Page 37 of Heal Me, Love Me

“That’s not what I’m doing.”

“It kind of sounds like it is.”

I stepped back. “No. I’m trying to protect myself.”

He lifted a brow.

“The reason things ended with Devon in the first place was because I didn’t want people to think I was getting special treatment from the owner of the gym,” I explained. “That matters even more now.”

Understanding slowly replaced the frustration on his face. “Because you just signed with Elevate,” he sighed.

“Exactly. The last thing I need is for people around Titan to think I only got opportunities because Devon liked me, especially since I haven’t been fighting as long as most of the other guys.”

Rowan dragged a hand across his jaw. “I didn’t even think about that.”

“Plus …” My voice lowered. “Outing someone would be shitty.”

“I don’t like it, but you’re right.” He nodded. “We’ll keep Devon out of it.”

“Thank you.”

“I still hate him, though.”

“I’m not much of a fan either.” A few cars passed farther up the road, but otherwise it was just the two of us standing there, trying to figure out what came next. “So you’ll come by tomorrow morning?” I confirmed.

“Yeah.”

“But you’re going to keep staying at your parents’?”

“For now.”

I didn’t like that answer, but after everything that had happened, I didn’t really have the right to push.

He squeezed my hand before letting go. “I should head out.”

“Okay.”

Neither of us moved right away. Then he leaned in and kissed me quickly, nothing heated or desperate, just enough to remind me we were still us even if everything around us had become complicated as hell.

“See you tomorrow.” He gave me a small smile.

“Later.”

I watched him climb back onto his bike, start it, and pull onto the road before finally heading toward my car.

Just like my drive to the river, my mind was reeling. Even though we’d agreed to continue our relationship, our future somehow felt even more uncertain than it had a few hours earlier.

Florida.

The word replayed in my head the whole way home. When I pulled up, the house lights were on. Derek’s car was parked at the curb, while Enzo’s truck was in the driveway.

Voices drifted from the kitchen, and normally, I would’ve joined them, but tonight I wanted to be alone. I headed straight down the hall toward my room, shut the door quietly behind me, and sat on the edge of the bed. My elbows rested on my knees as I stared at the floor for a while.

Rowan had told his parents about us, and the thought still felt surreal—not bad, just strange in a way I couldn’t fully explain.

Growing up, I’d never considered coming out to my parents. My dad threw around slurs whenever anything he thought was remotely gay came on TV, and my mom didn’t really care enough to notice much about me. At best, she probably would’veshrugged and gone back to whatever she was doing. In no version of my life could I have imagined sitting down with them to talk honestly about who I was and who I loved. But now, with my dad dead and Mom no longer living in Sac, I didn’t really have to think about it.

But Rowan’s parents …