“Is that a bad thing?”

“Yes! It is! He will find me, he will know I love someone else, and he will hurt him. It will all be my fault.” She dropped her head into her hands again.

“Who? What? Slow down, Clare.”

“Travis Creighton—he called me at O’Leary’s. He knows where I am and he’s coming for me. This is such a fucking mess!” Clare started crying again, feeling frustrated with everything.

Just when she realized that love had been staring at her this whole time, she was going to lose it.

“Is Travis the one you’ve been running from?”

Clare nodded her head.

“You don’t have to tell me any more, but we definitely need to call Rory. He’ll know what to do.”

“But Travis is so jealous—you don’t understand. Rory would be in danger if he got involved. Travis has a serious temper; he’s always high on something.”

“Clare, stop. Have you met Rory? He’s not easily frightened. At the very least, don’t you think he can decide for himself if he wants to be involved or not?”

Clare thought about that for a second, then slowly nodded in agreement. She hadn’t really thought about it that way before. She knew that Rory could handle himself, but she was worried he would feel forced to help if she asked him. Casey was right though: Rory did what he wanted; no one could make him do anything.

Not even her.

Casey got up and grabbed her phone out of the bedroom, then called Rory. Clare watched in apprehension, sipping some more wine and pushing herself as far back into the couch as she could. She grabbed a blanket from the edge of the couch and wrapped it around her legs, feeling comforted at the tight hold. She took a few deep breaths and wiped at the tears under her eyes.

“He’s not answering his phone.” Casey frowned. “I’ll keep trying to call him, but in the meantime, the second bedroom is yours. I never bothered to replace my roommate when she moved out a few months ago, so why don’t you stay here for now?”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out like that.”

“Clare, you’re staying here.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And to think, I’m the baby here,” Casey teased her.

—

Rory rolled over onto his back in bed, staring at the clock on the nightstand. He was due to be at Legends soon to train Kane, which was the last thing he wanted to be doing right now. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and then stared up at the ceiling, wondering what the point of getting out of bed was.

Clare had left him. She was gone.

He loved her.

His chest felt heavy and empty all at the same time. His knee was throbbing as it did every morning, but he barely noticed it over the onslaught of hurt ripping through his heart. He had fallen for her. He wished he had figured it out sooner, but now that she was gone, he knew it without question.

Sitting up, he saw Ace sprawled out across the end of the bed, which was unusual since he always slept on the floor. He wondered if his dog could sense the hurt he was feeling and was being protective.

Tomorrow was Kane’s qualifying fight, so Rory swung his legs over the bed and proceeded to start his day. He gritted his teeth to try to breathe through the pain as his leg complained intensely under the pressure of his weight. He stared down at the knotted scar that sliced across his knee, remembering when Clare had kissed it.

Now that he looked back on it, that was probably the moment he fell in love with her. Her wholehearted acceptance of who he was had touched him deeply. But it was too late; she was gone, and his knee ached with a pain that vied with the pain in his heart. He decided right then and there that he was going to find some pills when he got to Legends. There was no point in trying to stay clean anymore.

Rory settled on a bowl of cereal for breakfast, feeding Ace at the same time. He got dressed in a black muscle shirt and some long, dark red gym shorts, then bundled up in a jacket for the quick yet cold walk in the late fall weather. Leashing Ace, he and the dog headed out together. Ten minutes later, they trudged through the front doors of the family gym.

“Morning, bro,” Kane greeted him with a nod.

Rory didn’t answer, ignoring him. He just didn’t want to deal with anyone right now. He didn’t want to talk.

“You look like shit. I’m guessing you didn’t find Clare?” Kane continued.

“What do you think, asshole?” Rory grumbled, passing his brother, who was standing outside the locker room doors. He went inside and put away his coat and Ace’s leash, the dog loose beside him, then rifled through several neighboring lockers. They were easy to get into when you had the master key to all of them.

Right now he needed one thing and one thing only, because there was no way he was going to get through the day without some help. He lucked out on the fifth locker, finding a bottle of hydrocodone pills in someone’s gym bag. He took out the whole bottle, gulping down two immediately dry, while ignoring the whining coming from Ace, standing next to him. He poured the rest of the bottle into a plastic sandwich bag before replacing the bottle in the gym bag. Rory stowed the bag in his pocket for later before he left the locker room.

When Rory emerged from the locker room, he found Kane staring him down, arms crossed over his chest.

“What’s wrong with you? I’m sure she’ll turn up. You need to relax,” Kane said, following Rory over to the rings with Ace.

“What the fuck do you know?”

“You’re so pleasant in the mornings—what’s going on?”

“Will you just drop it?” Rory bit back the desire to punch someone, anyone.

“Why answer all my questions with a question?”

Rory groaned in frustration. “Can we please just train?”

“You did it again.”

Rory felt something snap in him and he whirled around, his fist connecting with Kane’s jaw, hard. Ace started barking as Kane staggered back a few steps, gasping. Several members working out nearby turned to watch them.

“Shut up, Ace.” Rory motioned to the dog, who stopped barking at the command.

Seamus’s booming voice intervened. “What the hell is going on here?”

Rory turned toward the cage, again almost tripping over Ace, who seemed to be glued to his side. The dog was staring up at him intently, and Rory was getting aggravated. He had enough judgment in his life; he didn’t need it from the damn dog, too.

“Rory, what the fuck was that?” Kane yelled furiously, storming back toward him but stopping when he saw Ace’s protective stance.

“I’m not fucking doing this.”

“Outside, both of you. Now!” Seamus commanded, glancing around the gym at the audience that was beginning to form.

Rory and Kane glared at each other for a moment, not moving. Slowly, they both obeyed and headed toward the front of the gym, keeping a wide gap between them. Having left his jacket in the locker room, Rory was hit hard by the cold air when they stepped out front onto the sidewalk. Ace was beside him, warily watching Rory’s brother and father.

Kane glared at his brother as they stood apart from each other. “Are you drinking again?”

“I wish,” Rory grumbled, appreciating the pills in his pocket and wishing he could take more.

“What happened in there?” Seamus asked in concern.

“Your son is a fucking lunatic is what happened,” Kane retorted.

Rory said nothing. Seamus glowered at the two men, visibly frustrated, then pushed his hands through his thick salt-and-pepper hair.

“Kane, go inside. I want to talk to your brother.” Kane flung up his hands like he could care less and left the two of them alone.

Rory’s father spoke to him. “You’re using again, aren’t you?”

It was phrased as a question, but there was certainty in his voice. Guilt washed over Rory as he shoved his hands into his pockets uncomfortably, feeling the bag of pills beneath his fingertips.

“My knee is still fucked up,” Rory said weakly, knowing the excuse wouldn’t make a difference.