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“You stole it, and then you stacked it. It was a classic,” Brax yells.
“Yeah, and I’m sorry for that. I let you have a free hit, didn’t I?” The guy chuckles from behind Jessie’s shield.
“I warned that if I saw you again, I’d kill you,” Brax seethes.
“C’mon, that was five years ago, Braxy boy, get over it.”
“What’s he doing here, Jess?” Brax flicks his eyes to Jessie.
“He’s here to help prep Troj for the fight,” he explains, and I look around the room, still seeing no sign of Troj. Maybe he’s still at the gym, or he went back to his cabin because he’s tired.
“Really, this guy?” Brax laughs bitterly.
“He’s the only one who can match him,” Jessie points out, much to Brax’s disgust.
“In a ring maybe.” He eases himself out of Screwy’s hold and backs off, heading straight to Grace and helping her up on her feet.
“You stay out of my way.” He stops to point his finger at the guy's face as he passes him. “You don’t talk to, touch, or so much as look at my old lady… and you might live to see your brother fight.” Brax leads Grace out to the foyer, giving Autumn a filthy look over his shoulder before they disappear through the double doors.
“Glad we cleared that up,” the long-haired guy says, sliding a cigarette out of his pack and lighting it up. “Now, where’s my little brother?”
Jessie shakes his head and rolls his eyes, and the one they call Squealer gets up from a nearby chair and pours him a shot from the bottle that’s on the table.
“Just remember, this was your idea, VP,” he reminds Jessie as he hands it over to him, then sinking back in his chair, he grabs the girl who struts past him by her hip and forces her onto his lap.
“Take it Brax found out you were visiting?” I spin my head around when I hear Troj’s voice, and he stands behind me, evaluating the broken chair and smashed glass on the floor. He’s wearing that white tank top, and sweat pants again, his skin is shimmering with sweat, and his hair is tied up in a bun. I want so badly to run at him and throw my arms around him, but I can’t. Not with all these people watching.
“That guy sure likes to hold a grudge.” The man who I now assume must be Autumn, Troj’s brother, offers him a cigarette, but Troj declines.
“Whatcha doin’ here?” his attention switches on to me, and suddenly all the words get stuck in my throat.
What am I doing here?
“I was just—”
“She’s hanging out, you got a problem with that, Trojan?” Luckily, Rogue comes out of nowhere to rescue me because judging from the look on Troj’s face, he doesn’t like me being here.
“I’ll walk ya home, I’m heading back to my cabin for a shower anyway,” he tells me, reaching out and taking my hand.
“Sure.” I stand up, feeling his fingers slide between mine and his clammy palm grip me. He nods a farewell to his friends, then leads me out the door in a similar way that Brax did with Grace.
“You shouldn’t be down here by yourself,” he growls at me as he leads us out into the fresh air. It’s not until we’re out here that I realize how stuffy it was back in the bar room, and I take in a refreshing gulp of unpolluted air.
“I’m sorry.” I hate that I've disappointed him, I shouldn’t have overstepped the mark. “I was looking for you,” I say, hoping it will make him less mad at me.
His fingers are still entwined with mine as we walk up the hill toward the cabins. “Have you been on one of your runs through the forest?” I ask, noticing the device he’s still got strapped to his arm.
“Yeah, just took a jog around the perimeter to finish off.” His voice is calmer now, and I wonder if he is actually walking me home or if we’ll go back to his cabin together.
“Have you eaten?” I try to make conversation, but Troj is too focused on moving us forward to answer.
“Troj.” I stop dead on my feet and force him to stop and look at me.
“Are you mad at me?” I ask him outright.
“Yeah… I mean no. It’s not your fault, you don’t understand.” Something’s frustrating him and I need to know what it is.
“Then make me understand.” My arm reaches out to him and I slide my hand over his sweat-slicked bicep.
