Takedown (8 page)

C
hrist
, it didn’t make a difference that he’d gone to bed only a few minutes later than usual. His mind was racing over every moment of his interactions with Mitchell.

He shouldn’t have let him go without finishing talking about it. On the other hand, Mitchell had looked uncomfortable about being asked where this was going. Maybe he needed time to think about it. That was fair enough. Getting into a relationship with him, the fucking pariah of Beatrice, was a pretty big deal.

That, and the “ex-best-friend who turned you in to your soon-to-be wife over something you didn’t even do, making you leave town in a hurry” thing.

Yeah.

Luke groaned and dragged his pillow over his head. The more he thought about needing rest, the less likely he was to get it.

“Shut up,” he told his brain, nestling into the pillow face-first again and shoving his arms under it.

Mitchell could well be straight. He hadn’t sucked his cock like a straight man, but stranger things were possible. Or maybe he was dealing with some massive internalized guilt complex from hiding his sexuality. Either way, he’d need time to work through things. He didn’t want to put Mitchell under pressure right now.

Still, Luke had needed to bring up the discussion. They had to talk now and not later about the reality of being with him—weird-ass meal times, press statements, and all. Luke needed stability and certainty at this point in his life. He couldn’t just be low-key fuck-buddies with his old friend while preparing for the most important day in his career.

Their needs were clashing, and Luke didn’t know which of them would wind up compromising. But Hugh would eat him alive if he knew he was letting himself get distracted by all this. Two weeks before the big fight and he was getting angsty about not having a boyfriend?

He drew a breath and let it out, shifting his mind to Pascal’s fighting style. He replayed the videos he’d watched over and over in his head. He rehearsed Pascal’s nasty hook, that left jab to the ribcage, the way he moved like a viciously-provoked viper when he was up close. There was no time for reflection, there was a flurry of blows, and his speed was his biggest advantage.

Luke was larger and more solid, carrying the same weight on a broader frame. He could weather more hits, but he would be slower. He had to get a few hits just right, which meant keeping up on his agility training. That was going to be his weak spot. He drank in the sweet sense of relief that his limbs were growing heavy, his body finally sinking into sleep to the thought of footwork drills.

G
od
, Luke was not used to having solid food and not a protein-packed shake in the morning. He was still giving his body just enough fuel to maintain the muscle he had, but he had to avoid packing on any more before the weigh-in.

When he finished his oatmeal and eggs for breakfast, Luke made a face at the fridge. He would kill for a smoothie. Sometimes he hated them just because he had so many of them during regular training season. On the other hand, there was nothing quite like the instant energy hit from the sugars in a fruit smoothie.

But the energy from his solid breakfast would keep him going just fine. As much fun as rapid gains were, it was a steady pace and muscle maintenance he was going for now.

Once he changed into fresh clothes, Luke dragged himself downstairs to start his morning routine on autopilot again. He tried to pull himself out of his head by thinking about Pascal’s techniques again and what he was likely to do and say before the fight.

Hugh was right that he was going to fight dirty. If Mitchell came to the fight…

The thought was exciting, but dangerous.

He couldn’t let himself be distracted by Mitchell’s presence. If Pascal knew or guessed about the two of them, he’d trash-talk them without a hint of guilt.

Sad thing was, Pascal was the type of guy the network viewers loved. He’d probably get good placement just from that. It wasn’t like they were smashing chairs, but a little more nastiness than necessary drew in a lot of viewers, love it or hate it. Not a lot of guys liked a good, clean match anymore.

Luke was startled out of his thoughts as he heard the door clang shut and tossed a glance over in that direction. Mitchell was dressed for the day but unshaven, his glasses on instead of contacts again.

God, he looked like a cute little nerd when he wore his thicker-rimmed black glasses. The sight made Luke smile. The lenses seemed to make his eyelashes look bigger and his eyes look darker. He was still blinking sleep out of his eyes, his demeanor softer and less on guard than when everyone else was around. Luke liked seeing him like this.

“Morning,” Mitchell greeted.

He was carrying a coffee mug again, so Luke decided not to charge him playfully this time. With the chemistry between them now, it was just as likely he’d wind up frantically making out with Mitchell instead of playfully wrestling. That wasn’t the kind of warmup Hugh wanted out of him.

“Morning,” Luke answered instead. He quickly refocused his attention on kicking and hitting with renewed vigor. He had to get the image of fucking Mitchell against the freestanding punching bag out of his head.

