Page 56 of Heal Me, Love Me

Yeah

Want me there?

I sat on the edge of the bed, phone in both hands.

I did want him there. Too much. I wanted him beside me when I walked into Devon’s office, wanted the reminder that whatever Devon thought he knew, Keaton was mine because he chose me.

But that wasn’t fair to Keaton. He still trained there, still had to walk into that gym when I wasn’t around, and still had a career Devon could affect, even if neither of us wanted to admit how complicated that made everything.

No. I need to do this myself

Okay

Then another message from him came through:

I’m already heading in. Coach Luis wants me to come in for movement work before class

Cool. I’ll see you there

Don’t do anything stupid

I grinned and typed back:

Define stupid

Anything involving your fist and Devon’s face

I survived the Air Force without telling half my superiors to go fuck themselves. I can handle Devon

All right. See you soon

The rideto Titan gave me too much time to think about what I wanted to say.

I wasn’t coming back. I appreciated the opportunity. I’d tell Devon straight, thank him for the shot, and get out before this became more personal than it already was.

It sounded easy.

The rest of the situation wasn’t. There was Devon’s mouth on Keaton’s, the fact that they had history, and the knowledge that Keaton would still be at Titan after I walked away. Part of me wanted to warn Devon what would happen if he put his mouth on Keaton again.

But Keaton didn’t need me to fight that battle for him. He’d already proven he could handle himself with Ridgway.

When I rode into Titan’s parking lot, Dad’s words had become a command in my head.

Say it, then leave.

I parked near the back and stared at the building for a moment.

For a while, Titan had been the answer to the life I wanted outside of the Air Force. When I’d walked through those doors, I hadn’t known Keaton would be there too, or that Titan would give me a fight, a direction, and a second chance with the man I’d been too scared to claim years earlier.

Now I couldn’t walk inside without remembering every reason I had to leave.

I killed the engine, removed my helmet, and headed in.

The gym was active but not packed, caught between the end of the morning classes and people training on their lunch breaks. A few guys sat near the benches, wrapping their hands, while others stretched on the edge of the mat. Near the cage, Derek worked through light bag drills, and Enzo stood nearby, talking with one of the newer fighters.

Then I saw Keaton.

He was with a small group on the far mat, doing movement work with Coach Luis. Nothing flashy, just hip mobility, footwork, level changes, and slow entries, the boring stuff fighters did because Coach Luis cared more about clean mechanics than looking impressive.