Lifting a hand in greeting, I come to a stop where he’s doing some light stretches in anticipation of our run. We usually start here at the park, then run the trails around campus, passing by various academic buildings and neighborhoods, and through some wooded areas. Our halfway point is Kingston Cemetery, and from there we double back. It’s a good five miles, and usually allows us plenty of time to get our demons out along the way.
I hope he’s ready, because today I’m both aggravated and perplexed at how things went down yesterday with Echo.Fuck.She didn’t react how I thought she would. I can’t even wrap my head around the way she’d responded. And then—I left her there. She deserved it. So, why thefuckam I still thinking about her?
“Hey, Royal. How’s it going?” Theo gives me a welcoming smile before standing up straight, hands on his hips. He automatically has this look on his face like he knows something is up from the two-second assessment he’s given me. I blow out a hard breath—the kind that expresses my agitation perfectly. “Not ready to talk about it yet, huh? We’ve been doing this a long time, Royal. I know you. I can tell you’ve got something on your mind.” He carefully eyes me again, then nods, pointing up the trail. “Let’s go, then. Maybe you’ll feel more like talking once we’ve gone a couple miles.”
I grit my teeth. “Yeah. We’ll see about that. Things are shit, Theo.”
His brows shoot up. “Well, fuck.”
Without another word, I take off, letting him catch up to me. We run for a long time in silence until we get to the cemetery—a solid two and half miles. A long-haired blonde kneeling beside one of the graves gets my attention. She’s talking rather animatedly to whomever is buried six feet under. Strange.
As we make the loop around the cemetery grounds and head back in the direction we came, Theo side-eyes me. “You look fucking exhausted. You realize that, right?”
My feet hit the pavement over and over, jarring my body with each stride. It’s a full minute before I say anything. “I haven’t been sleeping so well.” I press my lips together. “Got shit on my mind.”
“Really,” he smiles, amused. “Could’ve fooled me. How’d the fight go on Sunday?”
“Fuckin’ lost.” I shoot him a stony glare. Last week, we discussed the fact that it might be a tough one for me to win. I still don’t like admitting defeat, even if it was to a freakingbearof an opponent. Pun intended.
“I could kinda tell.” His quick response makes me frown, but he gives a nod toward my face. “Your cheekbone and jaw are still bruised.”
Injured at the fight. Then the altercation with Beckham. “Yeah. Bear got in some hits for sure. Not all of it’s his doing, though. It’s been a shit week.”
Theo does a double take with a raised brow. “Oh?” Then he holds up a hand quickly. “Wait, let’s finish talking about the fight, then you can tell me who else you’ve allowed to use your face as a punching bag.”
“Funny.” I give him a perturbed look before motioning that he can continue.
“So, with the fight—did you expect anything different? It was Bear Pierce. The guy is a mountain you may not have been ready to climb.”
I heave out a disgruntled breath. “I was hoping I could handle him.”
“Well, did you get some hits on him, too?”
“Fuck yeah, I did. He’s got some bruises with my name on them for sure.” I glance to the side, throwing him a devilish smirk. “And we went three rounds. His knuckles were good and messed up by the end. So were mine.”
He snorts. “So, it takes you talking about kicking someone else’s ass to make you smile these days. Noted.” He points to a bench coming up on our right. “Let’s sit for a sec, and you can tell me the rest.”
I nod, and we veer off the trail, coming to a stop. Breathing hard, I immediately put my heel up on the bench and bend at the waist, reaching for my foot to stretch out my hamstring.
“So, you had a shit fight, and you haven’t been sleeping well. What else?” he questions grimly.
I know I can’t hold it in. Theo is the only person I talk to about this stuff. Our running dates have become therapy sessions for me. He’s been my friend long enough that I forget sometimes he’s quite a bit older than me. Then again, maybe that’s why I like talking to him. He’s lived more than I have, and he always gives it to me straight. I can say what I want and know from experience Theo is not here to judge me. He’s seen too much of life, himself, for that.
With my head down near my knee, I grunt out. “She’s here, Theo. She’s fucking here.”
He does a double take as he leans down to massage the Achilles tendon that has been giving him trouble lately. His eyes widen, and his jaw works to the side. “Wait, what? You’re fucking kidding me.”
“Nah. I want her gone. I’m working on it.”
He grunts, turning to sit on the bench as he appraises me. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
“I’ve been through hell to get my life back.”
We’re both quiet for a good thirty seconds before Theo finally speaks. “Welp. You know I’m here for you. Whatever you need. And I’m sure your other friends are, too, right?”
“Yeah. They’re helping. Sort of.” I grit my teeth, wincing as I sit beside him. “That’s where the rest of the banged-up face came from. I asked them to help me because I wasn’t sure if I could even look at Echo again without flying into a rage.”
“Uh-oh.”
