Page 69 of Until You're Mine
My lungs tightened. “Those are all dangerous things to bet on.”
Liam shrugged. “What choice do we have? Sell the gym? File for Chapter Eleven Bankruptcy, which is expensive, time-consuming, and risky? That’s if we could even talk Dad and his pride into it, which is a big if. The other option is to cut our losses and give up everything, but that’s not really an option, either. I know you and Dad don’t get along very well, but this is his dream and he built it from the ground up.”
“I know.” Maybe it was a weird thought, but it’d be worse if he’d skipped out on so many important events in my life to keep the gym running, only to have nothing to show for it. “How come you didn’t tell me how bad it was?”
Liam sighed. “I hoped I was wrong. Of course I knew the bank accounts were too low and that we were behind on paying the bills, but I also knew there should be more money somewhere and I was hoping you’d find where it went, like maybe we’d overpaid someone or we were owed money from fights, or…something. I tried to convince myself I was worrying over nothing. How far in the hole are we?”
“About thirty grand. Dad runs this place on the edge of what he takes in, so we haven’t made much of a profit over the past four years.” Basically since I left. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t my fault—that I had to go, and I couldn’t have stayed here without more resentment building or losing myself completely—but it felt like my fault. “If the stubborn ass would’ve listened to me about the classes. Hell, if he’d listen to me now. Is he really going to let his pride overrule making enough money to keep his gym? His legacy?”
Liam ran a hand over his jaw. “We just need to get through Knox’s fight. If it goes well, more people will sign up to train. And I’ll talk to him about the classes—at this point, I’ll tell him it’s not an option. Did you see anywhere we could cut corners?”
“Sure, but we’re talking a couple hundred here and there. Two to three thousand over a year, at most.”
“Better than nothing.”
Considering we were dealing in negative numbers,nothingwas a good word for it, and I didn’t know if it was better.
I glanced out over the gym, the place I’d grown up in. My chest ached at the thought of it not being ours. What would Dad, Liam, and Finn do if we lost it? Sure, my brothers could train somewhere else, but that’d come with its own set of expenses, and they’d funneled most of their time, money, and effort into Team Domination.
“I can call around and see if we can pick up some extra sponsorships. For us and Shane.” The reality of our high stakes situation crashed into me, taking a big old bite out of hope.
Now, more than ever, we needed a win.
I told myself over and over again that I wouldn’t be a distraction to Shane. The question was, was I willing to put not only Shane’s career, but also my brothers’ and my dad’s on the line?
Chapter Forty
Shane
“You’re quiet,” I said, wrapping my hand around Brooklyn’s thigh. She’d hardly said a word all evening as we’d watched TV, and I worried she regretted outing our relationship. I felt mostly relief now that I didn’t have to hide it from her family anymore. More pressure to not screw it up, as well, but it meant no more sneaking around and having to make up an excuse so she could stay over without her brothers coming to hunt her down. “You okay?”
She leaned her head on my shoulder, her silky hair brushing my bare skin. “Yeah. Just thinking.”
“About me?”
A smile broke through the worry in her expression. “Naturally.”
“Good,” I said, rubbing my thumb over the soft skin of her thigh. “Because you’re always on my mind these days.”
The worry returned, and I smoothed the spot between her eyebrows, the way I’d done shortly after we’d met all those weeks ago. “So you’re saying I’m distracting?” she asked.
“Baby, it’s hard for me to lie and say no when your bare legs are draped over my lap and you look the way you do. You distract me in all the right ways, and keep me motivated in the areas I need motivated in.” I brushed her hair off her face so I could see into those big blue eyes. “I’m assuming this is because of what your family said this morning?”
She bit her lip and nodded. “I worry they’re right. Maybe we should put us on hold and wait until after your fight to pick it back up.”
“Nowthatwould be distracting. Then all I’d be able to think about was getting back to us, and I’d get hit in the head a lot, the way I did the first day you crashed into my life. And basically every other time you were around. I was far more distracted when I could only imagine kissing you and getting you naked and underneath me. Now I’m focused.” I skimmed my lips over her shoulder and kissed her neck. Then I moved to her lips.
“Mmm. I enjoy your focus, I do, but—”
I stroked my tongue over hers until she was the one distracted. Every time I thought I’d gotten my fill of this girl, I took another taste and found myself starving for more. Just like that, I was ready to go again.
My muscles, unfortunately, not so much. They complained with every tiny movement, reminding me they’d been pushed to the brink of exhaustion, and a non-sexy type groan slipped out. The ice bath had robbed me of my breath, but it’d helped the aching. Looked like I needed another one, but I chose to lose myself in a warm body instead. Or I would once I caught my second wind.
I sagged into the comfort of the couch.
Brooklyn ran a finger down my chest. “Oh, sure, get me all riled up and then crash out.”
“My body’s taken a lot of abuse lately. Give me a second to rest my arms and I’ll be good to go.”