“Already hard at work? Get to sleep last night?”

His routine was just about done by now, actually. “Yep.” Mitchell didn’t need to know Luke had been up late thinking of him. “I just gotta hit the showers and then do maintenance on a couple machines. Keeping me company today?”

“I think so. I have to wait for a few records and documents to come back to me, and the accountant to get back to me. There’s not a lot I can do.”

“Well, you can keep me company,” Luke told him. “If you’re ready to supervise, you wanna unlock the doors? Or you can wait for me to get out of the shower.”

“Nah, I can look after the rowdies,” Mitchell smiled, waving a hand. “Go get clean.”

Luke nearly responded with something flirty before he cut himself off.
Not now, Hanson,
he told himself firmly. He had to dial back the flirting a little, until Mitchell made his mind up on what he wanted. “Cool.”

He still held his breath until he got to the showers, a large part of him wanting Mitchell to spontaneously follow him inside.

He didn’t, of course.

By the time Luke emerged, Mitchell was wandering around, leaning in to inspect the machines.

“Seated dips.”

“What?”

Luke gestured toward the machine Mitchell had been watching. “You do seated dips on that one. Want me to show you?”

“Sure.” Mitchell took a step back to leave space between them as Luke brushed past him, adjusting the seat and the weight stack before pressing his hands against the pads. He pushed down, showing Mitchell the basic movement.

“Ah. Yeah, I can see what that does.”

Luke laughed. “It’s pretty easy. If you wanna learn any of these things, let me know. I walk newbies through it all the time.”

“Hey,” Mitchell laughed, but he shrugged. “I am a newbie, I guess. I should focus on learning the day-to-day management before I do that, though.”

“Actually, there’s supposed to be a new guy coming in this morning.” Luke stood up easily and wiped down the machine, then headed for the office to grab the check-in book.

They didn’t talk about what had happened the night before yet, but somehow, it felt like they didn’t need to. Luke was cool with giving Mitchell a couple days to think about it, after all.

In the meantime, it felt like they were buddies. Maybe buddies who carefully avoided touching and whose eyes wandered to each other’s lips more than strictly necessary, but buddies nonetheless.

Luke’s days were always busy—checking people into the gym, cleaning up after them, spotting people, watching newbies’ form and equipment choice, and so on. He also had another light practice fight with Troy, which Mitchell watched.

The whole time, Mitchell finally looked more relaxed than ever. He was happy to watch and learn the little tasks that went into running the gym, asking questions sometimes. The prospect of having someone to spell Luke and Hugh off officially, rather than one of the regular guys they just asked for a favor, was exciting. Luke was more than happy to train his new boss.

Mmm, I guess he is my boss. That’s kinda hot.

Luke tried not to listen to the voice in his head that reminded him that Mitchell might not be his boss anymore, if he sold the gym… or, worse yet, if Luke couldn’t afford to buy it.

Mitchell was dressed more casually today than usual, in dark jeans and a light blue and dark blue plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It was a hot look on him. Kind of a shout-out to his country roots rather than the city boy he seemed to be now.

Luke smiled at the thought. Mitchell had been pressured by one thing or another since getting here, but he looked relaxed now for the first time in a while. This was more the Mitch he remembered.

Mitchell had to step away for work whenever the phone in the office rang, but otherwise he stayed by Luke’s side the whole day.

“You’re always doing things,” Mitchell shook his head as he followed Luke to the punching bags to help wipe them down. He grabbed a rag and joined in, taking the spray bottle from Luke.

Luke eyed his work to make sure he didn’t miss spots. “It’s a full-time job and a half.”

“And you don’t get paid, really, do you?”

“No, but the money I save on paying Hugh and for rent and utilities…” Luke trailed off. “And just living here is awesome. I wouldn’t be able to train twenty-four seven if I lived somewhere else, even if I had a key.”

“Do you ever just get up and do crunches in the middle of the night?” Mitchell teased with a grin.

Luke paused, his mouth open, then blushed.

“Oh shit, you do,” Mitchell laughed. “What a nerd.”

Luke snorted and grabbed the bottle to spray down the other bag, giving it a quick wipe before looking around to see what else needed to be done. “That’s not nerdy at all! That’s the opposite of nerdy.”

“Geek, then. A fitness geek.”

