Page 24 of Love Punch

I joined him. “All okay, little guy?”

Arthur gave a weak smile. “Yeah. This all seemed like a good idea until I realised you’re going see how athletically challenged I am.”

“Nonsense.” I took the gloves from him and effortlessly slipped them over his hands and tightened the straps. “Everyone starts somewhere. I can’t imagine how you could possibly be bad at this when you’ve been watching me for so long. You absorb information like a sponge.”

“I won’t be too weak?” Arthur asked.

“You’re training your punches, not going for a knockout,” I explained. “Anyway, I’ve seen super-lightweights with less muscle than you. You’re really…” I tailed off, giving myself permission to openly admire his body. His arms, though skinny, filled out with muscle. I wanted to touch him. Instead, I leaned down to grab the pads and slipped them over my hands.

“Give me all you’ve got,” I said. Arthur grinned and threw a punch that knocked my hand back farther than I’d imagined. And then he gave another, and another, until I was forced to take a defensive stance. “Good lad, go on. Give it all you’ve got.”

Arthur’s grin morphed into a determined snarl, but I couldn’t help but smile as he assaulted the pads. Sweat beaded up and dripped down his neck, into his grey tank top. It wasn’t until I was against the ropes that I realised I’d been so distracted by how gorgeous he was that I’d taken several steps back.

“Hey, hey…” I held up the pads in surrender. Arthur dropped his arms and stood there, panting. “Good job. You just need to straighten out your punches. You’re expending a lot of extra energy on big swings when you could do a lot more with direct hits.”

Arthur smiled and wiped his forehead with the back of one glove. “I did good?”

“You did perfect. Let’s take a break.” I ducked back under the ropes and headed over to the mini-fridge, glad to see it was still stocked with energy drinks and bottled water. I grabbed us each a Lucozade and walked back to Arthur. I handed him his, andstarted drinking mine until I realised he was staring at me, his expression inscrutable. “Is there something on my face?”

“You got me a drink,” he said. “An energy drink. From the drinks fridge.”

“That is usually where they’re kept…” I quipped, not quite understanding his point but hoping it would come to me.

“That’s my job,” he said.

“Grabbing drinks? What do you mean? Have I…” It clicked. “Have I really not grabbed anything for you in the three years we’ve known each other?”

“Not that I can remember.” Arthur gave me a weird half-smile. “But I could get used to it.”

“Don’t you dare,” I growled, but I couldn’t help my grin. He might be my assistant, but I knew that if I wanted things to move between us, I had to be more equitable.

“It’s fine. You pay, I’ll collect. Just don’t check your bank account,” Arthur said with a wink. He took a deep gulp of his drink and gave me a bashful grin.

“I…“ I didn’t know how I was planning on responding, but we were interrupted by a knock at the door. I turned to see my little cousin Cory stood in the entryway looking tired as hell, his hair sticking up in every direction. “What’s up?” I asked.

“I am in deep shit,” he confessed. “And I need your help.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Arthur said.

“You can stay.” Arthur had heard most things in his time as my assistant. I tried not to keep secrets from him.

“Seriously. I’ll leave you two to it. I’ll go shower and see you later.” Arthur squeezed my arm as he passed and it wasn’t until he was out of the room that Cory stepped towards me. I realised just how bad he looked. He didn’t just look tired, he lookedragged.

“Come on. Tell me what’s up,” I said. “Let’s see how I can help.”

“I think I’ve made the worst mistake of my life.” Cory’s voice was thick with emotion. “And I don’t know how to fix it.”

Chapter 12

Arthur

Melody asked that Bradley and I join her and Gez for a meal, and some part of me knew that it was a bit of a test. She wanted to see if I’d managed to drag Bradley out of his self-imposed hovel in the last few days. I knew I’d started to do that, but it was still weird that I was being graded on my efforts to ease depression. Still, I showered and made myself presentable.

I could hear Bradley humming in the shower, but with minutes until we were expected at the table—and the knowledge that Melody demanded punctuality—I hadn’t had chance to ask him what was going on with Cory. As far as I knew, his football career was soaring and he was getting modelling contracts from every direction. He should have been on top of the world. But the man I’d walked past in the gym had looked drawn and haggard.

I heard the shower cut off and set a timer on my phone. Bradley may be gorgeous and muscular, but he wasn’t a vain man. And I’d made sure his shirts were ironed before they were hung up in his wardrobe.Two minutes.

I watched the seconds count down on my phone and twiddled my thumbs. If I knew Bradley as well as I thought I did, and I knew him pretty damn well, he would be ready inthree…two…one.

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