The Marx Brothers

Chapter Twenty Six 'Training'

"What's it been like sleeping in the same room with Phoenix the last two nights?" Nova asked me as he stuffed his mouth full of Doritos, crunching loudly

I wanted to tell him that it was becoming more and more difficult, but that would only encourage his questions, and I wasn't sure I had answers to give him

"Fine" I shrugged "He snores pretty loud though"

Nova wasn't buying it for a second

"You haven't been tempted to crawl into bed with him at all you mean to tell me?" He continued

"I sleep in the bed, he sleeps on the couch.."

"Oh my, what a gentleman.." He acted shocked, my eyes keeping forward

Phoenix was standing by the lockers, fumbling around with something inside. Jett was close by on the phone, organising back up for the fight, ensuring that it wouldn't get out of hand at any stage

"You don't have to deny it you know, not around me anyways, you and I both know how you feel about each other, Jett knows it too, everybody god damn knows it and acknowledges it except you two"

"Donovan.." I glared towards him, my fingers paused on the bandage I held "Now isn't the time, okay?"

He smiled, unbothered by my stern glare "How many times have you made out with him so far?"

Once, twice... three times, I counted in my head, did dreams count?

"I'm ignoring you now.." I told him, returning my eyes to the bandages I was unrolling, readying

Seconds later before Nova could continue, Jett hung up the phone "All sorted"

"We're good to go then?" Phoenix asked

Jett nodded "Yes, we have a ref sorted, so it shouldn't end in any other way than a normal fight would end"

It was a relief, but I still feared for Phoenix

"Let's get started then, we don't have much time.." Phoenix sighed, pulling his shirt off, craning his neck from side to side, stretching

Nova pulled his chair closer towards mine, nudging me with his elbow, he then loudly wolf whistled with a wink

Jett copied his brother's action, removing his own shirt, tossing it into his locker. Like before, I forced my eyes away, doing my very best to keep from staring at either one of the men, especially Phoenix after what had happened previously, especially with Nova staring at me under a microscope

"Thanks" Jett smiled towards me, taking the bandage I had prepared for his hands

"Did you need help with that?" I asked him, remembering that Phoenix couldn't wrap his own

"No thanks, I got it" Jett nodded, beginning to twine the white cloth around his knuckles and fingers, quick, easy, as though he had never stopped doing it in all the years.

Next Phoenix approached me, and then there was a slight pause. I knew he couldn't shield his own knuckles

"Do you mind?" Phoenix asked, holding his right hand out to me first

Nervously I nodded, my hands moving to wrap the bandage over his bruised and battered skin

Nova had joined Jett in the middle of the gym, the two talking about particular moves they would need to work on over the next few days. This was a relief, because if I could sense the tension, I could only have imagined what Nova could have sensed beside us

"Is this really a good idea?" I asked

"Only one way to find out.."

I scrambled my brain looking for something else to say, but before I could my phone began to ring beside my leg, the screen flashing. I glanced down and became instantly uncomfortable when both myself and Phoenix realised who was calling