Page 21 of Fools in Love

Tom stopped in the parking lot and frowned at him. “No.”

Nick laughed. “Whatever, dude. All I know is, I doubt she’d let me or my dad teach her how to box.” He disappeared towards his car.

Tom thought he heard a “thanks,” but he wasn’t quite sure.

Still, as he drove to pick Kate up, he felt his entire body grow more excited to see her. When he pulled into the driveway, she was sitting outside on the front porch with a gym bag at her feet.

“Hey.” He jumped out and rushed to carry the bag for her.

“Hey.” She smiled at him. “I’m eager to get going.”

He smiled. “Sorry, we had a meeting this morning that caused everything to be pushed back about half an hour.”

“It’s not a problem. I was just enjoying the fresh air,” she said as he helped her into the car.

He backed up and headed towards the Boys and Girls Club.

“It is a nice day,” he agreed. “We’re due for some warmer weather next week.”

“I can’t wait for it to be warm enough for swimming. Do you know, I used to hit the B&G Club every week for laps.”

He glanced at her. “Ballet and swimming?”

She nodded. “Along with tap, theater, and FFA.”

“Wow, overachiever?” he joked.

“I like to stay busy.” She shrugged. “What about you?”

“Boxing,” he answered. “I suppose I like running, but I wasn’t in track.”

He wanted to tell her that the only reason he’d picked up boxing was to fight back when his father hit him. But he stayed quiet.

“You went to school in Vegas?” she asked.

“Arizona, Flagstaff, for a while. Then we moved to Vegas when I was fifteen,” he said. “You were thirteen when you moved to New York? You went to school here before?”

“Regular school, yes. For a while I went to dance classes in Portland. Shuffling from here to the city each week helped prepare me for the big city.”

“Being a thirteen-year-old living in New York must have been scary,” he said as he parked at the club.

“No, it was exciting,” she answered as he turned off the car. Then he rushed over and helped her out, grabbing both of the gym bags and tossing them over his shoulder.

They signed in at the front desk and showed their badges, and he carried her bag to the women’s locker room door.

“Can you handle it from here?” he asked.

She opened the door, and he set the bag just inside. “Yes.” She smiled. “I’ll meet you out there.” She walked through the door with her crutches.

He turned and stepped into the men’s locker rooms. As he changed into his gym attire, he thought of what it would be like, being so young and living in a huge city all by himself. What could he have accomplished if he hadn’t been held back by his father?

At one point in his life, he’d been offered a boxing career. He hadn’t been at the top of his weight class, but he’d been good enough that with a few more years training, he could have done something with it.

He’d also been offered a scholarship because of it. Tom had been good at school but not good enough for an academic scholarship. But with the boxing, he could have gotten his foot in the door.

Then again, he supposed he had been destined to become a cop. Even before…

He stepped out of the locker room and saw Kate across the room using a Pilates machine.