Page 82 of Only You
Demir looked her up and down with a sceptical expression. ‘Hmmm…’
Selene hit his arm and an easy smile formed on his face. ‘Don’t even try it!’ She reached out to push him and he grabbed her hand. She snatched her hand away and huffed, making him laugh.
It had been a month since Demir had started fighting at Mackie’s club and not much had changed for him. He still spent the week with Selene and weekends with Nora. His days were filled with odd jobs, practice and fighting, sometimes drinking with Jack afterwards. There was only one new thing.
Heenjoyedgetting under Selene’s skin now.
The banter between them was refreshing although her constant questions made him think more than he wanted to. To distract her from how few he answered he teased her about everything he could think of. No matter how obvious he made it, Selene always got offended before nagging him about something mundane and safe. He talked to her more than anyone he’d ever talked to in his life.
‘Oh, let’s go in there,’ she suggested, pointing to a corner store across the street. She started to cross, but he grabbed her arm.
‘Nope.’ He steered her back onto the sidewalk. ‘We’re just walking.’
‘Justwalking?’
‘Just walking,’ he repeated. She groaned before stuffing her hands in her coat pocket. ‘This is my warm-up before the gym, so no distractions. Just walking.’
‘Okay, fine,’ she conceded, crossing her arms. ‘It’s just a shame that on a day like this we can’t do something interesting.’
‘Walking doesn’t have to be interesting.’
‘But it should be. I mean, why do something if it’s not?’
‘To get to one place or the other. Or are you too used to sitting pretty in Jack’s car?’ ‘I’m used to doingsomething, which I guess isn’t your forte.’
‘My what?’
‘Your specialty,’ she clarified. ‘If you have no one around you, no one’s there to force you to do anything outside the ordinary.’
‘If that’s the case, shouldn’t you feel at home?’ He motioned to the people around them. ‘You’re in a crowd with no one to stop you. You can make your own entertainment.’
‘Oh, please, you should know better than anyone else that this isn’t a crowd,’ she said. ‘These are strangers. If anything, it’s the best way to not feel alone, even if you are.’ She stopped suddenly, and Demir turned back to see what had happened. She was staring across the street; he followed her gaze to a couple kissing goodbye in an apartment doorway, not caring who saw.
‘Until you see something like that.’ Demir raised his brow at her reaction. ‘But you have that.’
‘Not exactly.’ She turned to Demir; her face was wistful. ‘Have you ever seen something simple and common, but its everything you wanted? And you knew you couldn’t have it?’
Demir’s first instinct was to say ‘No,’ but the word got stuck in his throat. His mind raced as he tried to figure out why that was the wrong answer while the hope died in her eyes at his silence.
‘Maybe not,’ she said. ‘I guess you already have most of what you want, right? You’re lucky.’ She started walking again. ‘Come on, let’s finish this distracting but not distracting walk. It’s just so muchfun,’ she drawled. ‘You know, there has to be one interesting thing about this, I’m sure of it…’
Demir ignored the tightness in his chest as he joined her. ‘There is,’ he said, interrupting her rambling.
‘And that would be…?’
‘Well, for one, it’s definitely a good way to find out what’s going on in the neighbourhood.’ She gasped before smirking. The look put Demir at ease; she was back to normal.
‘So, you’re nosy,’ she accused.
‘I’m aware,’ he corrected.
‘Oh no, D, you may be good at fooling others, but not me,’ she said smugly.
‘Doubt that,’ he replied. Selene slowed, but he kept walking figuring she would catch up. He almost faltered when he heard her say, ‘You shouldn’t.’
The punch only clipped his chin, but it was enough to send Demir staggering back against the ropes. Selene winced as, left eye swollen shut, he struggled to dodge his opponent’s blows, the hits reverberating through his body until the bell rang. He was panting by the time he sat in his corner.
Johnny ‘Havoc’ Lawson was, unfortunately, living up to his name. ‘D, you gotta listen to me out there,’ Jack screamed over the crowd.
