Page 90 of Always You

No.

“That's all we can have right now.”

He studies my face while regret gets stamped on my chest, harder and heavier. But I can’t back out. I have to trust it will all work out at some point.

“You know you’re part of my future, right?”

I smile at his words, my heart feeling betrayed by my own actions. “Best friends forever, right?”

He nods, then his arm reaches out to pull me from the steps as he tucks me into his side.

“Best friends forever,” he confirms, pressing a kiss on my hair.

The corner of my mouth rises in a small smile, and I press my cheek against his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“I’m proud of you, Hunt. Claim your place, win that debut fight, show those fuckers you are there to take over, and who knows? Maybe you can ask them if you can fly back home for a few days in a couple of weeks? Or maybe Julie and I can visit when you’re all settled in. It’ll be fun.”

“I’d like that.” His lips land on my hair once more. “Though I’m not sure I won’t kiss you if I get you alone, Charls.” He chuckles, and I quickly slap his chest in response, with a grin splitting my face.

“Stop flirting with me.”

We’ve been friends since the first day we met, having a comfort between us that makes being friends the easy part of our relationship.

We can do that from whatever place we are in the world...

Right?

30

Ican’t find the enthusiasm I always anticipated imagining this moment.

I stare out of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the big house in the Hollywood Hills they gave me to stay in. It’s bigger than any house I’ve ever seen from the inside, and it’s hard to realize this is where I’m going to be living for the unforeseeable future. A year ago, I’d be pumped at the opportunity, but now it’s all overshadowed by the girl I wanted to share it with.

“Man, this is fucking sick,” Jason bellows from behind me, slapping me on the back. “Did you see? It has five bathrooms!” A tight smile curls my mouth when my eyes lock with his beaming face.

“It’s insane, really.” It really is. Here I am, an eighteen-year-old boy on track to be the next best thing in MMA. When I got that phone call from the AFA, I was ecstatic to fly toward freedom. But it was with a heavy heart. Looking into Charlotte’s blue-green eyes as I walked toward the gate yesterday was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do, and I wasn’t prepared for it. Ever since it was just my mother and me, I’d been waiting for the moment I could spread my wings, leaving everything in Braedon behind without as much as a second glance. But last year changed that for me. Now I’m leaving the one thing behind I want to keep more than anything.

With a pain in my chest, I pull my phone out of my pocket, dialing Charlotte’s number before putting the phone to my ear. My heart starts to race, looking over the Hills as the dial tone sounds, loud and ominous. Something in her voice yesterday felt final, and I know I have to let her go. I know it’s not fair to ask her to leave her life in North Carolina and just come with me. But now everything feels different. From the moment I landed in LA, calling her felt like torture, as if something erased the easiness between us, even though I’m dying to hear her voice.

“Took you long enough, Hansen.” I can hear her smile through the phone, and instantly I’m smiling.

“Sorry, babe. Things are hectic here.”

“Yeah? Bet they’re all gushing over the new prodigy? Got any groupies yet?”

I rub the back of my neck, thinking about the welcoming party last night.

“Just some people who are dying to meet the new fighter we signed,”Gina Partridge from the AFA told us. She’s my new manager, and wastes no time getting the ball rolling in whatever they got planned for me. Jason and I thought it was going to be a small gathering after the flight, have some drinks, that kinda thing.

Instead, we walked into a big pool party, where everyone cheered us on as we entered the room. Everyone wanted to shake our hands. We got offered drinks as soon as our glasses were empty, and within ten minutes, girls dying to get our attention surrounded us. It was a huge contrast with the small-town life in Braeden, and it did stroke my ego in more ways than I anticipated. We had a grand night, feeling like big shots at an LA party, but my mind kept wandering off to Charlotte with every girl who tried to glue herself to my side.

“Yeah, it was fun. They threw us a big LA party. I don’t even remember all the hands I shook.”

“That’s good. Did you ask them if you could fly back in a few weeks?”

“Yeah, I did,” I start, rubbing my hand over my cheek. “Fuck, Charls. I can’t.”

She stays quiet for a few seconds, the silence speaking loud and clear. “You can’t, or you don’t want to?”

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