at him, swinging a hard punch and it crashed into his gut as I released my fury. I tried to get in another, but he blocked it, his fist smashing into my chest.
I stumbled back and he came at me fast, but I was ready, locking my leg around his and throwing my weight forward to unbalance him. He fell down, but hooked his arm around my neck as we went, dragging me with him and immediately rolling us, his hands winding around my throat. I broke the hold before he could get a good grip, punching him hard enough to wind him in the next moment and he lurched backwards, giving me room to throw him off of me.
He hit the sand and we both sprang to our feet, falling into a furious rhythm of punches and kicks that sent each of us sprawling to the ground more than once. We were soon sweaty, filthy and more determined than ever to win. He was right, it did feel fucking good taking out my anger on him and as I finally dropped him onto his back and pinned his body beneath mine, my forearm crushing his throat to keep him down, he tapped out and I fell down beside him, panting.
A laugh fell from my throat which he echoed and some of the anger that lived in me ebbed away like the receding tide.
“Fuck you,” he said breathlessly through a grin.
“Fuck you back,” I said, a smile turning up one corner of my lips.
He reached over to rub sand into my hair like he used to whenever we wrestled like this on Sunset Beach. I didn’t hate that. And maybe I didn’t really hate him in this moment. At least not nearly as much as I wanted to.
J J had gotten me crutches so I could move about my room and I paced around often to keep the strength up in my body, hating just lying down for hours on end, especially when I was used to daily workouts at the gym. Though with every day I moved a little further along in my recovery, I knew I was drawing closer to the inevitable. The moment this cast came off, I was out of here. And I didn’t know what kind of life awaited me beyond this house.
It wasn’t one I wanted, but when I heard the waves crashing against the shore and the gulls crying out in the sky, I knew there were things in this world I still wanted to experience again. Even if they didn’t include my family anymore. And there was a resounding purpose in me now to hunt down Shawn and bring him to Rogue. She’d have his death, I’d make certain of it. But I’d sure as fuck be getting in some torture of my own before he went outa this world too easy.
I did a couple of laps of the room, sweat rolling down my spine despite the aircon and the fact that I was only wearing a pair of shorts. Why was walking so fucking hard even with the damn crutches? I guess I knew the answer to that. It wasn’t my leg that was the real trouble, it was the prolonged lack of nourishment and wasting away down in that fucking basement. I had to rebuild my strength all over and I was pushing myself too hard every day so I didn’t feel so damn weak.
There was a sheet over the mirror on the wall to my right that I’d asked JJ to hang there. I didn’t wanna see my face. I knew I was being a vain asshole, but part of the reason I’d kept the beard and shaggy hair look was because I was hoping it meant everyone would see less of my mutilated eye. I didn’t need the dressings on anymore but I kept one on anyway, because unless I wanted to look like a fucking pirate and wear the eyepatch Rogue had bought me, this was my solution.
“I said no,” Rogue barked from downstairs and I leaned my shoulder against the wall as I took a break by the door, wondering what was going on.
I propped one of my crutches against the wall and held onto the other so I could try the door handle, checking it was unlocked like I did ten times a day. Being a prisoner for so many weeks had left dents of anxiety in my brain about things like that. Lights on,