Finding You

Chapter Three- sharing secrets

"That's cute princess."

"I'm serious. I can fight. I can promise you im better then most of these guys here. " I argue back. I have his full attention now.

"I shouldn't have even brought you here in the first place. Look lets get out of here. I'll take you home."

He starts walking without waiting for an answer, I follow him out of the building and back toward the car but I don't drop the conversation.

"Nashton, please listen to me. I've done boxing my whole life, I would love to be able to come back here and fight." I explain to him.

"You have?" He stops walking and turns to face me. I stumble to a stop along with him. I don't miss how close I'm standing to him but I'm determined not to let it affect me. "Stop calling me Nashton."

"Thats your name," I pause, not quite sure how to explain myself. "I've practiced most of my life. I want to be a part of this."

"If I were to even consider this, then I need you to be completely honest with me about everything," his gaze doesn't leave mine. I know what he's asking. He doesn't just want to know my boxing history, he wants to know all my secrets.

Is this worth it?

"Okay. Okay, I can tell you but you need to promise me that you won't tell anyone else and that you'll bring me back here."

"I won't tell anyone. It will take sometime to get you into the ring though. Until then you can watch," he agrees. I feel my body sigh in relief. Once we reach the car, we face each other and I start to tell him my story.

"So I started learning to box alongside my older brother, Brandon when I was little. I wanted to be just like him. My parents realized I was good and they got me real lessons and eventually they let me start going to competitions, I've won everyone I've fought in. When I was fourteen my mom passed away from cancer. It was so hard without her but we managed."

I stop taking a deep breath. I don't want to cry in front of him but it's hard to talk about these things. He reaches over, holding my hands in his own. I'm not sure he even fully realizes what he's doing. His touch sends sparks through my body.

"I kept boxing. Brandon pushed me as hard as ever, he knew it was what I needed. I started dating Cade right after my mom passed too. I'm not like Carston, I didn't have a lot of friends and I wasn't popular. I kept to myself, I had my family and I had Cade. Things were great between us and I thought he was the love of my life, that we would last forever."

"About four months ago, Brandon was killed. It was a drunk driver. Everything changed, I stopped being who I was. I stayed in bed all day and I stopped boxing. I started having panic attacks. Cade stuck by me and I thought maybe I could make it. But as the end of summer came, my dad decided we all needed a fresh start so he moved us here. Cade and I talked it threw and decided we would part ways but remain friends and would see what happens in the future."

"When I punched you on Monday, it was the first time I've hit anything since Brandon died and that night was the first time I've gone to the gym. When you were listening to me on the phone, he was with another girl. And I know we broke up but I never thought he would move on that fast, I thought that maybe we would get back together in the future."

"I'm so angry Nash. I'm so so angry all of the time. And watching those people fight tonight...It was incredible. I felt I like I could belong there.

I stop talking. His hands are still holding mine tightly. I close my eyes briefly and try to calm my thoughts. He doesn't say anything right away but I can tell he's thinking about what I've said.