Page 81 of Breaking the Sinner

Maybe this would restore the balance between them. Maybe Cobra deserved it.

He’d swerved too far out of his lane, and now things could proceed as normal.

In the history of their friendship, shit like this was sort of normal. Cobra thought a lot about it as he nursed his bruised ribs and swollen face. Maybe not baseball-bat-to-the-head dramatic, but this situation, in some enactment, dotted their history like broken bulbs on an old strand of Christmas lights. It wasn’t pretty, but it was part of the landscape. They were three fucked up guys. This was how fucked up guys got their shit in order.

Cobra knew by now that regular people wouldn’t understand. No use trying to explain.

Which is why he’d been prepping what he would actually say when he showed up to work on Monday. Convincing Travis and the rest of the staff would be easy. Street fight…bar fight…some variation there would suffice. Travis wouldn’t love it, but fuck him if he said anything.

Really, he worried about Gen. She’d see right through any excuse he threw her way. The two of them were like starry-eyed lovers since last weekend at her place. And not being with her while he recuperated almost hurt worse than his bruised and battered body.

On Monday morning, he could keep his shit together enough to hobble into work. It hurt less to walk, but his face looked like shit. A nasty black eye had blossomed, all purple and dark. Lex pulled him aside the second he stepped into the weight room.

“What is this?” He gestured to Cobra’s face, his black eyebrows wrought into a hard line.

“I got into a fight,” Cobra said.

“Yeah. And lost.” Lex jerked his head toward the weight room door he’d just come through. “Let’s go to the locker room. I can help this situation.”

Cobra followed him, nostrils flared as he regulated his breath against the swell of pain in his ribs. If Klay had busted one, then there wasn’t much he could do other than grin and bear it. It would take time, and a few excuses. Nothing he couldn’t handle.

Lex remained quiet as he led the way to the men’s locker room. He tugged open his locker, revealing a little glass bottle.

“You gotta cover this shit up, boy.” Lex swiped some flesh-colored cream onto his thumb, then dabbed it onto Cobra’s face. Cobra reeled back, laughing a little.

“You my makeup artist now?”

Lex smirked. “I’d sock you right now, but I’d probably hurt you.” He fell quiet for a few moments as he smeared the concealer into Cobra’s skin. Cobra winced. “I keep this on hand for the series I film with Travis. Who got ya?”

Cobra jerked his head. “Nobody worth mentioning.”

Lex frowned. “Travis doesn’t like this shit in here. He’ll let it slide once, but you push it too far, and he’ll cut you loose.”

A strange cocktail of emotions surfaced. His kneejerk reaction was impassivity. That structured defeatism that lurked in the corners everywhere, always. Getting fired could be better for him. Shit at home would calm down. He could continue forward, even-keeled and listless. Changing nothing would beeasier.

But then anxiety crept in. He didn’t want to be cut loose. Not really.

“It was kind of a one off,” Cobra muttered.

“Hope so.” Lex screwed the lid back on the bottle of concealer and set it on the locker shelf. “Now be real with me. You liking it here?”

Cobra rubbed the back of his neck, ignoring the flinch of pain as he extended his arm. “Yeah. Why?”

Lex shut the locker door softly. “You missed a bunch of work a couple weeks ago. Now this. I don’t want to see you get pulled out of here.”

Cobra snorted, like the idea was absurd, but on the inside he reeled. How did Lex know? And howmuchdid he know? “Pulled out by what?”

“The street. Drugs. I dunno. Whatever it is that you fuck around with.” Lex took a measured breath, his chocolate eyes searing through him. “I don’t know your whole story, but I feel like I do. You know what I mean?”

Cobra shrugged. Nobody knew his whole story. Except Klay and Tyler. “Mine would probably surprise you.”

Lex laughed softly, but there wasn’t humor on his face. “Listen. Stick it out. Get your certification. Once you get the trainer status, shit gets easier. I promise. You get your own clients, and it’s like a whole new world.”

Cobra nodded, averting his gaze. That trainer certification really did sound nice. But the shit he’d get from Klay for going back for his GED…the stress of studying and showing up…it already exhausted him.

“We’ll see.” He couldn’t commit to more.

Lex gripped his shoulders in response. Cobra winced. “‘We’ll see?’ That better turn into a ‘fuck yeah,’ or I’ll be the next one to beat your ass.”

---