Page 22 of One Step Sideways

I hated the apartment feeling empty for some reason, which threw me. Empty was usually my safe space. Empty being just Sadie and me. It was weird because a few days ago I would have loved this, and now?

I wasn’t ready to admit I was missing any sort of a distraction.

But you are.And he had a name.

He hadn’t panicked when he’d seen me panicking. I suppose there had to be a joke in there somewhere, but I wasn’t feeling it.

My cell phone buzzed and, glancing at the number, I sighed. I knew I could only avoid Mom for so long before she’d be calling Rawlings to check up on me, and it wasn’t that I knew she loved me and worried. She was just sometimes a little too much.

We weren’t a military family. Both she and Dad had been bemused when I decided to join basic training instead of trying to get a scholarship in some sort of computer science. I’d been building computers since I was around nine, so they both thought that was the way I was going to go. What they never knew, what they willneverknow, was the shit-show my school life was.

We didn’t have any money. Dad worked long hours. Mom juggled three jobs around family. All to send me to a school supposedly to give me a leg up but that was full of rich, entitled pricks that made my life a misery from day one.

A sharp shove to my back had me hitting the lockers. I didn’t need to see to know who it was from the sneering voice. “Come on, scholar-shit, let’s see what you’re really made of.”

Except I hadn’t been there on a scholarship. Mom and Dad paid a ton of money to send me there. Not that I said that. There was no point. Not when my locker was filled with dog crap. Not when my books were ripped, and I faced detention. Not when the obligatory sports turned me into one massive bruise, because every other person on the team made me their target.

I stuck it out. Stuck it out until I left and enlisted. Half of me had been expecting the army to contain the same bullies, but it hadn’t, or not with me anyway. For the first time my skills had been useful. Basic training had been impossible at first, but somehow my skinny body had packed on lean muscle, and I’d thrived. I’d jumped through all the hoops I needed and thought I’d hit the jackpot when I got assigned to Diesel’s team.

They didn’t know what to do with me at first. Diesel, Gray, and Aubrey were a world away from me in experience and skill, but there must have been something they saw in me, and I quickly proved my worth.

My mind shied away from how it ended. After the episode this morning, it wasn’t a good idea to remember.

I glanced at Sadie, who was looking at me like she always did. Ready to follow or ready to have my back. “I really wish I could.” I wanted to follow Kane desperately.

But I knew four years later I was still the coward that had been created in that hole. Maybe I would always be.

And I hated myself for it.

Kane

“Who is it?” Ringo asked, and I glanced at the man. I would put him up there in age with Rawlings, so he had to have ten years on me, at a guess. Not that he wasn’t fit. An understated fit, but one look at those whipcord muscles and noone with any sense wanted to get in his way. He had some half-visible tats just below his short-sleeves. Dark brown hair cut military short and green eyes that were so sharp they could cut glass. He had a scar that ran vertically from his ear down his throat and stopped about collar length. I assumed he’d served with the rest of them, so he probably disliked me as well.

Nah, Rawlings didn’t dislike me. I was abusinessasset. But anything was better than where I’d come from, so…

“It’s the same kid from the gas station and the Saunders place.”

I was expecting a question, a verification.You sure?But Ringo just texted—I assumed Rawlings—which he confirmed a moment later. “Diesel says will the kid know you recognize him?”

I shook my head. “He was masked both times. He still might freak out, though. He definitely saw me both times.”

Ringo tapped the steering wheel. “He ain’t hiding. This is a public gym. He has to have some confidence in not being recognized.”

I watched him go inside. “What about the scar? He’s allowed?”

“Ricky, the gym manager, allows anyone that can fairly throw a punch. If they play nasty, he won’t have them back. He has matches and takes a percentage, but he’s just paying his bills. He’s had outside interest in sponsoring the fights a few times, but he won’t let anyone cheat. He doesn’t care if you have a scar or a fucking wooden leg, there’s always an opponent.” Ringo tapped his fingers on the wheel. “It looks busy. Fights are usually at night, but maybe they have some going on today.”

And an idea crept in. “Does Shae Turner fight?”

Ringo turned to eye me. “Yes, as he’s enhanced. Why would you think that’s a good idea?”

“Because any other sort of interaction would be sus. He’s not gonna believe I want to meet people.”

Ringo chuckled. “Fuck, I might actually like you.”

“Yeah, well let’s see if he tries to kill me first.” Ringo scoffed at my words. “I’m not a Vance,” I said, remembering what Rawlings had said, “and I have no idea what his scar might be hiding.” And I remembered the confidence Saundershad, and the lack of concern when he saw me, plus the unconcerned reaction of his dad in the gas station. The kid had to have something.

“Did you get any clue of an ability?”

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