Page 72 of Only You
Demir rolled his eyes at her and stalked off to the other side of the room. ‘Where are you going?’ Jack demanded.
‘Piss off, Jack,’ he said over his shoulder. ‘Fuck you, you son of a bitch!’
‘Jack, stop before you don’t have a fighter,’ Selene hissed as the boxer left the building.
‘Maybe we should get a new one,’ he grumbled, walking over to the nearest punching bag and swinging his fist as hard as he could.
Selene placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘You don’t mean that,’ she said calmly.
He punched the bag again, watching it swing as he sighed. ‘I’m just tired of this shit.’ ‘I know,’ she whispered.
‘I have to fight for every little decision to happen. All this work, night and day, and not one person is listening. Nothing’s ever enough.’
‘Sounds a lot like Demir.’
‘The hell do you mean? He’s just acting scared.’
‘You want him to give more than he should and that’s not fair,’ she said gently. ‘He’s not scared either. And even if he were, that would be reasonable. It’s risky taking on that many fights in a row. And let’s say this works out. What if Mackie asks for more fights? If he gives in to a ton of fights now, he’ll be too worn down by the tournament.’
Jack was silent, and she waited for him to admit that she was right. She would tell him to be patient, maybe convince him to go watch the boxing match he had been talking about all week. Or they could call it an early night. She wanted to make him dinner and kiss on their couch, tucked away from everyone for a while. Instead, he said, ‘How could you say that?’
‘What?’ Selene asked, genuinely confused.
‘You’re defending the guy who just left us high and dry? And now you want to blame me?’
‘Blame you?’ she repeated.
‘What? You’re a fucking parrot now?’
‘Don’t go there,’ she warned him. ‘Don’t play at who can be meaner, Jack, because you won’t like the result.’
‘Can’t believe this,’ he scoffed. ‘You would rather stick up for him than be on my side!’
‘I’m saying there’s more than one side to this.’
‘How?’
‘How – have you not been paying attention?’ Selene gestured to the space around them. ‘I’m here with him every day. I watched him train. I patch him up after every fight, no matter how good or bad. I see what he goes through,’ she explained, shaking her head at him. ‘Jack, you’re a great coach. You know how to make a great show, but you are asking him purposefully to break his body for you.’
‘Forus,’ Jack emphasised. ‘What? You don’t think I do the same thing? I bust my ass at that garage every fucking day. You think I wanna be covered in grease and sweat all day for fucking pennies? You think I wouldn’t trade it all to be in the ring, make this shit easier for us? You’re wrong! But I ain’t got it and we all know it! Or do you not give a shit anymore?’
‘You know I care about you—’
‘More than you care for him?’ Jack said, voice cold.
Her eyes widened, and she barely stopped herself from slapping him. Did he really think she needed to cheat on him to defend someone? How cheap did he think she was?
‘I barely talk to Demir,’ she spat. ‘The hell are you getting at?’
‘Why are you taking his side?’ he pressed. ‘Why are you acting like this isn’t our last fucking shot to get out of here, to have something better? We don’t even have half the cash we need for rent, much less your textbooks!’
Selene felt like ripping her hair out. Of course, she knew they were low on money, but they’d always been low on money. She knew it was the proximity that was killing him. They were all so close to succeeding, but was it worththis? Their arguments used to be fun. She used to not be intimidated by him. Now, she hated how nervous she was around him, how she always chose her words carefully so he didn’t go on a rampage. And even then, it felt inevitable.
‘I’m not taking his side,’ Selene repeated. ‘I know what we need to do, and I get it! I’m scared too! But you have to realise we’veallmade sacrifices for this!’
‘Yeah, some more than others.’ Jack looked her up and down with disdain before storming out the back door.
Selene rubbed soothing circles into her temples. Knowing Jack, this was only round one, and she already felt defeated. She opened her eyes, remembering if she was going to get home, she needed to go after him.
