Chapter 25
I’m finally caught up on filing. Each member signed up at the gym has all their waivers and required forms signed and updated.
I slide the drawer closed with my hip when there is a knock on the door.
I look up, and my face falls when I see Jimmy.
“Hey,” he says with a small smile, giving me a once-over. “What are you doing here, Jimmy?” I ask in a hard tone.
He slides a hand into his pocket. “I wanted to see if you had a minute?”
“I’m working.”
“I know. I…” He pauses like he’s mincing his words. This is borderline stalking. When I was leaving class, one of my professors said he came around looking for me in his earlier class. Apparently, Jimmy doesn’t know what time my classes are but knows my schedule.
He walks farther into the office, and I can’t help but notice that he hasn’t shaved in a couple of days. His eyes are red-rimmed. He looks like he hasn’t slept. Frankly, he looks like shit.
“Why are you here?”
“I didn’t come here to fight.”
“That I do believe because boxing isn’t your sport.”
He doesn’t reply. Instead, he takes a seat in the chair in front of my desk. “Sure, go ahead, make yourself right at home, Jimmy.”
“I want you to come home, Ari.”
I laugh and rub my eyes, hoping this is a bad dream, and I’ll wake up and find him gone.
I blink several times, but he’s still watching me with a hopeful expression, hoping I’ll fall for it. He wanted me to go back because it was convenient for him. He was comfortable with our arrangement because I didn’t question him. I never asked him for more or pressured him to give me more.
“Your home is not my home. It never was. My answer is no, and it will continue to be no.”
He slides forward, placing his hands on the desk. “Of course, my home is your home. It’s our home.”
He says the last part, and it sounds like nails on a chalk‐ board. The look in his eyes is borderline obsessive, and it’s not the good kind.
“Well, last time I was there, it was a little crowded. It’s not my style.” I want him to go. He can’t mess up this job for me. Rey and Javier don’t need this right now. I don’t need this right now. I can’t move forward with my past constantly showing up. “I need you to leave.”
A large shadow slides across the desk. Rey stands at the door, glaring at Jimmy. His eyes find mine, and he is giving me the “what the fuck is he doing here” look.
I shake my head, telling him to let me handle it. Jimmy notices my attention is on something behind him.
He takes one look at Rey and stands up. “Of course.” He points between me and Rey and squares up. Rey is double his size, but Jimmy is a hard-ass. He doesn’t back down. “You fucking my girl?”
“Jimmy!” I warn. “You need to leave,” I demand.
“Save it, Ari,” he says to me, but his eyes are on Rey. “I’m not stupid. I saw the picture of you two online.” Of course, he did. I’m sure many people have. I’ve pushed it to the back of my mind like it never happened because we aren’t together.
Rey stares Jimmy down and steps farther into the room. “Don’t, Rey,” I mouth slowly.
Javier comes inside to see what is holding Rey up from going back into the ring with his gloves on. “Ari, is every‐ thing okay?” he asks but quickly sees the problem when he notices Jimmy and Rey are toe-to-toe. “Hey, man. I don’t know why you’re here, but we don’t have time for this.”
Jimmy shakes his head. “He”—he points at Rey—“needs to understand that she’s my girl, and I’m here to take her home... where she belongs. She doesn’t need to work here because I can care for her.” He gets closer to Rey, his nose almost touching his chin. “My home,” he growls.
Rey’s nostrils flare. Tension radiates off the walls, and testosterone is released like a mist in his hair.
“Jimmy, you’re going to get me fired.”
I don’t think Rey and Javier would, but I would get canned if I was working somewhere else.
“Good. I hope he fires you.”
“It’s over, Jimmy. We’re over. There is nothing you can do that will change that. There is nothing you can say to convince me to take you back, and I like working here. I’ve told you this a hundred times.”
Jimmy ignores me, staring at Rey, hoping for a reaction. “What? You’re not going to tell me anything? You’re just going to stand there and not say shit.”
Jimmy steps away, and I flinch when he reaches for me, but Rey grabs Jimmy’s arm like lightning before he reaches me and shoves him.
“That’s enough,” Javier says, standing between Jimmy and Rey. “Hey, man, you need to go. I’m not going to ask again.”
Rey steps aside, grabs my hand, and pulls me out of the room. He pushes me gently against the wall outside the office, not caring if people are watching.
He lowers his lips to my ear. “I’m not... going to disrespect you.” He swallows. “And tell him what he wants to hear,” he says, pausing to take a deep breath. “It is none of his business…” He trails off, grimacing like he’s in pain. “Please tell me… please tell me he didn’t touch you, Ari.” He leans forward and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Please,” he rasps. “Please tell me if he’s hurt you.” He closes his eyes. My heart twists into pieces, trying not to break apart. “Because I won’t be able to control myself. I’m not per—I’m no good... for you”—his lips press softly near my ear—“but I’ll... protect you.”
He steps back when Jimmy leaves the office, tugging me behind him.
Jimmy walks out but then whirls around.
“Hey, man,” Javier says, “I’m not going to ask again.”
