Let's Rendezvous
Clay woke up the next morning wishing he had gone home when Brock and Trent had left the bar. He wasn't sure how Swanny felt, but he felt like he'd gotten run over by a truck. A really big truck. Gulping down a bottle of Gatorade, Clay groaned at the ceiling.
"How does Sonny do this every day?" he said to the empty walls in astonishment of Sonny's reputation of going all in, all the time.
Hoping to sweat out his hangover, Clay grabbed his shoes and shuffled over to the gym.
Walking down the hall, Clay heard the distinct thwack of a leather boxing glove hitting the heavy bag. The sound made Clay's head ring, and he thought about turning around and going back to bed. Knowing Jason would make his life miserable for going too hard at the bar if he found out, Clay put his headphones in, hoping to drown out the thumping of the heavy bag.
Clay put his head down and headed straight for the treadmill, not bothering to check who was at the other end of the gym.
Sonny looked up when Clay walked in and smirked when he saw Clay's haggard look. He was all too familiar with the desire to sweat out a night at the bar. He usually chose a one-night-stand as his cardio but would settle for a run if he had to.
Sonny wasn't expecting any company at the gym this early on a Saturday, and was a little annoyed that Clay stumbled in, interrupting Sonny's attempt at working through his own situation. Sonny was proud of Davis for getting accepted to OCS, and happy for her that she was getting to live out her dream. As happy as he was for Davis, he hated that she was leaving for 12 weeks so soon after they decided to give their relationship a try.
Sonny slammed his fist into the heavy bag, as he thought about where Davis might end up after OCS, and whether or not they had a future if she was stationed elsewhere. Davis was right, neither of them had a good track record with relationships, much less a long-distance relationship. Sonny worked the bag over with boxing combinations, rattling the chains holding the bag with every punch.
Clay was breathing heaving after a few minutes on the treadmill. His head was still pounding, but the sweat had started pouring and he felt a little better with each step he ran. At least, that is what he kept telling himself. In reality, Clay wanted to throw up and go back to bed. Pushing himself to keep going until he actually felt better, Clay drank some water, heaved a sigh and cranked up the speed on the treadmill, hoping to get this over with as quickly as possible.
Sonny laughed to himself as he glanced over at Clay sucking wind on the treadmill. Looking at his buddy fight the urge to puke, Sonny was happier than ever that he went home early with Davis, instead of closing down the bar with Clay and Swanny. Sonny could get used to spending nights with Davis, he thought, then hit the heavy bag a few times as he realized Davis was leaving for OCS sooner, rather than later. Sonny punched his frustration out on the bag, wondering what he was going to do with Davis gone, and whether or not she would be back.
Clay had had enough after 5 miles. He was sweating so much it looked like he had gone swimming, fully clothed. Turning off the treadmill, Clay finally glanced over and saw Sonny on the other end of the gym, trying to knock the heavy bag out.
Thinking back to what he thinks he saw last night, Clay decided to mess with Sonny a little.
"Hey, man. What did that bag ever do to you?" Clay said with a smirk.
"Not today, kid. I'm not in the mood." Sonny growled, glaring at Clay.
"Come on. You seem a little frustrated," Clay said, grinning like an idiot, clearly not reading Sonny's expression correctly.
"Not in the mood, kid. Go take a shower, you reek." Sonny said, again glaring at Clay.
"Uh huh. You mad that Davis is leaving?" Clay said. "I couldn't help but notice you guys left at the same time last night." Clay added, with a smirk.
Sonny turned his head and just glared at Clay, not bothering to respond.
"Come on, man. I get it. You're mad your side piece is leaving," Clay said.
Before Clay knew what had happened, Sonny ripped off one of his boxing gloves and grabbed Clay by the throat.
"Listen up, kid, because I'm only going to say this once," Sonny growled, pulling a struggling Clay closer.
"Davis is no one's side piece. Not mine. Not anyone's. Got that?" Sonny barked, nose to nose with Clay. "Show some respect and get out of my face." Sonny added, letting go of Clay's throat.
"And if you ever insinuate what you just did again, I will end you. Got it?" Sonny said, daring Clay to put up an argument.
"Yeah, man. Got it. Sorry. I, um. Sorry, man. I was just messing with you," Clay stammered, stumbling away from Sonny.
"Whatever, man. Get out of here. And hit the showers, you smell like death." Sonny said, shaking his head.
Sonny's phone buzzes, startling him out of his thoughts. Glancing at his phone, he smirks when he sees it's a text from Davis.
"Hey. Why am I in a relationship and still waking up alone?"
"Sorry. Woke up early and hit the gym. Won't happen again." Sonny quickly texts back.
"Breakfast?" Davis texts.
"Be there in 15." Sonny texts back, grabbing his gloves and turning out the lights.
