Chapter 30
KATIE
The girls are full of energy the next afternoon when we meet for practice. They burst into the gym behind me, excited to start and talking about how they’ve been working on punching at home. Sasha even brought her mom.
Tristan is standing in the middle of the space, arms folded, eyes simmering. I freeze when I see him, like we’re at a Wild West showdown. It’s just him and me, facing off over the mats, the heady weight of those texts between us.
Heat spreads over my face. “How did you find me?”
His grin is cocky. “I’m pretty good at snooping. Besides, I know you, Bailey.” His voice is low and husky, and the words shiver through me. “Looks like you have a fan club.”
“Are you guys dating?” Malika asks. The girls all giggle and flop down on the mats.
“No,” I say quickly.
Tristan just smirks.
I have a blinding memory of how I felt yesterday on my bed when I pictured Tristan behind my lids. That smirk featured prominently.
“I saw a video of you guys getting coffee,” Rosh says.
“Girls,” Emory exclaims. “No more prying. Does anyone have any real questions before we start?”
“How did you become a bodyguard?” Sasha’s question is so quiet that I almost miss it.
“I learned from my dad. He adopted me when I was five. He was a bodyguard and he took me with him everywhere. I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
So much is left unsaid in those sentences. The way David drilled everything into me, the way he always pushed me to do more, the way he quietly supported me. The way that, sometimes, this job feels like my last connection to him.
“Do you love it?” Harmony asks. She’s so serious, so earnest, that my heart squeezes. I could play it off, but I don’t want to. These girls deserve the truth, and the way they watch me makes me want to do right by them. I want to make them proud to be women the way I am.
“I do.” I motion for them all to stand, and they climb to their feet.
“I like protecting people. I like helping. I’m proud that I get to be the one who does this.
” I look at each of them. “People put their trust in me every day. I help them with the most important moments of their lives. It is an honor.”
My throat is tight, and I blink rapidly. I didn’t intend to say all that. I’m not sure I even knew I felt all of that.
“I want to be a bodyguard,” I hear Sasha say to her mom. Her mom squeezes her knee, and I look swiftly away. I never had a mom to do that. My pulse is wild as I keep blinking. I can’t look back at Sasha.
How many times have I wished someone would look at me like that? Like I was the only thing in their world? Like they didn’t want me to change one bit?
Not the weird kid. Just enough.
“We’re doing something practical today. Pair up.”
“Who am I paired with, Coach? Do I get to pick?” Tristan asks.
I snort and fold my arms over my stomach, like it will keep me from feeling jittery and warm.
“Go ahead.”
He hums in his throat, then smiles at me, all dimples and teeth. The look in his eyes makes my stomach tremble. He looks like he knows exactly what I did on my bed yesterday, and worse, he likes it.
Oh god.
“I pick you.”
“Pick someone else.” My face is hot and I know he can see it, and god, is he flirting with me? Or is this all in my head?
“I’ll be your partner,” Malika pipes up. She smacks her fists together and then winces. I hide a smile. I did that the first time I sparred too.
“I’d be honored.” Tristan gives her a warm smile and her eyes get big. I can’t say I blame her.
Twenty minutes later I’m trying to get Harmony to practice breaking a wristlock.
“Grab me,” I encourage her.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” Her dark eyes are so serious and thoughtful.
“Someone grabbed me like this once and it really hurt.” My chest pinches at the concern in her voice and the hunch of her spine.
I want to be a hundred feet tall so I can put her on my shoulders.
I want to be big enough to protect her from anything bad.
“Shoulders back,” I tell her. “Make yourself bigger.”
She straightens. I nod firmly.
“Once you establish a boundary, you know when people are breaking it. Understood? Boundaries are good.”
“Like what?”
I cast around for a volunteer. “Tristan. Come here.”
He grins at me from where Malika is punching him in the arm. “Yes, Coach.” He jogs over, hair flopping over his brow, eyes sparkling.
“Pretend you’re scared of me.”
His dimple pops. “I am scared of you.”
There’s a giggle from across the room, and I realize everyone is looking at me, but especially Harmony, who is taking everything in with folded arms and an intense stare.
I stalk toward him, and he moves to the side. I adjust and keep coming. “Right there,” I tell the girls. “That right there was his boundary, and I crossed it.”
“I’d let you cross my boundaries any day,” he whispers.
I glare at him, and he coughs into his collar. “Now you know my intentions might be bad and you can be on your guard. That’s half of self-defense right there.”
I turn to Harmony again. “Shoulders back, okay? Now grab me.”
We finish twenty minutes later. The girls are exhilarated, giggling and screaming and taking videos with their phones as they wail on the punching bags in the corner of the room. Malika and Rosh are doing some type of dance with the boxing gloves held in front of their faces.
“Hey, killer.”
He’s right next to me.
“Hey, sunshine.”
He bumps me with his shoulder, and it feels like liquid heat is spilling through my stomach. It should be uncomfortable. I should hate it. But as I smile up at him and he grins down at me, it feels like pieces of me are shifting into place.
“You did good.”
“I did, didn’t I?”
I bite my lip to keep my smile from getting too big, and then I startle at the warm press of Tristan’s thumb as he tugs the flesh free.
“Let it out, Bailey,” he whispers. “Be proud. David would be.”
My eyes heat. “You corny fucking sap,” I whisper. “Don’t do me like that.”
His mouth lifts at the edge. “Don’t use my own tricks against me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
He taps his finger one more time against my mouth. I didn’t even realize he’d left it there. I blink at him, then look swiftly away, back at the group, and Emory, who is giving me huge eyes.
What the fuck? She mouths the words.
I shake my head before I squeeze my eyes shut, willing these mushy feelings back inside of me. It’s just the girls, I tell myself. I’m finding where I’m meant to be, and I want to savor that.
But as I walk out of the gym later, a tiny piece of my heart admits that where I’m meant to be might be wherever Tristan is.