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She believed in him.
Now she had nothing. No Ryder to cheer her on and challenge her on a professional level. Nothing to work towards. She was going to have a limp from the accident for the rest of her life. No surgery in the world could fix her busted hip and knee.
Growing up in San Diego, California, close to one of the bigger Naval bases, her family hadn’t been surprised that Ryder followed in their grandfather’s footsteps by enlisting. They had spent hours every day running on the beach of San Diego Bay training Hayes. She’d always chased after the gold; ever since she was a little girl.
Ryder had always been fascinated by the Navy—the drills, the routine, the constant challenge. All through his enlistment and graduation with top honors, she’d been his biggest cheerleader. Their parents had been proud, yet nervous when he’d been accepted into the Pacific Fleet. They hadn’t been aware that he did anything other than logistics on one of the fleet’s bigger ships, so they had no idea he’d been called to action in Syria.
More than once.
When Hayes had finally been found hours after being hit, by a teacher from her school that travelled the road she ran to school, she had no idea her brother was even missing. No idea her parents had gotten a terrifying knock on their door minutes after she’d left.
That had all happened nearly two years ago. She still felt the immense loss of her brother, of her dreams. She kept pushing herself to do more than she could if only to make him proud. To give him something to hold on to, even in death.
It beat wallowing in the pain.
Not long after Ryder’s death and her accident, they had moved to Loveland, Colorado. A sleepy little city that had accepted them like old friends. Hayes had a hard time fitting in because of rehab and needing the use of forearm braces to walk while doing it. On her seventeenth birthday, she’d had enough and forced her mind to make her body submit. She wanted to be normal again. To have friends, go out, meet boys. The normal teenage girl stuff. Much to her disappointment, it had never happened. She’d never fit in and found it hard to fight her way out of the depression that had taken her hostage.
When her parents noticed, which pressured them to emerge from their own grief, the worry she saw in their eyes only added to her guilt. So, she began running again, trying to show them she was moving forward. Even when she wasn’t.
Running erased everything in her mind. It gave her peace. Quieted the whispered voices trying to drag her down. The very reason she was up at the ass crack of dawn covering the length of Sunnyside Park before going to school. With only one month left before graduation, Hayes struggled with the choice of attending college or not, even though she’d been accepted to a couple.
Working at the local grocery store wasn’t something she wanted to do for the rest of her life, either. Full-out running wasn’t exactly an option anymore. Jogging a mile a day was only a fraction of what she had been capable of. She hadn’t done a thing with her life yet, and already, she felt like a failure.
Veering off the path to the middle of the baseball field, she watched as the sun began to rise over the trees. The beautiful hues of color exploded as the sun rose. Birds took flight, a breeze blew, Hayes closed her eyes. Sun-kissed warmth hit her skin like a balm. She felt a single moment of peace. With Ryder’s image in her mind’s eye, she felt his presence as the wind melted around her.
A hard hit from behind ruined everything.
Shit. Levi hadn’t meant to ram the willowy redhead from behind so hard. He had been trying to stop her before she stepped into the stupid gopher hole in the middle of the damn field when he’d trip over one of his own.
Fucking rodents.
“Son of a monkey biscuit!” He heard her cursing as he untangled their limbs. “What’s wrong with you?”
He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or what. “I’m sorry, sugar.” Holding out a hand as he stood, he pulled her up. An electric pulse zapped through his arm as their skin touched.
“What’d you run into me for?” she demanded, full of spit and fire. Her eyes, he was mesmerized by their radiance. They shone bright like the blue sky. Trying to discover every sparkle they emitted, he nearly missed her impatient growl as she turned to walk away.
“Wait!” he called, grabbing her fingers. “I was trying to stop you from tripping in the fucking gopher hole. Suckers have dug up nearly the entire field.”
She huffed out an annoyed breath before asking, “And you thought the best way to do that was tackle me to the ground?” With one hand on her hip and her foot tapping on the grass, he had to force back the laugh trying to rip from his throat.
“No, sugar.” Pointing behind him, he told her, “I went to grab your arm and tripped over another fucking hole. Might bring out my pellet gun soon.” He grumbled the last part more to himself than anything.
“Must you swear?” Taken aback by her question, he smiled, making sure his dimple appeared and hoping to get on her good side. “Nice try, dimples,” she huffed. Turning, she walked away from him before switching to a light jog.
Dropping to his knees, Levi brought his hands to his chest, whispering aloud, “Be still my beating fucking heart. I think I’m in love.” He was kidding, of course. Love at first sight didn’t really exist.
Watching her like a creeper until she was out of sight, he had to wonder if maybe it did? Shaking the thought from his head, he knew he had to walk away. He couldn’t deal with it. He was training for his next fight against one of the biggest names in the Colorado underground circuit.
He had one week to be ready. His winning streak of 16-0 could be broken, and he wasn’t ready for that yet. His brothers kept asking him about the bruises and the black eyes. Where he went every Saturday night. But he wasn’t ready to tell them. The compulsion he felt to beat the crap out of someone confused him. It was more than just the violence of the act, and he didn’t know why or what it meant.
If his mother ever found out, she’d kick his ass around the world and back. Worse than any other fighter could, too. Disappointing her wasn’t something he would handle well, either. She was the strongest woman he knew and finding out he was fighting would destroy her. For the time being, it had to remain a secret.
Jogging out of the park, his mind swirled with thoughts of the redhead as he’d plowed her to the ground. The way she molded to his body. A feeling he could most definitely get used to. As he pumped his legs harder, he thought back to when she walked away and the light limp he’d noticed. Curiosity piqued, he wondered if he’d see her again. More importantly, he realized he wanted to see her again.
“Son of a bitch!”
His best-laid plans may have just been tossed out the window by his attraction to a mystery woman with a limp. And now that he was thinking about her, she looked young. He prayed to God she was at least legal, or he’d be screwed six ways to Sunday.
