Page 95 of Heal Me, Love Me

I stopped near the hallway that led to the rooms. “Already?”

“Yeah. Good clip too.”

“Thanks. I’ll check it out.”

He turned his attention back to the TV, and I stopped in the shared kitchen long enough to fill my stainless-steel bottle from the filtered water dispenser before heading to my room.

The fighter dorms reminded me of the Air Force housing, only with fewer inspections and more guys walking around with ice packs, protein shakes, and laundry they kept forgetting to move. The common room and kitchen were near the front, with a hallway off to one side leading to the private rooms and bathrooms. It wasn’t home, but it was clean, close to the gym, and private enough when I shut my door.

I set my bag beside the closet where it was out of the way, sat on the edge of the bed, and took my phone from my pocket to pull up Atlantic Combat’s Loop account. The caption was simple:

Middleweight fighter Rowan Cross settling into the pro room

#AtlanticCombat #RowanCross #Middleweight #MMA #ProRoom

I watched the clip twice, then let it loop again. The comments were coming in faster than I’d expected:

Welcome to Florida, Cross

Dante making him work lol

Wait, wasn’t he at Titan Elite?

Good pickup for Atlantic Combat

Titan let this guy walk?

I closed the app and sent a text to Keaton:

Did you see the clip AC posted of me?

It took him a few minutes, but he responded:

Just did. Looks good

That was it. Four words.

I waited for another message, but nothing came through.

You sure?

Yeah baby you look amazing

Thanks. What are you doing?

About to start class

Call me after?

I have work tonight

After work then

Usually his shifts at The Golden Tavern ended around the same time I was starting my day thanks to the time difference,and I didn’t mind waking up a little earlier if it meant I got to hear his voice.

Keaton

Alright