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Chapter 21
"I don't think this trip is a good idea." Tate grumbled from the living room as Luce did some last minute packing.
"Oh shut up, and finish." She snapped at him before sitting on her suitcase to get it to close. I stifled a giggle. Thanksgiving break was next week and Luce and Tate had taken a week off early to leave for some cruise to Alaska. I was happy for them, but Tate was making it difficult to tell them good bye, and not because I would miss him.
"Rose still hasn't fully recovered and I don't think leaving her here alone for two weeks is a good idea-"
"God Tate! Give it a break! Rose is fine and you know that. You just don't want that Rex kid coming around when you're not here to puppy dog guard her!" She finally yelled at him, and even though he was my best friend and all, I didn't stop the satisfied smile that lit my lips.
I loved Tate, I really did, but he was really starting to annoy me. He's been basically glued to my side when I'm not at school and he texts me non-stop when I am at school. It's like he has to prove to Rex he can't have me all the time or something, and it's really starting to "piss" Rex off... at least that's what he says.
I honestly couldn't wait for them to go on this trip, I needed the break... but dad had left on another business trip two days ago and I was going to be alone for two weeks straight. I knew Rex would spend a few nights over here if I asked him to, but I wasn't going to ask him to spend the whole two weeks with me. I didn't want him to waste his time off of school at my house with pathetic me. That's just selfish... I just really don't like being alone.
I heard Tate let out a dramatic sigh from my perch on the stairs before he zipped up his suitcase in defeat. "We're leaving Rose." Luce finally said five minutes later. I stood up and bounced down the stairs as her and Tate lugged their bags to the door.
"Bye guys! Have fun!" I wrapped my arms tightly around my sister's neck and planted a big, sloppy kiss on her cheek.
"Too much, Rosalyn Maria, too much." She grumbled when I had finally let go and she wiped her cheek off. I gave her a big smile in response.
"Where's my kiss baby doll?" Tate pouted down at me and I rolled my eyes before wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"We'll be back in two weeks, Rose. You know the rules. No parties, no drinking, no drugs-"
"No sleepovers, and no boys." Tate cut Luce off halfway through her list of rules and I watched in amusement as she glared up at him before slapping the back of his head.
"Shut up, you loser. Rex can come over if he wants. I trust Rose, just not a lot of boys alright?" She raised her eyebrow at me and nodded. "Besides, my first rules were all jokes." Tate rolled his eyes and glared down at his girlfriend as I held in my laughter.
"Alright we're off. Love you Rose, stay out of trouble while were gone. I'll check up on you when I can." Luce waved as she pulled an angry Tate from the house and I blew her a kiss.
"NO Rex, Rose, seriously-" Luce slapped her hand over Tate's mouth before shoving him into the passenger seat. I laughed. She definitely wore the pants in their relationship.
I loved it.
I waved after them as they pulled out of the drive way and onto the road. I waited until they were out of sight before closing the door and slumping against the cool wood. I sighed and the sound reverberated through the empty house. Alone... I was all alone.
I made sure the front door was locked before bounding up the steps, grabbing my phone off the nightstand, and throwing myself onto my bed. I flicked open an empty message box and typed in a quick question.
Me: What are you doing today?
It took him a solid three minutes to text back and I only ended up frowning at his message.
Rex: Busy today g2g, i'll text u l8r.
He usually never used text-speech, so I knew he was really busy, but I sighed in defeat anyway before putting my phone back on the charger. I didn't even bother texting him back. If he was really busy I didn't want to bother him anymore than I already had.
I kicked my legs up into the air aimlessly and stuck my arms under my head as a pillow. I was sooo bored, and I didn't want to watch TV or Netflix, which was a first. I sighed again and grabbed my phone before scrolling through the few contacts I had.
I clicked Trey's name and held the phone to my ear as it rang... and rang... and rang. His voice mail was the only thing that greeted me and I hung up without leaving him a message. I guess he was busy too. I didn't have either of the Dimajio's numbers, but I'm sure they were with Trey too, who was probably with Rex.
