Page 31 of To Love and Protect
“That left hook gettin’ strong, champ,” Gramps praised as they took a break from the heavy bag. Nico breathed deeply as sweat poured from his face. They’d been at it for hours, but that was Nico’s life. When he had a fight to train for, he ate, slept, and breathed boxing. “You gon’ need that when you go up against Davies. His strong suit is?—”
“What kind of name is Davies anyway?” Nico asked as he sat down on the metal chair on the side of the ring. He really didn’t care too much about what the nigga’s strong suits were. All he needed to know were his weaknesses.
Gramps followed suit and grumbled something under his breath, no doubt about Nico cutting him off, before he responded, “Probably the name his mama gave him.”
“A stupid ass name.” Nico grinned as he took a swig of water.
Gramps eyed him. “Do you ever take anything seriously?”
“Have you ever known me to?”
Gramps seemed to think about it before he shook his head. “You need to cut that shit out and find somethin’ to be serious about.”
Gramps always got in his ass like that. If Nico had to guess, it was the old man’s way of looking out for him. Many timesthrough Nico’s life, Gramps tried to talk some sense into him and get him to take his relationships with people outside of his family more seriously, but Nico had never been interested . . . until now, that was. Remedie shifted something for him in a major way. He sensed that Gramps knew it too. There hadn’t been as many lectures about Nico’s future in the past few days. That was a relief to Nico because it was always a drag to find something more interesting to think about while Gramps droned on.
The door to the gym opened, and Nico spotted Remedie sashay through the space. His mouth watered as he looked at her petite body in the crop top and biker shorts. She carried two plastic bags and smiled widely when her eyes found him.
“I think I found somethin’ to be serious about, Gramps. Here she come right now.”
Gramps’s eyes followed Nico’s line of sight, and his eyes lit up. Nico glanced at him, his attention half on Remedie as she walked toward them and half on Gramps as he grinned at his woman.
“That’s a fine thing to be serious about, champ.” Gramps waved enthusiastically at Remedie.
“Aye, man, get back,” Nico scolded Gramps. “You droolin’ all over your dentures and shit.” He never saw the old man smile so much. His name really should have beengrumpsbecause he never found anything to be happy about unless Nico won a fight, but as soon as Remedie stepped into the room, he looked like Miss America, smiling and waving and shit.
Gramps’s smile quickly turned into a frown as he looked at Nico. “Oh, shut up.”
“Hey, y’all.” Remedie’s sweet voice cut through their bickering.
“Hey, cookie.” Nico stood and leaned down over the ropes with his lips poked out. Remedie looked she wanted to curvehim, but she thought better of it. She pressed her soft lips against his, and his dick jumped slightly. Ever since he had a taste of that sweet pussy, he couldn’t get enough of her. “You knew better, I see.”
Remedie smacked her lips. “I just didn’t want to be disrespectful with Gramps here. I know how you get when we kiss.”
Nico nodded. He normally didn’t let up. She wasn’t wrong about that, but she also needed to learn not to give a fuck about what people thought, because Nico sure as fuck didn’t. If he wanted to kiss up on his baby, then he would do that, even if it got a little nasty. “You ain’t wrong.” He bit his bottom lip as he looked down at her. “But that old man ain’t worried ’bout us.”
Remedie looked behind him and waved a hand at Gramps. “Hey.”
“Hey, sweetie. What you got there?” Gramps asked, eying the bags in her hands.
She lifted them slightly. “Lunch.”
Nico helped her up into the ring, and she handed him a bag. She walked over to Gramps and handed him one next.
“Boy, oh boy. You have an old man spoiled. This gon’ be an everyday thing?” Gramps asked as he tore open the bag.
She giggled. “It can be. I have to bring Nico lunch, anyway.”
Gramps looked like he wasn’t even paying attention anymore. His eyes grew wide when he saw the fried catfish po’ boy with all the fixings and bacon cheese fries. He looked up at her with happy tears in his eyes. “God bless ya.”
Nico shook his head in mock disgust as he lifted his bag slightly. “I get the same thing?”
Remedie cut her eyes at him. “You know you didn’t. You’re back on a diet, sir. Gotta make sure you’re in tip-top shape to win your next fight.”
“Yeah. Gotta beat Davies’s ass. You gon’ come watch?”
Her nose wrinkled. “So much to unpack there,” she joked. Nico loved that saying that had become their thing. Inside jokes were always a step closer to marriage, in his head. “His name is Davies?”
“That’s what I said!” Nico exclaimed as he whirled around to face Gramps. “See, I knew I wasn’t trippin’.” Gramps waved him off. He was in heaven, enjoying his lunch. Nico looked back at Remedie. “What else you got to unpack?”
