Page 1 of Shifting Gears

CHAPTER 1

AJ

“Goodbye, Rosalie.”

I closed the door behind me and walked around the corner of the house, slipping into the darkness. I figured she’d try to stop me, so I wasn’t surprised when she flung open the front door and appeared in the driveway.

Seeing her tears stream down her face broke something inside me. This time, I was the one causing her pain. She was the one person I’d never wanted to hurt, and here I was, tearing her apart right in front of my eyes. I held myself back from going to her as she ran back inside and reappeared a minute later with the key to my Lincoln in her hand. The sight of her desperately tugging the driver’s door open made me hesitate again.

Am I really gonna go through with this? Do I even care what her family thinks? When did I let any motherfucker tell me what I could and couldn’t do in my life?

But that wasn’t the reason I was saying goodbye for good to the only woman I’d ever loved. It had been the sight of her beaten and barely breathing on the cold, wet ground during my fight a little over a month ago. Hearing her weak voice in the hospital room the day after I won, it wrecked me. The fact was, I couldn’t promise it wouldn’t ever happen again becausedangerous people surrounded my life. That was why I was leaving Rosalie Wells far behind and hopping on a flight to Tokyo tonight.

I watched my car take off down the street and didn’t leave the shadows until it was long out of sight. I sighed as I rubbed my face, letting my resolve to protect her strengthen me once more. Picking up my duffel bag that I had left out here before I went inside, I tossed it over my shoulder before I yanked out my phone and texted her dad, Kayden Wells. He had set this whole thing up after Rosalie went through what she did. He couldn’t stand her being with me, so he offered me money and a job in a different country to get lost. And here I was, accepting his offer.

AJ

Ready.

Kayden

Be there in five.

I walked out into the driveway, and a few minutes later, Kayden pulled up in a yellow-and-black Tesla Model S. I went around to the passenger side and opened the door. Sliding in, I put my duffel between my legs on the floor.

“Here’s the card with the money on it; password and PIN for the card on the envelope. Don’t lose them. And your flight pass,” Kayden said as he handed me a white envelope.

As he drove away from her house, I glanced in the rearview mirror a final time, memorizing one last thing about her and the life I was leaving behind.

An hour later, we parked in the departure lane of LAX. I grabbed my bag and opened the door, sliding out onto the busy walkway. I turned to shut the door when Kayden spoke once more.

“AJ, good luck over there.”

I glanced at him before nodding and closing the door. I didn’t wait to watch him drive away. Soon after, I was going through airport security, where they made me turn around to go check my damn bag at the front in order to bring my brass knuckles with me.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me. One hundred bucks to check a bag? Goddamn robbery.” I slid over the cash to pay for it, and grabbed a few things from the side pocket of the bag, including my earbuds, before they took it and threw it on the conveyor belt.

I went back through security and ended up having to jog to get to my damn gate in time since it was on the opposite side of the airport. I scanned my boarding pass and walked onto the plane, looking for my seat. When I realized Kayden had bought me the back seat on the flight, knowing full well that motherfucker could easily afford first class, I stopped.

Fuck that shit.

I slid into an empty aisle seat halfway down the plane. If anyone said I was in the wrong seat, I’d just ignore them. I dragged my hood over my ball cap and tucked my hands into my sleeveless hoodie pocket, reclining as much as possible after the stewardess passed by. I closed my eyes as the plane took off. Only twelve hours until I touched down. Might as well get some sleep while I could. I tried to think of everything I was going to have to do when I got there, but Rosalie’s pleas for me to stay were the last things rolling around in my head as I finally drifted off.

Turned out,sleep was a bad idea.

When I landed, it was in the middle of the night, and I was wide awake. My sleep schedule wasn’t the best anyway, but this would seriously fuck me over.

I made my way through the airport, and it immediately became obvious how much I stood out in this crowd. I towered over most of the people around me, and they pointed and whispered as I walked by. Even stopped to let a couple of cute girls take a photo with me. Their English wasn’t the best, but I’d smirked at the “strong man” comment they made when they asked.

Living here is going to be hard if people don’t stop fucking eyeballing me.

Eventually, I got my duffel bag and walked out into the pickup area, where I hopped on a bus leading into the city with a group of people. The bus was packed, so I stood in the middle as it drove away. People crammed around the space and tried not to bump into me.

Guess personal space isn’t a big thing here. But you best believe they're gonna give me some.

I had no idea where I was supposed to get off this damn bus, but eventually, I got off as close to the shipping docks that I could see us stopping at. Didn’t know how much it was, so I threw a five onto the tray, and the driver attempted to give it back to me, but I kept on walking.

Everything was smaller here. The people, the streets, the alleyways, most of the cars. You name it, and it was all differentfrom what I was used to. Near where I got off the bus, a guy helped me use an ATM to exchange some of my American cash for yen—the type of money they used here. I got out more than I needed and finally got some food at some sort of noodle place.

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