Page 4 of For Your Consideration

Ithrew a right hook, rolled, and then landed two hard jabs into the bag, the middle buckling under the force. I pivoted then swung another series of punches.

The loud music was vibrating through me as I took a break to do some burpees before I went back to the bag and threw another round of combinations.

Taking a step back, I blinked away the sweat in my eyes, unstrapped my gloves, shoving them under my arm so I could drink some water, and looked around the empty space. It was early in the morning and classes didn’t start until six thirty so I had the place to myself.

I’d bought the space and opened my MMA gym, Clinch, when we moved here. I had an almost identical gym back in London. There was a sparring area, a ring, a weight section, and the heavy bags too. It was one of my favorite places to be.

I’d been an angry kid and was no stranger to throwing punches.

When I was fifteen, I was getting into a lot of fights at school, pulling my best mates, Noah and Knight, into them with me. Finally, Noah’s father, Henry, had brought me to a gym with a heavy bag and told me to get it all out. I’d been addicted ever since. It hadn’t stopped me from getting into fights—I just got better at ending them. It’s also what helped me put muscle on my frame.

Now at six-four and over two hundred pounds, no one messed with me.

Just as I strapped my gloves back on, the music cut out. “Are you trying to go deaf by the time you’re sixty?” Jaxson muttered as he wandered into the gym. I didn’t bother replying; he wasn’t really looking for an answer anyway. He was the one who liked boxing as much as I did so the two of us usually ended up here together.

“You feeling lazy this morning?”

“Fuck off.” He shook his head with a yawn as he started stretching. “Not all of us can operate on like zero sleep.”

I slept. But I usually averaged five hours a night. I just wasn’t a deep sleeper and once I was awake, I didn’t waste time.

I kept going, increasing my intensity to burn my arms out. The sound of my leather gloves slamming against the bag was soothing. This was what I assumed people thought of soft music or white noise. I focused back on my movements, tuning out Jaxson and his jump rope as I finished off my round. My timer went off a moment after I stepped back, panting. I’d hit my hour and a half.

Without a timer I would have kept going, but I needed to shower and change before heading to the office. I had a meeting at nine with one of the companies we’d invested in that was turning a good profit and we needed to start discussing next steps on how to grow.

“See you at the office,” Jaxson called out as I gathered up my shit and shoved it in my bag. I raised my hand in goodbye before heading out for a day full of people and annoyances.

It took all my patience and tiring myself out like this every morning to put up with the world.

I downed the scotch in my hand before signaling for the bartender to fill me up.

Since we’d opened our club, Pulse, business had only gotten better and we were now one of the hottest spots in town. There were lineups down the street every weekend. Which was good because I liked making money, but it also fucking sucked because I hated crowds. Plus, at thirty-six, I felt like I was getting too old to be here.

We were also breaking ground on our exclusive clubhouse. Membership inquiries started coming our way the moment word got out about what we’d purchased the land for. We were overwhelmed with emails about it already.

“Hey, Ash.” Quinn walked over and leaned against the bar beside me in the VIP area overlooking the rest of the club.

I couldn’t remember the last time any of us had been downstairs other than to walk through the place. Well, everyone except for Noah—he still went down to find someone to take home when he was feeling lonely. Quinn preferred it up here which was when the change started and honestly, I preferred it up here too. No one bothered me, it was a little quieter, and I didn’t have to push away unwanted attention.

“Q.” I tilted my chin down at her. Thankfully she was used to my quiet, noncommunicative ways. I only talked when I thought it was necessary, or when I had no other choice.

Theo Knight and I had been friends for a long time, and Quinn had fit seamlessly into my life—into all of our lives. I wasn’t used to letting people in, but this girl grew on me, fast. She was a bright light that kept Knight grounded.

I knew that she didn’t like clubs that much and yet she was here every Friday night with the rest of us because she knew this was just what we did. If Knight wasn’t careful, Quinn would take his spot as my best friend.

“Are you going to ask me what I did yesterday?”

I turned and leaned against the countertop so I could mimic her stance. I crossed my arms over my chest as we had a short stare-down. As much of a rambler as she was, which I liked since it meant she didn’t need me to contribute, she could also wait me out. It just depended on her mood. And since she had a mischievous look in her eyes, I likely wouldn’t get away with my preferred form of communication: a grunt or an eyebrow raise.

“Go on.”

That earned me an eye roll but it came with a small smile so I knew she wasn’t that annoyed. “I hired my new assistant.”

I held her gaze for a moment, nodded, then looked back out at the club, knowing who she was talking about and what she was trying to get out of me. “Good.”

“Good? You aren’t going to tell me why you asked me to hire her?”

“You needed an assistant.”