A sick feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. What if he was fighting again? What if he got hurt and I wasn't there to help him? His cut had healed weeks ago, but that didn't mean he couldn't get another one just as easily-
I shook my head of those thoughts and buried my face in the pillow. He promised me he wouldn't go back to that place anymore, and I had to believe that until he gave me a reason not to.
I sighed before climbing off the bed and stuffed my feet in my shoes. It's only been ten minutes and I was already dying from boredom. I had no idea how I was going to be able to last two weeks like this. I threw Rex's jacket on quickly and grabbed my house keys and phone before bonding down the stairs.
I locked the front door behind me and hopped down the porches steps like a four year old. I didn't have my license yet and ever since the whole break line incident with Rex, the driving instructor hasn't let me drive, so the only think I could possibly do is go to our neighborhood's park.
The walk was short and quiet as I kicked pebbles out of my path and watched my breath turn to fog in the chilly air. I hadn't seen Rex in two days and honestly it was starting to get to me. I missed him, like a love sick puppy.
I let out a heavy sigh and shook my head as I reached the old metal gate to the rather large park. My neighborhood wasn't rich, but it was nice, so we could afford to keep a decent playground. I'm not going to lie, most of this was bought by my father. He always had a soft spot for children, and he made sure the ones in his neighborhood had a place to play without fearing for their safety.
The elementary and middle school children still had school for one more week, leaving the park deserted and silent. It was almost as depressing as my home, almost. I walked to the nearest bench sitting beneath the famous climbing tree and sat down on the cool chipped wood.
The soft creaking of the metal chains on the swings whistled into my ears as a gentle breeze swept them back and forth. I remembered coming here all the time when I was younger. When dad had found me and brought me home he would bring me to the park almost every other day and offered to push me on the swings.
I was twelve then and didn't need any help, but him wanting to be there and push me filled my heart with such a happy heaviness I didn't have it in me to tell him no. They took me away for seven years, and that was all it took to warp everything I had ever known.
I didn't remember my father when he had found me, or my sister, and my mother had died while I was away. It was a disaster, I was a disaster. I still am, just not as severe.
"Yo kid!" My head whipped up at Brett's voice and I squinted in the direction of an old pick up truck parked right next to the park's gate.
"Brett?" I called back and let a smile light my face as both he and Denton hopped out of the truck and walked towards me.
"What's up buttercup? Why are you out here all alone?" Denton asked with a raised eyebrow before both he and Brett plopped lazily down on either side of me.
I shrugged and felt the degrading sense of loneliness lift off my chest. "Luce and Tate left for some Alaskan trip and my dad is out of town for a few days." I didn't bother telling them how long he would be gone. I didn't really know either.
"Why didn't you call us, kid? We would have got you." Brett slung his arm over the back of the bench and tilted his dark head of hair towards me.
"I didn't have either of your numbers and Rex said he was busy, so I figured you guys were with him..."
"Nah, he and Trey are ignoring us too." His tone was nonchalant and careless as he shrugged his shoulders.
I pouted.
"He texted me earlier... so he's not ignoring me, right?" There must have been some miserable tone in my voice because Brett's eyes had snapped down to my face in a heart beat.
"No Rose, I was just kidding. He and Trey are busy looking for boxing rinks." I could feel his eyes staring into the side of my face, and for a split second I was sure he could hear my heart stop in my chest.
"He's fighting?"
"Not today, that I know of..." Brett's voice was curious, but I felt his eyes staring into the side of my head like lasers. "But I promise it's not what you think Rose. Rex needs to let out his anger somehow, and fighting has always been that way."
"He promised me he wasn't going to go to those fights anymore-"
"He's boxing, not street fighting. There's a difference." Denton's voice held a slight scoff to it, like it was common knowledge that boxing was totally different. I felt a snarky comment bubble it's way up my throat, but I pushed it back down before the words pushed themselves passed my lips.
