Jonah (Chicago Blaze #7) - Brenda Rothert Page 0,53
relationship is officially over, neither of us seems to know what to do. I put up a hand in an awkward wave and Jonah just says, “See you tonight.”
I smile, but inside I’m anything but happy. I’m the worst at intimacy. Other than this fake relationship with Jonah, the most serious relationship I’ve ever had is with my job, which is very important to me. What does that say about me?
All I can do at this point is enjoy the extra time Angela gave me to wrap things up here before my next assignment. Jonah may be the best man I’ve ever been close to, but I have to move on to the next case, so this is the end for us.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jonah
Kit drops his barbell to the floor after a set of deadlifts, blowing out a breath as he rolls his shoulders to stretch them. I nod at him as I walk over to a stair climber machine in our team training room to warm up.
“Hey, man,” he says, following me to the machine.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Why’d you miss practice this morning?”
“I had a thing.”
He pulls up his T-shirt to wipe the sweat from his face and quips, “Dick enlargement procedure?”
“Yeah, it’s just never big enough for your mom.”
My heart’s not really into trading jabs today. Rey and I are over, and she’s leaving. I could tell today with the awkward way we said goodbye. I knew it would hurt when the time came, but it’s even worse than I thought it would be. I’m at a loss.
I didn’t see her coming, the outspoken Cuban beauty who can’t cook for shit and swears like a sailor stole my heart right out from under me. It’s like when a puck I can’t get my eyes on slides right between my legs and into the net.
It’s worse, actually. I lost Lily, the only woman I ever thought I’d love, and then love somehow found me once again and now I’m losing Rey, too.
Kit looks around the room to make sure no one can hear him, then leans over and asks in a low tone, “Did you hear about that high roller friend of Durand’s getting arrested?”
“What’d he do?” I ask, answering his question with a question so I don’t have to lie.
“Some fucking awful shit, dude. The cops found child porn on his computers and they went to search his place on some island and he had twenty-four kids locked in a dungeon that he was renting out to his pals as sex slaves.”
“Holy shit, are you serious?”
Kit nods. “Durand isn’t connected to all that, it sounds like, but he looked like he was about to be sick when I passed him upstairs earlier. Can you imagine finding out someone you know is actually that kind of monster?”
“Sounds like he’ll be in prison for the rest of his life.”
I pick up the pace on the stair climber, working up a light sweat. Kit shakes his head and leans on the front of my machine.
“I hope his fellow prisoners will do to him what he did to those kids,” Kit says, his gaze darkening. “He deserves…the worst humanity has to offer, I’ll just say that.”
I’ve never seen Kit so upset about anything. Emotion is swirling in his eyes and he actually looks on the verge of tears.
“You okay, man?” I ask, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah.” He takes a deep breath and pushes off my machine. “I’ve gotta go, see you later.”
“See ya.”
I watch him as he leaves the training room, certain that he is not okay. Kit is one of those guys who keeps everything surface level. Everything is fun and games with him, and I’ve noticed something about him—he has women all over him when we go out, but he always goes home or back to his room alone.
I’ve never known Kit to spend the night with any woman, but anyone who wasn’t paying close attention wouldn’t know that. He flirts and I can tell when he really likes a woman, but he never pursues more than a little making out in public.
Maybe he had his heart crushed at some point, I don’t know. I won’t repeat what I’ve noticed or pry about it, though, because I know how it feels to want privacy.
More players and trainers come into the locker room, everyone buzzing about the arrest of our season-ticket holding VIP fan earlier today. I put my headphones on to signify that I don’t want to talk. I also