Let Go (13 page)

Hours later he
finds himself entering Juno’s through the back door. As he makes
his way into the hallway he hears arguing, the same as this
morning. He muses, those two are so much alike they fight like
crazy. What could they possibly be arguing about still?

As he nears
the office he hears his name.

“Greylan
doesn’t deserve that Christina. You need to tell him.”

Christina’s
voice sounds exasperated like they’ve been going at it all day,
“Juno, I’ve already decided, I’m not telling him. He wouldn’t care
anyway. We are just friends so there’s no reason for me to tell
him.”

Juno snaps,
“It didn’t look like just friends this morning when he answered the
door half naked.” A pause, then her tone changes to amusement, “Oh,
I get it, is that the new thing you kids are doing now,
friends
with benefits
? Don’t say I didn’t warn you, someone is gonna
get hurt. Keeping things from each other, friends or not, is bad
news.”

Greylan hears
a shift and movement. Quickly he ducks back into the darkened hall.
Christina comes out the door but turns to look back in. She states,
“I’ll tell him, just not yet.”

She leaves
before Juno can respond and walks down the hall toward the bar. He
frowns at what the argument is about. What does she not want to
tell him? But he trusts her. Hell it’s probably something I don’t
want to know he assures himself. It’s all he can do. She doesn’t
owe him anything. They are friends and at this point that’s all he
can give her.

He waits a few
more minutes and opens the outer door again as if he just came in.
He walks to the office and leans in a greeting to Juno, “Hi Juno.
How are you?”

She rolls her
eyes, looks to her computer screen but turns back around and tells
him, “Next time put some clothes on, why don’t you?”

He smiles,
“Will do. See you later.”

When he enters
the bar area he can tell Christina is uncomfortable. She looks up
and smiles but it’s forced. He decides to give her the night before
she breaks. Inwardly he laughs and muses, this should be fun.

As soon as the
coolers are stocked Greylan helps her out with the bottles. They
replace empty ones and wipe down others. She speaks in a curious
tone, “Grey, why don’t you like Parker?”

He frowns at
her choice of topic but answers, “It’s a little complicated. He’s
with my sister which I hate but what I dislike even more is that
he’s a fighter. I know what that’s like, the life and the girls,
and how it can go to your head.”

She continues
what she’s doing without looking up, “But she seems to have a good
head on her shoulders. Do you think she made a bad choice?”

He stops
fitting a pour spout into a new bottle and looks up at her. He
shakes his head at her insistence not to look at him.

“It’s not that
she made a bad choice. No, I’m pretty sure she did okay actually.
He might be a good guy.” His voice cracks as he starts to tell her,
“Two years before I left, our mom died of cancer. I promised her
that I would take care of Trinity. I guess maybe some of it is my
own guilt because I wasn’t able to keep my promise. I was supposed
to be the one taking care of her but she found someone else to do
it.”

“But you don’t
actually hate him.”

Greylan places
the bottle back and a knock on the front door echoes through the
room. He looks to their first customer and back to Christina. She
is staring at him waiting for him to comment on her statement.

He shakes his
head, “No I don’t hate him but I’m still gonna beat his ass for
dating my sister.”

She smiles and
looks away. Something big is bugging her. Maybe tonight might not
be so much fun after all.

The bar fills
quickly. Greylan looks to Christina throughout the night to gauge
her mood. Whatever is bothering her isn’t affecting her
interactions with the regulars. He envies her ability to be able to
turn her emotions off. On more than one occasion he has let the
badgering and taunting of others get to him. Parker is a perfect
example.

The night
winds down and as Christina locks the door she can’t hold it in any
longer.

“Grey,
Jonathan is here in town.” She takes a deep breath and finishes,
“He wants me back and I don’t know what to do.”

She seems to
deflate with the admission. He comes around the bar and grabs her
hand leading her sagging shoulders to a bar chair. She rests her
head in her hands against the bar. Greylan smiles at how she tried
so hard to keep it in all night. He chuckles, “Is this why you
wanted to play twenty questions before we opened?”

She nods
looking even more miserable.

“I don’t
understand, why did you ask me about Parker?”

She seems to
sink further if that is possible and admits, “I don’t want you to
hate me, or him. I just, I just don’t know what to do.”

He leans into
the chair beside her and rubs his scruffy chin. His finger moves
under her chin forcing her to look at him, “Christina, it doesn’t
matter how I feel about the guy. You will always be my friend, no
matter what.”

He leans back
into the chair releasing her chin, “As far as what you should do, I
am the last person you should ask about that. I suck at any and all
relationships.”

She shakes her
head in her hands and moans, “Ohhhh, I have a headache from all of
this. He showed up on Juno’s door step this morning looking for me.
That’s why she came over. I refused to see him all day but now I’m
not so sure. Six years is a long time. Maybe I owe it to him to
hear what he has to say. Maybe I owe it to myself.”

