Page 94 of Nothing To Lose
Mornings are our favorite. We go for short runs when the weather’s nice, then work out together—lifting, striking drills, sometimes just stretching in silence. More often than not, it ends with both of us flushed, sweaty, and dangerously distracted. Which means we end up in the shower together, laughing, touching, waking each other up all over again.
Tyler works from the gym most days now, but that’s just one piece of everything he’s built. Valdin Strategies is unrecognizable from the monster it used to be. Talon still handles the legal and financial services, but Tyler runs the business management arm—especially the most in-demand commercial graphic design team on the East Coast. People book out months in advance just to have his team design their branding.
Even with all that, he still shows up at the gym nearly every day. Sometimes he sets up at the front desk, sometimes upstairs in the small office we cleared out for him. He wears my hoodies, fields emails with one hand, and gives clients pep talks with the other. He’s the unofficial heart of this place. Hell, half the people who walk in come back just because he remembered their names. He’s a far cry from the guy who used to shy away from people. I think learning self-defense —and putting Guy in his place before I even showed up—went a long way toward healing his confidence.
As for Guy, last we heard, he’s in rehab after getting arrested for DUI and possession. The body cam footage leaked, showing him propositioning the officer, then trying to throw a punch when he got turned down. He’s earned himself a reputation as a political problem child, despite being nearly thirty. He’s made the tabloids so many times, his father had no choice but to retire. Good riddance.
I still struggle with how I lost control after seeing that footage. Most days, I’m not sorry I did it. But I know how close we came to losing everything, and we’re damn lucky it didn’t go that way.
We've moved on. The fear doesn't cling like it used to. We don't think about the worst of it every day anymore. We stopped looking around corners. There’s a tiny part of me that hopes Guy gets his shit together and becomes a better person. We’ve grown so much. And most importantly, Tyler has gotten more relaxed and confident in himself.
The back door creaks open behind me.
“What are you doing out here?” Tyler asks, stepping out.
I don’t turn around right away. He comes closer, and I feel his presence beside me, his shoulder brushing mine.
He follows my gaze. Sees where I’m standing.
He doesn’t say anything for a moment. Just lays his cheek on my shoulder, looking up at me with those blue-green eyes that still knock the wind out of me.
“I wouldn’t take it back,” he says quietly. “If that’s what it took to get your stubborn ass to talk to me.”
I huff out a laugh. “Me? You’re the one who ran away like a frightened kitten every time I looked at you.”
He smirks. “Well, maybe if you didn’t look at me like you wanted to devour me.”
"Maybe I did." I pinch his side, and he squeaks.
We kiss, soft and lingering, and it still feels new every time.
I don’t take it for granted. Not one second of it. The memories of almost losing him before I even really had him, then again when it felt like everything was slipping away, keep me grounded. Every time I wake up and he’s there, every time I hear his laugh echo through the gym, I remember how close we came to a different ending. One where he was gone, or I was locked away, or we just never crossed paths again. It reminds me how lucky I am. How lucky we are.
Tyler pulls back with a groan. “You were supposed to be taking the trash out. And where’s the mop? The floor mats have cake ground into them.”
“How did I let you talk me into hosting a birthday party again?”
He leans up and kisses me sweetly. “Because you love me. And because you’re a sucker.”
Then he’s darting back inside, grinning over his shoulder.
“You are in so much trouble!” I call after him, chasing him through the door.
And just like that, we keep moving forward.
* * *
A year ago,we were strangers. Two people from different worlds, crashing together under the worst circumstances. I found him broken and bleeding behind a dumpster, and I didn’t know then that he’d become my everything.
In him, I found the acceptance I didn’t know I needed. Confidence I didn’t think I deserved. A kind of love that rebuilt me from the inside out.
We almost lost everything—our futures, our freedom, each other. But we made it work. We fought for it. We sacrificed for it. And now… now we have this life we built from the ashes.
Because everything means nothing if we don’t have each other.
And now? We have everything.