Page 54 of Shots & Echoes

I stayed late,lifting until my muscles screamed, punishing myself with every rep. Metal clashed against metal, the sharp clang echoing through the empty gym, but it wasn’t enough.

Nothing was enough.

I wanted to sweat her out. Burn her out of my system.

But no matter how hard I pushed, Iris Evans clung to me like a second skin.

And then I saw them through the gym window.

Chris Langley. Iris. Together.

I went still.

They walked across the parking lot, too damn close. Her laugh rang out, soft and easy, cutting through the darkness like a blade straight to my gut.

She tossed her hair over her shoulder; her smile bright, unguarded—too fucking easy. Like she was floating. Like she wasn’t wrapped up in the same fucking storm I was.

A slow, dark heat curled through my chest, tightening like a noose. They didn’t even see me. Didn’t notice me standing there in the gym, fists clenched, watching every single goddamn move through the fucking window.

And then—Chris leaned in. Said something.

And she laughed again.

That did it.

The snap was instant. A fuse burning straight to an explosion.

Before I even realized it, I was moving. Dropped the weight. Left. Marching toward them, each step heavier than the last.

The moment Chris touched her shoulder, that easy, familiar bullshit gesture—like he had a right to be there, a right to her—heat roared through my veins, violent and absolute.

She left before I got there.

Probably a good thing.

But him?

Him, I still needed to deal with.

“Langley.”

My voice cut through the night like a goddamn knife.

Chris turned, his expression shifting—surprise first, then something careful. Guarded. Like he could already feel the tension rolling off me in waves.

He should.

He fucking should.

“Hey, Coach,” he said, casual, too casual. But I caught it—that flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.

Good.

I closed the distance, stepping into his space, my heart hammering against my ribs, anger pulsing through me like an open wound.

Chris took a step back.

Not much. But enough.

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