Page 84 of Martyr

“Careful, you can’t go pro if you don’t keep with it.”

West chuckled. “Really? You think skipping out on a single practice will make me soft? You know, Yejun and Nix are at the Roost right now. I guess I could just leave them to their alone time and be the responsible athlete you want me to be.”

Beck straightened his spine as the elevator came to the level for the parking lot. “I suppose you’re right. One practice won’t make a difference for a fighter of your stature.”

He was too easy. West shook his head at him and stepped out.

“…cheating?! On the Demons?!” a female gasped.

West came to a stop and turned in her direction, finding two older club members heading for the same elevator he’d just exited. When they looked up, they both froze. “What did you just say?”

They shared a scared look, but then the blond one wrung her hands and replied, “Everyone’s talking about it on the Foxglove campus.”

“She’s one of the professors in the science department,” Beck informed him.

“Apparently, Nix Monroe was caught outside the Roost getting intimate with another man,” the female professor added, possibly emboldened by Beck’s presence. His reputation as calm and collected, a genuinely nice guy amongst monsters, was well known. “Yejun and Lake caught them and someone was rushed off to the hospital.”

West swore under his breath and took a step toward his car, stopping to deliver a warning glare at them. “If I find out you’re spreading these rumors once I leave, I’ll have your job.”

She quickly dipped into a low bow, but he was already moving away, confident the message had been received.

There had to be some type of misunderstanding. Nix would never cheat on them—for multiple reasons. For one, he was already getting it from both West and Yejun on the daily. Just this morning, he’d complained about needing a break even.

The second reason was even more obvious. He wasn’t a moron. There was no way he’d risk pissing the three of them off, especially now that he was bound to Lake. Hell, Nix had been on his best behavior for weeks because of that, trying to find his footing and make things work. It was self-serving, of course, West knew. Nix was trying to protect himself the only way he was able, by adapting and compromising where he could.

And it’d been working.

Lake had stopped insisting he was followed everywhere the second he stepped foot outside the Roost. Yejun only fucked him in his studio, so there could be some separation between where Nix lived and where he was bedded. West only screwed him in his bedroom, and was keeping the secret like Nix wanted. In return, Nix didn’t shy away when any of them touched him anymore. He sat with them for meals and lobbed jokes over thekitchen counter. He wasn’thappyper se, but he was getting there. West was sure of it.

He sped out of the parking lot, barely even registering that Beck was still standing by the elevators, watching as he raced away.

Chapter 20:

He didn’t waste any time getting there, almost causing several accidents despite the short distance between the Club House and the Roost.

“Why the hell did I just have to listen to a bunch of bullshit about being cheated on?” he called out loudly as he stormed inside, slamming the front door behind him for good measure as a way to blow off some of the anger coursing through him. That was his problem, too quick to anger over stupid shit. Shit he knew couldn’t be true.

He didn’t get a reply, but it became apparent why that was when he entered the living area.

Lake was sitting on the couch, tense and clearly upset, his gaze locked on the coffee table where Yejun had Nix on his back and was brutishly rutting him. It was hard enough that the table was shaking, and the sound of slapping flesh mirrored the ones West was familiar with at the boxing gym in the ring. He actually winced a little, and he was usually the one who liked pain and rough sex.

“Tell me he didn’t really cheat,” West asked, stopping at the end of the couch where Lake sat. It was the only explanation he could think of for what he was currently watching, though. Yejun had always been soft with Nix, careful, as though he fearedthe other man was made of delicate glass. If he was punishing him like this…

“He didn’t,” Lake managed to get out, though his voice was tight. In his lap, he was clenching his fists to the point they were bone white.

“What?” That didn’t make any sense. “If he wasn’t unfaithful then why the hell is this going on? June.” West took a step toward him, but when his best friend growled ferally, he paused. “Dude, why are you so pissed off for? What did he even do?”

“Iris,” Yejun growled, the single word piercing through West’s chest like a sharp dagger.

“Huh?” Was he insinuating that Nix and Iris had been working together? No. He didn’t buy that either. The cheating story would have been more believable.

Yejun made a strangled sound in the back of his throat and somehow managed to thrust his hips even harder. “They’re related. He’s her fucking cousin!”

He was…

Nix was Iris’s cousin…

But Nix’s cousin was named Branwen. And she was—

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