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And yet… she doesn't do any of that. She just looks down as she rights her sweatshirt and says, “You have no idea how annoying it is to know that you can do that without even trying.” I let out a bark of startled laughter. Fuck, when was the last time someone made me laugh?
"Come on, I'll give you a ride on my way home.” “Why, so you can make me come on your lap again?” It bursts out of me. I didn’t even know that was a thought, let alone that I was going to say it out loud. Feeling my cheeks warm, I slowly lift my gaze to meet Kane’s. He’s… amused. The corner of his lip is twitching with a smile, and his eyes are lit up with a twinkle. “Is that the most vulgar thing you’ve ever said out loud?” he asks. I straighten with a sigh. “Yes. And I don’t like that you brought it out of me.” He huffs a laugh at that. I decide I like the sound of Kane’s laugh.
I pull it on my head and start to buckle the chin strap, but I can't see what I'm doing, and I'm clearly fumbling it. It isn't until I let out a frustrated growl that Kane takes pity on me. "Such a furious little ballerina,"
"You're the first girl to ride bitch. Is that what you're asking?" I glare at the back of his head, even though the admission makes the butterflies in my stomach take off. "Has anyone ever told you that you're shockingly charming?" He revs the engine. "It's practically my main descriptor." I
"I got tired of always having to fight,” I add. “I needed to get away from it all." "Or maybe you were tired of surviving," she says absentmindedly, her gaze on where she's twirling her empty mug. "Maybe you wanted to learn how to live, instead." For a moment, all I can do is stare at her. It’s obvious she said it without thinking, and even now, she doesn't realize that what she said might've been monumental.
"Well, that's not very live laugh love of you," I murmur quietly, my smirk coming out in full force. I regret the words as soon as they come out of my mouth, because my not-quite-so-quiet comment has every person's shock zeroing in on me. "Did you… did you just make a joke?" Aiden asks incredulously. His head whips back to Isabella. “What did you do to him?” I can only cough into my fist and glare at him, promising, without words, a very painful training session.
"Kane, just because we don't see eye to eye with our training doesn't mean I want you to get hit by a bus. I keep my distance because I'm not a good training partner for you, but we're still teammates. I still have your back. Inside and outside of the gym."
"Kane, you deserve to have someone care about you," she says firmly. "You deserve to be loved. Do you hear me? Isabella isn't settling for you. She's been choosing you. Every day. Because you're worthy of being chosen." My mouth parts, but the words are stuck in my throat. Not that I know what I would say if I could get them out, because Hailey's words… They hit me like a fucking brick.
"I know you've had a hard life," she says. "I know you've seen and experienced things that no one should ever have to go through, and I know they've made you a little hard against the world. But Kane, that doesn't mean you're broken. It just means you had to load up with more armor than the rest of us. And I don't care that we might have to spend a little extra time creating a safe environment for you. This isn’t your 1 last shot to get it right, this is us trying, every day. And some days will be good, and some will be bad, but every day, we keep fighting. Together. Because I would rather
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“Good. Now go have some fun.” Then something occurs to him, and he sighs. “And if, for some reason, you feel yourself start to lose control, just… do five burpees or something.” My lip twitches in amusement. “Yes, sir.”
From outside of the cage, I hear Aiden's shell-shocked voice. "Did I just step into Bizarro world?" My brow furrows as I turn a glare on him. I open my mouth to invite him in for a round, but in the end… I just launch into a burpee. And then four more. Coach laughs so hard he almost falls over. And just like that, I become part of a family.
“Of course, I do,” he says evenly. Simply, again. And there’s something beautiful about the fact that it was this easy for him to say. That, after everything, the emotion was so obvious to him, and his heart so full of it, that he could say it to another person, randomly on a Monday night, with no nerves or doubts. I can barely get the words out myself. But after blinking away tears, I tell him in an overwhelmed whisper, “I love you, too. So much.” And if I thought Kane’s first smile was one I’d never forget, it’s nothing compared to the one I get right now.