Luke could live with that. He led Mitchell over to the machine with the loose weight pin to show him how to fix them when they came off. For now, Mitchell was here, and every moment he was here he seemed to be in the present moment, watching Luke with the intense gaze of someone eager to learn.

If he’s that eager to learn in bed…

Luke smirked, subtly watching Mitchell’s ass in those tight jeans as he walked off to take another phone call. There was no harm in idle daydreams.

H
e couldn’t keep avoiding
Derek forever. The kid was going to pry around again, and Mitchell had a feeling he wouldn’t like what would happen if Derek went to his parents instead of him.

Mitchell leaned back, putting his feet on the desk and picking the phone up off its cradle to dial the number Derek had given him.

He picked up almost immediately despite the late hour. Mitchell had guessed he’d keep odd hours, too. “Hello, Derek speaking.”

“Hi, it’s Mitchell Keane.”

“Mitchell! Great, good to hear from you. So, you’re ready to talk. When works for you?”

“Just checking in about your story, yes,” Mitchell confirmed. He wasn’t a big fan of the pressure tactic, but he knew it was common. “It sounded like you wanted to do it from the angle of Luke, the star of the gym, going off to his first big fight, huh?”

“That was what I was thinking. I’m open to exploring angles as I research a story,” Derek responded without missing a beat.

He’s good.
“What did you want to know about him?”

“Just a short profile on him and his connections to the gym.”

And probably me.
Mitchell nodded to himself. “Right. Okay. Here’s an idea: we don’t want a lot of attention on him right now, right before the fight. But if he wins the fight, there’s going to be attention from outside sources. We’ll give you the first print interview, and we’ll work on a profile of him and the gym as soon as possible.”

“Okay.” Derek sounded like he was making notes. “And the fight’s in New Jersey. I can call you the night of. I’ve found a live streaming version of it, so I can take notes on that live, too. I don’t think my boss will send me all the way out there…”

“No, of course not,” Mitchell agreed. “But Hugh will want him back here soon, so you won’t wait long to talk to him in person if that’s what you’re looking for.”

“In person, the phone, whatever works for you guys,” Derek told him. “I assume you’ll be going along with him, as… the owner of the gym…”

Mitchell was instantly wary. “Right.”

“And something more? His buddy? I’ve heard you two were close a few years ago.”

And here it is.
Mitchell hummed in agreement. “Most guys our age who grew up here know each other.” Even if Derek was from out of town, he should have guessed that.

“But you broke up?”

“That’s an interesting word choice.” Mitchell wasn’t going to dance around it. “There isn’t any gossip, if that’s what you’re fishing for.”

“Is there some reason you don’t want to discuss your relationship? That’s fair, I just want to know—”

Mitchell laughed. “Nice one, but no, kid. Don’t you work for a real paper, or is it a gossip rag these days?”

“Um, the local paper.” Derek cleared his throat, sounding a little embarrassed now. “Just trying to get all the facts straight. No pun intended.”

“None intended indeed.” Mitchell kept his voice dry. “So, as long as we’re on the same page about why you want to interview us, we’ll arrange for that right after the fight. We’ll be in touch.”

“Okay.” Derek didn’t have much of a choice anyway. “Talk to you then. Or before, if I have some fact-checking to do…”

“No doubt you will.” Mitchell pushed a hand back through his hair. “Bye, Derek.”

When he hung up and glanced at the doorway, Mitchell almost jumped back chair and all. Luke filled the doorway, but somehow he hadn’t seen him leaning there until just now. How much had he heard?

“Sorry, I was just—” Luke began.

“No, no. Come on in, and close the door,” Mitchell told him. “We should talk about that.”

“Right.” Luke shut the door and approached slowly, sinking into the chair on the other side of the desk. He looked strangely vulnerable in the plain seat, and Mitchell almost wasn’t sure what to make of it. After a full day of training his body had to be beaten down, but it only ever showed in his gaze.

Or maybe that was just when they were alone.

With nobody else around, Luke’s demeanour softened. He smiled more broadly and listened more intently whenever Mitchell spoke. It was almost overwhelming to be on the receiving end of that attention, but Mitchell had warmed up to it within the first day. It was
nice
to have someone truly listen.

These last three years, he’d missed Luke.

Mitchell rose from his chair to circle around the side of the desk, wanting to be closer but not
too
close just yet. He fidgeted with a pen, capping and uncapping it as he tried to decide how to say it. He’d spent the day rehearsing his words, but that didn’t help right now.

