Page 38 of Breaking the Habit

“Okay. Let me check on things before we go in,” Levi said in a hushed voice outside his front door. It was almost ten p.m., so Gage was more than likely in his bedroom for the night. Tammy usually got him all prepped for bed, so he could dick around on his laptop or tablet until he was ready to sleep.

Riley watched him with wide eyes. “Do you live with your parents or something?”

He scoffed, unlocking the door quietly. He poked his head in. The apartment was unlit. Good sign. He cleared his throat and pushed inside, scanning the apartment as he led Riley in quickly.

“Nice place,” she said, in a normal voice.

“Shhh.” Levi couldn’t have even a hint of something amiss. He wasn’t ready to broach this new horizon with his brother. This was an emergency arrangement, and if all went well, he could sneak Riley out in the wee hours before Gage got up for the day.

That was the plan. It had to work.

“This is my room,” he said, flipping on the lights before shutting the door quietly behind them. He had a king-sized bed on a black boxy mattress stand, with no additional furniture beyond a nightstand and a dresser, both of which matched the matte black bedframe.

“Wow.” Riley dropped her camera bags, gaze darting around the room. “This is…kind of not what I expected.”

That admission thrilled him, but he couldn’t say why. He cocked his head, shedding the HOLT zip-up. “Why? You thought I’d be a messy bachelor or something?”

“Kinda though you’d live in the middle of a bunch of punching bags,” she said, laughing. Her eyes sparkled. He really liked this side of Riley. The side that had finally decided to open up to him.

He got lost in her gaze, and it felt like minutes had passed.

“Hang on. I need to grab something. Stay in here, okay? Do you want anything? Water? I don’t have any alcohol in the house, obviously. I might have some orange soda.”

Riley smirked. “Water is good. You drink orange soda?”

“No. It’s—” He huffed. “It’s not worth explaining. Hang on.”

Levi slipped out of his bedroom, heart hammering as he crossed the hallway to Gage’s room. At least their bedrooms weren’t adjacent. The apartment had decent sound protection, so as long as Riley didn’t groan like a virile moose, they’d be fine.

Levi tapped gently on his brother’s door and then pushed it open a crack. Gage was up in bed, headphones on, staring at his laptop. When he noticed Levi, he jerked his headphones down.

“Oh, hey!” Gage said.

Levi narrowed his eyes. “You sound suspicious.”

“What!”

“You’re either watching porn or you called Uber Eats to deliver you a pallet of soda.”

“Neither. I’m talking to someone.” Gage frowned. “Not a bad idea about Uber Eats, though.”

“You good for the night?”

Gage sniffed and nodded, typing something out on his laptop. “Yeah. I saw you won the fight. Good job, man.”

“Thanks, bro.” Levi paused, rapping his knuckles along the molding. Part of him wanted to share the good news that not only was he advancing in the league, but that their future was looking more secure. Once Gage became an adult, his costly medical visits, home health nurse expenses, and ongoing equipment needs would turn into a whole new type of financial burden.

In the beginning, when Levi first became Gage’s caretaker, he made barely enough to make ends meet. He’d been able to rely on state assistance in Chicago to help with the fact that their parents’ insurance no longer covered Gage’s needs. But even with assistance, the unseen costs remained. The missed work because of a late home health care worker, the random visits to the hospital because of questions or concerns that his parents had always taken care of.

They’d left behind a sizeable life insurance policy, which had been the lifesaver they both needed. But that money was running out.

Now, between his all his various sponsorships and the new league contract, Levi made way too much to qualify for assistance in California. There was no hope. Which meant that if he was going to make money, he neededallthe money. He wanted to be able to buy their way into a solid plan so neither of them had to worry about this shit anymore. It wouldn’t be cheap—it never was.

But Levi said nothing. Gage was still a kid. He didn’t need to worry about this shit. He needed to keep growing up and getting smart.

“I’m gonna head to bed. My whole body hurts after demolishing my competition.” Levi winked at his brother. “Night, Gage.”

Levi hurried into the kitchen next, filled up two big glasses of filtered water, and headed back into the bedroom. Riley had shrugged off her leather coat, and now, legs crossed in that skin-tight teal dress, peered at the display screen on her camera.

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