Puppet {ManxMan}

CHAPTER 19

People who didn't know me personally, meaning the majority of the rebellion, freaked out when I showed up at the gym, shrinking away from me into bigger groups before watching me in apprehension. I hardly gave those people the time of day as I stepped straight through the door and towards where Cass was sitting wrapping bandages around his hands. Dakota was sitting next to him, they were talking, and apparently it wasn't good because Cass looked pissed off.

"God damn that man!" Cass bit out, pulling a towel from around his neck and throwing it onto the ground before holding his hands out, "How blunter can you get without spelling it out?!"

Dakota snorted, "Whatever, you're just lucky I'm in on this now, considering I've got nothing better to do with my time."

"Hey man, I warned you it wouldn't get anywhere."

"Yea and now I understand why," he sighed, standing up and pointing at Cass, "But just so we're clear if the dumb shit doesn't make a move, I definitely will."

Cass looked uneasy at that, "I don't know how well that'll play out, kid."

"That's never stopped me before."

"I'm aware."

"Hey," I greeted them and Cass jumped in shock, relaxing when he realized it was me.

"Damn can you walk quieter, shit!"

"Sorry," I apologized, but I wasn't actually sorry, "I heard you needed a sparring partner."

"Uh, actually," Dakota waved a hand, "I was going to work with him."

"Wow, this is so new," Cass fanned his face, "Two men fighting over me, I'm so embarrassed."

Dakota scoffed, "Fighting over you? No thanks."

My eyebrow lifted at that, "Weren't you the one who said he looked like a Greek God?"

Cass gasped dramatically and pressed the back of his hand against his forehead, "Dakota this is so sudden!"

"Oh fuck both of you!" Dakota shrilled, cheeks red, turning to glare at me, "You did that on purpose! Fine, whatever, maybe I'll go do something better than hanging around you two pricks."

He started to stomp past me like the kid he was, and I gave him a pointed look, "Kailas is busy."

He paused to give me a curious expression before smirking, "Like that's stopped me before," he patted my shoulder as he stepped past, folding his arms behind his head, "Take care of this dumb shit, Cassius."

Cass stood up from where he'd been sitting and cracked his knuckles, stretching his arms up above his head, "Right. So have you sparred before?"

"Yes."

"Then you know the rules, no touching the face."

"I don't remember that rule."

"It's my rule man," Cass turned to me, playing with the bandages around his hands and wrists, looking kind of dull and empty, a little lost like something was missing and it made him nervous, "This is my first time training with someone besides Ian, we kind of had a system, so sparring with a new partner is going to be sloppy for me."

My interest peaked when he mentioned Ian, "How is he?"

Cass just stared down, frowning, "The same," he answered me.

"Has he talked about what happened?"

"Bits and pieces, but it seems like he's forgotten a lot of it," Cass sighed out, and my frown became heavier.