Page 77 of Until You're Mine
No, I’m doing this for both of us. Without the stress of trying to make a relationship work on top of everything else, it’ll be easier for us to achieve our dreams, and this’ll save us a lot of pain and heartbreak down the road. I’m being strong for both of us. Even though right now all I feel is sad and weak.
I moved on to Liam, the big brother I had never thought understood me. Now I realized that in some ways, he did better than anyone else. After all, I suspected he let Chelsea go to follow her dreams, and that he would bend over backward to ensure that Dad, Finn, and even Shane could obtain theirs.
I hugged him tightly and whispered, “Thank you,” in his ear. Then I drew back enough to look him in the eye. “While you’re pulling all the strings and taking on all the stress for everyone else, don’t forget to take care of yourself. I’m not the only one who should get to follow their dream.”
I almost left it, but I couldn’t help myself. “And please call Chelsea. Just to say hi or whatever. It might help you be at least semi-bearable for these other guys to be around.”
He gave me a crooked smile. “Couldn’t just let it go, could you?”
“It’s something I learned from my big brother.”
“Me,” Finn said, inserting himself into our bubble, so obviously he’d heard my advice.
With all the hugs doled out, it was time for me to go hop in my Mustang and drive off into the sunset. Metaphorically, of course, or I’d be driving into the ocean, and my car was a classic, not a submarine.
I paused for one last glance at the fighter still hitting the bag, begging him to look my way. Ironic, considering one of the reasons I was leaving was so that he wouldn’t get distracted during his training. So good to know he could, in fact, block me out if he wanted to.
My heart bled misery and pumped out more agony, and the way Finn squeezed my shoulder made it clear it showed. “Give it some time,” he said. “He’ll get over it.”
I nodded. That was what I wanted. Well, what Ishouldwant. It would mean I’d made the right decision. That I hadn’t screwed up a perfectly good relationship.
Not to mention the many other factors, like his career and my career, and if I didn’t seriously get out of here now, my mind would keep spinning on forever.
“Good-bye, everybody!” I practically screamed it so that the guy who refused to come over could hear it as well. “Make me proud. Kick some ass, win some fights, and know this girl’s cheering for you. All of you.”
The loud, supportive shouts of encouragement mixed with farewells lifted me up, buoying me enough to gather the strength to stride out of the gym, chin held high. I managed to keep going despite the fact that my heart ripped right in two the second I stepped outside. No matter what happened from here, part of my heart would stay here in San Diego, in that gym, with my brothers and my dad. With the cocky fighter I’d accidentally fallen in love with.
Good-bye, Shane Knox. I hope one day you’ll look back on me as the girl who loved you enough to let you have the career you deserve.
Chapter Forty-Six
Shane
“Where’s your head?” Liam popped my chin with his glove, a light tap that more pissed me off than anything. A week before the big fight, and as hard as I tried to focus on that and only that, my thoughts wouldn’t stop drifting to the woman who’d left me in the rearview mirror two weeks ago.
Since then, I’d been glad for the nonstop training that kept me occupied and exhausted, because the nights I spent alone in my apartment were downright pathetic. Everywhere I looked I noticed the absence of the girl who’d left a gaping hole in my life, and facing at least one member of her family—if not all three—every single day hardly helped.
Something softened in Liam’s expression, and that also pissed me off. I didn’t want pity. “Take a break,” he said, walking away before I could tell him I didn’t need one.
I yanked off my gloves, slumped into the nearest chair, and let my head knock back against the wall—okay, so I fucking needed a break. I needed more than that, but she didn’t live here anymore, and I was the bastard who flew off the handle, said the wrong thing, and let her walk away without a decent good-bye.
I’d fucked it up. Call it a Knox classic.
The door of the gym opened, and my dumb ass looked, ridiculous hope bubbling up. It wasn’t Brooklyn, but it was the next best thing.
I raised my hand in a wave, and Hector came over and sat next to me—he’d been stopping by now and then, like some overprotective mother hen, and I appreciated the hell out of it, even though neither of us wanted me voicing that.
“How’s it going?” he asked. “You ready for Saturday night yet?”
“I’ve been ready for weeks. I just want it over with.”
He frowned at me. “Time to adjust the fucking attitude, or you might as well forfeit now.”
I clenched my fists. “Everyone’s riding my ass today.”
“Apparently they need to grab the lube and ride it harder.”
“I’m not above hitting you.”