“I still love you, Ari!” he yells, causing everyone in the gym to look over. “He doesn’t… but I do. Don’t throw us away. He doesn’t love you. Guys like him don’t love girls like you.”
I look at my feet, knowing there is truth in what he is saying, but neither does Jimmy.
Rey turns around and points at the office. Once I’m inside, he shuts the door and whips out his phone. He must be upset about Jimmy showing up. Everyone heard what he said, even if Rey didn’t. Now, everyone is going to know that Rey and I are involved.
Rey: Come with me.
Ari: Where?
I look up, confused.
Rey: Anywhere. As long as it’s with you.
Ari: Why?
Rey: Because I want to.
Ari: Dressed like that?
He looks at his naked chest, his shorts and sneakers, then types in his phone.
If he plans to take me out to dinner dressed like that, I don’t think we’ll make it without me jumping all over him in the car.
Rey: Give me a few minutes.
He walks out, leaving me with my conflicting thoughts.
Javier walks in with a worried look in his eyes. “Are you okay?”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “Yeah.”
“Ari, is this the first time?”
I avert my gaze, not wanting to admit the truth. The calls. Him showing up at school. The desperate look in Jimmy’s eyes. It’s like he’s waiting for the right time.
Everyone at school knows Jimmy. They think he is a god since he went pro. He buys them drinks at the bar and gives off the nice-guy persona. He doesn’t show the monster he can be that I didn’t realize lived underneath. The way he looked at the bathroom door that day, making sure Mandy didn’t hear the threat in his tone after he shoved me.
Fear swirls in my gut of what might have happened if she wasn’t there, and I tried to leave. In a way, I’m glad it ended the way it did. What if I wanted to leave Jimmy because I didn’t think we were good together anymore? What if I tried to go, and he turned violent?
“He calls, but I don’t answer.”
“How many times? ”
I wince. “Almost all the time,” I say in a soft voice.
He steps forward and lowers his voice. “Does Rey know?”
I shake my head. “I didn’t think he would show up here. I’ve told Jimmy numerous times we’re over.”
“You need to report him, Ari. That’s stalking and harassment.”
“Who would believe me, Javier? I’m not stupid. It’s my word against theirs. People would think it’s harmless.”
“Did he hit you? The day we met. Your shoulder?”
I look at my shoes when I notice Rey standing behind him so he won’t see my lips. “Please don’t tell Rey. He... shoved me the day I left. I came home early to the house and found him walking out of the shower with another girl wearing my robe. It’s why I was at the dollar store. I obviously didn’t have money and was buying body wash and deodorant.”
“Damn, Ari,” Javier says.
Rey lifts my chin and looks directly at me. I can see the worry in his eyes. He knows I said something to upset Javier. Something he doesn’t know. Something I don’t want him to know.
A lone tear slides down my cheek, not because of Jimmy but because of the situation. I know Rey would have hurt him if I told him. He would have sacrificed himself, but I can’t let him. I can’t be the cause of someone getting hurt because of me.
He wipes the tear from my cheek with his thumb.
Javier clears his throat. “I’ll leave you two. If you need anything, Ari, let me know. I’m here if you want to talk.”
Rey can sense Javier talking to me but doesn’t turn to read his lips. He watches me, and I wish he could tell me what is going through his mind right now, but I know it will lead me to tell him the truth.
Javier walks out, shutting the door behind him. His mouth lifts in a panty-melting smile. He shoots a quick text and moves to lock the office door.
Rey: I want to talk to you, Ari. Alone.
I adjust my gym hoodie over my leggings and walk over to where he’s standing near the edge of the desk. He bends, but instead of whispering, he grabs the hem of my sweatshirt and pulls it up. My arms automatically lift, and he pulls it over my head.
My eyebrows pinch in confusion. He said he wanted to talk, but his gaze travels over my black tank top and stops at the swell of my breasts.
He slides his fingers under the shoulder straps and pulls them down. I’m not wearing a bra, and I watch his eyes, the color of butterscotch, darken when they land on my hard nipples. The memory of the other night when his tongue languidly stroked and teased. Sucked and kissed.
His eyes dip between us. I watch his hand fall to the crotch of his sweatpants, and he adjusts himself.
His hand cups the back of my neck, bringing me close to the space between his neck and shoulder. My nipples brush the fabric of his sweater. I inhale the scent of his freshly showered skin mixed with his cologne.
The evidence of his arousal pushes against my stomach. The backs of his fingers caress my shoulder down to the side of my breasts. I exhale as a thousand nerve endings cause tiny pulses over the skin. My hands find his shoulders when his fingers trail toward the center of my chest, right over my frantically beating heart. I look up and meet his eyes. Rey doesn’t express himself with words. It isn’t the way he tells me how he feels. It isn’t the way I tell him how I feel.
He closes his eyes. A knot forms in my throat as he takes a steady breath. I feel the tiny flutter of his fingers over my beating heart.
It allows me a moment to memorize every feature of his face. His square jaw. His nose. The shape of his eyes. Every scar he received from every fight. The shape of his mouth. The tiny cleft in his chin.
When his eyes open, I want to stay like this forever. In his arms while he listens to the beating of my heart. The way it beats for him.