Page 91 of Complete Me
Instead of bending her over the bed, I force myself to focus on fixing things with Sawyer. I pull out my phone and start a group chat with Sawyer, Dallas, Liam, and Carter.
Me: Dom’s 8pm. I don’t give a shit what you’re doing. Be there.
I couldn’t bring myself to leave Kinsey, terrified of her being alone. The Iron Wolves were still out there, and my nightmares of her being taken again were too real. She agreed that she wasn’t ready either, so after dropping her things off at my house, I brought her to her brother’s so I could go to Knockout. Finn said he has zero interest in watching the five of us beat the shit out of each other, so he stayed back to hang with Kinsey.
Carter has surprisingly been the one most chill about all of this. He’s been more and more supportive of Kinsey since summer started and he met his boyfriend, and that seems to be true even now as he shows up in a pair of khaki shorts and an Aspen Ridge Distillery sweatshirt. He puts up his hands in a defensive gesture when he sees me.
“I’m not looking to fight you, Reid. You love her?”
“More than anything,” I answer honestly.
“Then that’s all that matters to me. Nothing changes between us unless you break her heart.”
“I’d die first.”
“For some reason, I actually believe you’re crazy enough that you would,” he says as he pats me on the back. “I’ll stick around to make sure shithead, dipshit, and spunkrag don’t kill you. Probably would take all three, but they’d try.”
“Those nicknames are seriously fucked up, man. Thought Dallas was dumbass?”
“I guess it was. Wait, I think it’s dickhead now.” He shrugs. “I like dipshit better.” Carter pulls out his phone, and I know he’s texting their sibling group chat to update Dallas’ nickname.
Within another few minutes, the other three are walking through Dom’s gym, Sawyer walking in front and Dallas and Liam flanking him on either side. Sawyer drops his gym bag at my feet and faces off with me.
“This is how you want to handle it?”
“Ten years ago, you forced my ass here to work through my shit. You and your brothers all do the same. Whether you believe it right now or not, you’re my fuckin’ brother, Sawyer, so we’re gonna fight this out in the ring until you’ve worked through your shit,” I tell him, turning to face Dallas and Liam. “Same goes for you two.”
“Fine,” Sawyer snaps. “You want to work through this shit? Let’s work through it.”
We both tape up our hands, sliding our gloves on and stepping under the ropes. The hum of the fluorescent lights and our even breathing are the only sounds, the gym luckily empty at this time of night.
I’ve known Sawyer a long-ass time, and I’ve only seen him this angry one other time—when Ivy was kidnapped last year. I never thought I would be on the receiving end of his temper or rage, but if I was going to be, at least it’s for something worth fighting for. I know his anger is a combination of betrayal and my association with the MC. I know he blames me for her being taken. But nothing he can feel hasn’t already been felt by me tenfold. This is how he wants to handle his issues; this is how we’re going to get over ours.
There’s no tapping of gloves, no nods of our heads, no warmup. Sawyer circles me on the balls of his feet, his body tense and rigid. He comes at me hard, his typical finesse missing, replaced with rage fueled by a deep sense of betrayal. I dodge his first right hook, one of his signaturehaymakers that will rattle your brain. But I’m too slow to miss the second, his glove clocking my temple.
The hit forces me to stumble back, but I don’t go down, Kinsey’s pretty face flashing behind my eyes, reminding me why I’m here. I’m not Sawyer’s punching bag, I’m not asking for permission to be with her, I’m here to fight for her so they back off and let her live the life she wants to live.
I swing on him hard, his glove taking the first hit, his ribs taking a hard jab I throw at his side. He grunts in pain, the reverberations of the hit slithering up my wrist to my elbow.
Sawyer cracks his neck from side to side while bouncing on his feet, his eyes squinted into slits as he stares me down.
“Say something!” I yell.
Instead of responding, he comes at me, throwing two quick jabs to my face that I barely manage to block. I return with two hard shots to his ribs again, and I can hear the wind as it leaves his lungs. We go round and round, taking turns throwing hard punches, neither of us pulling a single one.
“She’s not a fling, she’s not temporary. She’s everything to me. I killed for her. I will kill for her. I’d fucking die for her!”
“She’s my fucking sister!”
“She’s the love of my fucking life!” He hesitates for a moment as my words hit him, finally breaking through a crack. “I never touched her until she was wholly mine, Sawyer, you know me. I wouldn’t risk our friendship unless I was in love with her. You fuckin’ know me!”
He stumbles backward, his face falling. “You’re right,” he says as he drops his gloves to his sides. “You’re right. I do know you, and that’s what scares me. She’s twenty-two, and I’m not ready for her to settle down. I’m scared of everything you’re involved in. I’m fucking terrified of her getting hurt again.”
“Stop treating her like she needs your permission to breathe. She’s strong and she knows what she’s doing. I’m notforcing her into anything. I’d die before I let anything happen to her again. You would have married Ivy at eighteen if you were given the chance.”
“Yeah.” Finally, Sawyer’s eyes are clear, looking at me like the best friend I’ve been to him for the last decade. He walks up to me, and I let my arms hang loose at my sides, letting him lead whatever the fuck he’s about to do, hoping like hell I’m not about to take one of those goddamn haymakers unexpectedly.
Instead, he shocks the shit out of me by grabbing the back of my neck with his gloved hand and pulls my forehead against his.
