Noah (5th Street series)

Chapter 1 - Part 2

Determined to convince Jack that he was ready to start training, Noah walked into the gym office with a purpose. As soon as he and Gio were in, the guys already there started laughing. Noah frowned. "What's so funny?"

None of them said anything. Abel smirked, walking out of the office. Hector could barely contain himself. Jack was the only one not laughing. He held a clipboard and handed it to him. "You wanna train, Quintanilla? Today's your lucky day. I got two out there that walked in with free one-week passes. You got a week to prove to me you can do this."

Noah could hardly believe it. For nearly a year now, he'd been trying to convince Jack he could do training like the trainers that Jack so meticulously handpicked. First, Jack said he'd give him a shot when he turned nineteen; then when he turned nineteen almost a year ago, it'd been one excuse after another. Jack had hired him years ago as a maintenance boy. The pay wasn't much, but he also got to work out at the gym and train with some of the other boxers for free. In exchange, he maintained the equipment, helped keep the place clean, threw the towels in the washing machine then dryer, and wiped down the exercise machines—no brainer stuff.

After watching other trainers for years, he knew he had it in him to train, and the pay was much better than his maintenance position. Since his shoulder injury had put his boxing on hold for at least another three months, going pro or even semi-pro, where he had the potential of actually making some money from his fighting, would be pushed out even longer. He needed this money now.

Noah threw his gym bag on the floor and glanced at the clipboard, still smiling. It was the standard workout sheet.

"They're total beginners." Jack said. "So you'll have your work cut out for you."

"Are they training to box?" Noah glanced at Hector, who held his fist against his mouth stifling a laugh. "What's with you?"

"Nothing." He nearly squeaked the word out before hurrying out of the office.

Gio walked out of the restroom. He'd gone straight to it as soon as they got there, so he'd missed everything. "Ready to work out?" he asked.

"Nah," Noah smirked, lifting the clipboard at him. "I'll be training today."

Gio's brows went up. "Really?"

"They're waiting," Jack said. "You should get out there."

Noah winked at Gio, who still looked surprised but smiled. If anyone knew how bad Noah wanted to move up to trainer, it was Gio. Not only did he know how bad he wanted it but how bad he needed the raise. Ever since he turned eighteen, he'd been paying his foster parents so he could continue to stay with them. They insisted he didn't have to pay them, but it didn't feel right.

Once he turned eighteen, the state stopped paying them to keep him there, and with four other foster kids and two of their own, he knew they needed the money. He'd even moved into their garage to make room for the new foster kid they picked up once they were no longer being compensated for him, but what he really wanted was to get his own place. That wasn't going to happen with his maintenance-boy pay.

The gym was busy as usual, and tonight he noticed two women there when he walked in. That was rare. Although it wasn't an all-male gym, it was known mainly as a boxing gym. Women came in once in a while, but most of the time it was with ulterior motives—they were there on the prowl. Most women, like most of the girls he went out with, preferred the fancier gym at the mall.

He glanced around as he stepped out of the office, searching for his would-be trainees. He saw a couple of unfamiliar guys punching a bag. Being there almost daily, he knew just about every one of the members, so he figured these two new faces were it. Leaning back into the office, he asked, "Is it the two guys by the punching bags?"