Lyric laughed again.
Her father stood and joined his wife on the loveseat, and Landon moved closer to Lyric. She snuggled against his side, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
And then they watched a movie, not worrying about anything else, what the outside world had to say or what they thought, and just enjoying the feeling of being happy.
Landon looked down at her and whispered, “I love you.”
She smiled back. “I love you, too.”
And she did. God, she loved him so much.
Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER
Lyric rushed out of the small one bedroom apartment she shared with Landon, got into her car, and hauled ass to where she knew he’d be boxing.
She was running late, and if she missed Landon fighting she’d be pissed at herself.
Speeding through the back roads, she had a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel. It wasn’t like she hadn’t gone to his boxing matches before, but she’d never missed one since they had moved in together.
After they graduated and all that chaos had gone down with Devon and their parents, they’d still stayed together. She’d gotten accepted into a local college, so they still had dinner with her father and his mother every Sunday, and Landon had been doing boxing full-time.
He wasn’t a professional, and maybe he never would be because he just didn’t care about titles, but boxing was still a passion of his.
He worked hard, trained harder, and the money he won in the underground matches allowed her to not have to work so she could focus on school.
Twenty minutes later she was pulling into the building that held the match. This time it was in the basement of a dry cleaning factory. The bay doors were open. She could see the workers inside, but she’d be going through the back entrance.
After cutting the engine and getting out of the car, she rushed through the lot, around to the back of the building, and once the man at the door let her in, she made her way down the stairs to the bowels of the building.
She heard the chanting, the screams, could even smell the aggression and excitement in the air.
Stepping onto the platform that overlooked the very lower level of the factory, she could see the makeshift boxing ring set up, and the people crammed around it. Their hands were in the air, their excitement tangible.
Instantly Lyric felt her heart start to beat faster, felt everything in her come alive as the scents, sights, and the very air charged her.
She made her way down to the main floor, and as soon as she got there Hector, one of the regular bouncers that stayed at these fights, was beside her.
“He’s been asking for you,” Hector said loudly, trying to be heard over the noise.
“I know. I ran late,” Lyric responded, knowing Landon was probably worried about where she’d been. To say Landon was protective of her was an understatement, but she liked that, loved that her man was so possessive of her.
Hector pushed people out of their way as he led her toward the corner of the room. There were a few rooms she could see, ones that were probably mainly for storage, but tonight they’d allow the fighters to prepare in semi-peace.
Hector pounded on the door three times. It was swung open by another burly looking guy, and when he saw her he stepped aside.
She saw Landon sitting in the center of the room, a guy wrapping his hands before he’d slip and tie the gloves on.
Landon saw her and pulled out his earbuds. Even though there was loud chanting and screaming just behind the doors and walls, she could hear the angry music blaring from Landon’s headphones.
“Fuck, baby, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” Landon said, the worry clear in his voice. “I was starting to say fuck the fight and go find you.”
“I’m sorry. I ran late, and then my phone battery died.” She moved closer, and watched as the guy finished lacing Landon’s hands up.
“Give us a minute?” Landon said, but had his focus on Lyric.
Once everyone was gone and it was just the two of them, she moved closer. He was already standing, and she lifted her hands and cupped his cheeks.
There was stubble on his cheeks and jaw, and the fierceness in his face was clear. He was focused, in the zone, but he’d been worried about her.
“It’s all good,” she whispered. She might have seen his matches before, but that didn’t mean they didn’t worry her. She hated seeing him get hit, even if it wasn’t often that he allowed someone to lay into him.
“Give me a kiss, baby.”
She rose on her toes and kissed him deeply, stroking her tongue along his lips before slipping into his mouth. They stayed like that for several seconds, but then the door opened and Landon was being told it was time to box.