Page 37 of Fighting the Darkness

I nod, giving him a small wave as he heads for the locker room. I wonder if he’s going to lay into Wilder as well. I wish I could be a fly on a wall for that conversation.

“You ready?” Soren calls, and I nod as I move back over to where we’d been before all the drama.

I suck my lip into my mouth as I consider Soren. I really want to know what the deal is with him and Wilder. I don’t actually think he’ll tell me, but if I don’t ask, then I have no way of finding out. Fuck it, I’ll bite the metaphorical bullet.

“What’s up with you and Wilder? Quinn told me there was some kind of rivalry, but it seems like so much more than that.”

Soren sighs, and when he looks up at me, I can see the fatigue in his eyes. “What are the chances of you dropping this?”

I tap my chin as if considering his question before dropping my hands with a grin. “I’d say zero.”

“I figured.” Soren chuckles as he glances toward the locker room. “You can’t say anything about this because I’m sure it would cause Wilder embarrassment. But you might as well know what you’re getting yourself into training with both of us.”

Soren runs his hand over his buzzed hair. “Freyr and Wilder started training at No Hold Barred when they were sixteen. It was obvious they had the talent, but it needed to be refined. I’d been training with Griffin for a couple of years at that point. He asked me if I’d be willing to help train the boys. By then we knew I wasn’t going to be able to fight professionally, so I figured why not? I needed to figure out what to do with my life besides doing underground fights.

“The three of us got along really well despite the nine-year age gap. They still acted like teenage boys because they were, but they were also more mature than I was at that age. Or at least Freyr was. I’m still not sure if Wilder has matured at all since then, but that’s neither here nor there. We spent a lot of time together, just the three of us, and then a lot of times just me and Wilder when Freyr wanted to hang out with his sister—“ He scoffs. “With you. One day, Wilder tried to kiss me. I was a twenty-five-year-old man. I had no business kissing a teenager, even if he was hot. Wilder mostly laughed it off. He even apologized the next day, but I could feel his eyes on me regularly. As the adult in the situation, I did my best to ignore it and discourage his crush when I could.

“When he turned eighteen, I thought he’d finally gotten over it. Only, it turned out that he was biding his time until he was legal. He thought that was my hang up—which it was in part, but that wasn’t the only reason. He came onto me hard one night and tried to kiss me again. Well, this time he succeeded, but I pulled away as soon as I realized what was happening. I’m not going to lie, I’d been drinking, and like I said, Wilder has always been attractive. But he was way too young for me. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that age is just a number, but not until after all parties are old enough to drink. This time, he didn’t take my rejection as well.

“He turned into the raging jackass you saw today. He never had another nice thing to say to me and refused to train with me any longer. There are times he’s downright cruel. At the time, I figured he’d get over it with time. Seeing as it’s been four years, I don’t think he’s going to. I accept that, and I’m sorry that we used you as an excuse to fight. I’m not proud of it, but sometimes I just can’t take the hate anymore and I stab out at him.”

I blink, trying to wrap my head around everything he just told me. “Wow. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with that. I don’t know what happened to Wilder when we turned sixteen, but he changed a lot—and not necessarily for the better. He never treated Freyr any differently, but he became a lot more aloof and... rude? He acted like he was better than most people. I don’t know why he changed, but before that, he was the sweetest boy. He was my first crush.”

I flush, not knowing why I told him that, but Soren just gives me a soft smile.

“It seems like he knows how to hit us both where it hurts then. I promise I won’t let you become a thing we fight over again, though. It’s not fair to you.”

Now I’m staring at him in shock. “Are you a pod person? Because this? This isn’t the Soren I’ve grown to hate.”

Soren throws his head back as he laughs. “I already apologized for the way I was trying to motivate you, but if you don’t mind me being honest with you—and myself?”

“No, I’d really rather you lied to me,” I say with a blank face before rolling my eyes. “Yes, asshole, I’d prefer you were honest with me.”

Soren shakes his head. “You’re a temptation that I don’t need in my life, princess, but I also know you’re not going anywhere. I was doing what I could to keep you at arm’s length so I wouldn’t give in to that temptation.”

Now I’m left gaping at him. Did he just say what I think he did?

“Hey, guys, I’m sorry to have to do this, but I need Sor’s help with something, so we’re going to need to cancel your session.” Griffin looks down at me, and I wonder how long he’s been there. Did he hear Soren’s words? I flush at that because if they’re together and he just heard his boyfriend admit that he’s into me, there’s no way he’s going to let me keep training with Soren.

“That’s probably for the best,” Soren murmurs. “You’re free, sunshine. Go enjoy the rest of your day.”

I must still be in shock because all I can do is stare after them as they walk away. I don’t understand what just happened. Did Soren just call me sunshine? Where the hell did that come from?

I think I’d like to do this day over again and skip over everything that happened at the gym today.

Finally, shaking myself from my stupor, I head for the locker room and get changed as quickly as I can. I shoot Vicki and Quinn a message asking them to meet me because I need them to help me figure out what kind of trouble I’ve gotten myself into.

Chapter Seventeen

Freya

PushingoutofNoHolds Barred, I head for my SUV but come up short when I see Wilder leaning against it. I’m already exhausted. I’ve reached the limit of what I can deal with today, and I really don’t want to do this with him right now. But he’s also blocking my only way home.

Shaking my head, I continue to walk over to him and stop in front of him, crossing my arms over my chest. “What do you want, Wilder?”

He pushes himself off my SUV, taking a step toward me before coming to a stop when I take a step backward to keep the space between us. He sighs, pushing his hands through his hair.

“I just want to talk.” He pauses, but I remain silent. I’m not going to stop him from talking, but that doesn’t mean I have to make it easy on him. “I’m sorry for being a jerk. Not just here, but that night at The Guillotine. You didn’t deserve it—now or then. I just don’t want you to get all tangled up in this shit.”

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