A Little Bit of Sugar

Chapter 20: Tuesday - Hunter

"You look the piece of shit I threw out of my fridge last night." Piper said before he connected his fist with my cheek. My head snapped to the right, ears immediately ringing from the collision. I spat out onto the floor beside me, arms weakly protecting my face.

My body felt a piece of shit.

I gave a sly grin.

"I always knew you ate shit." I laughed, lunging for him as he stepped to the side just in time, giving a swift kick to the ribs. Falling down onto my knees, I grunted, grimacing from the sharp pain spreading up from my stomach to my chest. The fucker was borderline retirement age but he could still kick like he was in his prime.

"That's for being a dipshit." Piper cocked his head, bouncing on his feet, getting ready for another throw. I've been in the ring for an hour now and not even once was I close to hitting Piper. It was either I lost my magic boxing touch or Piper improved.

The nagging feeling in my chest told me none of this was true. My head just wasn't in the game. Rolling over to my back, I squinted up at Piper, the gym lights blinding me, leaving a dark body looking over me.

"Giving up?" Piper asked, unlacing his gloves. He sat down beside my lifeless body, allowing silence except for our heavy breathing to fill the air.

"Yeah." I managed to wheeze out, sitting up, and wincing with pain. I could already imagine the angry dark purple bruise that was going to be there by tonight.

"Well, which one is it?" Piper said, looking over at me, he drew his knees up to his chest. "Giving up on boxing because I handed your ass to you or giving up because you're scared things are falling into place."

I gave him a sharp look, telling him to stop his thought before I laced up again and actually kick his ass. Twelve years of knowing Piper should have told me that no look from me could stop him.

"I don't want to talk about it." I said tensely. "And you don't fucking know anything."

"I know enough from Marie." Piper smirked, shrugging his shoulders. "I may not have graduated from college but I can put two and two together. Come on, Hunter. Your sloppy mistakes in the ring today can only mean one thing and that one thing is that there's something wrong with you and Molly."

"I said I don't want to talk about it." I let out a hot breath, shaking my head. No. No. I was not going into that hell again. It took everything in me to try to forget her. To move on. I don't want any reminders of her.

Of Molly Right.

"Regardless of whether or not you want to talk about it, whatever went wrong...fix it." Piper advised, looking away sadly. "Don't be a dumbass. When you care about someone the way you do now, it means something. Whatever it is, fight for it. Don't be an arrogant asshole and think for once, you or her will be better off without whatever you shared."

I looked up from my bloodied and bruised hands and saw his sad crestfallen face.

"I'm saying this with experience." Piper smiled, his eyes filled with sadness.

**

Tuesday 10:30 PM

I missed her.

Finally admitting it to myself, relief flooded my senses, quickly replaced with the feeling of heartbreaking loss. My heart ached painfully, breathing became a harder task more than anything, and the world spun.

I threw myself down onto the bed, rolling over to the side where she slept the first and possibly last time we made love. If I shut my eyes, I could remember everything about her.

Her smile. The way her corners crinkled when she gave me the special smile she saved up for me. Her voice being so sweet when she talked to me. Her laugh that made her nose scrunch up all cute like the way she did.

Her sweetness.

Her generosity.

And most importantly, the way she allowed me to think I could be a better man not just for her but for myself.

I missed her.

I missed her so badly.

Clenching my sheets into tight fists, I allowed a deep sob to break my chest. I was a grown man crying into my sheets because I lost her. I pushed her too far away and now I don't think I can get her back.