“Sir, is this related to the Cassie Patterson situation?”
“Yeah. And it just got serious.”
“Understood. Do you want reports?”
“Nah, need to know basis. I also need your men to get me details on Cassie’s people and get eyes on them. I need to find this bitch, like yesterday.”
“Copy. We’ll have someone there within the hour.”
I grabbed my keys, then froze. Showing up at her place right now, at midnight, would scare her, and I didn’t want to disturb her peace. I dropped onto the couch and let that old darkness settle over me. The part of me I thought I buried.
But for Halo, I’d gladly dig that grave up.
The whistle blew, sharp enough to slice through the fog in my head, and I pushed harder. My thighs were screaming, my lungs were on fire, but slowing down wasn't even an option. If anything, I leaned into the burn, skating like the floor owed me money, and I'd come to collect. I dropped my shoulder and sent Andy flying into the rails. The crowd went wild, but to me it was just another Tuesday night.
Roller derby wasn’t therapy, but it was the closest thing I had to a confessional booth. The Blazin’ Babes hit the rink like we were born for it… pads tight, wheels hot, mouths reckless. We were the type of women who’d drag a full-grown man from a burning house in the morning and body-check a bitch into next week in the evening. Derby was my version of smoking a blunt and talking to God. It was sacred. And tonight, I needed that combination more than I wanted to admit.
The past two weeks had been quiet. Too damn quiet. No breakfast from Bruegger’s showing up out of nowhere. No random spa credits hitting my phone. No flower shop looking like it exploded on my porch. No signs of a man trying to be thoughtful without being seen. Just me, my shifts, and my own thoughts dragging me through hell and back.
I felt the absence, and that part irritated me most…
“Grant, get your head back in it!” Coach yelled from the sideline.
I gritted my teeth, tightened my stance, and drove my skates into the floor with more force than necessary. My body moved, hips steady, strides long and even, arms swinging with purpose—but my mind wasn’t anywhere near the rink. My mind was back home, stuck on that neat little card in my kitchen drawer.Pick the one that speaks to you first.The words floated back to me every time I opened the drawer for something else. My damn apartment still smelled like sunflowers because of it.
Tessa had been in my ear all week, clowning me, calling the whole thing romantic while I pretended to laugh it off. But she knew me well enough to understand that if I wasn’t talking about something, I was thinking about it too much.
The jam restarted. Whistles cut through the air. I dropped into the inside lane, dodged a blocker, cut back left, and…
CRACK.
My right skate wobbled, metal scraping across the floor, and before I could correct it, I went down hard on my hip. The thud echoed. The gasp from the stands was louder.
“Grant!” Coach’s voice snapped through the noise.
Pain shot up my side, piercing but manageable. I let them help me off the track and parked myself on the bench with tension rolling through me. My hands moved on their own, unlacing the skate, ripping it off, tossing it down the line as if it had personally betrayed me. The plate was split clean across. My favorite pair. Ruined.
Tessa slid up next to me, clearly waiting for her moment. “You still mad?”
“About what?” I asked, pretending to be focused on unstrapping my elbow guard.
She hit me with a smirk so knowing it made me want to shove her off the bench.
“Your little secret admirer ghosting you. You've been stomping around like somebody stole your dog friend, and we're sick of seeing it.”
I shot her a look. “I would be in jail if somebody stole Brixxi. Don’t play with me.”
“Psst, you know exactly what I mean. You miss it.”
I tried to hold her stare, but she wasn’t letting up.
“Girl, please. That was kinda creepy. Someone knowing my order, my whole routine, and following me around? That’s CSI-level creep energy.”
And even as I said it, we both knew I was lying.
“Mmhmm,” she hummed, dragging it out in that irritating way. “So why are you snapping at everybody?”
I sighed and stared at my pads like they could save me from this conversation.
