Kyle's Return (19 page)

THE WEEK WAS halfway over and Kyle’s training
class went better than expected. His students listened and watched
diligently, following his every move. Kyle was at peace in the
ring; it was where he belonged. I couldn’t imagine him doing
anything else in life. Tyler’s dad, Steven, stopped by a couple of
times but since Kyle and I had everything handled he didn’t see the
need to stay.

“Any prank calls today?” Kyle asked, sweat dripping
down his face.

“Not yet. Hopefully, the wanker’s done with me.”

He grabbed a towel and wiped off his face. “He better
not try coming in here. He won’t be able to walk out.”

“And he won’t be able to reproduce,” I said, holding
up the letter opener.

He cringed. “Just keep that thing away from me.” It
was almost time to close and there were only a couple of people
left in the gym. Kyle noticed me looking at the clock and grinned.
“You in a hurry to get out of here?”

“Actually I am. I’m getting hungry.”

“As soon as everyone leaves, we’ll get something to
eat. Do you want to stay at my place again?”

“Sure deal. We just need to stop by my house so I can
get some clean clothes. I hadn’t planned on basically living with
you this week.”

He winked. “It’s been nice though. I can’t believe
how easy it’s been to add you to my life. It’s like you’ve always
belonged with me.”

If he kept talking like that, we wouldn’t make it to
dinner.

The night was comfortable, the perfect weather for a
late night motorcycle ride. I held on tight as we cruised down side
streets, leading away from the big city. When we came to a stop, I
didn’t realize trouble had followed us until I heard the roar of an
engine right on our tail.

“What the fuck?” Kyle shouted. His words were
muffled, but he was pissed. I looked over my shoulder, but I
couldn’t see the driver’s face. The only thing I could see were the
white sunglasses covering his eyes and the hood over his head. The
guy revved his engine and tapped his front bumper to Kyle’s back
wheel. We sailed forward a few feet and I shrieked. Kyle tensed and
started to get off his bike, but I didn’t want an altercation. Not
with us being alone on a deserted street.

I grabbed his arm as hard as I could. “Kyle, please,
let’s just go,” I yelled desperately. I was scared of what would
happen if there were more than one person in the car. Kyle got back
into position and I held onto him for dear life. The guy revved his
engine and the second I heard his tires squeal, I knew he was
coming for us.

“Hold on tight,” Kyle shouted above the noise.

I squeezed him hard and he took off, the front wheel
lifting off the ground. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I didn’t
want to look back, but I could see the car right on our tail. Kyle
squeezed my hand achingly tight and pressed it into his body. I
took it as a warning and held on as hard as I could. Closing my
eyes, I waited for whatever was going to happen.

We tilted to the side as he made a very fast, sharp
turn. I thought we were about to wipe out but Kyle put his foot
down as a pivot. The back of the bike kicked out and he
straightened us out. We were upright again, and going in the
opposite direction on the road. Tires screeched and when I opened
my eyes, I looked back to see the car turning around, but also
losing distance in the process.

We zipped down the road, back to the city. My whole
body shook with fear. Instead of going home, we ended up at the
police station. The second Kyle brought his bike to a stop, he
ripped off his helmet and helped me down. My hands shook so bad, he
had to take my helmet off for me, then clutched me tight in his
arms.

“We’re safe now.”

“
No
,” I cried. “We could’ve been killed.”

His muscles tensed. “I know. If you weren’t with me I
would’ve dragged that fucker out of his car and beat the shit out
of him.”

He probably would’ve done more than that. “I know
you’ve pissed people off, but I didn’t think they’d go as far as to
try and kill you.”

“Or you,” he added.

Then the reality set in. “Oh my God. What could you
have possibly done to someone where they’d do this?”

“You’d be surprised. Let’s talk to the police and see
what they can do. Whoever it is, they fucked up big time bringing
you into it.”

Taking my hand, he started for the door, but I
stopped him. He tried to play it off, but I could see the rage in
his eyes; it scared me. “Promise me, whatever happens you won’t do
anything stupid. I don’t want you going after them on your
own.”

His jaw clenched and he sighed. “I’m sorry, love, but
I can’t. If I find out who did it, nothing’s going to stop me from
fucking them up.”

***

FOR THE REST of the week, Kyle rode with me to
work, constantly staying on alert. We were both on edge, studying
people as they came in and out of the gym. I don’t think I’d seen
him smile since the incident. He was on a mission and it was
controlling his every move. The police couldn’t find the vehicle,
and to be honest, I didn’t think they cared. When Kyle had walked
into the station, there were people in there who knew him and
clearly loathed him from the glowers they threw in our
direction.

