Page 6 of Excess

“Nope, it seems to have slipped my mind. Remind me?”

He shoved the frying pan into the water a little harder than necessary, sloshing bubbles everywhere.

Leo was a great fighter. One of the best at Leviathan, and the crowd loved him because he wasn’t afraid to put his body through the wringer to get a win. But he was also a nightmare, and the club owners had decreed that he wasn’t allowed on the premises without me, because someone had to keep him under control.

“Invite Lewis and Jasper around here and order a curry or something. I’ll pay you back for it,” Leo muttered, glancing hopefully at Dad. How Leo was the favourite son, I would never know. Dad hadn’t eaten curry once since Mum died—clearly Leo hadn’t been paying attention.

“I can come to the pub, Grandad,” Freya piped up. “I’ll bring my colouring and sit nice and quietly.”

I exhaled heavily, glaring at Leo, who had the good sense to look at least a little sheepish.

“No need for all that, Frey,” Dad said, patting Freya on the head. “Lewis and Jasper can come round here and you can help me make toad in the hole. How does that sound?”

Freya beamed up at him. She was an easily pleased kid, really. She just wanted some attention.

“I’m going to go to my room and draw them both a picture.”

“I’m sure they’ll love that,” Dad assured her as she skipped off, giving me a warning look on the way past, like I was going to be the problem here.

Dad exhaled heavily as Leo was drying his hands, and my brother immediately spun around to face him, his body language all confrontation.

“Got something to say?”

Before everything had fallen apart, Dad might have risen to Leo’s goading—even though Leo had always been his favourite—but he never did now. Sometimes, I wondered if that was why Leo still did it.

“Make smart decisions,” Dad sighed, shuffling out of the room. His back must have been giving him grief today. “Remember, you have more than just you to think about. I’m going to call the boys.”

Leo turned his combative glare on me, and I rolled my eyes.

“Save it for the ring. A heads-up would have been appreciated, by the way. What if I had plans tonight?”

Leo frowned. “You never have plans.”

“Yeah, well, I’m going to start going out more.”

“Where?”

“None of your business.”

He snorted. “You’re full of shit.”

Siblings were a fucking curse. Though, I’d probably like him a lot more if we didn’t live under the same roof.

“Whatever. I’m going to wash up. I’ll meet you down here later. You should go hang out with Freya for a bit. Do some drawing with her.”

Leo side-eyed me for the suggestion, but followed me up the stairs and headed to Freya’s room because he knew I was right. He wouldn’t be any use to her tomorrow.

A couple of hours later, we headed into the back entrance of Leviathan, descending the dark staircase to the basement where the fights were held.

They changed the times of the fights each time to throw off the authorities, and this one was early enough to attract mostly the after-work crowd. It was definitely Leo’s preferred audience. They had deep pockets and weren’t as cautious with their bets as the regulars.

“You’re getting a little old for this, aren’t you?” I grumbled, following Leo. The thud of the bass upstairs was already giving me a headache, and the ever-present stickiness of the floor was more viscerally disgusting to me each year.

I wanted to be at home. On the couch. Ideally, with a cup of tea and some chocolate biscuits, and no people around me.

“No. I’ll fight until I’m too old to climb into the ring.”

“Or until you’re too injured to do it anymore. Anything other than get a proper job, hm?”

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