Page 57 of Crave Me

“Hey, man. How’s life?” he asks.

“Shit. Ready to beat the shit outta something.”

“Happy to help, you sure as shit can try.”

Reid’s not a trained fighter. Sure, he’ll knock around a heavy bag like it’s an inflatable, but he doesn’t fight unless he has to. He’s more of a weightlifter and runner. I know I got his ass in both speed and experience, even if one of his punches is enough to send me to sleep for a month.

After wrapping up and stretching, we climb into one of the boxing rings. Tapping gloves in the center, I don’t hold back. My first punch lands on his ribs, and even through the gloves, it’s like connecting with a concrete wall, the reverberations spreading through my fist and up my entire arm. I bounce on my feet and shake my hands to my sides. He keeps his hands up to block his face but otherwise lets me slam my fists into him.

“Fucking fight back, Reid!”

He shoves me off of him.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s up your ass, huh?”

I send a right hook to his face that he narrowly dodges.

“Dallas! You know this is fucking stupid, man. I’m not going to hit you back. Just get it out of your system.”

I ignore him, and instead, land two quick jabs to his ribs, pain ricocheting again through my arms. This time he does hit back, one solid punch, right to my face. I stumble back onto theropes, tossing my arm over it to hold myself up as blood pours from under my eye.

“What’s got you so riled up that you wanted to get in here with me? No one is crazy enough for that.”

I snap. The pressure of the last week bubbling over to an all-time high that I can no longer contain.

“Blaire! That’s what’s gotten into me. Fucking Blaire! She’s under my skin like a fucking disease that I wouldn’t shake even if I could. I’m obsessed with her, every piece of her. I don’t even know how it happened. We hooked up once and then got stuck at my house during the snowstorm and everything changed. But she’s hiding something big, man, and she won’t fucking let me in. She won’t even tell me where she lives! Fuck!” I pace around the mat, trying to calm myself down. “When she got here she said she lived with her grandparents, and I didn’t even think to ask who they were. Today she asked for leave from work for an emergency and I caught her in a straight-up lie. She bolted and I don’t even know how to fucking find her. So instead of spending my night going fuckin’ door to door all over Aspen Ridge looking for her, I’m here to fucking hurt somethin’.”

Reid’s quiet as he climbs out of the ring and degloves, pulling the elastic out of his hair and retying it so it’s out of his face. He gathers himself before facing me, throwing a towel in my direction.

“Look, brother, I can help you, but this shit sucks. I’m only telling you this because you said she’s got an emergency and that doesn’t sit right with me knowing what I know.”

“How the fuck do you know anything? Do these girls just flock to you and open up?”

He laughs at that, but the humor is lost on me.

“Ivy and Blaire were both right place, right time. I ran into Blaire when she first got here, before she even interviewed withSawyer. She needed some help, and I was in a position to give her what she needed at the time.”

So help me, if he’s fucked her I’ll fucking kill him.

“Get that dumbass look off your face, I’ve never touched her you stupid fuck. What is with you and your brother? You’re Neanderthals. I gave her a place to stay.”

“She’s at your fucking house?” Rage boils to the point of overflowing, especially after he rolls his eyes at me.

“No. I let her rent the room above Rogue. It’s a studio and has everything she needs while she gets on her feet.”

“Because her grandparents don’t fucking live here. She’s above Rogue?”

“As far as I know. I’m not telling you more. You gotta ask her. “

“Thanks, man. I owe you.”

I’m out the door and hauling ass into my car to get to the bottom of this. Whatever she’s going through, I’ll be damned if she goes through it alone. Within ten minutes, I’m pulling up and parking on the side of the street in front of Rogue Tattoo. I walk around back, find the stairs that lead to the second floor, and take them two at a time, pounding my fist on the door. Blaire opens the door meekly, and her tear-stricken face nearly takes me to my knees.

“Baby.” My voice softens as I push open the door and reach for her, bending and picking her up, and carrying her into the room, kicking the door shut behind me. In the center of the room is a futon, and I sit us down on it. Her hands come up to cup my face, angling me from side to side while she looks me over.

“Dallas, your face. What happened? Are you okay? We need to clean this up.”

In my hurry to get to her, I completely forgot about my busted face and realize I probably look alarming.

---