The Fight In You [18+]

22 - The Past, Present and Future

"So how has everything been?"

My gaze slid over to my friend, her waist length cocoa-colored hair gleaming from where the afternoon sun was pouring in the front windows. Ally had shown up with her new baby, Tiana in tow and we had been catching up for the last hour. It had been a few months since the funeral and almost that long since we had had a chance to talk. Trent's little mini-me had been born the week before Dad passed and we had both been busy ever since. 

I reached out to touch the soft blonde curls on her daughter's head as she lay snuggled up in the baby sling Ally wore. "It's been okay. Some days are harder than others. But I've kept busy with all the renovations over here in the new addition and all the other parts of the business that Colt let's me handle."

Ally grinned mischievously and nodded to where Colt was training on the other side of the glass partition. "And Colt? Is he… handling your business?" she inquired with wagging, yet perfectly sculpted eyebrows.

"Don't start," I groaned, sparing a glance at my business partner with a certain longing that just refused to be tamed. He was a shirtless, tanned beast when he was training and it was nearly impossible not to stare. "Things with Colt are...tense."

"Intense?"

"No," I sighed. "Well maybe. We talk, we get along fine, we eat at least one meal together everyday but…"

"But?" Ally prodded as she fell into a swinging motion that kept her infant pacified for the moment. 

"But...he's not really handling anything with me. Not in the bedroom or otherwise. I'm not sure if it's me or him, but one of us is holding back." I paused to thumb through a stack of paint samples before returning my gaze to my oldest friend. "I just think I screwed everything up when I left the wake with Beau. Colt, understandably, wasn't happy about it. And I think that even more than finding me half naked in Beau's condo, Colt is upset because I turned to someone else besides him when everything fell apart. He can't seem to get past that part no matter how much we talk about it."

"Maybe it's because he's gotta look at Beau's smug face every time he sets foot in this gym," Ally suggested with another subtle nod to the other side where Colt and Beau stood toe-to-toe.

"Oh God," I groaned. "I should probably go see what that's all about."

"You already know," she chuckled as she gathered up Tiana's diaper bag and hooked it over her arm. "It's probably one of them challenging the other to a fight in your honor."

"Stop teasing me," I whined playfully. "You know I hate this."

"Oh yeah, I bet you do. I'd hate it too. Two sweaty hunks with their rippling abs just vying for your attention as they tear each other limb from limb."

"It's not like that," I scoffed. "Colt...he doesn't want me like that. Not anymore. I mean, let's face it, I had my shot with him and I blew it. Now he just looks at me like a friend."