The Ritual

The gym is large with everything you could possibly think of, plenty of each station for us all to work out at the same time comfortably. When you tell almost a hundred men they can’t fuck, you find a lot of them work out to take their minds off what they really want. Thankfully at this time, most of them are already in classes or still asleep.

Matt’s the only one in here at the moment. I spot him over in the corner, working out with the free weights. He smirks when his eyes meet mine in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors. “Pretty sure these weights are too heavy for you,” he jokes.

Walking over to him, I pick up a thirty-pound dumbbell off a bench next to him and swing, hitting him on the side of the head.

He stumbles over, dropping the weights he was holding. “Fuck …” he groans, his hand going to a gash that is now bleeding from the side of his head. I hope he’s seeing fucking stars right now.

Gunner’s eyes widen while Prickett drops his apple to the floor. Ignoring them both, I grab Matt’s hair and yank him over to the bench press. I throw him onto it facedown.

“Load it,” I order to Prickett and Gunner. Might as well put them to work if I’m going to give them a show.

Matt is still pretty dazed from the hit to his head, so he’s not fully understanding what’s going on just yet. Making his body sluggish and slow to get up. His head hangs off the end, and his arms dangle off the sides, touching the floor.

Prickett and Gunner put fifty pounds on each end and then lift it off the bar. Pressing it to his back, they pin him down but hold it steady on both sides, making Matt groan from the weight.

I crouch down in front of his face that hangs off the end of the bench. “I saw you talking to my girl yesterday.” It’s clear that Blake doesn’t remember our conversation before she passed out last night because she didn’t mention it this morning. And I’m not going to remind her of it, but I’m also not going to rat her out. Matt needs to think I saw it, not that she told me what he said and did. Because I know if I hadn’t forced her, she would have never told me. And I don’t like that.

Gunner and Prickett push their weight onto either end of the bar, shoving it further into his back, making him bare his teeth at his silence. He coughs, face turning red, but he’s fully aware of what’s happening right now. “She’s not yours.” Matt manages to get out through gritted teeth. “Doesn’t matter what you fucking do! She will be mine!”

I can’t argue that because it’s the truth. That doesn’t mean I fucking like it. “Here’s the thing, Matt. I don’t give a fuck about that. She’s mine right now. And I don’t fucking share. So as a reminder …” I stand and grip his sweaty hair. Yanking his head up, I bring my knee to his face, hearing a crack, and he cries out. His body jerks, and the guys have to grip the bar tighter to keep it in place.

Keeping my hand fisted in his hair, I crouch back down beside him this time and whisper into his ear. “That was for putting your fucking tongue on her face. Do it again, and I’ll cut the goddamn thing out.” I let go of him, and his bloody face falls to hang over the bench.

“Stay the fuck away from her, Matt. This will be your only warning. I already took her from you once, and I can do it again.” With that, the guys let go of their ends, and it slides off to the right of his back. The weight catches his body and shoves him to the floor with it.

I turn and walk toward the double doors to exit the gym when I hear him shout, “She does not belong to you! She will be my wife!” He’s screaming as the doors shut behind my exit. Taking the stairs down to the first floor, I head to my room to pack my bag for my trip home.

“What the fuck was that about?” Prickett charges into my room with Gunner behind him.

“Nothing,” I lie. I’m not in the mood to go through this with them. My entire body is vibrating right now because I’m so pissed at Matt. At Blakely. I know it’s not her fault, but the fact that I may have never found out doesn’t sit right with me. And I can’t even fucking tell her that because then she’ll know she told me last night. Fuck!

“What the fuck, Ryat? That was not nothing.” Gunner is the one who snaps.