Page 81 of Bad Habit
“She is.” He releases my hand and leans back in the chair. His suspicion is clear to see but I don’t let it deter me.
“She’s incredible.” I express with admiration. His mother has paved the way for underprivileged athletes to have the same scholarship opportunities as private school athletes. Two years ago she put together a team to host a skillset showcase. Every athlete was randomly placed on teams to run drills and scrimmages in every sport. It’s an excruciatingly long and intensive summer program. But it brings fairness to the sports world for young athletes.
There’s a lot of discourse about it because one of the biggest benefits of private schools are the opportunities that they provide. Shelia Hayward has been on countless podcasts and interviews and each time she basically tells anyone that is complaining about that benefit being diminished to get choked on a silver spoon. And what helps her out the most is her son that fights professionally. That’s why his face is familiar. She shamelessly uses his face to push her own agenda. She’s a total badass.
“Scott was at the training conference this past week.” AJ fills in the unsaid question for why he is here with Rory.
Scott shakes his head, which causes his hair to fall forward in his face. “Avery fucking killed us all.” He exhales a hard breath. Rory has the biggest and proudest smile on his face while AJ just looks like she wants to finish her taco in peace.
“Are you here for long?” I ask Scott. I can sense both Rory and AJ looking at me but I have a brilliant idea and need to act on it now.
“A few days. Rory wanted me to train at West Haven and meet the triplets. And get some private work in with AJ and Eddie.” Scott looks up at me.
“Do you have lunch plans for tomorrow?” I can definitely feel my friends looking at me now, but I know an opportunity when I see one and I won’t let it go by.
“If you’re the one asking, the answer is no.” He says confidently, clearly underestimating my intentions.
“Perfect.” I smile at him as Rory squints his eyes at me. Observant as always. I know he will be asking me questions later and that’s okay. I’m ready to let everyone know exactly who I am.
I’m getting ready to get in the shower when my phone rings. The name that appears on the screen has me answering immediately because he has never called me before.
“Eli?” My heart is beating fast at the thought that something is wrong.
“We need you at The Poolhouse.” He’s quick to get to his point and I can hear the crowd in the background.
“He’s fighting again.” I guess and when he doesn’t respond to me I continue talking, “Can’t you stop him? He’s not even healed from the last one.” I’m pretty sure he has cracked ribs and those take forever to heal on someone who isn’t putting themselves in a situation to get hit repeatedly.
“We’ve tried.” Eli sighs and I just imagine him in the corner of the room with his glasses scrunched up on his nose from where he is frustrated.
“I can be there in fifteen minutes.” I can hear his relief on the other end of the phone. I’m sure Oliver has no idea that his brother called me. But a thought occurs to me. Oliver hasn’t been asking me to come to his fights because he’s in his head about something that he also doesn’t want to talk to me about. There’s one person that I know without a doubt will be able to pull him out of whatever spiral he is in. “And I’m bringing reinforcement.”
AJ, Rory, and myself are making our way through the crowd less than thirty minutes later. I know Oliver is going to be pissed that I called her, but I also know that Eli and Maxwell would keep standing by his side until he got actually hurt. That triplet bond between them runs deeper than anything I’ve ever seen. Sometimes we get careless with our decisions though and we need people to help pull us out of holes we put ourselves in.
AJ pushes her way through the crowd until we meet the door where Rob is standing. He looks at her in surprise and then rolls his eyes at Rory. It’s comical to see how this big burly man is always so over the male fighters. Rory just grins at him anyway. Rob takes note of AJ’s outfit and I watch his thick eyebrows raise high.
“Are you fighting tonight?” AJ smiles excitedly at him. There is a new type of energy that I’ve never seen surrounding her. She’s practically vibrating. When I showed up on her doorstep and told her that Oliver is fighting and has been fighting more than she knows, she didn’t hesitate. She asked for five minutes to change. She met me back at my car in a matching black sports bra and shorts with her hair pulled up high. She pulled a leather jack over her shoulders and we made our way here. I didn’t know Rory was coming until he met us at the front door.
“I’m making an exception.” She corrects him as he opens the door for her.
We end up in a different room than we’re normally in for her to get ready. Rory wraps her hands and AJ gets fully locked in. I’ve never seenher fight, not really. I’ve watched her spar plenty of times. I’ve trained with her. But I’ve never seen her fight on this level. I’m excited. Rory doesn’t have mitts to help her warm up. So he just lets her hit his open palm. Watching them is always a treat because they move seamlessly with each other. Like they know exactly the way the other will move their body.
Rob lets us know that they have the pool ready for her. When she walks back out of the door, I have to cover my ears. I’ve been to The Poolhouse many times now. The crowd is always rowdy and full of blood lust. But I have never seen them elated like they are right now. Rory has to cover AJ with his whole body just to make room for her to get through the crowd without suffocating. The guys told me that she was the favorite when she used to fight here before but I think they underestimated the meaning of favorite. She’s basically a celebrity.
We reach the pool and they have a line of guys splitting the middle, effectively creating two rings. That’s new. Tucker meets AJ at the top. I know by the way his eyes are bulging that she is bringing in an immense amount of bets. She shakes her head at something he is saying but then he walks away. I’m still in awe of how this place runs.
The closer I get to the side of the pool, the more I’m nervous. I don’t want him to feel like I betrayed him by calling her, but I also don’t want to see him get hurt again. I don’t know her plan, but I know that it will work. The only person that they all listen to is her. She’s earned their loyalty. Rory jumps down since we are on the side that doesn’t have the ladder. He helps AJ down and then me. I turn around as soon as my feet are on the ground, searching him out. I can barely see over the guys that are splitting the space. But then Eli pushes his way through. He comes directly up to me.
He looks both worried and impressed. “You called Av?” He looks at me like I have lost my mind but he’s smiling too. “This is going to be messy.” Once again, he looks happy despite his words.
“You want to corner me?” AJ comes up to where we are standing and Eli’s smile turns menacing.
“Fuck yeah.” Eli nods to Rory and then hugs me. “You made the right call and if he gives you shit about it, give him hell.” He reassures me as he pulls back.
Oliver and Maxwell push their way through the guys standing and I try to swallow down the panic. He looks at me first and then he looks at what I’m wearing. It’s another one of his shirts that I stole. I added a thin belt and made it into a makeshift minidress. I wanted to show him that I was here for him, even if he’s making dumb decisions like fighting while hurt. I’m still in his corner. When his eyes raise back up to meet mine, I don’t see any anger in them for me though. Maybe a tinge of hurt because it is obvious that I brought AJ with me. But there isn’t anger. And the biggest sense of relief floods my lungs, making it easier to take a breath in.
“What are you doing?” He asks AJ. His jaw is tight, he is shirtless like usual when he fights, and I can see all the bruises he was hiding under his hoodie the other night. He really doesn’t need to fight again. He has splashes of black and blue and even a little bit of purple covering more skin than not. The cuts on his face seem to be healing but bruises, and possibly cracked ribs, will take much longer.
And you can only take so much bruising around your organs before damage is done that can’t be undone. He’s not dumb, he absolutely knows this. I know that he fights to prove something, mainly to himself. But I don’t know what it is he’s trying to prove by fighting in the shape that he is in.
