I shook my head; there was no point in getting my head in the gutter right now. The lady was gone for the time being. I had to get up out of bed and attempt to be productive for the day. As I rolled over, I realized just how sore I was after the fight. I would need a very hot bath that day, for sure. Now that Natalie was my girlfriend, I would try to get a massage out of her as well. Those were the sort of treats a guy was supposed to get from a girlfriend. But in the meantime, I would need to consider acupuncture, a
nd my brother was just the person to do it. He had studied up on it many years ago when we had first started fighting amateur fights. It had become invaluable to both of us.
There was a knock on my door, which would have been a first from Kyle, but maybe he was finally learning.
“Yeah?”
“Can I come in?”
“Yup.”
Kyle peeked his head in and looked around. “Did she slink out on you again?”
I laughed. “No, she just had a class to get to.”
“Your brother is here, man.”
“Perfect, just the guy I was looking for.” I slipped into some flannel pajama pants and headed to the living room. I hoped my brother had his acupuncture kit with him, as that would be a lifesaver. I had not spoken to him since the dinner disaster, so I could just imagine what the visit was all about. It would be nice if he had come to visit me for once without any ulterior motive. But chances were that he was there on my father’s behalf.
I walked out into the living room where he was sitting on the couch. Kyle was putting a pot of coffee on, which I thought was a brilliant idea.
“Hey, Jet, congrats on the fight last night. I'm sorry I couldn't have been there. I had to work.”
“No problem; Mom was there, but still no Dad.”
“Yeah, he's not going to let it go easily, Jet, you know that.”
“Well, one day he will realize that fighting is what I was meant to do, and nothing else. But by then he will have lost a son.”
Craig frowned at me. “Well, I hope it never comes to that.”
I shrugged. “I don’t suppose you have your kit here with you, ‘cause my body is pretty broken right now.”
“Yeah, I do, but it's in my truck. Let me run and get it.”
“Cool; I'll get you some coffee.”
Kyle pulled out a bunch of mugs and poured coffee into them. He took care of his own cup while I added cream in mine, and cream and sugar into Craig's mug.
I sat down at the kitchen table and considered my breakfast options. I was in so much pain that it was really hard to care about food at that point.
“Hey, I'm making sandwiches,” Kyle said. “Do you want me to just make a bunch?”
“That's cool, man, thanks. I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to eat.”
Kyle took a sip of coffee and stared at me. Confused, I stared back until a smile formed on his face.
“What the heck happened last night, Jet? I've really been trying to figure you out for a while now, and I just don't get it.”
I laughed. “That sounds pretty heavy, Kyle. What's to figure out?”
“You and Katie.”
“What about me and Katie? In fact, there is no me and Katie, so what's the issue?”
“That's just it. All night the two of you are hot and heavy on the dance floor, and the next thing I see is you making out with Natalie. Now, normally I'm all for threesomes, but I don't think that was what you were really going for.”
I just stared at him, growing annoyed.