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Chapter 0345
Chapter 0345
The bell rings again suddenly, making me jump, but Luca and the Atalaxian drop their fists mid-fight and turn away from each other, each heading immediately to their respective corners. I know enough about the basics of boxing to know that this is the end of the round, but well, I don't know precisely what that means.
"What's happening?" I murmur, turning my face up towards my brother, my hands tense on the wall of the box.
"Tiny break," Rafe says with a sigh, looking down at me. He frowns for a second, looking around, and then spots my glass of white wine on the edge of the box. He picks it up and pushes it towards me. "Here, Ariel - have some of this. You're freaking out."
"Of course I'm freaking out," I growl, ignoring the glass of wine at first. But when he raises his eyebrow at me I scowl and snatch it out of his hand, taking a long swig of it.
"He's doing good, Ari," Daphne says, biting her lip and looking down at the ring. "At least... I think he is?"
"No, your instincts are right, Daph," Jesse says, stepping closer to me. Ben comes close on Rafe's other side, clearly wanting to hear what Jesse says.
Jesse points down towards the ring at table, where three men and one woman sit, consulting seriously. "Those are the judges," he murmurs. "They decide who wins each round."
"So it's that simple?" Daphne asks, looking between all the boys. "Just...whoever wins the most rounds wins the whole thing?"
"Theoretically, yes," Ben murmurs with a shrug, peering down at Luca. I follow his gaze, staring down at my mate, a little bolstered to see that Luca looks absolutely fine. He's sitting on a little stool in his corner, and his uncle is leaning in to whisper in his ear, rubbing his shoulders as he does.
"Well, what about in actuality?" Daphne asks, anxious.
"Knockout," Rafe says softly in her ear, and I suspect that he's whispering so I won't hear it, "trumps all scores."
"Oh," Daphne says, giving me an anxious little glance that makes me groan and drain my glass of wine.
"Ooookay," Jesse says, giving me a hearty pat on the back that makes me stumble forward a few step. "We have about thirty seconds for tequila - let's do this!"
"What!?" I gasp, spinning and watching him basically sprint from the bar.
"He's not wrong, Ari," Rafe says with a sigh. I spin to stare at him, slack-jawed. He just gives me a sad little smile with a shrug. "You need to calm down. We all need to calm down, and get a little looser, and cheer for our friend. Us sitting up here tense and frowning isn't going to do anything to help him."
"Yeah, well, neither is us just being bombed," I murmur as Jesse comes back almost too quickly with a tray of shots, each with a little lime perched on the edge.
"Ohhh, clever boy," Cora says, budging in between us to take two shots off the edge of the tray. "I knew you were my favorite." She gives him a little wink and me a sad, anxious smile as she moves back to her place on Ben's other side, handing her second shot to my mom.Content is property of NôvelDrama.Org.
Roger scoffs in protest as mom and Cora clink their glasses together and throw back the tequila. "Darling wife! Where is mine!?"
"Probably back at the bar," Cora says, flinching at the harsh bite of the liquor and grinning up at him. "Go get it!" Roger moans but does as he's told, slumping off towards the bar as Jesse hands out the rest of the shots.
Despite myself, I find myself laughing at my family and friends all raise their glasses, toasting to my mate. And as I throw back my own shot, and close my eyes a moment as it slips down my throat, I realize that Jesse and Rafe are right - that I need to relax, for Luca's sake.
When I turn back to the edge of the box, I'm a little surprised to see Luca's face turned up towards me, a little question in his eyes. But I just wink, and raise my empty shot glass in his direction, and Luca bursts into a grin.
Because if I were really worried about him, I wouldn't be partying, would I?
Or, at least, Jesse knew that's how it would look. Luca nods once to me and sets his shoulders, getting to his feet as the ref walks again to the center of the ring.
"Thank you," I murmur to Jesse as he comes back to my side, and I lean my body weight against him. "You're clever and you're thoughtful, and I see that, even if you try to hide it."