Once I’m finished, I dry off, running my fingers through my damp hair and putting on my bottoms before returning to the living room. I take my time because I’m hoping my parents will be ready to leave after the long drive back to town. All I want to do is sack out on the sofa with Eden and watch some action movies. And eat. I’m hungry as a motherfucker because the hospital food was disgusting.
“You feel okay after your shower?” Dad asks as if I’m an invalid.
“Yes, Dad. Like I told Mom, I’m fine. You both can go home. You look exhausted,” I say on my way to the kitchen. I open and close most of the cabinets before finally hitting the jackpot in the pantry. Grabbing a bag of potato chips, I snag a soda from the fridge and take them both to the enormous sectional.
When I sink into the leather cushions, I tell Tal, “Sofa is comfy.”
“Yeah. You picked it out,” he informs me from where he’s barely sitting on the far arm. Eden’s standing beside him while my parents sit side by side on the love seat, all of them watching me as I pull open the bag of chips and dig in.
“What?” I ask between bites.
“You don’t usually eat junk food,” Tal says.
“When I’m training?”
“No, like ever,” he says. He nods to the bottle of soda between my legs and chips. “Those are mine.”
“Am I supposed to ask your permission before eating them?” I snap at him.
“No. I just can’t believe you would put that ‘poison’ in your perfect body.”
“I’m on vacation! It’s not like I’ll be fighting for a while if the doc won’t even let me train.”
“Right. You deserve a break,” Mom says. “There will be plenty of time for you to get back into things once you’re healed.”
“You said I had a title fight?” I ask around the crunching.
“That’s right. Welterweight championship title,” Dad replies.
“Cyrus was disqualified for his dirty knee to your head when you were down,” Tal mutters.
“He was disqualified, so I won, right?”
“Ah, well, sort of,” Dad says. “It’s only a matter of time before someone else will challenge you for it since it wasn’t won by a knockout, tap out, or decision.”
“Okay,” I reply.
I refrain from telling him that I may not defend it. Fighting is Linc Abrams’ entire life, always has been and always will be. But really, what’s the point of getting back in the cage? I’ve been working my ass off training and fighting for that one achievement. Now seems like as good a time as any to do something else. Anything else since my head has already taken a major hit. I’m not stupid. Even I know that if I keep getting concussions, the damage to my brain will be worse until I could end up paralyzed or psychotic. I don’t want to be either.
“Dad, take Mom home so you two can get some rest,” I tell them. “Tal and Eden will be here with me, so you don’t have to stick around.”
“If you’re sure,” Dad says.
“I’m absolutely sure. I’ve been waiting my whole life to live on my own,” I say. I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but it feels like I’m finally an adult and free for the first time in my life, since I can’t remember the years before.
Mom comes over and kisses my cheek. “Call us if you need anything,” she says.
“Will do.”
“Take care of your brother,” Dad says to Tal as he gives my shoulder a squeeze on the way to the door.
“I’ll try,” Tal says as he gets up and follows them out.
“And you,” I say to Eden as I pat the empty cushion next to me with my palm. “Get your ass over here, baby. Let’s watch a little television before we crash.”
“Oh. Okay,” Eden agrees.
“You are staying, right?”
“If you want me to and if it’s okay with Tal.” She comes and sits down beside me, sitting upright and proper, which is weird.
“Potato chip?” I throw my arm around her shoulders to pull her closer and offer her the bag. She shakes her head no. “You sure? They’re your favorite.”
Her eyes flash to mine. “You remember that?”
“Of course, I do.”
The front door shuts, and then Tal returns to the living room, towering right above us. He looks pointedly at Eden, who suddenly jumps up, saying, “I’m going to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” I agree.
“I’ll make sure there’s toilet paper,” Tal says when he follows her back to my room.
I’m too tired to do it myself, so I’ll let him handle that shit.
Chapter Nine
Eden
“What the hell are you doing?” Tal asks me while shutting us together in Sage’s bathroom.
“Sage wants me to stay tonight,” I explain. “What am I supposed to do?”
“You could say no,” he mutters. When I don’t respond, he says, “But you don’t want to say no, do you? You want to stay here with him and sleep in his bed and pretend like you’re still together. That’s fucking insane, Eden! Sage got his brains scrambled, so he has an excuse. But what’s yours?”
“I-I don’t know,” I respond. I have to lift my hair off my neck because I’m suddenly scorching hot and confused. My heart wants to stay with Sage and keep pretending even though my head knows that’s stupid. Trying to figure out a compromise, I blurt out, “Just let me stay tonight. One night. Nothing will happen, I promise.”
“You know I don’t give a shit if you fuck him,” Tal says, hands propped on his hips.
“I know that.”
“If it were fucking with no feelings involved, I’d tell you to ride ‘em, cowgirl,” he adds, making me fight back a smile. “But you and I both know that it’ll mean something to you and mean nothing to him once he gets his memories back.”
“And what if he doesn’t get them back?” I ask quietly.
“He will, Eden! It’s only a matter of time. At least I hope
