I pursed my lips as I nodded in agreement.
“Syd helping you with your ground defense?”
“Yep. Hey, O’Brien in town?” I questioned in a lowered voice.
“Seriously?” Jacob asked, angrily.
“Yeah, seriously. I need something to take the edge off.” I glanced over my brother’s shoulder to the kitchen where Syd and Grace were laughing and cooking.
“She doesn’t seem like the type to put up with bullshit. Not nearly as firm and hard assed as Banks, I’d guess, but not to be toyed with either.”
I gritted my teeth, hating when anyone brought up my former trainer. Especially those who didn’t know him. Jacob had never met Banks. My brother hadn’t been a part of my life when Banks was alive.
“She’s not. She also doesn’t have me by the balls, either.”
Jacob turned to peer over his shoulder. It was only when I caught the movement of him turning back to face me, I realized I’d been watching Syd the entire time. My attention barely on my brother.
“Yeah, we’ll see. Here’s O’Brien’s number. There’s a fight happening tonight.”
“I’ll need that address.”
“You’ll need more than that.”
My eye shot to meet my brother’s. There was a warning look in his gaze.
“You got something to say, just say it.”
He shrugged. “What’s the point? I had to screw up everything myself, nearly lose my job in order to get out of my own way.” He turned to look over at Grace who carried the food to the dining table. “Luckily, I had a woman in my corner who convinced me to stop being my own worst enemy.”
I stood, rolling my head on my shoulders. “Yeah, good for the both of you.”
Instead of getting defensive at my snide comment, Jacob merely stood, chuckling and shaking his head, and ensured I’d gotten the number and address he’d texted me.
“Dinner’s ready,” Grace called from the dining room.
I followed behind my brother in the direction of the smell of the food, but staring over his shoulder at a smiling Syd. Yeah, I was definitely going out tonight. I needed to blow off some steam.
Chapter 13
Time’s Up
Luke
“Are you sure this is the right place, buddy?”
I rolled my eyes at the Uber driver who sat behind the wheel. Pushing the back door of his Camry open, I stepped one foot out.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Don’t call me buddy,” I demanded, before getting all the way out and slamming the door behind me. I barely noticed as he speedily pulled off. Obviously, he didn’t care too much whether or not this was the right location.
To someone who didn’t know any better, this wouldn’t look like the right place. The brick building from the outside appeared abandoned with its broken windows and padlocks on most of the steel doors. But there was one door that didn’t have a padlock.
I’d been waiting to walk through that fucking door for hours, ever since Syd first showed up at my hotel room. The coiled tension that snaked its way through my limbs at seeing her, needed to be relieved somehow. I’d thought a few days away from her would do the trick, but then she showed up in Williamsport.
I couldn’t keep my own eyes from continuously straying in her direction throughout dinner with my brother and his wife. I’d long since given up trying to avoid staring her directly in the eyes. Now, my body did it on its own volition. Seeking out that drowning feeling as if it needed its next breath.
Fuck!
I was losing my shit, over a fucking broad, no less. The only thing I knew to do to handle the stress was what drove me here to this building.
