Page 2 of Forever my Love

ChapterOne

“Hit me with everything you’ve got,” Reece Crawford said, using his shoulder to hold the large black punching bag firmly. “Take everything you’ve ever been angry about and use it. See if you can knock me down.”

Hailey thought back to that night a little over six years before. The fear. The guilt. The anger at herself for being so naive, so weak. She felt all of her muscles bunch up and respond.

She let loose a solid punch, and Reece took a step back and smiled at her.

“That’s it.” He chuckled. “Again.”

She threw another punch, then another. She didn’t stop until she was breathless and a sheen of sweat covered her skin.

“I knew you had fight in you,” Reece said, dropping his hold on the punching bag.

Reece was by far the nicest man she’d ever met. Not that she’d met many nice men in her twenty-one years. As a matter of fact, she hadn’t met any nice men until she and Harper had moved to the small town of Pride, Oregon.

Until that point a little over a year ago, when they’d driven into town and moved into their great-uncle’s cabin, Hailey had loathed men. Hated even looking at them.

She’d never had a single crush on a boy in school. Never felt her heart flutter at the thought of her first kiss. Never really felt anything for boys.

Then Reece Crawford had walked into Baked, the pizzeria where Hailey had gotten a job a week after they moved to Pride, and something had awoken in her.

Something Hailey hated. Loathed. Feared.

At first, she’d avoided Reece. Until she couldn’t.

The man came into Baked daily. Daily!

He spent most of his time sitting in a booth and working on his computer while sipping a soda and nibbling on bread sticks. Other times he was in there with his family or friends.

His sister, Hannah, had recently gotten engaged to Wyatt Auston, the new owner of O’Neil’s Grocery store, the only grocery store in the small town. Hannah worked at Hidden Cove, the new neighborhood that sat just outside of the small town.

Hailey really liked Hannah. She had even gone on a few trips to the mall with her and her best friend, Avery Auston.

Reece’s parents, Luke and Amber, were some of the nicest people that Hailey had ever met. Actually, everyone in Pride was nice, with the exception of a few high school kids that came in and left huge messes for her to clean up. Had she ever been that rude when she was younger?

Reece looked a lot like his father. He was well over six feet tall, had dark hair that he kept cut short, and had a beard, like most guys in town. She supposed it was an Oregon thing, to keep them warm or something. But the one thing that set him apart was his kind caramel-colored eyes.

Those eyes haunted her dreams. They made her think of things that she didn’t quite understand. Things that she hated herself for thinking and dreaming. Things that made her thing of the darkest night of her life.

“I think that’s enough for tonight,” Reece said, rolling his shoulders.

Hailey watched the move and when he glanced up and saw her eyes glued on him, she turned her gaze away quickly. She felt her face heat.

She’d never really been embarrassed around a man before. About the only real emotion she’d ever felt around a man was fear.

“How’s your sister doing?” Reece asked.

“Good.” Hailey walked over and picked up her gym bag. “She tore our shower apart. She and Nick are there right now, rebuilding our entire bathroom.”

Reece frowned. “Do they need any help?”

“I don’t think so. When I left, they appeared to have everything under control. Besides, the bathroom isn’t big enough for another person.” She sighed as she remembered that she’d need to use the bathroom at the Boys and Girls Club to shower for the next few days.

And she was going to need those showers. Reece had agreed to work with her every night this week to teach her self-defense and boxing.

When he’d first offered, she’d denied him. She didn’t care about boxing and didn’t need to know self-defense. She and Harper had never really gotten into sports.

But then she and Hailey had a talk the other night. Harper was afraid that the news report about her and Nick saving a busload of students during a bad snowstorm had gone national. The report told the world where they were and even where Harper worked, and her sister was seriously concerned that Fred would see the report and come after them.