Page 82 of Rush

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Me: Why the change of heart?

Rush: Because your dad told me you deserve someone who's willing to fight for you. And he's right.

I smile at my phone.

Me: So you're willing to fight?

Rush: Yeah. If you are.

Me: I've been fighting this whole time.

Rush: I know. I'm sorry.

Me: Sorry doesn't fix it.

Rush: I know. But I'm going to.

Me: How?

Rush: By showing up. By not running. By proving I'm worth the risk.

I think about it for a second, then I type back.

Me: Okay.

Rush: Okay?

Me: Yeah. But if you run again, we're done.

Rush: I won't run.

Me: You’d better not.

Rush: I won't. I promise.

I set my phone down and take a breath.

This is happening. We're really doing this.

And my dad knows, which means the whole club is going to know soon.

Which means this is about to get a lot more complicated.

But I don't care.

I meant what I said. I'm done running from things that scare me.

And Rush terrifies me in the best possible way.

So we'll figure it out, we'll deal with my dad, we'll handle whatever comes next.

Together.

11

RUSH

I sit in my flat with the lights off and the city noise filtering through the windows.

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