Chapter 27
My piece of crap car almost left me stranded again. I can't afford to take it to a mechanic. It's still making a horrible noise when I pull in the parking lot of the boxing gym.
The guys passing by and entering the gym give me worried looks. I shrug, thinking it's not my fault my car wants to sound like it's dying when, in fact, it is my fault because I'm broke.
When I get out, the cold air bites my skin, and I act like I know what I'm doing when I lift the hood. I know nothing about fixing cars. I cannot afford to buy myself a car in better condition, and getting this one fixed is not worth it either. I saved enough to get a small apartment.
I look at the rusty engine, not knowing what does what. I am still determining where the noise is coming from exactly.
“Shit,” I mutter.
A guy I’ve seen train with Rey a couple of times walks over. “Hey, do you want me to take a look? It sounded pretty awful when you pulled in.”
“That's okay. It's on its last leg, anyway. I think it's past fixing.”
He adjusts the strap of his bag over his shoulder. I don't remember his name off the top of my head.
“Ari, right?”
Shit. He knows mine. I smile. “Yeah.”
“My name is Chase.” He nudges his head toward the entrance of the gym. “Let's go inside before we freeze to death out here. Even the car can feel it.”
I laugh and close the hood. He holds the door open to let me through and asks, “You go to Penn State, right?”
I watch him take off his beanie and ruffle his dark blond hair. He removes his coat while I remove my gloves.
I turn my head and see Rey in the ring with another fighter. He isn't training because he’s staring directly at me. His jaw is tense.
The night Rey invited me to dinner, I admitted things I shouldn't and said things that I shouldn't have said.
I was vulnerable. Nervous. I’ve never had a man who wasn't Jimmy take me out for dinner, and it usually involved going out with his friends.
It was safe to say Jimmy never took me out, just the two of us. It seems he wanted someone to always be there as a witness.
The rest of the night was awkward. I didn't know what to expect. I felt inexperienced and naive when I'm sure he’s gone on dates with countless women.
When I heard him in the living room after I changed and was getting ready for bed, I wanted to make things right again between us. I wanted him to know that we were still friends and that I didn't expect more. That we could go on like nothing happened. It was just a few kisses and a lot of rubbing on my part.
That’s why I’m desperately looking for an apartment. I have to keep my distance from Rey. I’m the problem. To him, I'm a bird with a broken wing that needed to heal before being set free.
“What year?”
I look up at Chase's voice, returning to the present.
“Oh, um… one more semester, and I will graduate. “
“How about you?"
“I graduated last year. I was on the boxing team and then went to the Olympics." My eyebrows rise in surprise. "Now I'm here to train with the best.”
“That's impressive, Chase. Rey is the best. You're in good hands if you're part of his team. Anyone watching him with Javier can tell he knows how to train a champion.”
“You like him, don't you?”
My cheeks heat, hoping he can't see the truth. I remove my jacket and place it on the coatrack, then walk toward the office. “What do you mean?”
He follows me and says, “Rey. You like him?”
“He’s my boss.”
I set my bag down on the desk. “When you say his name, your face lights up. And everyone in the gym sees how you two always stare at each other.”
I shrug off my sweater because it is suddenly warm. “Are you asking if Rey and I are together?”
He rubs the back of his neck, and he lets out a breath. “Maybe? No. Um… Are you?”
I clear my throat. “No. Rey and I aren't together. Like I said, he's my boss.”
My phone dings, and I retrieve it from my side pocket.
Rey: What does he want?
Ari: Nothing, we are just talking. When I pulled in, he heard my car making an awful noise and offered to take a look.
Rey: Why is he still talking to you, Ari?
I look up, and Chase quirks a brow. “Is everything okay?”
My thumbs hover over the screen as I look at Chase, and I don't know if I should be angry. Does Rey think I'm flirting, or is he being overprotective?
Ari: Why can't he talk to me, Rey?
Rey: Is it about his membership at the gym? Is it gym- related?
Ari: Not really.
Rey: Do I have to show you why?
"I think you should go,” I tell Chase, trying to get him to leave before Rey shows up, but I'm too late. Rey is standing right behind him with a scowl on his face.
“Hey, champ," Chase says with a smile. Rey blinks.
Sometimes I forget that people don't know he’s deaf. That he can't hear a word they’re saying. People overlook his silence. They accept that it's in his nature. That he was built not to say a word. That he fought enough in his lifetime to have the privilege not to.
Chase lowers his gaze when Rey ignores him and motions for me to come to him with his hand.
“Is there something you need, Rey?” I say slowly so he can understand, trying to hide the truth, but it doesn't matter. Rey's impenetrable gaze sends a message you don't need to hear.
Chase felt it. I felt it. He wanted Chase to leave.
Chase glances at me. “I'll see you around, Ari,” he says, looking back at Rey apologetically. “I hope I didn't get her in trouble.”
Rey's eyes are like boiling chocolate when they glance at Chase, waiting for him to hurry out of the room.
Rey slams the door shut and closes the blinds. When he turns around, I expect him to be angry with me, but his face is unreadable.
“What are you doing?” I sign. “Why did you do that?”
“What did he really want? ”
“Nothing.”
He arches a sarcastic brow, then looks me up and down. “Nothing? Is that why he was worried he got you in trouble?”
He understood. But why is he acting like this? What did I do wrong?
“Is this about the rule?” He flashes his straight white teeth like a predator finally cornering his prey. “Do you think closing the door and closing the blinds helps?”
“Do you think I care what anyone out there thinks?” he signs.
I nod. “Yes, I do,” I sign.
I want to remind him that he does, or he wouldn't have made the rule that day in the kitchen.
“You don't want me talking to the guys, but I can't treat them like shit every time they spark up a conversation with me.”
“Why not?”
“Because it's rude. It's bad for business.”
“The only business they have here is to train, not chat up the office girl.” I flinch like he slapped me.
Of course, that’s how he sees me. To him, I'm the office girl—incapable of handling the attention from a couple of male athletes, a distraction, and weak. Not strong enough to make it out alone, like a bird that needs shelter because it hasn't learned to fly since it was hurt. It's what everyone in my life thinks of me. My parents. Jimmy. His friends. And now Rey.
“Well, if you don't need anything work-related from me, I have work to do, and you have a gym to run.” I grab a pen and the notepad, dismissing him.
He slams his hand on the table, causing me to jolt. He leans across the desk, his face inches from mine. The veins bulge from his forearms. His eyes burn with a heat that causes me to tremble.
“Let them think,” he whispers, causing shivers to race down my neck, “that I have your face down on this desk.” I catch a slight accent in his words that I find attractive. It makes my heart race.
“But you wouldn’t,” I say, staring at his lips. How close they are to mine. The scent of his sweat and cologne.
I imagine him taking me from behind. Would he be gentle or rough? My guess is by the way he is looking at me right now, he wouldn't.
He finally pulls away, leaving me staring at him as he walks out the door.