I slip on my headgear, then let Jax help me with the other glove. “That’s not what John had in mind. He wants me to spar.”

“You’re wrong. He wants you back.”

Jax stands and I place a glove on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For Matt.” For betraying my family. “For everything.”

Jax glances over his shoulder and I’m startled to see Kaden on the other side of the ropes. He nods and Jax playfully mocks a two-one combo in his direction. “Water under the bridge, but this doesn’t mean we’re good with West. If he’s with you, he’s got to earn our respect.”

I go to rip off the gloves. If they aren’t going to help me train West, then I’m not sparring. Jax plants his hand over the Velcro. “You go into the ring—we help you. The kid is bad news, but at least now we’ll be there to have your back.”

“You’ve always had my back,” I say with a grin to lighten the mood.

He shakes his head. “It’s hard to help someone when they’re damned insistent on doing all their own fighting.”

Jax offers a hand off the floor and I accept. “West’s a good guy and I care about him.” Possibly more than care.

“He’s an unknown and he’s got a temper. Remember, I saw him lose it last night.”

My heart plunges because Jax is right. West permits his emotions to rule him and that will be a problem in the cage.

John slams the door to his office. “If I wanted an audience, I would have sold tickets. Back to work!”

The smack of punches on the bags and the tap of fighters knocking out combinations against each other fill the gym, but it doesn’t take much to notice it’s halfhearted.

John grabs a pair of punch mitts, bends under the ropes and enters the ring.

“I thought I was sparring.” I motion toward the mitts on his hands.

“You will, but I told you we’re starting slow.”

I follow him into the ring. Since returning to the gym, I’ve only done bag work with John. I’ve used the mitts with West, but I’ve yet to really throw a punch at anyone. John holds the mitts near his head. I inhale deeply and my guard goes up. One second. Another.

I hit Matt in anger, but he struck me first and it hurt. If I didn’t fight back, would it have gone as far as it did? If I weren’t trained, would he have even hit me? Where do Matt’s choices end and mine begin? I drop my guard. “What if I can’t do it?”

John widens his arms so that the targets are at arm’s length. “Then we’ll ease you in slower. Jab, cross.” He shakes his right hand. “Then jab, cross.” And shakes his left. “Let’s warm you up.”

“Okay.” Some of the tightness unfurls. No punches toward the head. I can do this. “Okay.”

My gloves slide back to my temples and my feet rock into position. Okay.

Chapter 54

West

With Abby’s words fresh on my mind and Haley’s decision to be made, I head straight to the gym. If she’s going to butcher my heart, she can do it now, not at school.

The bags near the front door are empty, but a crowd gathers around the boxing ring. A roar of approval ripples from the guys watching the show. In the corner of the ring, Kaden slips on his headgear and gloves, then says something to Jax, who stands on the other side of the ropes. The two of them confer like a coach instructing a student.

I work through the BO-laden crowd, bobbing my head to find Haley. The guys decked out in workout clothes yell again and I discover her in the last spot I’d thought to look—the ring.

John and Haley dance around each other, a demented tango. With mitts on his hands, John aims for her head. Haley ducks and fires back with machine-gun punches to the mitts near his face: double jab, right hook to the head. John grunts with each punch, just like Haley does with me—keeping up the tempo, rewarding her for the hit.

Haley is lean and gorgeous with a sheen of sweat over her body. Her long hair is gathered together at the nape of her neck and her face is barely visible from the headgear and with her held guard. There’s a lethalness about Haley. It’s more than the way her shoulders roll forward and how fast she strikes. It’s the serious gleam in her eye. Haley in that ring means business.

“Never forget she can kick your ass.” Jax saddles up beside me. “And if she doesn’t, I will.”

I ignore him as John combines both mitts and lifts them in the air. Haley nails a double high kick with a power that could kill a man. My eyes widen as the crowd shouts for more. John slams his mitts together and continues to dance around Haley. “That’s right, Hays. That’s right!”

John turns and shouts for Kaden. The guys clap as John whispers instructions into Kaden’s ear.

“What’s the big deal?” I ask.

Jax surveys me, head to toe, then back up. “You really don’t know, do you?”

I scratch my jaw, pride preventing me from giving an answer.

He grins at my nonresponse. “Haley’s a national titleholder.”

Shit. I never asked and she never told. I shift and Jax chuckles.

“Beyond that? This is the first time Haley’s honest to God trained here in over a year and in a few seconds this will be the first time she’s sparred in over six months.”

My head snaps to Jax, the shock registering an earthquake in my system. “She trains here all the time.”