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A grin tugs on my lips. Fuck, I missed this prick. I know he will never truly forgive me, but Q has been my best friend for most of my life. It’s hard not to miss him. Which makes turning him down even harder.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave my cell.”
Quinton rolls his dark eyes at me. “Scarlet and Aspen aren’t here. They went shopping, and my dad ordered extra security to follow us around. So get off your lazy ass and put the fucking workout clothes on, or I’ll drag you to the gym like this.” He points at my jeans, long sleeve shirt, and bare feet.
Only when I look down do I realize he has also brought some sneakers for me.
“Fine,” I agree, before quickly getting changed into the stuff he brought.
“Finally.” Quinton sighs dramatically as if he has been waiting for hours. “Come on.” He opens the ajar door wide and waves me through. “After you.”
My first step out of the cell is hesitant and has my stomach in knots. How many days has it been? It feels like weeks. I don’t love being locked up in a single room without a window, but I don’t hate it as much as I should either.
Like I explained to Dr. Stone, this has been the most relaxed I’ve been in a very long time. Being out of the cell has that feeling of safety disappearing while it’s replaced with an uneasy feeling in my gut. Having Q walking behind me only adds to my discomfort.
When I hear a second pair of footsteps behind me, my instincts kick in, and I spin around to see where the danger is coming from. A few feet behind Q, one of the guards reaches for his gun, while I have nothing but my fists to protect me.
“Calm down, everyone.” Quinton quickly defuses the situation, but I can’t shake the feeling of danger.
It’s odd because I normally don’t fear anything. Quite the opposite. I’m always the first one to run into danger. But this is different because this time the danger is me. I can’t trust myself and that means that for the first time in a long time, I’m scared.
“I think it’s better I stay in the cell until I have better control of… you know… myself.”
I’m not sure if it’s my words or whatever Q reads in my expression, but his eyes go wide, like he’s in shock before something like pity washes over his face.
“I’m not sure if you’re faking it or if you’re really that fucked up in the head right now.”
“I’m really that fucked up,” I answer without missing a beat. “I don’t trust myself anymore. What if I try to hurt someone again?” It’s probably a mistake to confide in Quinton like this, but I need him to understand that I can’t control part of me, and that fucking scares me.
“There’s no one here you can hurt. It’s just me and you and a bunch of guards. If it makes you feel better, I won’t let you get close to heavy weights at the gym. We’ll get on the ring and spar a little bit, and if you go all crazy on me, I’ll have the guards kick your ass,” he half jokes.
“Aspen and Scarlet are really not here?”
“No. they went shopping for the baby,” Q says before cursing under his breath like he didn’t mean to tell me about the baby.
“Congrats, by the way. Scarlet told me about Aspen being pregnant. I hope that was okay. Don’t be mad at her for telling me.”
“It’s fine, I guess. Thanks, now can we go to the gym?”
“All right,” I agree, shoving my hands awkwardly into the shorts pockets.
Spinning around, I continue walking down the hall, surprised when Quinton falls in step next to me instead of behind.
Together, we walk up the stairs and turn toward the in-house gym. Q wasn’t joking when he said Xander upped the security for me because every time we turn into a new hallway, I see a guard standing next to the door, every single one has their eyes on me. If it wasn’t for Quinton walking next to me, I would definitely be more nervous with all the attention on me. When we finally get to the gym, two guards follow us inside and position themselves in the corners of the room while two more block the entrance to the gym.
I don’t think an actual prison has this much security.
Still feeling a little on edge, I take in the smell of sweat and iron and let it ground me. Quinton grabs two sets of tape and boxing gloves while getting into the small boxing ring on the far-right side of the large gym.
Quinton throws the tape and gloves over to me. We both tape up our hands and put on the boxing gloves; I then climb into the ring, and we get into a fighting position.
I can’t count the times Q and I have sparred with each other, but I’ve never actually been worried about it before. This time is different because I’m pretty sure he actually wants to hurt me, and I’m still banged up from my short stay with Rebecca.
Throwing my hands up to protect my face, I start moving around the ring, letting Quintonthrow the first jab. He comes at me with a right hook, but I manage to dodge it. However, his left follow-up jab hits me on the side of my head.
I shake it off and throw my hands up in a protective pose. “You taking it easy on me? I barely felt that,” I taunt, and I don’t know what in the world is wrong with me. I should be glad he’s taking it easy, yet my stupid ego is getting the better of me.
“Don’t want Scarlet to be mad at me again.”
