“She’s been saying that for days, Asher.”
“Well, maybe it’s actually true, Ty.”
I roll my eyes.
“Her knuckles were red and bruised. She’s been “studying” at all hours. More physically tired than ever. Not to mention she said she was doing what she had to do for our future.” If she’s trying to sacrifice for me again…
I won’t live another six years without her.
I’d rather die.
Asher sighs beside me, following me as I turn the corner, following her down the street.
“What do you need from me?” he asks, giving up on trying to talk me out of it.Good, I wasn’t letting it go. Not until I know she’s safe.
“I need you to put some feelers out. See if anyone knows anything about her, ask some of your contacts in The Underground. There has to be something going on.”
“And if there isn’t and she finds out?” he presses, stopping right in front ofFrom The Ashesto go into work.
“If there isn’t and she finds out, I’ll be on my knees for the rest of my life, begging for her forgiveness. But right now, her safety is more important than her trust in me.”
I followed her all day, calling into my second job to take a rare sick day so that I could watch her.
And it’s nine at night as I sit on my bike, helmet on, as I stare from across the street of her cosmetology school to make sure she is okay.
I’m willing to admit that I may,may, have been wrong. Maybe she really is just working a lot. Maybe I’m just so used to seeing danger that I've gotten used to questioning everything. But I’m not telling Asher. No, I’ll never live it down.
Roxie walks outside the brick building with another girl, smiling brightly and to anyone else it would look friendly, but I can see the cracks in her armour.
My girl doesn’t like what she’s doing. Her eyes are heavy, tired, and searching. Doing hair isn’t fulfilling her, not the way that wild fire in her craves.
She walks outside, waving goodbye to another student and I watch as her smile drops.
It kills me that she’s not happy. That’s all I want for her.
Fuck, I should’ve listened to Ashe. He was right, she’s just…My thought cuts off mid-sentence as I watch Roxie turn her head from side to side before turning down an alleyway.
What. The. Fuck?That definitely doesn’t look like someone who’snotdoing anything shady.
“Where are you going, baby?” I whisper, kicking the stand down and climbing off my bike to follow her on foot.Why would she go here? There’s nothing else in this area but…Understanding dawns on my face.
The boxing gym.
Fuck.
I slink through the darkness, following her as quietly as I can as she slips through the alleyway and through the gridblocks before stopping in front of the dimly lit boxing gym that’s old as shit, but it’s where the legends train.
This one’s run like they’re training whoever walks through the door like the next Rocky Balboa. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good place, but… I don’t want Roxie there without backup.
Which she better not fucking have.
Not when she’s mine.
What are you doing, baby?I lean closer against the brick wall I’m hiding against. The way the shadow falls, I’m hidden but can see as she stalls in front.
“Why isn’t she going in?” I whisper, confused, before anger fills my body.Or who’s she waiting for?
Roxie leans back against the wall of the gym, typing something quick on her phone.Is she texting him?
