BEAUTIFUL BROKEN MESS (Broken, Series #2)(121)

“I’m gonna get her back...”

“You never lost her,” he states, surprising the hell out of me. He sidesteps and lands three fast jabs before continuing, “You just need to get back on the same track as her. I’ll let you know when she’s coming back in town.”

“I’m going to change her last name.”

Lane’s next punch comes in a fraction off, causing him to slip and miss the bag. Slowly, he leans his forehead against the leather and says, “I’m not ready for that. I’m not ready for her to be taken away from me.”

“I want you to move to Texas. Come work for me. Audrey told me about your past in law enforcement. Join my security group.”

“I just got a degree in accounting...” he trails off.

“Do you actually give a shit about accounting? Because I think it’s some kind of distraction from whatever happened before you met Audrey.”

“Audrey is my family. I’ll go to Texas for her,” he responds, avoiding my question.

We bump knuckles and I say, “I feel like I should ask your permission to marry her.”

“You should,” he smirks, starting to bounce around again before he resumes hitting the bag. Bastard. I shouldn’t have mentioned anything.

“You know I’d never let anything happen to her, right?”

“That’s not asking me,” he replies in an annoying sing-song voice.

“It would mean a lot to me if I had your blessing,” I reply seriously.

He stops his routine and solemnly states, “Jace, I’ve known you were the one for her before I met you. I couldn’t be happier that this is going to actually work out. I know you’ll take care of her. I also know you’re too afraid of me not to,” he finishes with a cocky grin.

“Aughhh,” I let out a yell, partly in relief and partly out of frustration. “I’m going to go crazy waiting for her to come back.”

“Well, I guess you’ve got plenty of time to get some muscle back on those bones. You’re looking scrawny, dude.”

“I wasn’t going to mention it, but you’re actually looking a little chunky. Guess you’ll be doing a lot of cardio this week,” I return. I take the bag next to him and start my first round. His body stills at my words. I have to bite my lip from laughing when I see him raise his arms so he can check out his own body. I knew that one would hit him hard.

“You know what, now I’m really going to kick your sorry ass in the ring. Because this,” he gestures to his body, “is all your fault. Miss-I’m-going-to-bake-twelve-batches-of-muffins-a-day because she doesn’t know how to deal with emotions fattened me up this week. And did she eat any of those cookies or muffins? No! She didn’t sleep either. She ran on adrenaline all week, baking, finishing up every last paper we’ve been assigned, and working double shifts.”

I hang my head for a moment and take a deep breath, reminding myself once again that I still can’t fly to New York right now. I know I haven’t given Audrey everything she deserves. I haven’t shouted from the rooftops that she’s my girl. I haven’t walked her to class with my arm around her shoulders. Max was right. I haven’t treated her the way she should be treated. But somehow I’ll make this right because failure is not an option.

“For that, I’ll let you get a few free hits in,” I finally respond.



AUDREY -

The second I step through the revolving doors that lead to baggage claim, I see a crew of unexpected familiar faces. Em and Quinn smile brightly and wave enthusiastically. I’m shocked to see Jaxon sitting in a wheelchair with Cole holding the handles. Cole tries to wheel him forward but Jax elbows him away and slowly pushes the wheels himself. Lanes stands above all of them and darts toward me. I steady my rolling carry-on bag and brace for the impact. He scoops me up into a well-known hug that I will always associate with family.