One Choice (Hogan Brothers 2)

Thrust from his thoughts as his phone rang, he suffered a quick moment of regret. “Yeah?” he demanded, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Yo! Knuckles, my man, how you been?” Cringing as he heard his announcer/agent, Casper, on the other end of the line. The man was an overbearing ass. He liked to push Levi more than was wise.

“What?” he snapped.

“Someone needs to get laid.” It was a joke to him, not to Levi. “Look, man, I just want to be sure you’re ready for the fight on Saturday. You’re training, right? You need at least six hours a day.”

He heard the same fucking spiel every day, and frankly, he was getting sick of it. “Casp?” Levi grunted.

“Yo?” One day he was gonna knock the other man’s happy voice down his throat.

“Back off. I got this. You ain’t gonna lose no fucking money on me.” He was cocksure. Confidence in himself was what had gotten him this far, so he wasn’t wavering any time soon.

“Sure, sure, man. I know.” Jackass didn’t sound confident.

“You bet against me, bro?”

“Hell no! This guy, though, he’s huge.

Just want you prepared.”

“I’m ready, Casp. You better have cash in hand when I walk out.” Hanging up, Levi got his head in the game. Forgetting about the spitfire he’d run down, he continued on with his daily training.

The run back to his house was refreshing. He pushed harder than he normally would. His opponent this weekend was nothing to take lightly. If Levi wasn’t prepared, the other man could and would kill him.

Since he started fighting in the underground ring, he’d lost a piece of himself. Something he didn’t even realize he had. Looking at strangers as opponents rather than ordinary people wasn’t how he had pictured himself. Yet that’s just what he did. He sized up every man he saw, wondering how many hits to the temple it would take to knock them out. Would they make him enough money in a night to be worth it?

With that part he lost of himself, he also found something new. An inner strength he never even knew he had. When Casper found him after a drunken bar fight, the man said he knew, immediately, that Levi was meant for the octagon. That he could be a prized fighter. At the time, Levi had laughed in his face, not listening or caring about what anyone thought of him. Now, he wanted to be the best so he could beat the best.

He had no need for the money or the fame. Instead, setting out to prove to himself that he could be something outside of what his big brother was. Nox was a great sibling and a great man. Someone he’d looked up to his entire life. But he was also the person that everyone thought it okay to measure Levi up to. Ever since he could remember, almost everyone they’d met compared him and his brothers. No one knew why; that’s just the way it was. His parents never treated any one of them differently than the other. There was no favoritism. They each got the same chances in life thanks to his mother’s love and their father’s encouragement.

Fighting gave Levi the opportunity to be his own man. Find his own way in life. So far, he was doing pretty fucking good. Any earnings he got from the fights he donated to various charities across the state. Usually to whoever was in need the most at the time. He remained anonymous because even though he felt no shame at what he was doing, he knew his mother would be terrified that he’d get hurt, and his brothers would be pissed he’d never told them. So, for now, it would have to remain his dirty little secret, and he was okay with that.

Seeing Loch’s car as he ran up the driveway, he was shocked. It was barely six a.m., and his brother was never up that early let alone out driving around. As his brother stepped from his ‘60 Mustang Cobra, a car he and Nox had helped him restore when he was seventeen, Levi saw the worry on his face.

“Yo, man, what’s up?” His question was casual.

Loch looked anywhere but at him, scratching his head. He finally said, “I’ve got a problem.”

He still wouldn’t look directly at Levi. “Talk me, bro,” Levi encouraged, hoping he would. Loch wasn’t usually quiet. He was always the outgoing one of the three when they were together.

“Can we go inside?” he asked looking around.

Nodding his head, Levi headed to the front door, turning to glance behind him to make sure the man was following. Unlocking the door, they stepped inside, and Levi went straight for the kitchen, opening the fridge and chugging down a bottle of water as he waited for his brother to speak.

“C’mon, Lochlan, what’s going on?” He finally got tired of the silence.

Taking a deep breath, Loch finally began. “There’s this girl, she’s…everything.”

Interesting.

“She’s from the Mormon congregation a county over.” Hence the man’s nervous energy. Levi understood now.

“What…How…Uh…I got nothing, man.” He had no idea how to proceed with that bombshell.

“Exactly my problem, man.” Lochlan was quiet for a moment before continuing on. “She has this look in her eyes. Not quite fear…more like heartache. Like she wants something for herself only she has no idea how to get it or what to do about it.”

“Have you spoken to her?”