“You can’t yell like that every time I fight.”
“I absolutely can.”
“You absolutely cannot.”
“Bet.”
I groaned. “You’re impossible.”
“Nah.” He walked beside me out of the cage, matching my pace without missing a beat. “I just believe in you.”
It shouldn’t have hit me the way it did.
But God did it ever.
It hit me harder than it should’ve. Maybe it was because out of everyone in my life, he was the one who said it like it was a simple truth.
Like it wasn’t even a question.
Suddenly, the weight I carried felt just a little less crushing. Not because he took it away, but because he stood by me while I carried it.
And this realization was almost more crushing than anything else. Wantinghim, wanting what he made me feel, was dangerous.
I closed my eyes for a second to steady myself.
I couldn’t afford this, not with him leaving.
When I opened them, Kai was already watching me, his expression painfully soft.
“I’m proud of you.”
His words landed like a punch straight to the sternum and I looked away. I had to before I did something stupid, like believe him.
Chapter 20
Tori
Bythetimewegot home, I was pretty sure Kai had told at least thirteen different strangers at the rec center I had ‘suplexed a woman built like a truck.’
Which was inaccurate.
It was actually a clean sweep and a hip toss.
But whatever.
Gran was sitting at the kitchen table doing a crossword with the confidence of someone who cheated regularly. Her glasses were perched on the tip of her nose and her feather boa was draped around her neck. Apparently it had become part of her daily wardrobe again.
The moment we walked in, Kai burst through the door first — because subtlety was not a trait bestowed upon him by the universe — and announced, “She smashed it!”
Gran’s head popped up. “My baby girl?”
Kai threw his arms out like he was describing a religious event. “Janet, she flipped a woman twice my size!”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “She was not twice your size—”
“She was terrifying,” Kai insisted. “Built like someone welded her in a factory. And Tori just—” He mimed an explosion. “Boom!”
Gran clasped her hands under her chin. “Oh, darling, I’m so proud.”
