Bittersweet Agony

Chapter 9

"Goddamn!" Cole panted. "What the hell, woman?"

Cole and I laid side by side on the mats, worn tired from our half hour long training session in the ring. He won some, I won some, but I'd say it was a fairly even fight.

"I told you humans are better training partners than a punching bag." I said breathlessly.

"Humans make for pretty good anything partners most of the time. You just have to find the right one." He told me, and stood up to get out of the ring. "Want some water?" He asked, walking to a fridge in the corner by the bathrooms.

"Sure." I nodded.

He came back with two water bottles in hand, and gave me one, sitting back down on the mat next to me. I sat up and we drank our water in silence for a few minutes.

"Are you hungry?" He questioned suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Starving." I answered.

He crawled to the edge of the ring and reached through the ropes to get something out of his bag. He turned back around with a cellphone and dialed a number.

"Are you still there?" He spoke into it, once the receiving end picked up. "Don't leave. We're coming over." Cole commanded, and hung up.

He stood up and reached a hand out to me. "Come on, we're going to meet with everyone else and get some food." He told me, and I stood up.

I followed Cole out of the gym, and we drove to the restaurant.

*~*

"Have fun?" Ellis asked when Cole and I walked in to meet the others.

"It's always a blast with Ady." Cole said with a sarcastic grin.

"Fun isn't really the word I would use to describe it." I added a second later, rolling my eyes playfully.

"Not too much fun, I would hope." Ellis commented again, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively before bursting into laughter until Cole punched him lightly in the stomach.

Cole muttered something under his breath, but it was inaudible for the most part. Although I can't be sure, it sounded like "not yet".

It took 20 minutes just for the food to come out, and another 15 for Cole and I to finish eating. By that time it was nearly 12 and everyone was ready to go home.

We piled in the cars, and Cole took only me home, even though he had room for three more. It was silent for the most part, but it wasn't uncomfortable. I felt a sense of calm when I rode with him, though I couldn't tell exactly why.

"You're welcome to do as you please until dinner. I should warn you, though, that we're going out tomorrow night. Time to show us what you've got, Ady." Cole announces as we walked into the house.

"Okay." Was all I said back, and I went straight to the bathroom to shower, since I'd gotten sweaty from training, and never had the chance to clean up before.

After my shower, I sat on my bed for what felt like an hour, but couldn't have actually been more than 20 minutes. Finally I got up and decided to wander.

I went to the backyard, unnoticed by everyone else, and wandered through the small maze of garden that was back there. I stumbled upon a pool near the side of the house, and examined it for a minute. It'd be nice to go for a swim if it weren't so cold.

I drifted deeper through the garden, and found a small clearing, with a bench and a circle of pebbles surrounding it, looking out on the field in the back.

The house itself might not be extremely fantastic for such a successful gang, but the yard definitely was. The view was gorgeous, the pool was a nice addition, and the garden definitely took some work.