Page 73 of Only You
She looked towards the stairs only to meet Demir’s eyes. From the look on his face, it was clear he had heard everything. Selene quickly diverted her gaze to the floor, where she saw his boxing gloves. He must have come back for them. She grabbed them from where they lay abandoned on the ground and met him on the stairs. He took them from her gingerly.
‘I’ll talk to him,’ she promised.
‘You don’t—’
She looked at him defiantly, a look she would have pulled on Jack months ago when they were on better terms.
Demir’s eyes fell to his feet. ‘Okay.’
Selene nodded before steeling herself. As she climbed the steps, a trickle of confidence returned. She reminded herself that no one benefitted when she shut her mouth, especially her. Jack may not be himself right now, but he was stillherboyfriend. If he wanted her to stay and help, he needed to treat her right.
Jack stood outside, smoking as he waited by the car.
‘Finally,’ he said, throwing his cigarette on the ground, snubbing it out with his shoe.
‘Let’s go. We’re gonna be late for the match, unless you want to give up on that too.’ He opened the door for her, and she threw her bag in the back before facing him, hands on her hips.
He looked at her dumbfounded. ‘What now?’ he asked.
Round two.
The tension was always thick whenever Demir picked up Selene in Jack’s car, their usual silence weighed down by unresolved issues. After Jack’s fight with Selene, he was mechanical when he trained Demir. Any conversation between the two was sharp and to the point. So, it comforted him to see Selene back to her normal, stubborn self instead of shrinking under Jack’s attitude as she had been.
Still, it didn’t change much between them and Demir didn’t know how to feel about that. Their old truce was now unbalanced since she’d stuck up for him. He had tried his best in the week since to figure out how to repay her, but she never wanted anything from him. There was nothing to give or provide other than silence, so he did that. Still, it nagged at him relentlessly that he couldn’t find a way to thank her.
Demir did his best to put it out of his mind as he and Selene entered the gym, starting their usual routine. Selene began to pull out her books while Demir went to the locker room to get ready. Halfway through wrapping his hands, he heard a commotion outside the door, a female voice filtering through. He sighed.
Another argument, he thought before pausing.
Jack shouldn’t be here this early.
He stood from the bench and opened the door.
Instead of seeing Selene and Jack arguing, he saw a boxer he’d gone against a while back, Zac, crowding her against the wall. The terror in her eyes was obvious as she tried to push him away, textbook clutched to her chest. Still, the guy leaned in further, pinning her wrist to the wall.
‘Hey,’ Demir called out as he stomped over. The boxer looked up, loosening his grip. ‘Get the fuck off her.’
‘Oh, this your girl?’ Zac asked. ‘My bad. She asked me to come over to help her study. She wanted some hands-on training.’ He smirked, and Demir opened his mouth to threaten him only for a textbook to hit him across the face. Both men turned to Selene, who stood there furiously gripping her anatomy book.
‘Crazy bitch,’ Zac spat, grabbing her by the throat.
Demir ripped him away, throwing him to the ground and grabbing his shirt. His fists rained down on the boxer’s face. He ignored the blood and breaking bones until two other people dragged him off. Four others crowded around and, as the noise rose, the gym manager came rushing out of his office.
Demir shrugged off the strangers’ holds and walked over to Selene, who was looking at the scene in shock, a hand cradling her neck. Carefully, he reached out and touched the back of her hand. She recoiled and looked up, relaxing when she saw it was him. He tilted her head so he could take a closer look. He didn’t see any bruises; hopefully, he pulled Zac off before he could do any real damage.
‘You okay?’ he asked her quietly.
Selene shook her head. Demir nodded, taking her hand. She squeezed it before shifting to hide herself from the crowd behind him. He stepped closer, and she closed her eyes. The world faded away as he watched her try to catch her breath. He didn’t look in the mirror to the commotion happening behind him as he intertwined their fingers. All he could focus on was the fact that she was okay. And for the briefest moment, it was the most important fact in his life.
‘Get out!’
Demir turned to see the gym manager’s livid eyes on them. ‘And stay out! You’re banned from here.’
‘What?’ Selene stepped from Demir’s shadow and stomped over to the manager. ‘This is ridiculous. He attacks me in your gym, and we’re getting kicked out? Are you out of your mind?!’
‘It’s fine,’ Demir said. Selene stared at him in confusion. ‘Just get your stuff.’ He gathered his things from the locker room and took her hand when he came back out. He led them outside, only dropping her hand when they reached the car.
‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ she said as he opened the trunk, placing their bags inside before slamming it closed. ‘We weren’t in the wrong.’
