The shower stall in the dojo isn’t available to everyone. After Sensei retired, he sold the gym. The new owner wasn’t half as good a teacher, and about a month later, I overheard him talking about shutting down.
I offered to pay for the room at the back of the building to help with rent and, in exchange, he’d keep going. Now, I can come and go as I please.
Water streams over me and disappears into the drain at my feet. The stench of blood from the glass factory is tattooed in my nose, and no matter how long I stand under the shower, I can’t scrape the day off me.
“All this is yours, Finn.”
Jarod Cross’s words echo in my head.
“This is your legacy.”
I pull the shower lever so hard it nearly breaks in my hand. The water stops pouring and instead becomes a drip over my head.
Planting my hand against the wall, I inhale shakily.
“Enough. Stop thinking about it,” I coach myself.
After my shower, I get dressed and grab my phone from my training bag. The moment I see the hundreds of notifications on the screen, my eyes widen.
Did something happen?
After my ride with Jarod Cross, I drove home, but I didn’t go inside. Dutch and Zane would take one look at my face and know something was wrong.
I’m still not sure how to explain this to them.
I call Dutch, and he answers on the first ring. “Finally.”
I grunt a greeting.
“I’m putting you on speaker. Zane’s here too.”
Zane’s voice sounds unusually excited. “Where the hell have you been?”
I side-step the question. “Did something happen?”
“The girls replied to our song. They sent Jinx a message.”
I grip the phone tighter, my entire skin buzzing.
“It wasn’t really a message. They were code words,” Dutch says to Zane.
“Rooftop, piano, hospital, ring. It means?—”
Dutch interrupts. “He can figure it out.”
I close my eyes and shift the words around until they make sense. “Your first date with Cadence was on the rooftop. You played the piano for her.”
“Yeah.” Dutch sounds like he’s smiling.
He had a bright idea to surprise “Redhead” with a song, but he left me and Zane to carry out the order. Getting the piano up all those stairs and through that small door to the rooftop was torture. I swore I’d never help Dutch with any grand gestures again.
“Hospital and ring? That’s obvious. Zane proposed to Grey after the car accident. He had us prep the wedding chapel before he even popped the question.”
“Grey looked stunning in that wedding dress.” Zane laughs. “Even though she was scowling at me the entire way down the aisle.”
“Those memories are something only we would know. Jinx has no idea,” Dutch says.
That’s really good news, and I need it now more than ever.
