Page 42 of Until You're Mine
“I promise I’ll think about it,” he said, placing his hand on my arm. “Depending on how Knox’s fight turns out—that’s gotta be my main focus for now.”
In this instance, he and I actually wanted the same thing—for Shane to win—so I decided I could give him that, even if it meant he’d need someone else to set it up. I also wanted to be crystal clear on that point, no more jabs about if I stayed and my duty to the family. “I’ll do my best to get all the bills sorted out and have you up and running before I leave, but I am going to leave. I know you think my art’s just a hobby, but gallery internships are hard to land. The one I have lined up is pretty much my dream job, and if I do well there, it could turn into a full-time thing. I can’t let that opportunity go to waste.”
His lips pursed but he nodded. “Maybe just visit more often?”
“That can probably be arranged.” My worry was that every time I came back, I’d see Shane and slip back into this world, and there was too much about it that wasn’t good for me.
…
“You never asked for twenty.”
After staring at the bright laptop screen for so long, it took a couple of blinks for my blurry vision to sharpen. Shane stood across from me, his forearms crossed on the countertop, which was a nice sight and all but didn’t help with my brain putting thoughts through to my mouth. “Huh?”
“Push-ups. Because I could totally do them.”
Of that, I had no doubt. But I’d taken it upon myself to keep his ego in check, so I said, “I can do twenty push-ups, so if you came over to impress me with that, you’re going to need to go bigger.”
He leaned closer, those green eyes of his doing the wolfish, unnerving thing. “Trust me, endurance isn’t something I have a problem with.”
I reached for my drink, then abandoned it, worrying he’d read too much into it—whether or not he’d come to the correct conclusion was inconsequential. “Walked right into that one.”
“Afraid so.” His cocky mask dropped, sincerity showing through. “I owe you, bruiser. This is the big break I’ve been hoping for, and it’s all because of you that I get to step into that cage.”
“So you’re thanking me for the fact that you’re going to get punched and kicked a lot?” I shook my head and clucked my tongue. “Talk about a masochist.”
“Babe, whenever I’m around you I’m a masochist. But make no mistake, I’ll be doing the majority of the punching and kicking in that fight.”
“Yeah, as long as you stay standing and land some of those solid punches and kicks you lean too heavily on. If you go to the floor, though…” I tapped my pen against my desk, going into analytical mode. “Your grappling game is going to need more work.”
“You don’t ever let up, do you?”
“Not for some guy who begs for more.” It came out before I realized how it’d sound.Time to draw the line.“I’ll make sure to pass on my advice to Finn, since he’s the ground-and-pound specialist. Now if you’ll excuse me, boring facts and figures await me.”
Speaking of…I frowned at the figures onscreen.That can’t be right.I must’ve missed something.
“I’ll give you till tonight.” Shane took a step back, his gaze locked on to mine. “But then I’m coming for you.”
Those words trickled down to the cracks that’d formed in my walls, whispering that maybe everything didn’t have to change. Maybe I should stop overthinking and just enjoy what time we had together, even if it couldn’t go the way I was tempted to let it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Shane
“Don’t even think about it,” Liam said when he caught me smiling at his sister. “She’s leaving at the end of the summer, and you can’t afford split focus. Especially not now that her little stunt worked.” He stepped closer—clearly he wanted to really drive the menacing thing home. “I also don’t want to see her hurt. She’s had enough of that.”
The last thing I wanted to do was to hurt her, but when I opened my mouth to say so, he cut me off.
“Let me guess, you’re going to say that you won’t hurt her. I’m sure that right now, you think that’s possible. But why don’t you rewind a year or so back and think about what your training and fighting schedule looked like. Think of all the traveling, and how rarely you saw your family and friends.”
Those days were a blur, one workout after another, one town and venue after another, the next fight on my mind the second the final bell rang and I was declared the winner.
“Isn’t that your goal?” Liam asked. “To get back to that level?”
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the fame and the perks that came along with it. I’d gone from an absolute nobody to a somebody, and it wasn’t easy going back to being nobody. As much as I’d roll my eyes every time the commentators would call it a comeback—like it was an overnight thing instead of over a year of putting myself back together and hard work—I wanted to show them that I didn’t stay down.
“Knox? If that’s not your goal, then what the hell are we doing here?”
“That’s the goal,” I said. “I want it.” I could taste it. That belt was as good as mine.
