Page 38 of 4th Degree

“Come on, I’m this way.”

She follows along, allowing Brutus to walk beside me. When we reach my car in the designated parking lot, she waits patiently as I open the back door and nudge Brutus to climb in.

“You want to put your bag in the trunk? If you put it on the back seat, he’ll probably slobber all over it.”

Skylar lets out a giggle at that, the sound tinkling like bells in the cold city air and making something take flight in my stomach.

With both of our bags packed away in the trunk, we climb into my car.

“Where to?” I ask.

“I’m over in Fairmount,” she answers, her hands clasped in her lap and nerves lining her body. At first, I think it’s because she’s uncomfortable with being alone in the car with me. Which is when I realize I didn’t even bat an eyelash before offering to drive a student home, a boundary I’ve never crossed before.

For fuck’s sake, what am I doing?

But before I can spiral, I glance at Skylar again, and I realize…she’s not nervous about being alone with me. She looks the way she did when she almost quit: uncertain about asking for help.

That I can handle.

“I actually used to live around there,” I say as I pull out of the parking lot, wanting to put her at ease with some conversation about myself. “You know Eastern State Penitentiary?”

I see her nod out of the corner of my eye.

“That’s where I grew up.”

That earns me a raised eyebrow. “In a prison?”

“Yup. How do you think I got started with fighting? Those ‘Muay Thai in Prison’ documentaries aren’t based on fiction.”

She huffs a laugh, relaxing a little more into her seat.

“I’m three streets over from the prison on Poplar,” she says on a chuckle. “I was actually going to use it as your landmark for getting me home.”

“Prison, it is. But next time, you’re sitting in the back for this ride. So you can get the full experience.”

Another laugh has my stressed and tired mood starting to dissipate.

“So did you actually live around Fairmount?” she asks curiously. “Or where did you grow up?”

“I grew up in West Chester, but I’ve been in the city since I started fighting. I lived in Fairmount for a while. Actually, I feel like I’ve lived in every part of Philly.”

“Well, yeah. Twenty years will give you the time to jump around.”

I aim a glare her way at the reminder of my age, but she’s grinning wide, so my look softens almost immediately.

“What about you?” I ask her. “Grow up around here?”

She shrugs. “It’s kinda the same for me, minus growing up outside of the city. I’ve bounced around, but always within Philly. I’ve been in Fairmount the longest, but only because we’re grandfathered into a pretty nice spot right now.”

I rest an elbow on my window as I rub my beard in thought. I want to ask her more questions, but my meter for how much knowledge is appropriate is totally shot with this girl. When does it go from normal small talk to I want to get to know you?

I decide on one more.

“Restless family?”

A pause. “Restless isn’t the right word. We just…lived where we could. Whatever we could afford.”

Money again.

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