"He's right, Rose. The rules are a lot more strict, which means it's a lot safer." Brent's voice didn't hold the scoff that Denton's did, but it was too nice, like he was talking to a child. Then again, I don't give him a reason not to.
"Hm."
"We're actually on the way to go meet up with him and Trey, wanna come?" Brett's voice pulled me out of the little revere I put myself in as he stood up and stretched. I knew better than to butt into Rex's business when he didn't want me to. He didn't tell me what he was doing, only that he was busy, and that usually always meant he didn't want me around at the time.
"No it's fine. He said he was busy and I don't want to bother you guys-"
"Come on buttercup." Denton had hopped to his feet with a tight grip on my arm. "You're coming. You look like you could use some fun." I let out a quiet yelp as he hauled me to my feet and Brett chuckled.
"Yeah, come on kid, we could use the company." He argued also, but it seemed that any argument I could think of would have been pointless since Denton was already pulling me to the car.
"Careful Denton, you don't want Rex to go ape shit if you bruise her." Brett was chuckling at my side and his laughter only grew when Denton's hand ripped away from my arm.
"Sorry buttercup." He mumbled disdainfully and gentle rubbed the spot on my arm where he had grabbed.
I couldn't help the little bubble of laughter that left my lips as he shoved his hands in his pockets and sulked to the SUV's door. "Would Rex really hurt him because of that?" I asked Brett as he fell into step lazily beside me.
"You really don't know anything about him, kid." He chuckled again before we reached his car and he held the back door open for me. "He's only centimeters away from beating Denton's face in most of the time... but I promise there's more reasons for that than just you." He gave me a soft wink before shutting the door and jogging over to the driver's side.
"The sad part is, is that it's true." Denton sighed from the front as his older brother hopped into the SUV. I chuckled.
The ride to wherever we were going was loud and obnoxious, but that was only because Denton had the stereo up to full volume and was singing as loud as he could to Womanizer. I laughed the whole time. For a while there I forgot about the empty house waiting for me and the nightmares that were sure to visit me in my sleep. It felt good to laugh.
It took a good twenty minutes to get to wherever Rex and Trey were looking at boxing rinks and another five until we pulled into the one they were currently at. We were quite a ways into downtown, but for some reason it was a lot nicer than I expected. The streets were clean of liter, there weren't many tall skyscrapers to block the sun from view and there was a gentle breeze in the air that lifted the heavy weight off my chest.
"Come on Rose, no need to keep us waiting." Brett groaned impatiently by the door and it took all I had in me to tear my eyes off of the clear sky.
"Sorry, I'm coming." I mumbled and hurried past the door he was holding open for me.
As soon as I passed the threshold the smell of sweat and old gym socks flooded my senses and made me want to gag. I forgot how much I didn't like gyms. There were a few people running on treadmills or using the mountain climbers, but most of them were really young and too tuned into their music and exercising to pay any attention to us.
"The boxing rink is in the back room." Brett said close behind me and pushed gently on my lower back to urge me forward. I hadn't even realized I stopped.
Denton pushed a heavy metal door open at the back of the room and we were instantly greeted by the beautiful sight of a shirtless Rex standing in the middle of the boxing rink covered in sweat. My stupid mouth started watering.
He didn't notice us as we walked around the rink and stood behind a very pleased looking Trey. "Hey guys." He rumbled quietly, but kept his eyes glued on Rex as the beautiful body of the boy I drooled over every single day hopped with adrenalin around the rink.
"You like this place?" Brett jumped straight to it as Denton hanged back by my side.
"Yeah, it's pretty decent. The owner was willing to offer an eighty/twenty percent just by looking at him. I'll bet you anything when Rex is done up there he'll be willing to offer fifty/fifty."
"Fifty/fifty of what?" I poked my head around Trey's shoulder and peeked up at him as his eyes shot down to mine.
