CAMERON

"Show him discipline," Gordon orders against Dante's wishes, and Serenity and Ollie charge at me.

Serenity is the first to reach, and before I can dodge her kick, it cracks through the air, finding its mark on my unsteady frame. I stumble, retreating to defense, but a brutal kick clashes with my calves, weakening my legs in one go. I fall, my head hitting the ground.

"Being a fighter demands respect," Gordon begins while circling the ring.

I see Ollie coming, but before I can get out of the way, he descends upon me like a relentless storm, his jabs hitting the side of my stomach. Gordon continues, "Being a fighter demands sobriety and an unyielding commitment to discipline. But look at you, pathetic, defenseless. A sad excuse for a man."

He doesn't get to talk like that about me. I might be grappling with the effects of booze, but he just doesn't get the right to talk to me like that.

Balling my body, I slip beneath Ollie and before he can turn over, I jump two boots in the air, landing on his back. He flies to the end of the ring, and when Serenity lunges at me, I crouch, taking her unexpectedly, landing swift jabs to her knees. She drops, giving me free access to jump the ropes toward Gordon. He will take his words back.

His expression remains unfazed, if anything, grave. He waits for me to reach him. His gaze dares me too.

"I will kill you. You will see who's the man."

"Oh really, boy?" He smirks.

I will rip that smirk off his face. I pounce at him, but there's this crushing feeling to the side of my stomach, hitting my rib, sending a sharp and searing pain through my whole body, landing me on the ground as though I was slammed by a truck.

Ollie didn't stop, he was coming.

Fast and protected, discarding the throb of the hit that set in my core, I get up and jump onto him, locking and squeezing my legs around him, weakening and numbing his lower body, his head hooked tightly in the nook of my arm with all my willpower. He falls to his knees.

Serenity halts in her tracks, looking terrified. Dante, Gordon, and some of the gym staffers and trainers who were equally stunned disappeared from my sight. I was back at the house last night, Amy barely dressed between Jake's legs in the hot tub, kissing him. At the foyer kissing him. In the backyard, cuddling. My dad hits Mom, the door closing from me while he drags her into their room. Screams, so much of it. Newspapers, news channels, everyone repeating my family name. "Tell me about your family, Cam?" Amy's mother asked at dinner. So many images of those people play before my eyes like I am trapped in a movie of their lives.

I channel all the animosity, the ache, and the anger to my elbow and crush it on Ollie's shoulder, one after the other.

"Cameron?" I hear those calls in my head, but they are distant. Nothing changes the image in my head of Amy with her betrayer. I feel pulls at my clinging; I add pressure, not letting go of Ollie nor stopping.

Perhaps it should be Jake. My fists are screaming, wanting to collide with his face.

"CAMERON?"

I snap back at the loudness of this specific call and I blink. There is no Amy or Jake there. There are only horrified faces, trying to detach me from Ollie.

"Holy shit." I loosen, and hands behind me rip me off of the man.

Ollie seems numb, his arm unmoving, and so are his legs. His body drops back into Serenity.

"Did you satisfy yourself?" Gordon fiercely asks in my face.

In all honesty, the more I hurt Ollie, the more I realized it wouldn't fix anything. So I didn't reply to Gordon; the lump in my throat wouldn't let me even if I wanted to, though. Something burns in the back of my eyes. I turn to leave and grab my key and tequila from the desk Gordon has left them, heading down the hall where no one is there.

I feel moisture rolling down my cheeks. I must have hurt myself somewhere. I wipe it, only to find it isn't blood. It is as clear as water.

No!

"Fuck."

Instantly, I use both hands to wipe my face and speed out of the door, fresh air hitting my face. It is like an embrace. A bit soothing for my clouded head.

"Cameron?" Someone calls, Dante if I should guess.

My chest feels heavy. I breathe and wipe my eyes again, making sure I am as presentable as I can be.

When I turn, my guess is half right. Dante is there, but so are Ollie, Serenity, and Gordon, who are standing ahead of them.

"What? If you've come to tell me I am fired, you don't have to. I quit," I tell him.

"Such a shame if you think I will let such talent slip between my fingers."

"You don't want me. Believe me. I am not a fighter. This is my true emotion, and I wear them all the time. They control me, they make me less than a man." They always have me messed up. I tried standing up for Mom, but they controlled me when she needed someone to help her. And I am repeating history; I couldn't protect Amy; instead, I steered her to pain.

"You are exactly who I need, Cameron Reynolds. Your anger, your pain, all the wrath you have against the world. I want you to give me that. That's the hurricane I have been looking for to start the storm."

"I hurt Ollie," I point out. He probably hates me.

"If you think you hurt me with that, you're a jerk. This is just the first round," Ollie replies.

"In all honesty, you are the first to ever kick his ass. He froze like a dead cockroach," Serenity slips out and turns her head from Ollie, scratching her neck.

"That's a lie. Do not believe her." He rushes defensively, and I chuckle at them.

"Another rule, no driving drunk," Gordon says.