“Thank goodness we leave tomorrow,” I said
cheerfully, hoping to get a reaction.

He scoffed and lifted a pair of weights making the
vein in his forehead bulge. “Yep, to a place where even more people
hate me.”

I stood in front of him, but he wouldn’t look at me.
“Kyle, don’t be like that. If we have to, I’ll call Mason to see if
there’s anything he can do. You can’t let your vengeance control
your life.” Sweat broke out over his brow, his jaw tense. And
again, he wouldn’t look at me. Anger coursed through my veins and I
was ready to snap. “Dammit, Kyle. That’s
enough
!” I shouted.
He froze and finally met my eyes. “I need you with me in this.
Don’t push me away.”

Throwing the weights on the floor, Kyle grabbed my
face, his gaze wild. “Why can’t you see that I’m not pushing you
away?”

I stepped back and away from his touch. “Then what
are you doing? You haven’t made love to me since that night. If
you’re afraid of me getting hurt, you obviously don’t know me very
well. I can take care of myself.” Turning on my heel, I stormed to
the back room but didn’t get very far before he grabbed my arms and
hauled me around.

“Goddammit, Megan, I love you,” he shouted, squeezing
my arms. Gasping, I stared at him wide-eyed. “The other night
scared the fuck out of me. I could’ve lost you and all because of
some cocksucker who wants to pay me back.” He stepped back and let
me go, his hands shaking. “The anger I feel inside is consuming me.
It’s all I can think about. I’m not going to be able to rest until
it’s over.” His gaze met something over my shoulder and then he
stalked off toward the back while I stood there frozen.

He loves me.

“What’s going on?” a voice called out. I jumped and
turned around, hurrying to dry my tears. It was too late, Tyler had
already seen them. Coming back from his honeymoon to me crying was
not the way I wanted him to return to the gym. His jaw clenched as
he moved forward, his angered gaze glaring toward the back hallway.
“I’m going to ask again, what’s going on?”

I ran into his arms and he let me cry, his body
tense, ready to attack Kyle. If only he knew Kyle was the one
trying to protect me. “I think someone’s trying to kill him, Tyler.
And we don’t know who.”

Kyle didn’t want me alone so he stayed at my house
while I packed for our California getaway. Greg was going to stay
with Nic while we were away. I was glad she had him. I wanted to
tell Kyle I loved him back, but there was never a good time to do
it. It was as if we didn’t even have that conversation. Sometimes I
wondered if I just imagined him saying it because it was what I
wanted to hear. Maybe I had.

We got to Gabby and Pax’s house right on time and
they were outside waiting on us. Gabby’s eyes went wide when she
saw the damage to the side of Kyle’s truck and rushed around to
open my door. “Holy hell, you were right. That is bad.”

I slid out of my seat and chuckled. “I told you.” I
had warned her beforehand not to mention the incident.

“Well, come on in. I have a pint of Ben and Jerry’s
waiting on you. I figured we could change into our skimpy bikinis
and eat it out on the beach.”

Rolling my eyes, I knew what she was doing.  By
the disgruntled look on Kyle’s face, maybe it would spark some kind
of emotion. “Sounds good to me. Let’s go.”

“And you, my friend,” Paxton put his arm around
Kyle’s shoulder, “are going to help me fix this piece of shit.”

I glanced at Kyle one last time before grabbing my
bag out of the back of his truck. He looked pained, but I had to
hope that Paxton could talk some sense into him. Side by side,
Gabby and I strolled down the pathway to their front door. “Do you
think Paxton will be able to help?” I asked, keeping my voice
low.

We made it inside and she shut the door. “I hope so.
Kyle doesn’t look so good. But if there’s one thing you need to
understand about these fighter boys, it’s that they don’t take
kindly to people messing with their women. They all deal with it
differently. Kyle’s just letting his anger cloud what’s really
important.”

“I sure hope he figures it out soon. I miss the way
things used to be.”

She led me outside to the guest house and opened the
door. It was supposed to be a pool house, but they had converted it
to a mini suite. “Have you still not had sex since the
incident?”

I walked inside and tossed my bag on the bed. “Nope.
We went from being all hot and heavy to nothing.”

“I guess, since I won’t be hearing you guys have sex,
you can stay in the main house. But if things get too weird being
with him you can always stay in one of the guest bedrooms.”