“I won’t backslide.” Haley is the reason I’m halfway decent.

“From where I sit, the fight today at school is the beginning of the backslide.”

“If we’re mirrors of each other...if there’s more to you and Mom’s story than what you’re saying, then you’ll understand that I have a reason to not backslide.”

“I’m telling you, from experience, a girl can be your worst downfall. It can change your path, but not always in the way you think.”

What the hell?

Dad’s cell pings and he scratches his head when he scans the message. “I’ve got to cut this short. I want you back at Worthington. We’ll work on getting you into U of L. Quit the job at the bar and I’ll find you a position with me. The gym equipment will be here at the end of the week. You can start working out at home.”

I harden into a statue. “I’m not giving up my life.”

“Not your life. You’re returning home after spending two months figuring yourself out. You’re doing okay now, but the people you’re around will cause major damage. You’re capable of more. I know it and now you know it. Your body is here, but you haven’t mentally returned home. You wanted me to ask, so I’m asking now. Come home. Take advantage of everything I can offer.”

Internally I’m screaming as my insides tear in two. This moment... It’s what I’ve craved for years. To hear my dad say he’s proud of me as a son, but the crushing notion that in order to keep his approval, I have to walk away from a life I like... I stand.

“I’m sorry. I can’t. I need to go to Eastwick. I need the gym. I need—”

“Haley,” Dad finishes for me. “You don’t. I understand you think you do, but you don’t. Things between you two will end up bad. Trust me on this.”

“Haley and I will be fine. Besides, she needs me. I’m helping her with a scholarship—”

“I laid off her father,” he says simply. “I’ve had eyes on you since you didn’t come home that Friday night. I know where she lives and I know who she is. I know what she’s lost. I know it all, but does she know my decisions created her nightmare?”

The fear that kept me from kissing Haley the night I stayed in her room resurfaces. “No.”

“I also know about the fight in two weeks,” Dad continues. “I’m sorry, but I can’t permit the fight to happen. I lost Colleen. On the heels of everything that’s happened over the past two months with Rachel, I can’t risk it. Your mother can’t take anything else. I can’t take anything else.”

“I’m eighteen.” My voice sounds far-off as I comprehend what he’s telling me. “I don’t need your permission to fight.”

“No, you don’t. But I think you’ll want to wait on your decision until you consider what I’m about to offer. If you walk away from the fight, if you return home and leave Haley and this entire new life behind, I’ll give her what her father can’t. I’ll pay for her college tuition.”

Chapter 61

Haley

I step out of the back door with a full trash bag in hand and stare up at the rolling gray clouds. It’s been sunny for days, but tonight thunderstorms are supposed to move in. Small drops of water sprinkle onto my arms, but I don’t care. I’d rather be wet than inside.

Besides West getting kicked out of school for harassing Matt, today was a good day. I finished the paperwork for the scholarship and my teachers let me skip classes so I could work on the video at the computer lab. Now all I need is the ending: the fight between Matt and West.

West winning would be a fabulous ending, but my hope doesn’t lie there because that is the stuff of fairy tales. This is reality and I’ve built my whole premise around taking a scrapper and training him in a few techniques in the hopes he could listen during a fight and last one round.

The ultimate irony: my advantage is I know how Matt fights and I’ve taught West how to use Matt’s weaknesses against him. I’ve given West the best ammunition I have. The rest, unfortunately, is up to him.

“I’ve been waiting for you.” Matt turns the corner of the house and I jump out of my skin. The instinct is to throw the trash at him and run back inside, but heading in isn’t much better.

I toss the garbage into the can and wipe at the drizzle gathering on my forehead. Avoiding Matt is what I should do, but I’m done running from him. I’m done being a coward. “What do you want?”

Matt rubs a spot over his eye before shoving both of his hands into his pockets. “We’re two weeks away from the fight. Have you considered my offer?”

“I’m with West now. We’re over, Matt.”

“Did you know he’s a Young?” he asks.

I curse internally. West has tried to keep people from knowing his roots, afraid his family’s money would complicate matters. We both knew the truth would eventually surface. “I know my boyfriend’s last name.”

“No, Haley. He belongs to the Youngs.”

Crap. “He doesn’t have any money. His dad cut him off—”

“I don’t give a f**k about the money. I give a f**k about you.”

“He’s good to me.”

“I was good to you and I screwed up one time. I’m curious if you’ll hold a grudge against him like you’ve held a grudge against me.”

The rain picks up and beats against my uncle’s car. The air is warm, but the drops are cold. I shiver against them. “Is there a point before I drown?”

“You know my dad was also laid off with your dad, right?”

I nod. My dad worked in the office. His dad on the line. Fortunately for Matt, his dad found work at another local plant.

“The Youngs are the reason why our dads lost their jobs. They’re the ones that bought the company, then sent the lines to Mexico. Ask your boyfriend how long he’s kept that from you.”

Chapter 62

West

A bluish light glows from Rachel’s bed and I freeze in her doorway. It’s late and she should be asleep. The clothes I let Haley borrow are in my hands. Sheets shift and, with a click, the lamp on Rachel’s beside table illuminates. With her head propped against a stack of pillows and the covers pulled up to her chest, Rachel squints against the light. “You okay?”

I slip into the room and close the door behind me. Mom sleeps lightly, attuned to any sound in case Rachel should need her. “I was hoping to sneak in and put back your clothes.”