“You too, Liv.” He pulls my hand in his toward him and turns my shake into a hug.

Laughing, because it’s done playfully more than harassingly, I whisper in his ear before pulling away. “You should give boxing a shot. Don’t ever give up your dreams.”

Chapter 30

Vince

It’s starting to get dark as I begin my run back to the hotel. I have no idea where the time went. The five mile run to Arlington Cemetery couldn’t have taken more than a half hour, which would mean I spent four hours wandering around and sitting at my father’s graveside. I’d seen pictures of the cemetery on TV, but nothing could have prepared me for the emotions I felt walking in and seeing miles and miles of stark white headstones perfectly lined up, many with American flags waving in the afternoon breeze.

Thoughts of lives lost and other kids growing up without a parent should have been what consumed me, but instead I sat next to his grave and played the What If head game I’ve been playing with myself since I was a kid. What if my father had come home instead of being lost at war? Would my mother have been different? Maybe not strung out for most of my childhood? What if he’d been there every night when I came home from school?

All around D.C., I pass families walking together as I run back to the hotel. They’re taking in the sights and having a good time. A young boy and his father pose in front of the Lincoln Memorial while the mom takes the picture, all three smiling at the memories they’re creating. It makes me run faster. Anger rises from within me, anger for my father not coming home, but even more anger for my mother not stepping up and being the parent she needed to be.

I don’t even remember the last mile of the run, sprinting the entire time so fast that I still haven’t caught my breath when I walk back into the hotel room.

“Hey.” Liv looks up from where she’s sitting on the bed, typing on her laptop. I don’t respond. Instead I stalk to her and ravel her hair around my hand and yank her head back, giving me access to her mouth that I so desperately need.

She doesn’t complain, even though I’m completely drenched in sweat and just marched in like a complete ass**le. She kisses me back. Hard. Almost like she needs it as bad as I do.

“Need you,” I mumble into her mouth without letting her come up for air.

“Need you too,” she whimpers, her words barely heard, smothered under my kiss.

***

“How was your interview?” An hour later, I finally ask the question I should have asked walking in the door. But I just f**king needed her. Needed her to erase all the shit going through my head. Help me get rid of the anger. I know it’s not fair, she doesn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of my shit, but I just couldn’t help it. Loathing myself for the way I treat her deep down inside, I try to soothe things over, even though she never complained.

“Okay.” She’s being tight lipped and I don’t blame her. Probably thinks if I was really interested, I’d have asked when I walked in the door…like a normal f**king person.

“What did you do all day?” she asks, her head resting on my chest. I stroke her hair, it brings me peace, the urge to wrap it around my fist and pull gone with my pent up frustration, thanks to Liv.

“I went to Arlington Cemetery.”

Lifting her head, she props her chin up on her hand resting just over my heart, and looks up at me. Her voice low and full of concern, she asks, “Is that where your father is buried?”

“Yeah.” I stroke the hair back from her face. She’s so god damn beautiful.

“Have you ever been there before?” Playing with the dog tags resting on my chest, she runs her finger over the swollen letters embossed on the ID.

I shake my head no.

“I would have gone with you. You shouldn’t have had to go alone.”

The f**ked up thing is it never even dawned on me that she would want to go with me. I’m just so used to taking care of myself, going there anything but alone wasn’t even a thought.

“Thanks. It means a lot that you would have gone.”

Tilting her head to the side, she holds my gaze for a minute before speaking. “Vinny, it’s not that I would have gone, I want to be there for you.” She pauses. “There’s a difference you know.”

Maybe I’m dense, because I don’t see the damn difference. But Liv was always better with words. I shrug my shoulders.

Chapter 31

Liv

I’ve never been to a professional fight before. I know it’s just an exhibition, but I’m still excited to see it. See Vinny doing what he lives for.

Because it’s not a sanctioned fight, each pair of fighters only spends one minute in each of three rounds, instead of the usual three or five minutes. Since Vinny’s got a championship fight coming up, he’s the headliner of the exhibition, so he goes last, like the rock star after the opening act.

We enter a small room under the building where the fights take place just above us. An older man greets us. It’s clear the two men are fond of each other.

“Preach, I’ve missed you, you old bastard. The place just isn’t the same without you.” The two exchange a guy hug, a sort of combination hand shake and one armed half hug chest bump.

“You don’t miss me you stupid little shit, you miss Nico having someone else to fight with.” Smiling, their teasing says a lot about the strength of their relationship.

Preach catches me out of the corner of his eye. “Who you got with ya…this girl’s too pretty to be hanging around with a goof like you.” He smacks Vinny in the back of the head as he passes by on his way to me.

Coming to stand before me, Preach ignores Vinny’s attempt at answering his question, and Vinny looks on from behind, laughing and shaking his head. “Hiya pretty girl, I’m Preach, and I’m single if you’re interested?”

Laughing, I extend my hand, “I’m Olivia, it’s nice to meet you, Preach.”

Preach takes my hand and shakes, but doesn’t let go as he talks to Vinny while still looking at me. “Elle told me all about this one when I talked to her last week. Says she’s special and I have to be nice.”

“Elle’s right there.” Vinny walks up to Preach and puts one hand on his shoulder from behind. His response is to Preach, yet he speaks it to me, “She is special.” He pauses and I watch as his eyes take their time to travel over me slowly, from head to toe before he continues. “Now how about you let go of my girl’s hand and come wrap up my hands, old man?”