweat in my eyes, unstrapped my gloves, shoving them under my arm so I could drink some water, and looked around the empty space. It was early in the morning and classes didn’t start until six thirty so I had the place to myself.
I’d bought the space and opened my MMA gym, Clinch, when we moved here. I had an almost identical gym back in London. There was a sparring area, a ring, a weight section, and the heavy bags too. It was one of my favorite places to be.
I’d been an angry kid and was no stranger to throwing punches.
When I was fifteen, I was getting into a lot of fights at school, pulling my best mates, Noah and Knight, into them with me.
Finally, Noah’s father, Henry, had brought me to a gym with a heavy bag and told me to get it all out.
I’d been addicted ever since. It hadn’t stopped me from getting into fights—I just got better at ending them.
It’s also what helped me put muscle on my frame.
Now at six-four and over two hundred pounds, no one messed with me.
Just as I strapped my gloves back on, the music cut out.
“Are you trying to go deaf by the time you’re sixty?
” Jaxson muttered as he wandered into the gym.
I didn’t bother replying; he wasn’t really looking for an answer anyway.
He was the one who liked boxing as much as I did so the two of us usually ended up here together.
“You feeling lazy this morning?”
“Fuck off.” He shook his head with a yawn as he started stretching. “Not all of us can operate on like zero sleep.”
I slept. But I usually averaged five hours a night. I just wasn’t a deep sleeper and once I was awake, I didn’t waste time.
I kept going, increasing my intensity to burn my arms out.
The sound of my leather gloves slamming against the bag was soothing.
This was what I assumed people thought of soft music or white noise.
I focused back on my movements, tuning out Jaxson and his jump rope as I finished off my round.
My timer went off a moment after I stepped back, panting. I’d hit my hour and a half.
Without a timer I would have kept going, but I needed to shower and change before heading to the office. I had a meeting at nine with one of the companies we’d invested in that was turning a good profit and we needed to start discussing next steps on how to grow.
“See you at the office,” Jaxson called out as I gathered up my shit and shoved it in my bag. I raised my hand in goodbye before heading out for a day full of people and annoyances.
It took all my patience and tiring myself out like this every morning to put up with the world.
I downed the scotch in my hand before signaling for the bartender to fill me up.
Since we’d opened our club, Pulse, business had only gotten better and we were now one of the hottest spots in town.
There were lineups down the street every weekend.
Which was good because I liked making money, but it also fucking sucked because I hated crowds.
Plus, at thirty-six, I felt like I was getting too old to be here.
We were also breaking ground on our exclusive clubhouse. Membership inquiries started coming our way the moment word got out about what we’d purchased the land for. We were overwhelmed with emails about it already.
“Hey, Ash.” Quinn walked over and leaned against the bar beside me in the VIP area overlooking the rest of the club.
I couldn’t remember the last time any of us had been downstairs other than to walk through the place.
Well, everyone except for Noah—he still went down to find someone to take home when he was feeling lonely.
Quinn preferred it up here which was when the change started and honestly, I preferred it up here too.
No one bothered me, it was a little quieter, and I didn’t have to push away unwanted attention.
“Q.” I tilted my chin down at her. Thankfully she was used to my quiet, noncommunicative ways. I only talked when I thought it was necessary, or when I had no other choice.
Theo Knight and I had been friends for a long time, and Quinn had fit seamlessly into my life—into all of our lives. I wasn’t used to letting people in, but this girl grew on me, fast. She was a bright light that kept Knight grounded.
I knew that she didn’t like clubs that much and yet she was here every Friday night with the rest of us because she knew this was just what we did. If Knight wasn’t careful, Quinn would take his spot as my best friend.
“Are you going to ask me what I did yesterday?”
I turned and leaned against the countertop so I could mimic her stance.
I crossed my arms over my chest as we had a short stare-down.
As much of a rambler as she was, which I liked since it meant she didn’t need me to contribute, she could also wait me out.
It just depended on her mood. And since she had a mischievous look in her eyes, I likely wouldn’t get away with my preferred form of communication: a grunt or an eyebrow raise.
“Go on.”
That earned me an eye roll but it came with a small smile so I knew she wasn’t that annoyed. “I hired my new assistant.”
I held her gaze for a moment, nodded, then looked back out at the club, knowing who she was talking about and what she was trying to get out of me. “Good.”
“Good? You aren’t going to tell me why you asked me to hire her?”
“You needed an assistant.”
I wasn’t nearly as bored as I was trying to sound. Even the mention of Sutton had a tingle running over my skin.
But I wasn’t going to address that.
