Page 123 of Heal Me, Love Me

He checked the final page, then closed the folder. “There we go. I’ll send it back to the promotion today. Once they countersign, Miami is official.”

I sat back, already wanting to get to work. “When do I see footage?”

He smiled. “That’s more like it.”

“I’m serious. I want to see what Navarro can do.”

“I know.” He tapped the folder before setting it aside. “I already sent Isaac what we have on Navarro, including his record and the footage we’ve pulled. We’ll keep looking for more, but you’ll start with the basics today. Tendencies, strengths, holes in his game, anything we can use.”

That was the part I understood. A name, a date, a city, and seven weeks to turn Trent Navarro from a guy on paper into someone I could beat. “What else?”

“I’ll take care of the promotion, travel, media requests, and the countersigned copy when it comes back. You just worry about training and try not to make my life harder.”

“No promises.”

His laugh was quick as he stood. “Come on. Josh will take you to the gym.”

“Really?” I questioned. Since I didn’t have a car or my bike, I’d just assumed I’d take rideshares everywhere—and had been.

He squeezed my shoulder. “Apex handles transportation when it’s connected to work. You’re going from my office to your coach, so that counts.”

“Good to know.”

In the lobby, I shook Grant’s hand goodbye, then followed Josh outside to the SUV parked at the curb. The second I climbed into the back seat and Josh pulled into traffic, I took my phone from my pocket and called Keaton.

He answered right away. “Hey.” He yawned. I knew it was early for him, but he also knew I’d be calling.

“Hey.” I grinned.

“How’d it go?”

“Good. I’ll be fighting Trent Navarro.”

There was a pause, and then Keaton said, “Never heard of him.”

“Me either,” I admitted. “But I’ll be studying his fights for sure.”

“I can’t wait to come watch you,” he told me.

My smile widened. “I can’t wait either.”

21

Keaton

On my wayto the gym, I couldn’t stop thinking about the call with Rowan. His fight was official—Miami in seven weeks—and I was happy for him. I really was. But I struggled to separate being happy from everything else that came with it. A full fight camp meant long training days, media obligations, travel plans, and less opportunity for us to find each other across a three-hour time difference and two separate lives.

And while Rowan’s career kept moving forward, mine was still stuck, waiting for someone to tell me when I could train again.

When I arrived at Titan, the morning classes were already underway, and the familiar sounds of gloves smacking pads and coaches shouting corrections hit me the second I walked through the front doors. It should’ve felt normal. Instead, it felt like I’d spent weeks standing on the outside as everybody else moved on without me.

I stopped near the cage long enough to observe two fighters work through a grappling round. Coach Luis circled the mat,barking instructions while the two guys scrambled for position. My shoulder practically twitched as I watched them.

I missed the sweat, the grind, and the feeling of walking into a gym and knowing exactly what I was supposed to do. But at least I’d been cleared to do more cardio now, so I planned to use some of the gym’s equipment rather than go for walks around my neighborhood.

“Look who finally decided to show up,” Mason called out.

I turned to find him and Derek standing a few feet away. “Yeah, I thought I could at least check in and hit the bikes for a bit.”