“Only because I’m younger. If I’d had time—” Kieran started.
“I’d still be older than you, and better.” Rory smacked him on the back with a laugh as he walked past him out of the octagon. Ace wagged his tail excitedly. Kieran stretched his arms across his chest one at a time and shook his head at his brother.
“Seriously, K, think about getting back in the ring.” Rory gave him a nod before walking off with Ace. Kane staggered over to him, apparently still exhausted from earlier.
“Good bout. Saw you out there,” Kane told him.
“Until his knee was on my throat.” Kieran sighed. He’d hoped to have fared better on his first round with Rory after his time away, but his brother always seemed to have the upper hand.
“Goddamn Rory and his fat-ass knees. I swear to fuck, I’ve been sure on more than one occasion that he’d kill me with them. Which is ironic since he almost broke one in half back in the day.”
“He’s bounced back, that’s for sure,” Kieran agreed.
“You could, too. I heard Rory ask you about it—why not start training again?” Kane asked.
“Oh, yeah? How would I do that when someone else stole my name, Killer?” Kieran asked pointedly, one brow lifted.
Kane grinned mischievously. “You could be Killer 2.0?”
“The new-and-improved version,” Kieran teased.
“No,” Kane said with a punch to his arm. “The older and staler version.”
“You’re an asshole.” Kieran shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re my twin.”
“I can’t believe it, either. I’m so much hotter.”
Kieran smacked Kane hard on the back of his head, causing him to grimace.
“Ouch, fucker. Find a new name, then, because Killer is mine now,” Kane told him before they walked back toward the locker rooms to shower and change. Kieran wasn’t all that mad about the name anymore; everything between the twins had a sort of fluid ownership. Just because he didn’t entirely mind, though, didn’t mean he wasn’t going to bust Kane’s balls for it anyway.
Fifteen minutes later, both men were freshly showered and in clean clothes. Meeting back up front, they prepared to head to Kane’s house. Kieran still couldn’t wait to have his own place to live, and within the next week he planned to find something.
“How was the workout, guys?” Casey smiled from behind the front counter in the lobby.
“I kicked Rory’s ass, as usual,” Kane lied.
“Is that what that was? Those whiny pleas coming from underneath him? I thought that was called tapping out.”
Kieran belted out a deep belly laugh at his cousin’s sass.
“Bunch of jerks in this family,” Kane grumbled, clearly wanting to cuss but holding back in front of Casey.
“Kieran, I met your girlfriend yesterday,” Casey said, piling a mess of disheveled papers into a single stack. “She’s so pretty. I like her.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” A fact he was doing everything he could to change.
Casey rolled her eyes, tapping the bottom of the papers against the counter. “Yeah, she gave me the same song and dance, too.”
“How did Casey get an introduction before I did? You’re a shitty twin,” Kane complained, kneeling down to retie one of his shoes.
“You’ve already met her,” Kieran reminded him.
“Yeah, but that was before you were planting seeds in her garden.” Standing, Kane crossed his arms over his chest and grinned, obviously proud of his analogy.
Kieran rolled his eyes and delivered a firm punch to his brother’s upper arm in retaliation. Kane just laughed and ducked to the side.
“You’re a pig, Kane.” Casey audibly groaned at the immature pun. “I met her when she moved into Ma’s.”
“No shit?” Kane turned to Kieran for confirmation. “Your girl’s living with Ma?”
“Yeah. Fiona and her little sister. Their building was condemned, giant hole knocked into her wall. Ma said they could stay with her ’til they get back on their feet,” Kieran explained, trying not to make too big a deal out of it.
“I’m not surprised. Ma’s been practically running an inn for years.” Kane shrugged. “That’s cool, so I’ll meet her at Ma’s tomorrow for Sunday dinner?”
“I think so. I’m not sure. I haven’t asked her.”
“What about Clare’s grand opening at the clinic in two weeks? Are you going to bring Fiona to the gala?” Casey asked, piling the papers into her arms and stepping away from the desk.
Kieran’s brows furrowed together. “Haven’t asked her that, either.”