Chapter twenty-seven
Sawyer
Don’t ask me how I manage to work after Tori drops her bomb, but I do. I’ll be damned if I’ll be like Lance and let this put me or anyone else in danger.
She’s running scared. Once I got over the initial shock of her breaking things off between us, I could see that clearly. She didn’t want to end our relationship. Her heart was hurting just as much as mine. But she’s scared.
And the thing is, I understand. I’m not a good bet when it comes to relationships, and she’s been burned badly in the past. It makes sense that it was only a matter of time before she’d panic and worry that I’m not in this for the long haul. She’s protecting her kid, and I can’t be mad at her for that.
I can be hurt and disappointed that she doesn’t trust me yet, but that just fuels my desire to prove myself to her.
When I get home after my shift, I text my brothers to see who wants to meet me at the gym. It’s late but there’s not a chance in hell of me sleeping tonight unless I completely exhaust my body.
Beckett and Hunter take me up on the offer, but Jude’s out of town with his hockey team, and Max is working the night shift.
By the time the boys get to the gym, I’m already in the middle of a set of sprints on the treadmill. The guys step onto the machines on either side of me.
“Hey man.” Beck starts off at a jog. “Everything cool?”
“Nope.” I increase my speed.
“Okay, are we gonna talk about it?”
“Nope.”
Thankfully, they let me run in silence, their company all I really need right now as I work out in my mind how to move forward. When I finish my set, I slow the pace down to a walk, and the two of them immediately do the same.
“How ’bout now?” Hunter asks.
I exhale loudly. “Yeah. So, Tori broke up with me.” Turning off my treadmill, I turn and walk over to the weight bench, setting it up for a bench press. The guys scramble to follow, and Beckett comes into position to spot me as I lay down on the bench.
“What happened?” he asks gently as I lower the weight.
I press it back up, then lower again and press up once more before I answer succinctly. “She’s scared I’m gonna walk.”
“Are you?”
I shoot a glare at Hunter. “No, you dumbass. I’m pretty fucking sure I love her and her kid. I have zero intention of walking away.”
“Well, did you tell her that?” Beckett adds, and my glare intensifies as I turn it on him.
I grunt as I push the weight up again. “When exactly was I meant to do that? When she was trying not to cry as she ended it, or when she drove away from me?”
I finish my reps and set the weight back down before setting my hands on my chest. Hunter and Beckett are silent, waiting for me, I guess.
“She showed up at the station and said she needed to end things. That it wasn’t working. But that’s bullshit, and she knows it.”
“Okay, but her feelings aren’t bullshit. And if you say she’s scared, then there’s a reason for that,” Beckett says, taking my place on the bench once I stand up. Hunter moves to spot him while I grab a set of dumbbells and start some curls.
“I get that,” I grind out. “But how am I meant to prove to her this is serious, that my feelings are serious, if she’s pushing me away?”
“Grand gesture.”
The two words Hunter says make me pause mid-lift. “Grand gesture. Wait, like, from romance books.” For the first time since Tori drove away from me, a smile crosses my face. “Hunter, you’re a fucking genius, my brother.”
I set the weights back down and walk over to the two of them. “Thanks for meeting me, but I gotta go. I have a grand gesture to plan.”
I’m already walking toward the changeroom when I hear Beckett yell at me. “You called us here for a workout and now you’re bailing on us?”
