Sammy

I woke up a little past 6:30am, or at least that was what my bedside alarm told me.

I had meant to sleep in because of how late Grayson and I worked till, but something else must have woken me up. As my eyes grew adjusted to the darkness, I tried to figure out what disturbed my sleep.

... Maybe I was losing it this morning, but the flat felt warmer than usual. Of course, there was still a hole in the roof, but this heat felt hotter. The A/C generally made it bearable when I kept it on blast.

Did I turn the A/C off? I thought to myself. I didn't remember doing something like that.

It must have gotten warmer during the nights because somewhere along the way, I even discarded my briefs. When I glanced down, all I could see was my now naked self. The comforter had protected the last of my modesty as it draped over the lower half.

There was a sudden noise that came from behind the partial wall.

I could hear Dante stirring on the bed... but it felt like I could hear it clear as day.

It was almost impossible to tell whether he was just shifting in bed or waking up... but moments later, there was the distinct noise of a flip phone being opened. My eyes drifted close again, as I listened.

He was quick to pull himself out of bed. Hopefully sleep from the previous night had given him some energy. I wasn't even sure when he had fallen asleep, because by the time I came upstairs, it was past midnight. The only time I had caught a glimpse of him was when he came back from Tidal Wave.

Dante started to move around. I could tell he was trying to be quiet when I heard a zipper slowly open from somewhere behind the wall. His steps were light, but this morning I could hear them perfectly. When he past by my bed, his footsteps came to a stop.

If you asked me what I was doing right now, I wouldn't really have an explanation for it.

I knew I had the time to pull the covers up, but I didn't.

Instead, I counted exactly how many seconds Dante stayed at the foot of my bed for.

When my internal voice reached nine Mississippi, that was when a lower abdomen muscle decided to randomly spasm. It must have done something because I heard Dante's feet shuffle to the stair case just moments later.

Fuck, I thought to myself. The moment had passed far too soon for my liking.

-

I made it downstairs right at nine. Dante was already down here getting to know the stations Grayson and I had come up with the previous night. It was the sound of Grayson's voice echoing through the front door, that made me grab my gym bag and head down quickly.

As far as I knew, Grayson hadn't seen Dante's injuries. I wanted to be there just in case Grayson's wrath got the best of him.

"You've got to be kidding me." He spoke almost immediately. "So both of you guys got seriously hurt?"

Dante looked deeply apologetic as he shuffled his weight nervously between his feet.

"It was a wrong place at the wrong time kind of situation. I'm good to handle novices today anyways, and you can stay with the veterans." I stepped in almost immediately. Seeing Dante this sad made me pissed. All this was my fault anyways.

"No!" Dante rushed out quickly. "I-I mean, I can help train today. The arm looks much worst than it is, I promise."

Grayson and I glanced down at the bandage Dante had wrapped around the wound.

"If I think you're pushing it, you're out for the day no complaints." I told him seriously. This was the first time Dante had looked me in my eyes all morning. When he did, he gave me a serious nod.

Grayson and I let him get back to reviewing the work, while we made our way to the locker bay.

"Does it... does it feel like it's getting hot in here or something? I've only been here ten minutes and I've broken a sweat." Grayson asked, as he unlocked the boxing gloves from one of our cabinets.

I gave him a nod. "It's like that upstairs too. The thermometer says the A/C is on but I can't feel anything."

"I don't hear the A/C either. It's dead silent in here." Grayson added.

Well that explained why this morning had felt so off. Usually the air vents made this hum that could be heard damn near through every part of the building. Today it was so silent, we could probably hear a pin drop.

"I'm not sure how training is going to go, man. I heard today's forecast is supposed to be brutal." Grayson continued. "These men are really going to hate your ass."

I let out a deep sigh, as my fingers reached for the bridge of my nose.

Shit.

-

Training was a fucking train wreck.

As soon as the first boxer walked through the gym, all I heard was "it's hot as balls in here."

Then, that's all I heard for the next ten minutes as fighters came in. Grayson did his best to explain that the A/C was out and we were just going to have to tough it out for the day. Though most of them sucked it up and got ready, there were a few (specifically novices) I had to personally tell to shut the fuck up.

Dante stayed with the novices while Grayson took on the veteran rotations. I jumped in to assist both groups when they needed it.

"You know," Grayson started as he came to join me on one of the side benches. "When you said you were going to help both groups, I really thought you were going to come help both groups. Please explain to me why you've been on the novices side for the past two hours."

I glanced over at Grayson.

"I-" I started, then stopped myself short. "I just want to make sure they're not giving Dante hell. He's also injured you know."

God alone must have saved me from that one... cause Grayson had just interrupted me from staring at Dante... which is exactly what I have been doing for the last two hours.

"Well it looks like Dante's doing fine from where I'm standing... which, let me remind you, is right next to you." Grayson replied.

"I mean, I also want to make sure the novices-"

"It practically takes a sacrifice to get you to train the novices. There's no way you'd choose to sit in voluntarily." Grayson cut me off. I gave him a sigh of defeat, and allowed for him to drag me back to the veterans side.

My eyes caught sight of Dante from across the gym again. There was sweat literally pouring down his and all the novices faces. As I panned over to the veterans, they weren't doing any better during this heat. Some of the guys had even dared to take their shirts off.

When my eyes found Dante again for what I promised myself would be the last time, he did something I didn't expect. Something I couldn't pull my eyes away from regardless of how badly I knew I should have.

His fingers attached themselves to the hem of his shirt, and he yanked the soaked material clean off.

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