Page 54 of Bad Habit
“Careful, dumbass!” Oliver catches me as I stumble forward a few steps. The missing anger in his words and heavy annoyance confirms it's his other brother and not some stranger.
“Hey sunshine.” He sloppily kisses my cheek before letting go, completely ignoring the wrath of his brother.
“See. Definitely not getting lost now.” I grin at Oliver.
“I’ll meet you guys in the back. Give me ten minutes.” Oliver gives me one more quick look before disappearing around the side.
I quickly turn to face the guys with the biggest smile on my face. “No.” Eli immediately cuts me off.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say!”
He crosses his arms and looks down at me, pursing his lips slightly. “Still no.”
“You’re the boring brother.” I groan.
“And you’re a menace.” He steps forward to glare a little harder but I can see the twitch at his lips.
“I’m texting Devyn and telling her that you are being mean to me.”
“You two talk?” Eli drops his arms so fast that he almost loses balance. There’s a hint of desperation in his voice that makes me regret even bringing her up.
“We talk sometimes.” I shrug before reaching out to lace my hand through Maxwell’s. “Lead the way, babysitter.” I swing my arm to the door that Eli reaches to hold open.
“We’re not babysitting you.” Max says as he pulls me through the crowd. “He just worries. People here can get rough, it’s not always fun dancing and fighting. He just wants you safe. We all do.” He squeezes my hand and I feel Eli come close to my back, sandwiching me between the two brothers.
“Where’s AJ?” I meant to text her earlier, but I got distracted.
“At Melinda’s.” A pang of guilt rattles through me. I’ve not spent any one on one time with her in weeks. And I know how stressed she has beenabout the meeting with her business partner. “They wanted to bring her dinner and watch a movie with her. I think Rory feels guilty that she is alone all the time.” Max chatters away while carving our path through the crowd. We reach the door where Rob is posted as always. He reaches down and gives me a side hug. And Max gasps dramatically. “Robby! You have never hugged me.” He sounds like he is actually offended.
Rob just squares up and puffs his chest out before rolling his eyes at Max. “You have two seconds to get back there or I will close this door.” He threatens while holding the door open for us.
Max opens his mouth but Eli shoves him over my shoulder before words are able to escape his lips. “Has he hugged you?” Max yells over his shoulder as Eli is still actively pushing him forward.
“She’s prettier than you. Get over it.” He grunts.
Giggling, I lean up so he can hear me when I whisper, “hear that? I’m prettier.” Max shrugs me away from him as he pouts.
We open the door where all of Oliver’s stuff is already laid out. The guys must have been here before to get it set up. Oliver is already sitting on the bench, wrapping his hands. He looks up long enough to make sure that I’m all in one piece before retraining his focus on the wraps.
“Ol, has Rob ever hugged you?” Max slumps down in front of his brother to start wrapping his other hand. “He’s never hugged me. Eli said it’s because Mia is prettier than me. Which is subjective because of course she’s gorgeous. But maybe I’m more Rob’s type.” Max’s meltdown has me folding over in laughter.
“Rob hugged you?” Oliver’s eyes cut to me.
“We’re buddies.” I shrug. I hear him mumble something under his breath and Max finishes wrapping Oliver’s hand but doesn’t let it go.
“What?” Oliver demands. They just stare at each other before Oliver lightly slaps his brother’s cheek. “Of course she is prettier than you. But you are more handsome.” That seems to satisfy Maxie because he beams up at me and Eli.
“How does the other guy look?” Oliver glances at Eli as he gets up to start his warm up.
“Light on his feet, moves around a lot. AJ would tell you to stay firm and watch his pivot. His hands are quick but he lacks power.” Eli breaks down Oliver’s opponent for him. I never even saw the other guy. I have no idea how he knows this but he sounds confident in everything he says. I know that here the fights aren’t the same as the professional ones that Rory does. These are mainly blood lust driven, not skill driven. But if you have both, you put on the best show. And a good show is what makes people bet. I don’t think Oliver does this just for the money though, he fights like he is breathing. His whole body is locked in on living in the moment of the fight.
“Alright, we have to get out there. I have two fights tonight.” Oliver announces as if he expects none of us to say anything. But I can feel the unease seep out of Eli who is still standing beside me.
“What do you mean?” Eli puts a hand to Oliver’s chest to keep him from just walking out of the room.
“You heard me.” Oliver is avoiding eye contact with his brother.
“Two fights for what reason?” Maxwell comes to stand shoulder to shoulder with Eli, creating a wall in front of Oliver.
