Page 46 of No Small Sin

Loved her?

The thought had never crossed my mind until now, but she was so many things to me that I never thought I would have. A real friend. Someone who made me laugh and look forward to seeing them. Someone who saw every dark part of me and still wanted nothing more than to be near me. Someone who I was ridiculously and inexplicably attracted to in every single way.

Be still my fucking cold black heart. I loved her.

“There’s no way they can tie this to you. They have nothing to compare the DNA sample to and no plausible evidence that would allow them to…”

“His phone records,” she blurted out as if she’s just realized it herself. “He texted me to come over that night.”

'“Did you reply?”

“No. I just… went. You know the rest.”

I released a long breath. “Listen,” I hugged her close to me and rubbed her back in what I hoped was a soothing gesture. Comforting her, I sometimes felt like that gif of the guy patting the girl with a broom, but I tried to just do what felt right to me. “I’m going to doctor footage at LC to make it look like we were on a date that night, and went up to my apartment after and stayed there for the rest of the night. It clears me and it clears you.”

“Will that be enough?” She questioned. “I’m not sure you’re the most reliable alibi.”

I scoffed.

“I’m serious,” she insisted. “Detective Carson was straight up about the fact that he knows all of your business and what kind of crap LC deals in.”

That was no surprise. He was probably on Mattia’s payroll, and if not him, then his boss.

I looked at her seriously. “I promise. Whatever happens, I will take care of it. Trust me, okay?”

She laid her head on my chest and I breathed in her scent.

I loved her.

And I would end us both before I let this affect her life in any real way.

If she goes, I go. I can’t go back to how lonely and fucking miserable my life was without her in it.

We rode together in comfortable silence, both of us reeling a little from this new development.

When we pulled up to the gym, I tugged at the hem of her shirt. “I can’t wait to see what you have on underneath this.”

“What if I told you I don't have anything on underneath it?” She teased.

She was being playful again, and I was glad because things were about to getreallyplayful once we were inside.

“Even better. I’d love to wrestle you naked,” I smirked.

“Wrestle?” I saw the surprise in her eyes. Not what she expected, then. I kind of loved catching her off guard. We continued walking down the narrow sidewalk until we reached the entrance, where bright neon letters spelled out ‘The Chokehold Factory’. She looked up at me with wide eyes and asked disbelievingly, “What is this place?”

“My gym. I’ve been practicing BJJ here for years and I cannot wait to toss your cute little ass around a bit.” I scanned my keycard and held the door open for her, smacking it for emphasis. Her ass, that is.

She was stunning. Effortlessly so, and the way her hips swayed as she walked ahead of me was fucking hypnotic.

I led her to the mats. The gym was empty at this time of the evening, as it usually was. All the members had their own keys and could come and go as they pleased outside of class times, but it was small and once I’d made my way up through the ranks, I typically came alone to work on strength and conditioning. On some occasions I would practice with Alec or Law, just to be sure I didn’t lose what I’d learned.

TK peeled off her shirt and what she had on underneath made my eyes bulge from my head. It was perfect for the exercises we were about to do, but the exposed strip of her abdomen had me ready to crawl on my knees.

My dick was rock hard just from the sight of her. I stripped from my sweatpants and inconspicuously tucked it into the band of my shorts, then tugged my own shirt over my head.

She turned to look at me, and her eyes went feral. “Who would have thought my big bad Becky boy was a fan of hoochie daddy shorts?”

Beckyboy? Hoochie da…? What?

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