"What..." His bright orbs narrowed before his lips cracked into a small smile. "What are you doing here princess?" I shrugged as his arm slipped around my back and pulled me up between him and Brett, leaving Denton sulking behind us.
"Brett and Denton dragged me along. What doing you mean by fifty/fifty?" I let my eyes watch Rex's every move as he pumped the air a couple of times. If he didn't look so absolutely gorgeous at the moment I would have laughed.
"The price. The owner wanted to sign Rex up for competitions and offered him an eighty/twenty percent of all his earnings if he wins, but that was before even watching Rex fight. He just finished fighting one of the owner's guys and won, so I'm sure he'll be offered a fifty/fifty percentile now."
"Oh..." I knew I sounded stupid, but Trey had that whole money thing down and I was trying to still wrap my head around the whole "boxing is different than street fighting" thingy.
Trey chuckled and nudged me softly in the shoulder. "Don't worry princess, it's a lot simpler than it sounds."
"Right...."
"Rosalyn?"
My head snapped up at the sound of Rex's voice and I saw his beautiful body leaning over the ropes towards us. His hands were shoved into red boxing gloves, his dark hair was slick with sweat, and his chestnut eyes were staring down at me in disbelief.
"Hey..." I couldn't bring my eyes to meet his, which was fine by me cause I just focused on his beautifully toned chest. He didn't want to hang out because he was "busy". I didn't want him to think I called Brett and Denton to take me to him, or-
"What are you doing here?" The gently calmness of his voice confused me and I forced my eyes to look up into his. They were warm, and soft, and gentle, and... smiling as he looked down at me. It threw me off guard.
"I-I... Well, Brett and Denton... And I-" My words came of as a warbled, jumbled mess and I lowered my eyes as a blush heated my cheeks. Rex chuckled.
"We found her sulking in the park and thought she could use some company." Brett answered for me and I let out a pent up sigh I didn't realize I was holding.
"You were at the park?" My eyes snapped to Rex's as his voice fell and his eyes turned dark. "By yourself?" He added slowly and for the first time in a long time I wanted to roll my eyes.
"It was right down the street T', in the neighborhood with a bunch of other people. I promise I was fine." The boys snickered around me as Rex's clenched jaw relaxed and his eyes softened again, but not before shooting a glare at Trey and the Dimajios.
"Come here Roza."
My heart jumped at the thought of being near Rex when he was shirtless and all hot and sweaty like he was now, but the snickering boys beside me just made my blush rise and I shook my head shyly.
"Rose." My eyes snapped back up to Rex and his outstretched hand, the red gloves hanging uselessly in his other. His eyes were soft, but firm and his jaw was set in stone as his stare bore holes into my face. The boys around me suddenly seemed nonexistent as I climbed up the three steep steps towards the large boxing rink and grabbed ahold of Rex's hand.
His tight jaw relaxed into a small smile and he helped me over the tight ropes surrounding the rink. "I know I promised you I wouldn't fight anymore." He said softly as he pulled me to a corner where a small metal chair and a box of odd little things sat. "But boxing isn't necessarily as bad as what I was doing and-"
"It's okay Rex." I stopped him mid-sentence and gave him a small smile as he turned to face me. "Brett already explained... I guess." I lowered my head uncertainly as Rex gave me a warm smile.
"Good. I was trying my freaking hardest to think of a way to explain this all to you, but everything I could think of made me sound like a promise breaking ass." He squeezed my hand before letting go and bending over to grab something out of the odd little box.
"You haven't gone back to that place again, so you didn't break your promise, and Brett said that boxing was safer than street fighting so..."
"He said that huh?" Rex stood back up with some weird white tape in his hands and questioning eyes. I nodded as he undid the tape and gestured for me to come closer.
"If you've ever seen a real boxing match you'll know Brett's full of shit." He grabbed my hand gently and I noticed for the first time the tape wrapped around his hands. My heart dropped to my stomach at his words and a headache
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