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I tilted my head in Tanner’s direction as I stood. “He has a good heart, Char. I’m not saying you should give him a second chance, because I don’t know what you’re even mad at him for… just keep in mind that he has a good heart, and he loves you.”
She looked down at her feet, twirling a strand of her blonde hair around her index finger. “Thanks again, Merritt. For everything.”
I waved goodbye and left the two alone in the garage. If they would talk, at the very least, it was a start. I checked my phone as I got into my car: no missed calls or messages from Chase, but I had three from Shelly. I called her as I started driving to the gym.
“What took you so long to call me back? Did you get my messages?”
“I was working, Shell. What’s up?”
“Have you talked to Chase today?”
“Briefly. Why?”
“I sent you pictures. Check your texts.”
“I’m driving. Can you just explain what’s going on? I don’t want to be late for T.J.”
She sighed. “I woke up this morning, and did my usual scrolling on Facebook while I ate breakfast. Chase was tagged in a few photos from some random chick. It looked like he was at a show.”
“So?”
“So, it looked like he was hanging out… with this girl.”
Acid trickled into my stomach, but I tried to remain calm. “What did she look like? Was she blonde? Maybe it was Brooke. Maybe he went out with the guys and their girlfriends last night.”
“It wasn’t Brooke.”
I exhaled the breath I had been holding. “I’ll look when I get to the gym.”
“Merr, he had his arm around her in almost all of the pictures. I’m not trying to make you upset, but I thought you should know. You’re not on Facebook, so you wouldn’t see these things.”
“Thanks for looking out, Shell. I gotta go.”
“Call me later, okay?”
“Sure. Bye.” I raced the rest of the way to the gym. When my car screeched to a halt in the parking lot, I opened Shelly’s texts. The girl Chase had his arm around in the pictures definitely was not Brooke. I recognized Philip, and the rest of his bandmates, but did not know the other girls that were with them. I knew it was normal for fans of the band to snap pictures of them. I did not think he was cheating on me, or at least I hoped he wasn’t. What upset me more was the fact that he was either too tired or too busy to talk to me, and when we finally talked earlier, he had given me an attitude. I didn’t get so much as a text most days, yet this stranger got to have his arm around her. I could feel my cheeks getting hot as I stared at Chase’s smile.
T.J. startled me out of my thoughts, leaning into my open window. “You coming in, or are we training in your–” he stopped when he saw the tears in my eyes. “What’s wrong?”
I held up the picture of Chase and the blonde.
He took my phone from me to get a better look. His eyes were soft when he handed it back to me, but his voice was firm. “Get out.”
I rolled my window up, and stepped out of my car. He held the gym door open for me, and I walked inside towards the ring.
T.J. pulled my arm. “We’re going over here today.” He motioned to the large black punching bags that were hanging in the far corner of the gym. Positioning himself behind one, he turned his baseball cap backwards. “Go ahead.”
Without a word, I began hurling my fists into the bag, each punch landing harder than the one before it. Instantly, I began to sweat, all of the anger and heat coming to the surface of my skin. The picture of Chase and the blonde was burned into my mind. My arms were burning, but I did not stop. T.J. held the bag steady for me as I attacked it with all of my might. Droplets of sweat began dripping down my face. It took me several minutes to realize that the drips were not sweat, but tears.
“Okay,” T.J. said gently. “You can stop now.”
“No.” My voice came out like a sob. My arms and shoulder felt weak, but I did not let them fall. I used every ounce of strength in me to muster another punch as the tears overflowed.
“Merritt, enough.” T.J.’s voice was louder. He pulled the bag back when I did not listen, and I stumbled as my arm swung into the air.
“What are you doing?” I growled, the tears streaming down my face.
He stepped around the punching bag, and wrapped his arms around me. My body stiffened at first, unsure of what he was trying to do. His embrace felt warm and inviting, and my muscles began to relax as I buried my head into his chest.
