Kyle's Return (Gloves Off #5)(5)

“Kacey,” I called.

With her back to me, she froze in place for a second before twisting around. Eyes wide, she dropped her purse and put a hand over her mouth. “Kyle? How in the . . . how is this possible? I thought you’d never be able to walk again.”

“It was touch and go for quite a while, but I told myself I’d come out here as soon as I could make the trip on my own. I take it Tyler didn’t tell you I was here.”

She closed her eyes and her jaw clenched. “Nope, he must’ve forgotten to give me that little bit of information.”

“He’s just protecting you. Anyway, I figured it would be harder to ignore me when I’m standing right in front of you.”

She nodded and looked down at the ground. “I see. So are you here to gloat?”

“No,” I said quickly. “I’m here to see you, to make things right between us. You’re all I have left.”

She snorted. “I find that hard to believe. Where are all your friends? What about our mother?”

“I don’t give a shit about my old friends or our mother. She left me high and dry the moment she found out I wouldn’t be able to walk again.”

Tears pooled in her eyes. “Oh my God. So you made a comeback all on your own? If I’d have known . . .”

“Then you would’ve felt bad and helped me out of pity. That’s the last thing I wanted.”

“So what exactly are you hoping to gain by coming to see me? You want forgiveness for everything you’ve done?”

“It’s a start. Or at least give me the hope that you can, someday in the future.”

She took a step forward, her saddened green gaze regarding me wearily. “There are so many other people you hurt, Kyle. A few of them happen to be my friends. If you want my forgiveness you need to get theirs too.”

“Are you f*cking kidding me?” I shouted. “You must seriously want me dead.”

“Then you shouldn’t have been stupid enough to do what you did. Those are my terms. Take it or leave it.”

Releasing a heavy sigh, I ran a hand through my hair. What the hell was I going to do? “So that’s it, isn’t it? You’re basically making this impossible for me.”

Her gaze softened. “No, that’s not the point. You just have to be willing to go the extra distance. I do wish you luck though. I’d like to imagine I could have my brother back, the one who used to run through the woods with me and help me up when I fell down. I miss that person.” More cars started pulling into the parking lot and she sighed. “I have to go. Take care of yourself, okay?”

She waited for a reply and all I could do was nod. Turning, she walked away from me again. Now all I had to do was figure out a way to get her trust back without getting myself killed.





My muscles were still on fire from doing the squat challenge with Megan, but it was a good feeling. For so long, I never thought I’d feel anything below my waist ever again. But ever so slowly over the years, it all started coming back. Hell, the first time I jacked off again, the release was f*cking heaven. Then I did it a hundred times more just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

Megan sat behind the desk, making sure to completely ignore me as I moved around the gym. I wished it wasn’t her ignoring me, and instead the group of asshats who felt the need to f*ck with me.

“Hey, dickwad,” one of the guys yelled.

Huffing, I wiped the sweat off my brow with my towel and turned to look at them. “I assume you’re talking to me?”

The tall one with the shaved brown hair snarled his lip and took a step forward. “Yeah, I’m talking to you. You might want to watch your back. Accidents happen you know.”

I nodded and let out a sigh. “Let me guess, I f*cked your wife or your sister.”

He sneered. “Nah, you did something much worse than that, f*ckhead. Do you remember Nate Jacobson?”

The moment he said the name, I put it all together. I could name off every single person I f*cked over and Nate was definitely one of them. “Yes, I remember him.”

“Well then, I guess you’ll be happy to know that he’s fighting again. No thanks to you. What you did f*cked his career all to hell.”

“You must be one of his friends,” I said.

His glare grew harder. “I’m Dean, his brother.”

I nodded, seeing the resemblance. “I can’t take back what I did.”

“No, you can’t,” he spat. “But you can listen to the repercussions of what you did. Did you know he tried to kill himself? When he couldn’t fight, he felt like his world was over. You took away his way of life.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slow. I never thought about the consequences of my actions, especially to those I hurt. “And I’m sorry about that, truly. What do you want from me?”

Before he could reply, Tyler waltzed into the room and threw me a pair of gloves. “How about you settle it in the ring?” I stared at the gloves in my hand and smiled. It’d been so long since I’d held a pair.

“I haven’t fought since the accident,” I replied.

Tyler chuckled and Dean’s eyes lit up. “Don’t tell me the great Kyle Andrews is a *.”

I glanced over at the octagon. Tyler and I had fought against each other in it a few years ago. “Fine, I’ll do it.”