“I think… before we talk about what we say to the press… you’re right, we should talk about what this is.”

“Right.” Luke straightened up now, his gaze serious. “If it was just one night of adrenaline, that’s cool. It happens between bros.”

Mitchell almost laughed. Between
bros
? Fuck, did Luke not see the way Mitchell burned for him whenever he was closer than three feet away?

“No, that’s not it,” Mitchell told him with a quick shake of his head. “It’s… kind of embarrassing.” His cheeks burned, but he went on nonetheless. “I haven’t dated anyone.”

“In a while?”

“No, in… well… three years.”

It took Luke a few seconds to put two and two together. Then he straightened up, his expression clearing in shock, then understanding. “You mean since you, uh, broke off the…?”

“Yeah.” Mitchell gritted his teeth, praying Luke wasn’t going to judge him for this. “And before that, I’ve never been with a man either. And even with Emily, we never…”

“Oh,” Luke breathed out.

Mitchell’s stomach twisted.
Idiot. No guy ever just admits they’re a virgin. Especially a fuckin’ twenty-five year old. You’ve just earned loser status.

“I mean, if you want someone who’s more on your level, who’s made it to the adult stage of relationships and shit, I might not be the best—”

Luke rose to his feet and stepped closer, his hand gentle as he laid it on Mitchell’s hip. He leaned in to cut off Mitchell’s words with a soft kiss.

Oh, God, that felt incredible.

The soft warmth of Luke’s lips against his own and the tender touch of his thumb to his hip, then his palm running down his arm, and at last, Luke’s palm curled around his cheek… Luke was close but not shoved up in his personal space this time.

As Luke’s lips slid along his, Mitchell kissed back, trying to keep the moment tender. He tilted his head to his side, his eyes sliding closed as he wrapped his arms around that muscled back. The way Luke kissed him made Mitchell melt a little against the desk, so he was grateful that he was sitting down.

“It’s fine,” Luke murmured at last, when he pulled back to let them breathe. He stayed close, though, his eyelashes fluttering open so they could gaze at each other from close up. Luke’s breath was warm on Mitchell’s still-damp lips, and it made Mitchell want to lick right into Luke’s mouth for a dirtier kiss.

He tried to bring his mind back to the moment, his mind dizzy. Focusing on anything but Luke was nigh-impossible when he was
right there
. “Hm?”

“Dating you,” Luke clarified, pulling back a little more but keeping his hand on Luke’s cheek, his other hand on his arm. “I don’t mind dating someone with less experience if you don’t mind. I just… I was surprised.”

“You thought I was a New York City slut?”

“No!” Luke’s vehemence was startling, and Mitchell half-smiled in appreciation. “Nothing wrong with being slutty. I would have been if I weren’t in goddamn Nebraska.”

Would have been? Not would be now?

“You just gave great head and you kiss like… well, you kiss really well,” Luke let out a sheepish laugh, shaking his head as if to try to focus himself again.

Mitchell’s chest swelled with the praise and he smirked back. “I’ve thought about it a lot. I’ve had a lot of time to mentally practice.”

“Hugh says mental practice is almost as important as physical. Apparently if you practice in your sleep, through lucid dreaming, you can see similar gains—” Luke cut himself off while Mitchell started to laugh. He let his hands drop to Mitchell’s thigh as he laughed sheepishly. “Crap, sorry.”

“Fitness geek,” Mitchell nodded seriously. “Majorly.”

Luke laughed. “Point is,” he waved that off, his hand still on Mitchell’s thigh. It made Mitchell’s skin tingle with pleasure and anticipation. “We can try going on dates and stuff. It’ll be really hard for the next couple weeks with everything we both have going on, but if that’s what you’re after…”

“No,” Mitchell murmured, drawing a startled look from Luke. “I don’t care about going out and watching movies together and shit. We did all that before.”

Luke gave a
fair enough
shrug. They
had
been good buddies, after all.

“Just hanging out here with you is… more than enough,” Mitchell assured Luke. He didn’t ever want to distract him from his training, especially for such an important event. “I’m not waiting for sex until marriage.”

“Oh, thank God,” Luke laughed, and Mitchell joined in. “Not that there’s anything—”

“I know. Shut up and kiss me again,” Mitchell smirked, pressing his forefinger to Luke’s lips.

Luke looked so shocked at Mitchell’s cheekiness that Mitchell had to laugh. Then he darted his tongue out to lick Mitchell’s finger and turned his head, sucking the tip into his mouth.

