Lily’s stomach tightened, pinching as if coiling in on itself. “I don’t know what would happen if he said no. This thing we have right now is really good.”
“Okay, but if you trust him, why not be vulnerable with him?”
A great question, and one that made Lily scowl and purse her lips together. “I am vulnerable with him. I’ve told him all sorts of secrets about me, and we—” Her voice dropped to a whisper as she glanced at the neighboring tables, ensuring they were distracted with their own conversations. “We experiment together.”
Natalia grinned, flashing white teeth. “And while I love that for you because I’m sure Kieran fucks as well as he fights, I meant being vulnerable with your heart.”
Was there a way out of this café without looking like a coward running from this conversation? Could she fake a phone call? Lily sighed and swirled the remnants of her latte at the bottom of her cup. “I need him. I don’t want to lose him.”
Natalia hummed and swallowed down the last of her drink. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Always.”
“You don’t need him.”
The words Natalia had said at the beginning of the summer echoed back stronger this time.
“You have your own place and your own friends and your own career thatyoubuilt. I know you really care about him, I can tell, but you don’t need him. This little, whatever this is—” she gestured broadly at Lily with both hands “—could end tomorrow. You’d still be you.”
She wasn’t wrong, and though Lily wanted to hate that her friend was right, the truth was also comforting. Much like the bustling city outside today, if Kieran ended things tomorrow, the world would keep right on turning.
Lily didn’t need Kieran. She wanted him, maybe more than she’d wanted anything before. She wanted to know his past, support his present and dream of his future. And while maybe in June that knowledge would have been terrifying, now it was empowering. Kieran wasn’t someone she’d run from—only toward.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Left uppercut. Right hook. Left hook to the body. Right uppercut. Left hook. Right hook to the body.
“Again.”
Kieran’s black gloves smacked against Neal’s red focus mitts. With each circuit, Kieran struck faster but never harder. This drill was about aim, speed and stamina. Neal kept up, though sweat already shone on his forehead.
“You’re slowing down on me, Coach.”
“You wish, Sullivan.”
Back in his prime, Neal was a monster of a heavyweight fighter. Built like a linebacker, he’d boxed his way into the pros with brutal, consecutive knockouts but retired early when Patricia got pregnant with their second kid. Neal always put family first.
But when Neal asked Kieran to fight in the Local Legends tournament, he hadn’t even hesitated in volunteering to be Kieran’s coach again. It was just like old times, though the gym had undergone many changes and Neal had a bit more of a gut now than when Kieran was a scrappy seventeen-year-old.
Neal backed out of swinging range and lifted his mitts insurrender. “Alright, enough for now.” He huffed and swiped his forearm over his upper lip. “I’ve got to get back into shape.”
Kieran unstrapped a glove with his teeth and tossed it to the ground. “You want your water?”
The man groaned out a “yes” as he settled down on a bench with a few knee pops.
Kieran grabbed their water bottles and sat beside Neal. “You know, I could always ask Carter to do drills with me.”
Neal shook his head and swallowed a mouthful of water. After several deep breaths, he clapped Kieran on the shoulder. “Tired of my coaching already, Sullivan?”
More like he didn’t want to wear him out. “Nah, I just like giving Carter a hard time.” Especially considering he still had eyes for Lily. Kid couldn’t take a hint, but he was a damn good lightweight fighter when his ego could be contained to his skull.
Neal swallowed another gulp and propped a forearm against his thigh. “So, what’s got you so on edge this week?”
Kieran reeled back. “I haven’t been on edge.”
The older man chuckled and swiped the sweat dangling from his left brow against his shirtsleeve. “What do you call hovering around the lobby windows when you’re not sparring with the team? Reorganizing the training room equipment into a system that makes no damn sense? Tailing Lily when she’s on shift like you’re her personal bodyguard?”
Fuck, had he really been that obvious? He was losing it. He had to be.
