My chest tightened, and I slowly moved my arm off my face and stared up at the ceiling.
My mind immediately replayed everything that had happened between Savannah and me.
Every kiss.
Every touch.
Every moment when she looked at me like she was both drawn to me and terrified of what that meant.
I thought she’d remind me of the worst parts of my past—the chaos, the anger, the darkness.Instead, she’d done the exact opposite.
Savannah was… light.
Something steady.
Something real.
Something that made me want a future I’d never cared about before.
I pushed myself up slowly from the floor, resting on my elbows.“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Across the gym, Benji stood with my sketchbook in his hands, his eyes wide as he flipped between the pages, and then looked back at me.He held up the sketchpad slightly.
“Don't lie to me, Cage.I’ve seen the way you draw,” he said slowly.“You don’t miss a single detail when it’s someone you love.”
His gaze dropped to the page again.
“You used to do the same thing with Lyra.”
I didn’t bother denying it.
Because he was right.
It had been years since I’d drawn her… or anyone like that.Before Savannah, my sketchbook had been nothing but tattoo concepts, random designs, ideas for clients.
Then she showed up, and my mind was her resting place.Suddenly, every time I sat down in front of a blank page and I moved my hand, she appeared on the page.It would be her eyes, her lips, her hair, her legs—her everything.
The first few times had shocked the hell out of me.
But now?
Now I looked forward to drawing aimlessly just to look down and see Savannah staring back up at me from the paper.
The hold this woman has on my soul should be studied.
Benji walked over and dropped down beside me against the base of the ring, the mat creaking under his weight.I sat up fully, leaning my back against the side of the boxing ring and closing my eyes for a second.I raised a leg and propped my elbow to my knee, and my muscles started to ache now that the adrenaline had worn off.
The quiet in the gym felt heavier after everything we’d just said.
Benji nudged my arm.
“Here.”
I opened my eyes as he handed the sketchbook back to me, and when I looked down at the page, my chest tightened.
Savannah.
It was a sketch from the Dirty Rabbit.The night I saw her out with Nerissa and convinced her to have a “practice date” and meet the guys; the night she’d finally relaxed long enough to laugh at something Ari had said.
