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Nina stared at me, her dark eyes a little unreadable, like Sam when she was processing. I didn’t know if I’d come home to an empty apartment or my best friend, but I understood if I left Sam in the dust right now, I’d regret it.
However, only time would tell if tonight ended with the girl of my dreams or a broken heart.
Chapter Fourteen
Sam
Istood in front of Knockout, wondering how the hell I’d ended up here.
My eyes burned, my body hummed, and I was holding on by a thread. I should’ve headed home. I wasn’t working today, and I wouldn’t last a round with a heavyweight bag. My phone dangled in my hand, but I wouldn’t text Maeve for the third time. Typing was hard enough with the words blurring in front of my eyes.
Nina.
She’d looked so much older.
Fuck, how many years had we lost? A decade. A fucking decade.
The hatred in her eyes—hell, my fingers trembled all over again.
The door creaked open, and Emmit stood there, holding it. “Coming in?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah,” I replied on automatic, my words sounding wooden. I could feel his gaze burning, but I sucked in a deep breath of the gym—of the sweat, rubber, and cleaner fragrant in the air. “Just needed to get something.”
My legs carried me forward, even though stepping into the gym made no sense. I should be heading home and getting the fuck out of here. My heart thudded so hard it deafened, and I couldn’t focus on anyone I passed. The breakroom might offer a little privacy, but it was too damn close to the office and front desk.
No, I knew one area where no one would come looking for me.
I bolted to the back of the gym, past the ring where a practice match was happening. My eyes were glossing over at this point, and the reality that I’d run to escape kept hovering overhead, waiting to crash down. Everything fuzzed around me: the bright lights, the bustle of all the trainers and our clients walking by. My focus honed in on the metal door to the far left, leading to the storage area. It was either that or force myself out of the gym and have a full-on breakdown on the streets of Philly.
Storage was the better bet.
I grabbed the door, but it took me several tries to pull it open with how badly my hands were shaking. The trek down the hall to the storage area was quick.
The door clicked shut behind me, and cool darkness swept over me. I only made it several paces in, and then my knees gave out. My drop wasn’t graceful, and I bumped my elbow against one of the stacks of mats. A sharp shard of pain shot through me. I welcomed it, preferring it to the agony ripping apart my insides.
I’d just left Ames.
But she’d apologized to me, horrible heartbreak in her eyes, and I’d known what was coming.
Because no one ever chose me.
Not my family, not my girlfriends, and at the end of the day, Amelia wouldn’t either.
Wetness trickled down my cheeks, and my shoulders shook. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’d been so goddamn stupid to believe she might be mine. That someone from my past could accept me. My heart wrenched hard. I clapped a hand over my mouth before the sob tore out of me, muffling it.
And Ames and Nina were back at her apartment where I’d left them, probably mending their fences. Ames telling her she wouldn’t ever see me again, that she’d cut ties—just like my family had.
Another sob ripped out of me, my shoulders pitching forward, and I struggled to breathe.
I was so, so tired of being alone.
For one brief moment, I thought I’d found her. The one who’d seen all of me—the shattered pieces, the insecurities, the grief—and had accepted it anyway. In the whirlwind where we’d collided and I’d started to fall, I’d somehow let my guard down.
Pain squeezed my chest so damn tight, and I couldn’t bear the agony.
Hands settled on my shoulders, and I whipped back, my adrenaline spiking.
“Sorry for startling you,” Brooks said, settling into place behind me. Their voice was quiet, soothing, and the steadiness of their wide palms on my shoulders was the only thing I could focus on. “I saw you bolt back here, and I was worried.”
