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Chapter 65 - I don't need to be babysat

"Sorry I'm so late." Aaron let out an exhausted sigh as he headed into the kitchen where Sophie had dinner on hold for them all "I completely lost track of time."

"It's okay." Sophie provided him with a warm smile the moment she noticed the stress on his face.

Waiting for him to say his quick 'hello' to Juliet who was sat up the table on her phone, she then wrapped her arms tightly around his chest. Sophie didn't even need to ask what was going on, she knew this was what he needed after what had clearly been a tough day at training.

Running his hands around her back, Aaron allowed his body to relax into the embrace for a moment before dropping his head slightly so his lips met her ear.

"I need to talk to you."

Sophie suddenly felt a wash of anxiety fill her body at the tone to his voice. Everything about the way Aaron was acting right now wasn't comforting in the slightest and that was the last thing any of them needed.

"Is everything okay?" Sophie looked up at him with a frown across her face.

She watched as Aaron's eyes darted over to Juliet, hoping she hadn't heard him but that had failed. Her attention had been removed from her phone and instead was focused on him and her sister to try and grasp what was happening.

"Yeah, just come with me for a minute." Aaron urged as he took hold of Sophie's hand and began guiding her into the living room.

He even made a point to shut the door behind them showing clear evidence that he really didn't want Juliet involved in this conversation. While Aaron was obviously doing that for her own good, Sophie knew her sister and was preparing for the million questions she would get from Juliet in return.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sophie stood in the centre of living room with her arms crossed at her chest.

Everything about her posture expressed the nerves and discomfort of what was happening here. She didn't think she could possibly handle one more piece of bad news.

"Reck got me a fight." Aaron began simply and for a moment Sophie was convinced that he wasn't going to say anything else.

"It's with that guy Warren from the party."

"Seriously?" Sophie muttered, already feeling the dread yet hadn't realised that wasn't quite all he had to say.

"It's in a week which is fuck all time to prepare. Reck had been trying to get hold of me but I've been ignoring his calls since we found out about your brother." Aaron continued to explain and Sophie could hear the strain in his voice. "It's my own fault for not picking up but it now means I'm going to be in intense training if I want a chance of winning this."

Aaron had always known that a fight with Warren would be a big deal. He was from the gym that were their biggest competitors and it had been that way for generations. Aaron would have huge expectations to live up to and that was a lot of pressure; even more so considering he only had a week to train.

"Can't Reck cancel it? A week isn't a lot of time!" Sophie stressed, feeling the worry consume her.

She suddenly felt like this could be the start of a downward spiral, similar to one her own brother had suffered from. Aaron didn't need this amount of pressure resting on his shoulders however, Sophie knew he wouldn't turn it down either.

"No babe, that would make me look like a fucking idiot."

"Who cares if you look like an idiot?! You can't fight if you're not ready!"

"I'll be ready. I'm just going to be training a lot more from tomorrow so I wanted you to be prepared." Aaron trailed off as he reached out for Sophie's hands and tried to urge her into him.