"Not to be a fucking cliché, but I see myself in you, man. You're on track to ruin your future if you don't check yourself. And you don't know how to do that, do you?"
"Check myself? No. I mean, I know when I start getting overwhelmed, I ramble, and my body feels really fucking tense. It's like something,anything,needs out."
Levi nods and reaches for the handle. "Great. Let's go."
I'm jolted from my stunned position when his door slams. Scrambling to get out of his car before it explodes or some shit, I rush after him and try to keep myself upright. The last thing I need to do is face plant into his heels.
Without a backward glance at me, Levi greets the receptionist and lets him know I'm with him. The sounds of machines clanking together, matched with grunts, are thesoundtrack to my impending doom. I don't know why we're here, but I know for a fact Levi is going to kick my ass.
Please let it just be running.
Following Levi into a dark room, I huff out a pained groan when something slams into my chest. I ditched my coat in his car; now I'm suddenly wishing I had the extra padding.
"Put those on," Levi demands just as the fluorescent lights blind me. He's not looking at me, but I'm not watching him either. My gaze is stuck on the fucking boxing ring in front of me.
"Don't be a pussy!" Levi shouts as he nonchalantly leaps into the ring. I've never, not once in my thirty years, sparred with someone. Definitely not someone who can put these big ass gloves on in under ten seconds.What the fuck...
Bending over the ropes, Levi pins me with a glare. "Put the fucking gloves on. Take your shoes, socks, and shirt off. And get in the fucking ring."
Unable to help myself, I grin as I fling my T-shirt toward the wall of mirrors. "If you wanted to undress me, all you had to do was ask."
"Really, Ellis?"
Shit.Nate steps into the room behind me and looks ready to wallop me, too. I'm fucked.
"You want help or not?" Levi deadpans with his serious gaze on mine. He completely ignores my partner lingering in the room.
Sobering, I swallow thickly and focus on Levi. "I do."
"Then get in here and get your fucking anger out, kid. No way in hell am I letting you near Violet until then."
Buzzing with adrenaline, I somehow get myself ready and climb into the ring. I vaguely hear Nate mention something about keeping me pretty and Levi threatening that he's next. Not because he needs to learn how to control his emotions, but because he deserves an ass-whooping for hurting V.
I'm too lost on how to stand properly while Levi just stands there casually. He doesn't allow me to mimic his movements. When he beckons me forward, I follow like a fucking idiot and get punched in the damn shoulder.
"Fuck!" I spit out and raise my hands higher. As if I can actually defend myself from Levi.
Levi rolls his eyes and stands nonchalantly once again. "Calm down. That was barely a love tap. I'll let you get your energy out now. Come on then," he coos like a fucking sadist while motioning me forward.
I once thought he was so damn handsome; now I think he might be the devil in an angel's skin. Still shocked by this turn of events, I stand frozen, but at least I'm protecting my face with the gloves and bouncing on the balls of my feet.
"You hurt Violet," Levi taunts, eyes turning to steel as he repeats my sins. "The woman you claim to love is curled up in her mother's arms after falling off a fucking cliff. You hurt her heart while she was already suffering."
What?!
"WHAT?!" Nate roars somewhere on the sidelines.
"Violet has a sprained ankle. Bruised ribs. Too many scrapes and bruises to count. Why else would she have taken so long to reply to you, huh?"
"You're lying," I grit out, my body vibrating with growing rage and self-hatred.
Levi squints and tilts his head like a fucking predator. Like he wants to hurt me. "Violet fell off a fucking cliff while you were acting like a selfish prick. Who wants to kick someone while they're already down? Hell, she was hurting before you even came into the fucking picture again."
"Stop!" My hands are sweating inside the boxing gloves. The trembling in my limbs screams that something needs to be unleashed.
"You hurt a woman who was already hurting herself," Levi continues, voice strong yet devoid of the emotion he should be swamped with. "Face it. Both of you failed your fucking duty as her protectors. From where I'm standing, all I see is you spitting on the woman you love while she's lying at the bottom of a fucking hill, bleeding, crying out for you to help her, andsaving herself."
With a battle cry aimed at my failures, I launch myself at the faceless monster who knows all of my sins.Me.I need to beat myself down and rebuild myself back up into a man that Violet deserves.
