A few rounds later, both men were sweating and Rory was doing his best to ignore the dull ache that had again taken up residence in his leg. Rory called time, and both men headed to the water station to rehydrate, with Ace following close behind. Legends wasn’t as full as it usually was, probably because it was a Friday afternoon and most people were either working or making plans for tonight.

“My first big fight—remember it?” Rory said after downing half a bottle of water.

Kane nodded, doing the same. “Jameson, in ’08, yeah.”

“I got my ass handed to me, remember that?” Kane smirked and nodded again, the tension in his body visibly easing up.

“Losing happens—it’s not something to be afraid of. You just have to go into each fight trying your hardest and wishing for the best,” Rory told him. “You can’t change the outcome, only how you feel about it.”

Kane let a moment of silence pass between them, fidgeting with the cap on his water bottle as he thought about what his brother had said.

“You going to keep training me?” Rory felt a pang in his heart at the tone in his brother’s voice. It wasn’t the tone of a twenty-five-year-old man. It was the tone of a little boy, a younger brother asking his older brother to be there with him through a new experience.

“Just try to keep me away,” Rory told him, happy to see his brother’s face light up at the response.

“All right, I guess I’ll take your sorry ass back.” Kane reverted to his smart-ass self and Rory rolled his eyes at him. “But you need to clean up your shit. No more drinking or pills. And you better go apologize to Clare. I liked her. We all did. You’re an idiot.” This earned Kane a punch in the shoulder from Rory.

Kane rubbed his shoulder where it stung from the fresh hit. “Ow, I need this arm tonight, fucker.”

“Shoulda thought of that before you ran your mouth,” Rory teased as he moved back toward the front desk area in search of his parents. He had joked with Kane, but in truth, he definitely agreed with him. He had acted like an idiot. Ace followed him, eagerly wagging his tail.

Casey was leafing through a magazine at the counter when he approached. Smiling, she accepted the hug he offered.

“Glad to see you took my advice.” She nodded in Kane’s direction.

“I’ve always said you’re the smartest Kavanagh.” Rory kissed her forehead before letting go of her and ruffling her hair. Ace settled himself next to where she sat, keeping out of the way of everyone.

“She definitely is,” Seamus echoed the sentiment, walking out of the office behind them with Dee.

“Dad, Mom.” Rory greeted them and hugged his mother.

“Are you coming to Kane’s fight tonight, honey?” Dee asked him, all smiles when he nodded that he was.

“Good. You thought about what we discussed?” Seamus was not one to let things be forgotten.

“Yeah, and you’re right. I’m turning over a new leaf.” Rory felt uncomfortable admitting his bad behavior.

“Is Clare on your new leaf?” Dee smile was so wide it reached almost from ear to ear.

“How do you know about Clare?” He looked at her in surprise.

“Rory, honey, I’m your mother. That’s a dumb question.”

Everyone bellowed at her snappy retort, including Rory.

Disputes were easily solved in the Kavanagh family; the love was too deep to let anything get in the way. At his core, Rory knew that while he might make mistakes and piss his family off, they would always be his number-one champions and supporters.

Parting ways, everyone went to get ready for the fight. Seamus wanted Rory to help Kane practice a bit more, and Dee was going to make dinner for them to enjoy before the fight. Casey wanted to change and try to convince Clare to come out and join them. Rory secretly hoped Casey would succeed. He had given Clare some time to let things cool down; now he wanted to talk to her and apologize.

Tonight might be the perfect arena, and he really didn’t think he could wait one more day to see her.

—

“Are you sure they want me here? It sounds like a family thing,” Clare protested, nervously biting at her nail as Casey ushered her into the convention center where the qualifying fights were taking place.

“Don’t be ridiculous; we’re a very accepting family. Unless you hurt one of us—then you should probably run and hide,” Casey ribbed.

“I did just kind of dump Rory, or something like that—does that count?”

“Not when he’s being a royal douche.”

Clare sighed as they wound their way through the seats to the front. The qualifying fights were in a smaller section of the convention center, with a single large cage built in the middle. Most of the seats were already filled, and Clare could see several fighters scattered throughout the crowd, surrounded by trainers and groupies. She had yet to spot Rory, though, which made her stomach flutter in apprehension.

“Where’s your brother?” she asked Casey, speaking loud enough to be heard over the swarm of people.

“Over there.” Casey indicated the opposite side of the cage, where Clare immediately spotted the huddle of Kavanagh men. Even in a setting like this, in a room filled with testosterone-overdosed fighters, the Kavanagh clan still stuck out with their hulking presence and uniquely good looks.

“Kane!” Casey called as they made their way over to the group.

Clare followed reluctantly. She ducked behind Casey, using her as a shield, hoping that the longer she avoided eye contact with Rory, the longer she could pretend that things weren’t super awkward right now.

“Hey, girls,” Quinn greeted them first. Clare always thought he seemed like the odd man out among his more muscular brothers, with his jet-black hair and tattooed skin, but he had the same friendliness and hospitality that she had come to know in all of them.

Jimmy was next to Quinn. He smiled at the two women, wrapping an arm around Casey’s shoulders, pulling her into the family mix. Seamus was farther away from Clare, but he gave her a friendly wink as he continued talking strategy with Kane and Rory.

“Finally! Some girls to join me in this male sweat factory.” Dee moved past her sons to wrap an arm around each girl’s waist affectionately.

“Hi, Mrs. Kavanagh.”

Clare saw Rory realize she was there, his head snapping around to look at her. Clare felt her breath catch in her throat as his intense silver glare tore through her, a mixture of fear and excitement in the way he raked his eyes over her. She had to admit that she was feeling the latter, as she took in the tight blue muscle shirt hugging his torso and his low-hanging dark jeans.

“Clare, can I speak to you in private?” he asked immediately. She could tell that waiting to talk to her had been very difficult for him, but she appreciated the time he’d given her.

“No time for that right now—Kane’s up first.” Seamus clapped a hand on Rory’s shoulder and tried to refocus him on the task at hand.

Clare had spent the last day thinking about everything, but still had come up with no answers. She had no idea what to do or where she was going to go with her life, how to handle her ex-boyfriend’s threatened appearance, or what issues Rory might have that she couldn’t handle. The time apart had let her mull this over, but even more than that, it had made her realize how much she missed him.

“Later,” she told Rory, glancing at Kane, who was standing nervously next to him. Kane looked a bit pale to Clare—he was normally very tan, which she suspected was mostly artificial. He was already sweating, even though he wasn’t wearing a shirt; his shorts were the only thing covering him.

“Remember what I told you, bro. You can do this—everyone gets nervous, but you’ve got the technique, and you sure as hell have the power behind it. Don’t forget that, okay?” Although Rory spoke quietly, one hand on Kane’s shoulder and his head bowed toward him, Clare could hear what he was saying. She smiled as she listened to the brotherly pep talk. Kane nodded vigorously, swallowing his nerves and getting pumped up.