The Storm

by R. J. Prescott

  “What the feck did I say about feckin’ shenanigans going on in my gym?” Danny shouted, making us jump guiltily apart.

  “Ah, leave ’em alone,” Tommy replied. “They’re not inside. They’re on the doorstep. Besides, we’re enjoying the show.”

  Irish buried her face into my chest in embarrassment. I would have worried, but I caught her shy smile before she hid. Looking over my shoulder, I could see the fuckers all lined up, watching us with amusement. Tommy was even tucking into a bag of crisps as he spectated.

  “Fuck off,” I told them jovially, wrapping my arm protectively around my girl.

  “All of you feck off,” Danny said as he locked the door to the gym. “He’s on stage in an hour, and we’re already feckin’ late!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Marie

  We made it to Kieran’s weigh-in by the skin of our teeth. Following Heath through the back door of the arena, we passed through dozens of burly security guards in black caps and T-shirts, who all nodded at Con and Kieran like they knew them. Finally, we were herded into a dressing room. It was pretty basic with a mirror and a few chairs, but from the way the guys were standing around, I didn’t think we’d be in there for long.

  “Well, this is exciting, isn’t it!” Em exclaimed.

  “You act like you’ve never been to one of these before. You must have done dozens of them,” I remarked.

  “I’ve never been to a weigh-in before,” she explained. “At the fights, I sit with Nikki if she comes, but all the boys are with me. Only Kieran and Danny are in O’Connell’s corner. But at the weigh-ins, all of the boys go on stage with him. I don’t want to be in the media photos, and O’Connell doesn’t like me being unprotected, so I usually stay at home or the gym with a babysitter,” she said, rolling her eyes at Con’s overprotectiveness.

  “I won’t have to go on stage, will I?” I asked in horror.

  “Not if you don’t want to, love,” Kieran said, wrapping his hands around my waist and pulling me to stand snugly between his legs.

  “I’m good just watching from the sidelines, as long as that’s okay with you?” I said to him.

  “As long as you’re here with me, I don’t care where you stand,” he said.

  “Come and stand with me, baby girl. I’ll take care of you,” Tommy said, winking at me.

  “I changed my mind,” Kier said, giving Tommy a death stare. “I do care where you stand.”

  “Where’s Albie?” I asked Liam. He answered with a shy, secret smile that he always wore when he was thinking about his boyfriend.

  “He’s having dinner with his family tonight. His mum and sisters have been shopping for stuff for us. You know, bedding, towels, and shit. They wanted me to come too so they could show us everything, but your old man needed me more,” he said.

  “You should have said, mate. I would’ve understood if you wanted to go there instead,” Kier told him.

  “Nah, you’re all right,” Liam replied. “Albie’s mum understands how important this is. Besides, I have a feeling that dinner with his family is gonna be a pretty regular thing from now on,” Liam replied.

  “She’s cool then, about you boning her son and all?” Tommy enquired.

  Kieran jumped in before Liam got mad and hit him. “You still looking for a guy, Tommy boy? Liam and Albie are solid, and I know you’ve had a torch for me all these years, but I’m off the market too. Somewhere out there is the guy for you though.”

  “What the ever-loving fuck!” Tommy protested, sounding pissed. “I wasn’t asking if he was gonna be single any time soon. I was just asking if Albie’s family is cool with him being a friend of Dorothy. Besides which, for the millionth time, I ain’t fuckin’ gay!”

  “Whatever you say, Tommy,” Liam said, joining in their fun. “But anytime you feel the urge to experiment, you just call.”

  Tommy leant away from Liam, looking absolutely horrified. “You follow that offer up by touching any part of my body, and I will knock you the fuck out,” Tommy warned. If their messing with him hadn’t been funny enough, watching a guy of Tommy’s size threatening Liam, who was big enough to squash him like a bug, made me giggle.

  Suddenly, the door opened and one of the organisers, wearing an ID badge from a lanyard around his neck, said to Heath, “It’s time.”

  Kier kissed the side of my neck, then let me go. “Heath is going to lead you to your seats in the front row then join us on stage. When we finish, he’ll come and get you and bring you back here.”

  “Okay, love. I’ll try not to jump on you when you start getting your kit off,” I replied. Threading his hand into my hair, he kissed me hard before letting me go again.

  “You can jump on me anytime. But if you do it in front of a couple of hundred people and a television audience, then be prepared for them to get a show,” he whispered.

  “Best keep my appreciation of your washboard abs until after the fight then, when I can show my admiration privately,” I whispered back, making him groan.

  “Shit, you really want me going out there with a hard-on?”

  “Only if it’s for me.”

  “Always.” He kissed my neck playfully, making me squirm and giggle.

  “For fuck’s sake, Earnshaw, separate Romeo and Juliet over here and let’s get this show on the road,” Danny barked to Heath. We grinned at each other as I followed Heath and Em out of the room, listening to Danny mumble, “I’m too old for this shit,” under his breath.

  ***

  “Seriously? Of all the cool names you could have picked when you registered me, ‘The Storm’ was the best you could come up with?” Kieran said to Con.