“Nnh!” Mitchell felt a tingle through his groin and crawling up into his chest that he hadn’t expected. He’d never had someone try
that
before. Somehow, his dick started to twitch to life like Luke was sucking on it instead of his finger.

Was there a nerve running straight down to it or something?

When Luke kissed his inner wrist and his cock jolted in his pants, his stomach tightening with sudden arousal, Mitchell gasped.
Maybe there is. I had no idea.

“We should take this to one of our apartments,” Luke murmured, his voice low and suggestive.

Mitchell couldn’t agree more. He pulled his hand away from Luke’s mouth and grabbed the back of his neck to haul him in and down the couple inches that separated them for one more kiss first, though.

Luke kissed harder, pressing up between his legs as his tongue pressed into Mitchell’s mouth until Mitchell moaned his approval. Broad, callused palms ran down Mitchell’s back to cup his ass and squeeze, sending shivering ecstasy through every inch of him.

Then, Luke pulled back, offering Mitchell a hand up to his feet.

Mitchell ignored it and hopped to his own feet, sauntering ahead of Luke and out of the office with an extra swish to his hips to let Luke enjoy the view. Sure enough, when he glanced back, he spotted Luke’s eyes on his assets.

“You little tease,” Luke murmured, his voice low and rough. “That come naturally to you?”

“Apparently,” Mitchell smirked, locking the office before they walked together to the staircase door. Mitchell went first up the stairs, too, to let Luke see the view.

Luke wasn’t contented with just seeing it—he reached up to run a hand over Mitchell’s ass and up his back. When they reached the top of the stairs, Luke pulled him against him with a quick, sharp jerk, and Mitchell was happy to press into that solid body.

Luke unlocked his door and Mitchell pushed his way in while Luke shadowed him.

God, he was almost shaking with anticipation. He
needed
Luke worse than he could ever explain, his body aching to feel him inside and all around him. This time, he wanted more than just a mouth around his cock.

Luke steered him straight to the bed, pushing him down onto his back and straddling him instantly.

Mitchell suddenly imagined the sight of that intense face staring down at him in a cage, with every ounce of Luke’s fighting strength brought to bear on knocking him out.

God, that shouldn’t have been so hot.

As it was, Luke’s touches were gentle as he ran his hand down across Mitchell’s cheek, then his chest and stomach.

“Don’t you be a tease, too,” Mitchell murmured.

Luke grinned. “Aye aye, sir.” He unbuttoned Mitchell’s shirt in quick, precise movements, his eyes raking down across Mitchell’s torso with every button.

Mitchell blushed at his lack of definition or form compared to Luke. He was scrawny and he knew it. His muscles didn’t get a workout from unlocking front doors and pouring bottles of wine.

Well, he did have all right biceps from that latter. That was it, though.

“Hot,” Luke whispered through the darkness of the apartment. The parking lot lamp shone in through the window, the glow just strong enough to let Mitchell admire Luke’s body in return as Luke pulled his t-shirt off.

“Thanks,” Mitchell laughed quietly. “You’re… a lot stronger.”

“I like you slender,” Luke answered, grinning. “It’s cute. I can heft you around… pin you…” He ran his hand down across Mitchell’s stomach and over his cock, palming the bulge under denim.

Mitchell’s cock twitched, and not just from the touch. “Christ. Yes, please…”

“Mm.” Luke growled as he dug his fingers into Mitchell’s hair, pulling it lightly while he kept rubbing his cock.

Mitchell’s body prickled with intense heat, and he reached out to grab Luke and yank their bodies together. Luke yielded and let him do it. Then their hot, bare torsos were rubbing against one another’s, and Mitchell moaned. His body rippled with pulses of hot pleasure, his nipples particularly sparking.

“You’re so sensitive,” Luke whispered in an awed tone.

Maybe because I’ve never felt anything quite like this before…
Mitchell gasped as Luke’s fingers slid under his waistband to graze the top of his cock.

Luke yanked down both their jeans now, kissing Mitchell hard, and Mitchell melted into the mattress as he let Luke haul his pants off. He
ached
for Luke inside him.

They were naked, legs tangled and knees clacking and cocks—oh, fuck, their cocks were trapped together between their stomachs, firm length grinding against length.

Mitchell squirmed and moaned, grabbing Luke’s hips to haul him in closer and keep grinding their cocks together.