Because there was nothing to address. Probably some shit from my childhood coming up. Sutton just seemed like she needed a break. Plus, I knew the kind of person Quinn would want working for her and she fit the bill.
Quinn looked at me with her head tilted to the side, waiting for more. But this time I wasn’t going to fold. “You, Asher Lawson, are an infuriating man. Because you don’t care, I’m not going to tell you what I learned about her today.”
“Love,” Knight called from the couch.
“Whoops,” Quinn muttered as she reached for a glass on the bar.
“Told Theo I would be right back.” She winked at me and then walked back to Knight, who pulled her onto his lap without even looking as he continued his conversation with Will.
He always liked to have her close, no matter what he was doing.
It was new for me, watching love like that. Noah’s parents had been a good example, but I was a kid then and honestly a little too pissed at the world to pay too much attention.
Knight was totally and completely in love with Quinn. When they weren’t together, he was talking about her. His world shifted when he met her and then started revolving around her.
That kind of thing wasn’t for me, but I was glad he’d found what he wanted. I didn’t do relationships. Casual hookups, sure, but I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d slept with a woman.
The next morning, I walked straight into Knight’s place without knocking. Knight left the doors open for us on Saturdays since we were here every week. A dog started barking the second I was in the door and a ball of energy came barreling down the hallway.
“Thor!” Quinn tried calling him back but it was too late. He’d seen me.
Luckily, I had been prepared for this kind of welcome. I bent down just as the dog got to me and started slobbering on my face. The German Shepherd was perfectly well behaved except when I showed up. But when I raised the issue, Quinn aggressively reminded me that he was still under a year old.
“Hey, mate.” I rubbed his back as he wiggled around me. Thor barked happily again before trotting toward the kitchen, tripping on his big feet as he went. The guy was already fifty-five pounds and still growing, according to their vet.
“That dog would leave me for you, I know it,” Quinn said seriously. I hugged her and left my arm over her shoulder as we headed into the kitchen.
“Someone came looking for a fight today,” Jaxson commented with a shit-eating grin as he tossed some grapes into his mouth. I rolled my eyes as Knight came in from the backyard. He stopped and glared at me instantly.
“Hands off my girl,” he growled. Quinn laughed him off, but she did step out from under my arm to go pull something out of the beeping oven.
“So I heard a rumor,” Noah said as he came walking through the doors.
“You can’t believe everything you hear,” Will added as he came into the kitchen behind me. He patted me on the back and then greeted Thor, who didn’t bark or attack him with kisses.
“Especially if Noah is the one hearing it,” Oli agreed, adjusting his glasses as he joined us.
“That’s rude,” Noah muttered as he slid onto a barstool. Knight was leaning against the counter near Quinn while she continued to move around, grabbing plates and cutlery.
“What did you hear, Noah?” Quinn threw him a bone, which she was good at.
“That you, Quinn, hired an assistant after a certain someone suggested it.”
I felt everyone’s eyes move to me. I kept my face neutral. They’d clearly talked about me. Only two people had been there with me at that diner.
Quinn looked at me and held up her hands. I knew she wouldn’t have said anything, but Knight was fucking chatty these days.
“Not what I said,” Knight grumbled as Quinn turned to him with a glare before looking back at the room.
“Listen, you boys were driving me crazy, so I hired an assistant because you all wouldn’t stop.
Oli sent me a list of potential hires and so did Shelly.
Would you like me to continue doing the work as I am and not making you French toast bites on Saturdays, Noah?
” she asked as she moved the plate in front of him.
The distraction worked and the guys went over to the food immediately. French toast bites were what she had made the first morning she spent with us and they’d become a staple. One morning she didn’t make them and she didn’t hear the end of it.
Plus, we weren’t supposed to talk work on weekends. It was one of the rules we’d instated when we first started Knight Enterprises because we spent so much goddamn time together.
Conversation turned to the Warriors FC game we were all here to watch this morning and Quinn and Knight’s upcoming trip to Italy. As we all grabbed plates and headed downstairs, no one said anything to me again.
Which was good.
Because I didn’t know how to explain this to any of them. I had no reason for bringing Quinn to that diner and insisting she hire Sutton. I couldn’t even explain it to myself.
I’d always needed to understand people and their intentions so I could prepare for their reactions.
With Sutton, there was nothing going on other than that.
It wasn’t because her small, nervous smiles seemed to hit me right in my chest. How I sat up taller when she looked at me.
How I couldn’t stop watching her as she moved around.
All I knew was that she was the first woman that my body had reacted to in a long fucking time. Maybe ever. So I paid attention.
She was just a puzzle that I wanted to figure out. Once that happened, I wouldn’t care anymore.