  “What? You don’t get it? A storm is a baby hurricane, you know, like you’re the smaller, less-powerful version of me,” Con answered, chuckling at his own cleverness.

  “Very fuckin’ funny, arsehole,” Kieran replied. But I knew he wasn’t mad about it. Kieran had weighed in at two hundred and twenty pounds. Apparently that was exactly the same weight as Con when he’d fought for the same title. The boys had taken it as a good omen and had been in great spirits ever since.

  “Where on earth are we going now?” I asked, chuckling at Kieran’s exuberance. I expected that we’d go straight home, but to my surprise, we followed the convoy of guys straight past Kieran’s placeand kept driving for another ten minutes.

  “We’re following tradition,” he replied. His fingers threaded through mine as we climbed the steps of an old church. It was surreal to have gone from the media circus that was the weigh-in, to the calm serenity that was a Catholic church at night, but then nothing about my time with Kieran had been normal. Everyone looked comfortable as they found a seat in the back pews, so I followed Kieran’s lead and nestled in close when he wrapped his arm around me. Feeling a little tired, I rested my head on his shoulder as I listened to the guys analyse the evening, jumping when the sound of a closing door echoed loudly.

  “Well, lads, are ya’ all ready for the big night then?” the priest said, rubbing his hands together excitedly as he walked towards us.

  “We are indeed, Father Pat,” Danny answered as he stood up to shake hands.

  “That’s grand news,” Father Pat replied. “And what odds are Ratray’s giving him, would you happen to know?”

  “Twenty to one, on account of his ranking,” Tommy replied. I looked from him back to Father Pat in shock.

  “Bloody hell, we’ll make a killing,” Father Pat blurted out. It was clear the comment had fallen out of his mouth, because he made the sign of the cross and muttered, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,” under his breath straight after.

  “So, how much shall I put you down for then?” Tommy asked him.

  “Let’s say two hundred pounds,” Father Pat replied. “The pew cushions need replacing, and at twenty to one, that would about do. Mrs Gilbert, who does the flowers, has asked if you can put her down for twenty pounds as well. She would do it herself when she does the Irish lottery, but her a
rthritis has been playing her up lately.”

  “Right you are,” Tommy replied, taking a pencil and paper from his back pocket to mark down the odds.

  “No pressure to win then, Father,” Kieran commented wryly.

  “My boy, you have this in the bag,” Father Pat replied. “Besides, when there are pew cushions involved, God is always on your side. Now you’re starting to look a little nervous over there. No doubt that look will better your odds, but at two hundred pounds, you’re not doing anything for my nerves, so we’d best be having you first.”

  Kieran squeezed my hand, then stood up to follow the priest into what I assumed was the vestry. Seconds later, Em slid into his empty seat.

  “Do you have any idea what’s going on, because I’ve been Catholic my whole life and this has never happened to me in church before?” I asked her.

  “Don’t worry, I was just as shocked when Con brought me here before his first big fight. Father Pat likes to have a flutter on all the boy’s bouts, but he can’t be seen betting when there’s big money involved. Then again, he considers anything over ten pounds to be betting big,” she explained.

  “Isn’t it wrong though? Don’t they feel the pressure of letting him down if they don’t win?”

  “I think it’s the opposite for them. They see it as a show of faith. That he believes in them enough to bet church money on them.”

  “He’s betting church funds!” I exclaimed.

  “No, it’s his salary he bets, but he puts all of his winnings back into the place,” she reassured me, which did seem slightly less scandalous. Noble even.

  “What did Kieran mean when he said this was tradition?”

  “The night before any of the boys, young or old, have a big fight, everyone from the club goes to confession. It’s Danny’s way of making sure whoever is fighting has a clear head. All of the guys join him because we’re a family. Only one of us goes into the ring, but with us behind him, he’s never alone.”

  My heart warmed at her words, and I realised how special a moment this was. Kieran was making me a part of his family, and the bond between them all couldn’t have been stronger. When he finally emerged, his cheeks were flushed. Whatever was said, it must have been pretty scandalous to make him blush, but I never got to find out because Father Pat called my name.

  Dutifully, I stood and followed as he led me to a small antechamber. When the door closed behind us, he turned to face me.

  “Right then. Cup of tea?” he asked.

  “Um, that would be lovely. Thank you,” I answered politely. I stood awkwardly, unsure of myself and what to do. I’d been to confession many times before, but tea and betting had never been involved.

  “Take a seat, my dear. I think I’ve got some chocolate biscuits in here somewhere, but I can’t be sure. If not, I’ve definitely got some lovely custard creams. I usually get Tommy in first as his list is the longest, but the cheeky little bugger can devour a packet of biscuits in less time than it takes me to say a Hail Mary.”

  I smiled as I took a seat. He had a way about him that made you feel less like a stranger and more like a friend.

  “Bingo,” he called out and popping out from behind the curtain of what I assumed from the sound of a boiling kettle was a little kitchenette. He lobbed a packet of chocolate fingers at me. Thinking it would be rude not to, after all his efforts to hunt them down, I opened the packet and took one. Five biscuits later, he handed me my cup and I pushed the packet guiltily towards him.

