The gym smelled like sweat, chalk, and metal — familiar, grounding, but tonight it felt wrong. Too quiet. Too empty. Simon sat on the edge of the ring, gloved hands hanging between his knees, jaw tight as he watched the new medic fuss with his wraps. He didn’t even bother remembering the guy’s name. He wasn’t Luca.

Luca had been perfect. Always there, always quiet, always so damn obedient it almost scared Simon. The way he’d follow him to his room after every fight, wide-eyed and tired but never resisting — just letting Simon take what he wanted. At first, it had been about the release, about having someone soft to come home to after spilling blood in the ring. But as weeks turned into months, Simon had noticed the change. The way Luca’s smile had dimmed, how his hands would tremble when he taped Simon’s wrists. How he’d flinch sometimes, like he wasn’t sure what Simon was going to do next.

And then he was gone.

No warning — just replaced. The manager’s voice still echoed in his head: “Luca’s with Cole now. You wore the boy down, Riley. You need someone who can keep up.”

Simon had laughed it off at the time, but now, sitting here with this stranger brushing over his skin, watching Luca across the gym with Cole — some loud, cocky rookie with a grin too big for his face — Simon felt something ugly twist in his gut.

Cole said something to Luca that made him laugh — really laugh, not that tired, forced little sound Simon had been used to — and Simon’s hands curled into fists so tight his knuckles popped inside the gloves.

He didn’t just miss the routine. He missed him. The soft voice, the careful touch, the way Luca would look at him when no one else was watching. He hadn’t realized it until it was too late, but somewhere between the hotel rooms and the locker rooms, Luca had become more than just a body to him.

Simon ripped the gloves off and stood, ignoring the medic calling after him. His boots thudded against the concrete floor as he crossed the gym, every step heavy with purpose. His gaze locked on Luca, the boy’s back turned as he bent to grab something from the med kit.

Simon’s voice came out rough, lower than usual, carrying across the space.

“Luca.”

It wasn’t a request. It was a call — and Simon knew the boy would hear the weight in it.