Greylan sits
quietly listening to her struggle with this decision. The longest
relationship he has ever had was six months. It was wasted time as
far as he is concerned. Her name was Celina and she latched onto
him as his career took off. The wild part is that she had broken up
with him the day before his big fight five years ago. His last
fight. He should have been upset at the time but he felt more
relieved than anything else. He has thought about it often over the
last five years though. If she had been at Brutis’ that night, he
probably wouldn’t have made it into that alley but that girl, the
red head that he still pictures often, would probably have been
raped or worse.

He shakes his
head and tells her, “Christina, all I can tell you is that I
support you in whatever you decide.”

She looks up
suddenly, refreshed slightly, “Really?”

He grabs her
hand and squeezes, “Of course, but no more friends with
benefits.”

She punches
his shoulder as hard as she can, “You shit, you heard my
conversation with Juno.”

He rubs his
arm in mock injury, “Ow, have you been working out? That right hook
is something else.”

She bursts out
in laughter and shakes her head at him. He’s bummed about the sex
he will not be having now but his friendship with Christina is more
important than anything else at this point.

The next
morning Greylan wakes in a sweat just as the sun is rising. He
thrashes to the edge of the bed as pictures of his fist connecting
with Theodore James’ face flash before his eyes. It’s always the
same. That moment plays over and over in his head, the second that
he took the most valuable thing away from someone, his life. He
rolls over coming back down from the nightmare, his back sore from
the worn, lumpy mattress. If he wasn’t convinced before, the lack
of sleep he’s had, just sealed the deal. He showers and heads out
in search of a one bedroom apartment. A new place won’t take the
nightmares away; he deserves that for as long as he lives. But it
might help with the quality of the sleep he does get.

Juno’s is ten
minutes from the rental and Jackson’s is ten in the opposite
direction. He decides to stay within the vicinity and turns up
Dover Street which will take him to a tad bit nicer area. At least
there won’t be as many solicitors on the corners.

He turns into
a drive fronted with stone pillars out front displaying, Lara’s
Landing. A banner running the length of the sign advertises
apartments for rent. He drives further and sees cluster of brick
three story buildings. It looks a whole lot better than the rental
he’s currently in.

An hour later
he has signed the paperwork for a year- long lease. Grasping a set
of keys, he makes his way to the North side of the complex and
finds his new home, a first floor one bedroom that is only a few
years old. It actually still smells new when he walks through the
door. It’s probably the fresh coat of paint that is obviously
recent. As he explores the empty rooms a sense of contentment
settles. He’s getting it all back together. He can only hope things
continue to improve.

His phone
rings in his back pocket. He pulls it out to see Jackson’s name
displayed across the screen. He pushes the button and answers,
“Hey, Jax.”

“Pace, you
commin in today?” Greylan can hear conflict in Jackson’s voice.

“Yeah, I had a
few things to do first. What’s up?”

“I got you
another fight.”

“Really, where
and when?”

“In a week or
so. We have a lot to get done. I’ll tell you about it when you come
by today.”

That doesn’t
sound too promising but instead of harassing Jackson he says
goodbye and hangs up. He glances around the empty rooms with the
weight of what to fill them with clouding his mind. He palms his
phone again and dials Christina. A woman is definitely what he
needs right now. He’d call Trinity but an invisible wall divides
them right now, by the name of Parker Harris. Probably more for him
than for her but his uneasiness grows the more he hears about him
in the news. Last week he won a bout with his one loss, Jesus
Reyes. It’s been in the back of his thoughts since he read about
the win. The fact that Reyes is still fighting makes him want to
find out exactly what happened between him and Jimmy.

“Hello.”
Christina’s voice brings him out of his thoughts.

“Hey you. How
are you?”

Her voice is
short and frustrated, “Fine, I guess.”

“Do you want
to get a coffee before I go to Jackson’s?”

“Um, yeah,
that sounds good. When?”

“An hour?”

“I’ll meet you
across from Juno’s.”

“See you
then.”

He hangs up
knowing that she is in no mood to go and pick out furniture. He can
tell she just needs someone to listen right now. The last thing he
wants to do is give his two cents on her situation. This dude,
Jonathan, obviously has some shit going on if he can’t keep a hold
of a woman like Christina. She is low maintenance and always tells
it like it is. But Greylan had resolved last night to support her
in whatever she decides. He can tell it’s not over for her. The
best he can do as her friend is be there to listen and that is what
he intends on doing.

He grabs his
keys and makes his way back out to his truck, which is another
reminder of Parker. The next thing on his list, get a vehicle that
has nothing to do with the douche bag that his sister is so
attached to.

He stops at a
rent to own place and orders furniture for the whole apartment.
Hopefully he can talk Christina into being there for the delivery.
By the time he enters the small coffee shop on the corner he can
tell Christina has been there a while. She glances at him, tired
looking with purple stains under her eyes. She takes a sip of her
coffee and attempts a smile as Greylan lowers into the chair across
from her. He frowns asking, “Are you alright?”

She places her
head in her hand with her elbow resting on the table.

“Just tired. I
didn’t get much sleep last night. Jonathan and I talked for most of
the night.”

Greylan’s
mouth spreads in a tight line as she continues.

“We hashed out
everything that has happened about a hundred times. I’m just tired
of it all.”