  “This is nice,” he said, dunking two in his tea and sucking off the chocolate before dipping them again and finishing them off. I couldn’t help but laugh at his childish antics.

  “Best way to eat them,” he told me. “Now, I hear that you have a weak heart.”

  “Wow, that’s direct. Um, yes, I had a lot of cardiac surgery when I was younger.”

  “I’m sorry if I’ve offended you with my abruptness. I’m afraid that old age and too many years with the Driscoll’s boys have robbed me of all tact. I’m used to plain talking,” he answered, sheepishly.

  “I’m not offended, Father. I guess I’m just not used to people wanting to discuss it.”

  “That’s understandable. But I think it’s good to talk about the things that worry us. Worrying doesn’t take away our troubles. It just robs us of the strength we need to deal with them.”

  “Has Kieran been sharing his worries with you?” I asked. He seemed to favour directness, so I didn’t think he’d find my question rude.

  “Of course. It’s what I’m here for, especially tonight of all nights. Better that he gets anything off his chest that he needs to, rather than take it into the ring with him,” he explained. “Of course, what ails him isn’t what you’d imagine. I think it’s fair to say that he’s avoided long-term relationships because he’s experienced the pain of watching his mother lose the love of her life. He’s grown up believing that love is like a fire that will burn you. Now that he’s met you, he sees not what the fire can burn, but what it can forge.”

  I paused, my cup raised halfway towards my mouth, and stared in shock at his profoundness.

  “Goodness, that was very deep, wasn’t it? I should write some of this down. Perhaps less people would fall asleep in my sermons if I actually wrote them in advance.” He chuckled.

  “You don’t prepare a sermon for mass?”

  “Not usually, dear. I’ve become very adept at winging it, depending on my audience and whether I’ve had the odd pint of Guinness the night before. Although I do find that my congregation donates a little more generously to the collection if I keep it short and sweet. So perhaps my pearls of wisdom are best revealed over a cup of tea and some nice biscuits.”

  He held out the packet of chocolatey temptations, and it took all of my will power to refuse.

  “So, if Kieran isn’t worried about my heart, then I’m guessing you must be, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” I waited for his condemnation, for him to give me all of the reasons that I gave Kieran about why we shouldn’t be together.

  “My girl, you couldn’t be further from the truth. No matter how long or briefly your path will lie alongside his, love doesn’t change the destination. It just makes the journey all the sweeter. He is with you all the way now, no matter what. Once he makes a decision, he’s not one to worry about the what-ifs or the maybes. What does concern him is your fears. He doesn’t want your anxiety to blind you to the great things that lie ahead for you both.”

  “Of course I worry about these things. How could I not? And if you were in my shoes, you would worry too.”

  “Perhaps,” he replied. “But one day we’ll all leave this world behind. The only thing that’s important is that you live a life you will remember.”

  “I’ve heard that before. Is that a famous quote?”

  “It’s Avicii. Great song. I have a laptop now thanks to Tommy, so I get all sorts of music through that YouTube.”

  “Well, it’s a great philosophy, but I’ve agonised over this stuff for most of my life.”

  “All the more reason to let it go, child.”

  ***

  By the time we made it home, I felt a kind of peace I hadn’t ever felt before. On the back of Kieran’s bike there was nothing in the world that existed other than the two of us. There was nothing but open road ahead of us and a future that we were travelling towards together. I was almost sorry when we came to a stop.

  “When your fight is over, can we take a day off and just ride as far as we can?” I asked him wistfully.

  “Baby, we can do anything you want.” He kissed the tip of my nose as he helped me remove my helmet. “It kind of makes me horny that I’ve turned you into a biker chick.”

  “Everything makes you horny.” I laughed at his almost permanent state of arousal.

  “You’re not wrong, love.” Bending down, he hoisted me over his shoulder in a firefighter’s lift. With one hand holding our helmets and the other halfway up my denim-clad thigh,
he opened the front door and bounded up the stairs.

  “Kieran! Put me down! You’re supposed to be resting. What if you pull a muscle or something?” I admonished.

  “Please, have you weighed yourself lately? I curl more than you weigh.”

  “What’s so urgent that you can’t wait for me to walk up the stairs?” My voice stuttered as he took the steps two at a time.

  “In less than twenty-four hours, you’ll be riding my love train all the way to paradise, and I need a treat to tide me over until we make it to the station.”

  I burst out laughing as he set me down gently, then ushered me in through the door as soon as it was open.

  “Love train?” I asked, still smiling.

  “What? I thought it was more poetic than cock.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kieran

  “What are you doing?” she asked breathlessly.

  Stripping us both at the same time, I couldn’t get her clothes off fast enough. Feeling her body pressed against mine on the long bike ride home had my testosterone levels skyrocketing. I was amped. I was primed.

  I was ready.

  It was a euphoria I couldn’t begin to describe, knowing that my body was in peak physical condition. I was fitter, faster, and fiercer than I’d ever been. If Irish asked me to conquer the world for her tomorrow, I could do it. But it was more than that. In this game, fitness was only half the fight. The other half was mental. My friends. My family. My girl. All of them had a hand in creating the man who would climb into that ring tomorrow. The man I had become.