Falling Up

27. Warming Up

Later that evening, Riley, Noah and Jason stepped foot through the large wooden front doors of the training hall that Noah frequently visited, White Stag. And when she said frequently, she meant pretty much every single hour of free time Noah could muster, he was here.

"What are we doing here?" asked Riley, as the musty smell of the place assaulted her senses. "I thought I was grounded?"

"Doesn't count if you're with me," said Jason. "At least I can keep an eye on you."

"We're here because I have a fight scheduled with Tyrus," said Noah. "And lover boy over here wanted to cheer him on."

Jason punched Noah playfully in the arm, in which Noah faked a mock hurt look before grinning widely. They continued to walk through the open hall, which was larger than it looked from the outside. There was the usual gym equipment scattered across the room, which they passed as they headed to a large boxing ring at the back.

The boxing ring looked huge but only because of the tiered seating surrounding it, which was already attracting a large crowd. Even Noah looked confused at the setting when a man about Noah's height started waving furiously and pushing through the crowd to head over to them.

"Liam, what is this?" asked Noah as he pointed to the sizeable crowd trying to find a free seat around the boxing ring. "I thought this was just going to be a small fight? Just me, Tyrus, and the usual crowd."

Liam slapped Noah on the back, draping his arm around his broad shoulders as he pulled him in for a side hug. "Ah, Noah. I couldn't pass up this opportunity to advertise a little. Do you know how many people were curious to see my best two fighters step into the ring together? And of course, word spreads. It's good for business."

Riley stood there feeling kind of bad for Noah as he looked nervously at the large crowd in front of him and the many people still heading through the doors. But she was curious. She had never seen him fight anyone but Vincent before and back then, Noah used to be the one taking the beating. Actually, she had only ever stepped in here once before and as she trained her eyes back on Noah, she realised how different he looked to back then.

He was more confident and had a lot more muscle than he used to, but it wasn't bulky. He just looked in great shape, and she was certain there wasn't an ounce of fat on him anywhere. Definitely not the baby faced eighteen-year-old he was 2 years ago.

"And this must be little Riley," said Liam, taking a step towards her. "Only not so little," he said curiously, taking a glance back at Noah. "I thought you said you had a baby sister?"

"She is my baby sister," said Noah, smiling in her direction, to which she just wanted to face palm herself in embarrassment. "And you've met Jason before."

Jason reached forward, shaking Liam's hand. "Nice to see you again, Jason. I hear you've finally snagged up our hottest bachelor," said Liam, pointing to Tyrus, who was heading in their direction. Riley almost did a double take as he saw Jason's ears turn slightly pink at the sight of Tyrus.

Tyrus moved in swiftly, quickly taking his place next to Jason and wrapping his arm around his waist. Riley didn't think Jason's ears could get any pinker, but it was cute. It had been so long since Riley saw him do anything for himself, but she was happy for him and a smile came across her face.

That was until she saw who was following behind Tyrus. Kain was there, moving in next to Tyrus but she wasn't exactly sure why. Her heart beat faster in her chest as he stood there as casually as ever. Oh god, she thought as she hoped he wouldn't bring up the other night. Why was he even here? Was it a coincidence, or was he there simply to get on her nerves like he always did?