Page 79 of Loathe at First Sight

I let out a heavy sigh, knowing there’s no way she’s going to let any of this go. “It was the best I’ve ever had.”

“Aha! I knew it! I knew that whole big-muscled thing would come in handy.”

“Yeah, we had some fun.”

“Did I tell you I figured out where I recognized him from?”

“I didn’t know you thought you recognized him,” I reply, taking a bit of frozen pizza.

“Yeah. I thought something about him looked familiar, but I could never quite put my finger on it. But last week, I was in Miami, and I finally figured it out.”

“Miami?” I ask. “What the hell does Miami have to do with Jack?”

“You don’t know? He hasn’t said anything to you?”

“Ronnie, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Well, you know that guy, Brent? The one that I see whenever I head to Miami?”

“Sure,” I lie because I’m unable to keep up with all of the men Ronnie dates. “Let’s stop taking pit stops. Get to the point.”

“Brent is really into the whole UFC thing, so he insists that we watch all the fights. They were talking about the heavyweight championship and who had won it in years past, and none other than Jack popped up on the screen.”

I let out a loud laugh. “No way! Jack wasn’t a UFC fighter,” I say, unable to take her seriously.

“Maybe Jack wasn’t. But Jackson Barnett was.”

“Who?”

She pulls out her phone and types something into the search engine. After scrolling for a moment, she hands it to me.

I look down at the phone and see a large muscular man in nothing but shorts who looks like he’s gearing up for a fight. He has a buzz haircut and no beard, but there’s no question.

It’s Jack.

Those green eyes and tattoos are unmistakable.

“What the hell?” I ask. “Jack was a UFC fighter?”

“Yep.”

“Why isn’t he one now?”

She pops a chip into her mouth. “I asked Brent that same question. I guess that Jack got pretty badly hurt.”

“During a fight?”

She shakes her head. “Motorcycle accident. He and some friends were out racing on a dirt track one day, and Jack lost control. He had to have major reconstructive surgery, and doctors told him he couldn’t fight anymore. Plus, there was some question as to whether he was on drugs at the time.”

“So, why move to Lilly Leaf Falls? It’s not like it’s anywhere near Miami.”

“I have no idea, but I guess when you fall from grace, you want to get away from the scene of the accident.”

Don’t I know it?

It kind of hurts my feelings that Jack didn’t say anything to me about this. I get that everyone has their secrets, but I spilled mine to him. That would have been a great time for him to share that maybe we went through the same type of thing.

Is there more to the story?

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