T
ony pulls off his gloves and glares at me. “If you think I’m happy about this, think again. Your speed is shit. You’ve regressed.”
I spit out my guard. “I don’t give a shit what you’re happy about.”
Tony shakes his head. “You need to get right, kid. Head and heart. You need to shake it off and concentrate.”
“And what is it you think I’m doing?”
“Brawling, not boxing. It’s a sport, not a street fight. Lately, you’ve forgotten your form, and now you’re just bloodthirsty.”
“You know what, man,” I shake my head my temper flaring, “you think—”
“I’ll take a crack at him. One glove.”
The sound of her voice has me reeling where I stand. I turn to see Harper at the foot of the ring in an oversized Giants hoodie and matching beanie. She looks beautiful and completely foreign standing here in my space. With as many times as I pictured her there, it does no justice to the real thing, which only angers me.
I stare down at her, incredulous as to how she got so close without me noticing her. All eyes on her, she stands with clear confrontation on her features, her hands on her hips. “Since when are you such an egomaniac that you get in your own way?”
Trying to mask the kick to my heart, I give her a listless stare. “What the hell do you know about it?”
“I know what I just witnessed, isn’t you.”
“That right?” I walk over to the side of the ring, crossing my gloves on the rope as I peer down at her. “Sweetheart, you haven’t been around for two years, and what’s it been now, six weeks? So again, what in the hell do you know?”
“I know enough.” She’s acting full-on pissed with no right to be. At the moment, I just want to pull her to me and smash the smartass off her lips before savoring it off her tongue. She’s a much-needed fresh breath of air for my collapsed lungs, but I refuse to inhale because I know the cost.
I’m a man standing in the wake of lost love, bitterness in my heart, and singed beyond anything I can control. I was supposed to have left her there, in that apartment, in that city, but she’s been with me the whole time, and her sudden appearance is only worsening the fact—I can’t get over this damned woman.
But I’m determined to. And I refuse to let her fuck with what’s left in my chest.
“Harper, what are you doing here?”
“I was invited by someone, right now, I don’t think you would recognize him.”
“Consider yourself un-invited. Surprised you found your way here. When you leave, go back the same way you came.”
“Shut up, asshole,” Trevor spouts before making his way to Harper. “Hey, you. Good to see you.”
She gives him a grin with his greeting of “Hey, you,” and he pulls her into a hug, lifting her off her feet. This lights me up as I feed on the animosity in the barn and the irritation at her sudden appearance. He doesn’t know her. Not like I do. He’s only met her once. But she’s done nothing but wreak havoc on my life since the minute I fell for her. She can’t be here, invading my space, burning more of herself into my memory. She has no right to weasel her way in with any sort of opinion or air of authority. I can feel my pulse thundering at my neck as Trevor hugs her a lot longer than appropriate. “Looking good, girl.”
“Thanks. And look at you, all grown up.”
“Yeah?” His grin is full of pride. “You’d be surprised how much I’ve gro—”
“Happy for the both of you,” I snap, “and your reunion and all, but we’re in the middle of something here.”
Tony chooses that moment to make me hate him. “Actually, she’s just in time. I’m done embarrassing your sorry ass today. Might as well let her take a crack at you.”
She looks past my brother’s shoulder, lifting her brown eyes to mine in challenge. “What can it hurt?”
“This is ridiculous.” I hold out my gloves. “Rip, take these off. Harper, thanks for stopping by.”
“I’m staying for dinner, your mother invited me,” she taunts.
“There’s a McDonald’s thirty minutes down the highway.”
“What the hell, Lance?” Trevor says, glowering at me.