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Rubbing his hands together, he motions to the left with his head. “A woman who lives on the edge. I like that.” He swings his arm around my shoulder, I don’t stop him as I text Cap to let him know I’ll meet him later for dinner.
I’m on a mission to forget Gabriel, at least for the next fifty feet, give or take a mile… Or two.
“She fucking what?!” I couldn’t have heard him right.
“She’s out with one of the prospective fighters. He seems nice enough. I’m sure she’s fine,” Cap rambles, entirely too laidback.
“I know what you’re doing, old man. Even if she is out with a guy—which I doubt—you wouldn’t let her step two feet away from you without believing she’s one hundred percent safe.”
“I’ll let her know you called. Though, I’m sure you’ve left her a message or two.”
Try twenty. She’s a stubborn one.
I end the call with Cap and storm into the training room. “I need to get fucked up. Who’s in?”
My girl’s out having fun. I might not be having fun, but I’m sure as fuck not going home to an empty house. A stark reminder of what the rest of my life will be like if I can’t convince my girl I’m enough. Just me. Nothing more. Nothing else.
Rowdy is full of surprises. I thought he might be taking me to a dive bar or worse. Thankfully I was wrong. He brought me to an aquarium. It’s small and locally run. There are no whales or dolphins here. But there’s a wall in the back. It’s dark, secluded, and glows from the light coming from the wall-to-wall jellyfish tank. I can’t take my eyes off the hundreds, maybe thousands of jellyfish as they swim, bob, and glow, tentacles gliding behind them in a smoke-like trails. They sway in a silent dance to the current and rotate like colored lights in their very own personal disco.
“It’s amazing,” I murmur, moving in to study one particularly weird-shaped one.
“He’s wrong-side-out,” Darkboy offers.
“What?” I glance at Rowdy before looking back to inspect it closer.
He points to the one in question. “He was born wrong-side-out. But somehow, he survived.”
I reach out as if I can touch it. “I can relate. I’ve always felt a little wrong-side-out myself,” I say to the jellyfish, not him.
“You look perfectly right-side-out to me.”
I look over and find him already watching me. “You always so charming?”
He shrugs. “I try to be, but no. Not always.”
“Good. We’ll get along better if you’re not always roses and sunshine.”
“You want to get along with me?” He seems genuinely surprised.
I turn, giving him my full attention. “I think I do.”
That earns me a dimpled grin.
I shake my head and hold up my hand. “Don’t get any ideas. I don’t need yourinches. I’ve had enough of men and their inches.” I turn back to the tank. “But I could use a friend.”
“You need a man who knows how to give it to you slow and easy-like.” The husk in his voice tells me he’s serious. It’s not a line to get in my pants.
I slant an eye toward him. “I had one of those. He did. Often. The problem is, I fell for more than his inches. But that’s all he was willing to offer.”
“He’s an idiot.”
“No arguments there.” I swivel and motion forward. “What else you got for me?”
Tucking my hand in the crook of his arm, he leads me down a row of smaller tanks full of brightly colored frogs. “We can feed the manta rays.”
My smile nearly breaks my face. “We’re gonna get along fine, Darkboy.” He’s a kindred spirit, comfortable dwelling in the darkness, but not afraid of the light. Plus, he brought me to an aquarium. I mean, that’s the bomb. My father, Austin, Gabriel never did anything like this. It seems simple, small, but it’s exactly what I needed to avoid the light all around me when all I feel is dark. This place is a reminder—the world is bigger than me and my troubles—and amazing, if only you open your eyes to see. Even in the darkness there is beauty.
I throw back the rest of my whiskey and revel in the burn.
