Page 38

CHAPTER 37

DREW

M ax leaves immediately after her training is over, and it’s impressive how fast she’s able to move for how tired she clearly is. Yet, as I watch her, I notice she isn’t going toward her house. She pauses before choosing to walk in the direction toward the beach. I don’t know why, but what I do know is I want to be around her.

I glance at where Adam is cleaning up and call out his name. “I’m heading out.”

“You’re not gonna help clean up?”

“Rain check.”

I feel his glare from across the gym, but I don’t care right now. We have a shit load of issues to work through, and I’m sure that’s about to explode soon enough with the addition of Max into everything. But right now, my mind is screaming at me to go to her. I need to take advantage of time with just the two of us for once. Because I doubt it’ll last long.

I head out, and she’s already far enough away that I can’t see her. I know where she was going though, so I hop on my motorcycle and drive down to the promenade. I park on the street before making my way onto the sand.

Her red hair is blowing behind her as she walks closer to the ocean, and it’s like a beacon for me. I give in to the pull and follow after her.

She’s sitting down in the dry sand that the ocean hasn’t reached yet. I sit down next to her, not saying anything right away. She doesn’t look at me, but I know she knows I’m here.

I haven’t been to the beach in several months. Adam tried to get me to jog with him down here before my injury, but since then, he stopped. I also prefer to run on solid ground, not with my feet kicking up sand constantly.

We just sit in silence, the only sound coming from the waves breaking onto the shore. I realize how peaceful it is, and I wonder why I haven't come here more often. Especially when the noise in my mind gets too loud, when the memories are unbearable and I feel like I want to jump out of my skin.

I notice the shine of a tear sliding down Max’s face, but she wipes it as I turn my head to look at her.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, breaking the silence.

“Nothing, I just got some sand in my eye or something.” She shrugs me off, but I don’t believe her.

Instead of calling her out, I go back to facing forward and settling into the silence. Even though there are things to talk about and even more to figure out. I just sit here with her, and that pull I’ve felt since I first saw her is stronger than ever.

“Why are you here?” Max finally asks.

“I saw you go this way, and I wanted to join you.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to be around you.” I surprise myself with how easily the truth stumbles out.

“You mean you want another chance to fuck me when I’m most vulnerable, right?”

I shake my head. “No. I’m not really a fan of sand getting near my dick.”

She huffs out a small laugh.

After another couple minutes of silence between us, I let another truth stumble out. “I like it out here."

"Good thing you live so close to it, then.” She pauses, furrowing her brows before looking at me. “How long have you lived here?”

I think for a second before answering. “Five years.”

“Really?”

“Yeah? Why is that surprising?”

She shrugs, “Just seems like all of you are from here considering how I was treated when I first showed up here.”

“Well, we all moved here at one point. It wasn’t easy at first for any of us.”

“Where are you from?”

I hide the shudder that threatens to take over when it comes to talking about my past. “California.”

“That’s also near the ocean, you know?”

“Sacramento isn’t, but I’m glad you’re familiar with your state geography.”

She shoves at my arm. I hardly move from the force, but let out a laugh at the attempt.

“Why did you decide to move here?” I ask and notice the second the last word leaves my mouth, she shuts down again. I think about what Adam told us, but I want to hear about it from her. I want the full story.

I want to take it back, but don’t because I want to know more about her. Which is fucking weird.

“Why’d Caine say you practically killed your dad?” she asks suddenly and I don’t think I’m able to hide the shock on my face this time.

That dude has a fucking death wish.

“You answer my question first,” I challenge.

“It looked nice.” She shrugs.

“That’s not it.” I know there’s more to it than that.

“I was supposed to get married.” She starts moving her finger through the sand, drawing designs in it. “But I didn’t want to, so I left.”

She’s still hiding things. I knew that part already, but there’s more to it. I’ll get the full story out of her eventually. Which is why I decide to give her a portion of my truth as well.

“My dad used to beat me after my mom left us. A lot. When I was big enough to fight back, I did. And I didn’t stop.”

She sucks in a sharp breath but doesn’t run. She’s seen some of the darker parts of me already. She heard what Caine told her and still didn’t run, just like she’s not running now.

Instead, she surprises me even more by nodding and saying, “He probably deserved worse than he got.”

“You have no idea,” I agree quietly. Then, I decide to tell her a little more. “I ran away and was homeless for a couple years after that happened. Once I found MMA, I never looked back. Eventually, I heard about Adam and Uncaged and ended up here.”

She looks at me, her green eyes meeting mine, and the pull is more potent than ever. The look I see in them shows me that we have more in common than I thought. I know this even without her telling me. I know she’s been through shit she doesn’t want to talk about. But the demons are there, and they are the type that could play well with mine.

“Seems like this is the place to run away to then, isn’t it?” she practically whispers.

I shake my head. “No, this is the place to find yourself. I think you’re starting to do just that.”