Page 87 of Fight

Leaning forward as I wait for my food at a restaurant Jasper found, I raise my brow.

“So what are you working on?” I ask him. I haven’t seen either one of them much today, which can only mean they’re up to something.

Jasper and Tommy work quickly, and if they thought nothing of jumping in their truck and following us all the way to Minneapolis, I wouldn’t put it past them to find a way for them to stay near Cerenity.

“We need to clear it with Corbin, but we want to move the fighting ring to Minneapolis,” Jasper says softly. We’re off in a corner and there’s a decent bit of background noise so we won’t be overheard, but my eyes widen at the news.

I don’t have any ties outside of them and my sister in Chicago. I don’t know if she’ll want to come live in Minneapolis, but it’s worth talking to her about it. I’ve enjoyed having her live in the same city as me for a long time.

“Wow,” I murmur, trying to imagine the logistics of it. “Would you relocate everyone here? What about your other… business interests?”

Tommy smirks at my words, shrugging. “I asked David to take them over. I want to expand in a different area further north of Illinois, because Corbin mentioned giving up the gun running business to me recently, so it won’t be a conflict of interest,” he explains. “He’s doing really well in pharmaceuticals.”

The euphemism makes me chuckle under my breath. I think that would honestly make sense though, and David is very capable. Again, I pay attention to what’s happening in their businesses for my continued survival in this world, not because I have any weight or desire to be a part of it outside of fighting.

“So you’ll move everything here. Does Cerenity know about this?” I ask.

Jasper gives me a dour look as he shakes his head. “We’re trying not to overwhelm her, but there’s a lot of moving parts to our lives. She has her club here and friends, one of them is my sister who is completely on board, I think, with her killing me in my sleep if I fuck up again,” he says. “If this is going to work while we’re courting her?—”

“When did you decide to court her, and does she know this?” I ask, amused. Jasper and Tommy move fast, and to anyone who doesn’t understand how scent matches work, it would seem very sudden.

However, that’s just the way things work for omegas. There’s a pull to that person that’s almost impossible to resist.

And when they do, life gets harder rather than easier.

“Fuck, I knew I forgot something,” Tommy grumbles, rubbing his beard. “As Jasper said, my mind is running in circles to get this done. Without Cerenity, none of it matters, though, does it? She’s with Augustine right now, so I’ll have to try to catch her. Maybe a quiet dinner before she heads to the club if I can manage it.”

“We should both tell her individually, so she knows we’re serious,” Jasper says quietly, nodding at the waitress as she comes to drop off plates.

She seems a bit off her game today as she struggles to gaze at each of us, while remembering who got what. I smirk as I switch my plate with Jasper’s, enjoying the scarlet pops of color that rise in her cheeks before she runs off. Both men and women tend to run into poles when I run with the guys, so this isn’t anything new.

I can enjoy the attention, even though I don’t want any part of cashing in on it.

I ordered a club sandwich on rye with a salad, and the first bite is heavenly. Jasper and Tommy also dig into their food, and I can tell it’s the first thing they’re eating all day.

“Cerenity isn’t someone you can buy flowers for and just expect her to fold,” I remind them as we eat. “She may stab you instead as she’s putting the flowers in water.”

“Fuck if that isn’t sexy as hell,” Tommy rumbles with a smirk. “She’s a problem solver, and I’ve never been harder than when she swung on me with a frying pan.”

“Weird kink, but okay,” I say with a snicker. Tommy simply rolls his eyes, shrugging as if he doesn’t care what I think. I don’t know what, if anything, may bother him, since he’s always an impenetrable force.

“I have a few ideas about what I want to do, as long as she stops running,” Jasper murmurs. “Nothing will change unless she decides we’re worth fighting for.”

“Maybe you need to show her you are,” I counter. “You took an already shitty situation, and made it intentionally worse. As you can see by Tommy’s hair and your experience in the bathroom, she’s not one to forgive lightly.”

“Nothing’s worth doing if it’s not difficult,” Jasper says. “So are you on board for moving things over to Minnesota? It’ll allow you to put down roots here, and you won’t need to worry about commuting. People don’t get a text for the location until a few hours before, so we’ll simply send it a bit earlier, so people can travel in.”

“I’m in. It’s just…” Sighing, I stare down at my empty plate as I push it away. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to fight.”

“Are you thinking about retiring?” Tommy asks neutrally, as if it’s not a surprise to him. Again, his damn poker face wouldn’t tell me shit either way. Even Jasper merely grunts at me, eating a French fry as he listens.

Always being in training fucking sucks sometimes.

“Yeah,” I admit. “I want to open a studio for mixed martial arts, teach people how to fight. I’ve also been thinking about possibly reaching out to Wren and Aisling to see if they’d want to offer self defense training to the omegas they help.”

Jasper nods, impressed as he leans back. “Wren would love that. The Omega’s Haven is going to be officially launching soon, but they need a brick and mortar space to both meet with people, as well as offer a place to stay if necessary,” he explains.

“There’s a lot to think about. I told her she may be better off gutting a building and revamping it the way she needs it to be.”

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