Page 60 of Heal Me, Love Me

“If you’re serious about Florida, don’t let this place make the decision for you.”

I turned back. “What does that mean?”

“It means go there because it’s the right move, not because you’re pissed off at everything you’re leaving behind.” His gaze flicked briefly to the gym floor. “Go see the room. Train with them. Let it be about fighting, not whatever else is going on.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

11

Keaton

Coach Luis spent nearlytwo hours riding my ass for my lazy footwork. The worst part was that he wasn’t wrong. It was my first real day back training, and my focus had been shit from the second I walked through Titan’s doors.

Knowing Rowan would be visiting Florida soon was already messing with my head, and Devon being in the building made it worse. Every time someone walked past me, I expected it to be him. Whenever his office door opened, I checked it before I could stop myself. It was fucking exhausting.

After toweling off my damp hair, I grabbed my bag from the bench in the locker room and headed out. Most of the afternoon class had already left, though a few guys still worked out near the cage while Derek helped a newer fighter with takedown entries. Across the mat, Mason stood with his gloves tucked under one arm, talking to Enzo.

I was almost at the front desk when Devon stepped out of his office and spotted me.

“You got a minute?” he asked.

“Got a shift tonight.” Technically, that was true, even though I still had a couple of hours before I needed to be there. Mostly, I just didn’t feel like standing around making small talk with him. “Is it urgent, or can we talk tomorrow?”

He shrugged. “Just wanted to check in. It sounded like Luis was riding your ass all afternoon.”

I snorted. “What else is new?”

“Good point,” he said with a faint smile. “But I’ve got to make sure my fighters are okay, especially after coming back from a fight.”

I hitched my bag higher on my shoulder. “I’m fine.”

He studied me for another second, then nodded. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”

As he turned back toward his office, I continued to the front doors. Before LA, we probably would’ve kept talking about training or whatever I was working on. Instead, the conversation ended after a quick update. We’d gone nearly two years since our split without a single issue coming up. Devon had been my coach and someone I actually enjoyed being around. And while I still wasn’t happy about him kissing me, it sucked that things had gotten awkward between us, especially when it was pulling my focus from where it needed to be: on my career.

My phone buzzed with an incoming message as I walked toward my car:

Rowan

You still at the gym?

A smile pulled at my mouth before I could stop it.

Leaving now

Wanna grab some food before you go to work?

Is that even a real question? You know I always want to eat after a workout

Burgers?

Hell yeah!

Rowan was already waitingoutside the burger place when I pulled into the parking lot twenty minutes later. The second I parked, he climbed off his bike and made his way over to me. He was wearing a hoodie that looked familiar.

“You stole that,” I accused as I got out of my car.

He glanced down at the hoodie, then back at me. “I borrowed it.”