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“I’m sorry, Reese,” Kai says sincerely, sitting across from me at a café in town.
“There’s gotta be something we can do.” I hold his gaze as I rake a hand through my hair and release a breath, my knee bouncing.
After I called him, he said he’d meet me at the café to talk rather than at his office. I would’ve preferred to meet somewhere more secluded, but I guess it’s easier for him since this spot is close to the courthouse, and he told me he’s due in court in two hours.
“I’ve been looking into everything, and it doesn’t look good,” he says, quietly shaking his head. Leaning against the table, Kai keeps talking, “I can petition the boxing commission, state your case to them. But from what I’ve found out from a friend of mine who works in the industry, they’re not gonna change the decision.”
“Fuck,” I grind out, barely keeping myself from losing it. “This is all Ezra’s fault. The agreement was that none of this shit would affect me so long as I paid the settlement.”
“I read over the agreement between the two of you.” Kai grimaces. “It states that he would keep it out of the limelight, no media. There’s nothing about the boxing commission in there.”
Furious with myself, with the whole ordeal, I slam my hand against the table and ignore the people who turn in our direction. “So that’s it. I’m done. Years of my life thrown away because of one little fuck up?”
“Looks that way, Reese. Like I said, the only thing I can possibly do is petition them, but I can’t guarantee that it’ll go in your favor. From what I know about the video, it’s pretty straightforward that you hit Ezra without being provoked.”
“Fucker brought it on himself,” I growl, glaring at Kai through narrowed eyes. “The video didn’t have any sound. He was all but threatening my family if I didn’t agree to throw a fight.”
Kai shakes his head and leans back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the table. “You know how it is in that world. It’s not the same as ours. It’s all about money and using it to gain what you want when you want it and how you get it. It sucks, but it’s the truth. It’s a rare thing when honesty and fairness come into play.”
I nod, knowing he’s right. I just don’t like it.
* * *
The rest of the afternoon, I sulk about the whole ordeal, knowing my career is officially over and I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t just sit around twiddling my thumbs. I need to have a purpose. Boxing gave me that.
For a while, I debate on whether or not I should cancel dinner tonight with Haven, but I can’t. She’s the only good thing I’ve got going in my life, and I need to at least spend a couple of hours with her.
I pull up in front of her house and park. As I get out, I step out onto the entryway. I take in her outfit as I make my way across her yard. There’s no way I’m going to let her walk out to the car without me escorting her there. My mom raised me better than that. Opening doors, holding them for the lady to go first, and paying for meals. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.
“You look beautiful.” I smirk, slipping my fingers through the belt loops of her jeans.
“Thank you.” She beams and leans into my front as I lower my head to press my lips against hers.
Haven allows me to deepen the kiss, and I go for it, releasing one of her belt loops to reach up and tangle my fingers in her hair. God knows, this is what I need right here.
Her lips on mine.
The feel of her against me.
Yeah, she makes everything better even when she doesn’t fucking know it.
Breaking my lips away from hers, I release a harsh breath. “Damn, I could stand here for hours kissing you,” I rasp, brushing another chaste kiss along her mouth.
“Me too, but could you feed me first?” She giggles.
“Yeah, I’ll feed you, then we’ll continue this,” I answer, chuckling. I step back and untangle my fingers from her hair. As I guide her to the passenger side of the Range Rover, I have my arm around her back.
Helping her into the vehicle, I make sure her legs are out of the way before closing the door. Seeing her. Kissing her has lightened my mood, but that’s ‘cause I don’t want her to know that I’m a fuck up. A failure. And essentially jobless.
On the way to the restaurant, we talk about her day at the community center and what she wants to do for the kids there. I listen and put in a comment here and there, but my mind roams back to the fact I’m no longer a professional boxer. And I can’t help but think that I’ve lost who I am.
“So anyway, the duck ran out in front of me . . .”
Haven’s words pull me out of my head, and I blink, cocking my head slightly to see her staring at me intently.
“What about a duck?” I ask, unsure of what she’s talking about.
“You seemed to have zoned out on me, and I figured I’d ramble about nothing until you finally caught on.” She shrugs, her eyes assessing me with a knowing look. “You wanna tell me what’s going on with you.”
