Fighting Silence (On the Ropes #1)(64)

Till tilted his head in confusion. “Why’d you retire when you had the title, then? You must have been making a ton of money as the six-time defending world champion. Why not stick with it until you lost?”

Slate shrugged. “I guess I was just done.”

Till barked a laugh, and Slate’s eyes turned serious.

“I remember when I won my first pro fight. It was pretty much exactly like things happened for you tonight. I was so pumped up as I walked out of that arena, but then, when I got home, I hit a low. I sat and stared at that envelope full of cash for hours. I was afraid to even touch it. I was convinced that it was all I’d get. For several months, I just let them stack up in a drawer. The promise of money is what drove me in the sport.

“The point is I’ve been where you are, so I know exactly how ridiculous this statement is going to sound. But I hope that, one day, you will understand that money is only as important as what it gives you. I’m not talking about sports cars or big houses. I’m talking about peace of mind. When I walked away from boxing, I turned down a rematch that would have earned me over sixty million.”

“Holy shit!” I heard myself cuss, and it was joined by similar sentiments from everyone in the room.

“For me, money lost its value the day I met Erica. It couldn’t buy me time with her. I had more than enough to live comfortably, and that was all I ever really wanted. So I quit. The incentive was no longer worth the sacrifice.”

We were all silent for several seconds before the room erupted in chaos.

“You turned down sixty million dollars for a girl!”

“You have got to be kidding!”

“No way! What is wrong with you?”

“Sixty million dollars or pesos?”

Slate just laughed.

“You should never tell that story again,” Till informed him, making Slate laugh even louder.

“Worst story ever!” Flint declared. “You know what lesson I learned from that story? Till needs to break up with Eliza—stat.”

“Hey!” I objected.

“Yeah. I agree.” Quarry jumped off the table and faced Till. “If you had sixty million, you could hire her to sleep with you.”

Till slapped a hand over his mouth, but his laugh was no less muffled.

My mouth gaped open before I shouted, “I am not a hooker!”

“Of course not!” Flint rubbed my shoulder soothingly before he added, “We’d still expect you to cook for us. Hookers don’t cook.” He winked.

“How the hell do you know what hookers do?” I bit back.

The whole room was rolling with laughter at this point, and I couldn’t help but join them.

Till made his way over and wrapped me in his arms. “Okay. Okay. Nobody’s getting rid of Eliza. I can make sixty million and keep her.” He continued to laugh even as he kissed the top of my head.

“Gee. Thanks.”

And that was the way we worked. We picked on each other relentlessly and laughed unabashedly. They fought. I refereed. It was perfect, really.

We were a family.





One year later . . .

“THE SILENCER IS IN THE house!” I heard called as I walked into the gym.

Quarry laughed as he took off toward the before-school program he had long since grown to love.

I had quickly become a small-time big deal around the gym.

With over seven fights under my belt, I was making my way up the ladder. The fights were getting larger, and I was loving it. By the end of the first year, I had banked over fifteen grand on top of what Slate paid me weekly. I’d dropped it all in a savings account and refused to touch it. I had never felt more stable and secure in my life. Just knowing it was there calmed the anxiety I hadn’t even known I was harboring.

Eliza was finishing up her last semester in college and had started looking for accounting positions. She said that she was excited about getting a real job, but I knew she was dreading spending her days poring over numbers instead of sketchpads. After a civil case with Derrick Bailey paid off her student loans, I refused to allow her to take out anymore. I was in it forever with Eliza, and the last thing I wanted was to start it out with a load of debt.

God, we fought about money, but not like most couples. It was never because we didn’t have enough or one was spending too much. It was always about who got to pay the bills. I was making decent money and hell-bent on taking care of her the way I had always dreamed about. And well, Eliza didn’t like feeling like a freeloader being taken care of. I loved those fights. Her nipples would get all hard as I yelled about how much I loved providing for her. Then she would stomp her foot and declare that she wanted to split the bills. Which caused my cock to get hard . . . which caused her eyes to heat as they drifted down to my pants . . . which caused me get so hot that I was forced to remove my shirt . . . which caused her to lick her lips . . . which caused me to rush forward and f*ck her on the closest horizontal surface I could find. Really, it was a vicious cycle.

“Page, get in here!” Slate yelled from his office.

“What’s up?” I asked, settling into the chair across from his desk.

“You and Quarry go to the doctor yesterday?”

“Yeah. I’m good. He’s not sure why it comes and goes sometimes. I tested at around seventy percent still.”