AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s not just the fighting, though. The betting is illegal, and it’s definitely illegal for you and whoever organized that fight to take a cut of it. And I have a feeling that would come with some pretty stiff penalties if you got caught.”
“Well, I’ve never been caught.”
“So, you’re just gonna keep doing it for the money, until you get caught one day and lose it all anyway?”
“I don’t do it for the money.”
“Then, why? You’re just an adrenaline junkie? Do youlikethe risk? The danger? ‘Am I gonna get arrested? Am I gonna get injured? Am I gonna get killed?’ That’s your idea of a good time?”
“Maybe I just like to win.”
“That’s weird, because you didn’t look all that happy when you won that fight.”
What was I gonna tell her, I wasn’t happy because she didn’t look happy? That when I saw the look on her face, it crushed me?
“So what do you want me to do? Quit fighting?”
“I mean, it’s not my call, obviously. But if you’re asking me, I’d like you to do something that makes you happy. And something where you don’t get punched in the head all the time would be really nice. Especially in a place like that, with no real safety measures in place. Concrete floors and bare fists… it’s brutal.”
“You sound like Dane. He’s been talking like this for years.”
“Well, maybe Dane loves you.”
What she didn’t say wasMaybe I love you.
I looked out the window as we rolled through the dark. We were passing through Stanley Park now, surrounded by forest on our way to West Vancouver. Then we were crossing the Lions Gate Bridge, high above the water. Merging into traffic, flowing into West Van. Climbing the base of a mountain, winding up through the quiet residential streets.
So close now to where I grew up. So close to where I learned to play hockey. So close to where the accident happened.
So close to where my mother abandoned me.
So much had happened to me on this damn mountain, for good and bad.
Maybe I could’ve even fallen in love with the woman of my dreams here.
Jolie could’ve been living here. She could’ve been, but she wasn’t.
She chose California instead.
She chose a life that didn’t include me.
We’d reach my dad’s place soon, and she hadn’t said another thing.
“Look, I get it if it’s too much for you,” I told her. “You might’ve noticed not many women come out to the fights. So, you’re not alone. And it’s not like you have to endure another one. We’re done anyway, right?”
When she didn’t answer, I looked over at her.
She was looking at me like I’d slapped her or something.
“So, what? You don’t want to see me anymore?” she said, for the first time, her voice taking on an edge. “We said we’d explore this thing between us until the wedding and you don’t even want to do that now?”
I held her gaze. “I mean, if we see each other a few more times before the wedding or not at all, what’s the difference?”
She stared at me. Her eyes shone, but she didn’t cry. “Is that the way you want it?”
“Sounds like that’s the way you want it.”
She took a breath and said calmly, “You’re the dominant one. You make the rules, right? If we fall apart, it’s because you want it to happen.”
