Page 96 of Mean Machine

On the way out, Joseph wordlessly offered him a new set of his clothes, and Brooklyn stopped only to put both on. “Couldn’t help it. Why are we sold out, anyway?”

“Why do you think?” Joseph glanced upward with a slight headshake but didn’t complete the eye roll. “Being the biggest news in boxing in a decade might have something to do with it.”

“Well, it’s making the sponsors happy.” Brooklyn nestled into his hoodie.

“Sure does.” Joseph huffed. “Will you go to the official party?”

“Yeah, why not. I’ll take a couple ibuprofen and should be fine tomorrow.”

“Should I schedule the masseur?”

“That’s always a yes.” Brooklyn bounced lightly on his feet. “Party’s at the hotel?”

“Yes, we have the whole top floor and swimming pool area.”

“Sweet. I better get my swimming trunks as well. Might just as well scandalise the rest.”

Joseph nodded with a straight face. “We can always get swimwear sponsors for team kit. Wouldn’t be the weirdest proposal I’ve seen.”

They returned to Brooklyn’s room, where he left the hoodie and put on his normal old swimming trunks under the jeans. Jacuzzi now sounded perfect. When he arrived there, it was the usual mix of crew, hangers-on, celebrities, and socialites, with finger food everywhere and several busy bars attempting to keep up with the demand, all rounded off with extremely danceable music that had most people swaying at least, with others outright dancing.

Brooklyn surveyed the crowd, picked up a drink, and entered the melee of well-wishers and congratulations, thanking people for coming. A couple drinks in, one woman (journalist?) pulled him to the dance floor, and others joined, and it all became a happy mix of random people dancing and flirting with one another, all lubricated with alcohol.

As the party progressed, the lights dimmed and were replaced with candles, small groups gathered in the booths and around the tables, and the crowd grew busier. While he was making his way to the bar, somebody grabbed him from behind, high on the shoulders and across his chest.

“Surprise!”

Brooklyn froze and half turned, then placed his hands on Rose’s. “Wow. Where are you coming from?”

“From the airport.” Rose allowed him to complete the turn and embraced him. Em stood a step behind him and to the side, smiling. “We actually left Heathrow with a two-hour delay, so we should have been here ages ago.”

“That’s… did you manage to sneak out of the door? Santos? What does he think?”

“He’s still not a fan, but whatever.” Rose broke the tight embrace and damn near pushed Brooklyn into Em’s arms. Another full-body hug followed.

“So good to see you, Brook. Still prone to catching fists with your face, but you’re looking good.”

Brooklyn touched the bruised side of his eye. “You should have seen me after the Thorne fight. This is literally nothing.”

“Yeah, Rose said next time he sees Thorne, he’s going to tear him limb from limb.”

Brooklyn turned to Rose, who shrugged with open arms. “It’s almost like having an older brother, deal with it.”

“I could get into your brand of brotherhood,” Brooklyn said before any of his filters could engage. Both Cubans merely laughed, though they did exchange a look that was hard to decipher. Maybe a mutual acknowledgement that they still needed to tread just that little bit of careful lest they end up in territory that couldn’t be explained away with too much alcohol.

“I guess you could.” The twinkle in Rose’s eye held a world of meaning, or maybe it was merely the usual flirting.

Em looked around, then plucked two glasses of white wine from a passing waiter. “So where is Nathaniel?”

“He’s not here. I mean, he’s gone. Things got in the way, life happened….”

Rose focused on Brooklyn, ignoring the glass Em offered him. “You split up?”

“In a manner of speaking.” And that was such a Nathaniel thing to say. “He freaked out because I got hurt in the ring. Couldn’t take it.”

They both stared at him, and Rose finally accepted the wineglass, took a gulp more appropriate for juice or water, and pulled a face. “I guess the good news is that now you know that he wasn’t a gold digger.”

Brooklyn laughed, glad Rose made a joke about it rather than go all soft and sentimental on him. The party really wasn’t the place for that. “No, he wasn’t that. All I think he wants is a family and a guy who has time for him and doesn’t come home after a day’s work looking like he got hit by an SUV.”

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