he second I get home, I go for a run, needing to clear my head. I barely know her, and from what I've seen, she's not exactly my type–high maintenance, spoiled, probably shallow–so why is she stuck in my head?

My feet pound the sidewalk, fast and robotic. It's dark out, not the time of night you want to go running in this neighborhood, but I'm scarier than half of the monsters out here.

My thoughts drift to her again. In my head, I'm thinking about the way her golden-brown hair catches the overhead gym lights. The way her tight yoga pants conform to her curves. She shows up for training like she's about to run a catwalk, and I find it insane. She's everything I hate, in fact. Everything I try to avoid. Now everywhere I look, she's there.

I need to go back to thinking about fighting. I need to go back to ignoring her existence, not showing her how to train without hurting herself. Or teaching her how to handle the guys in the gym. I shouldn't be thinking about anything to do with her.

God must have it out for me, because all Kino can talk about on the way to school the next morning is how different Alyssa is and how grateful he is that someone's got his back at school. Usually, hearing he's into a girl would have me over the moon. He finds it hard enough to open up as it is, let alone about girls, but a girl like her would eat him for breakfast.

When he won't shut up about her, I say, "Are you going to talk about something else at some point?" He frowns a little like he hadn't even realized it, and I suddenly feel bad. "I'm glad you like it here," I add, pulling into a parking space. "Just keep your guard up, Kino."

As if on cue, Alyssa's white Audi pulls into the space beside us, and both her and Pretty Boy climb out. My throat tightens, and just the sight of his cocky boy grin as he climbs out of the passenger seat makes me want to punch his lights out.

Alyssa glances at the pair of us before freezing. Her eyes take me in, dark and careful. We're about to have a repeat of the club scenario, so I start to get back in the truck, but Justin has other ideas.

His eyes flit to mine, and recognition crosses his face, followed by disbelief. "I'm starting to think you're stalking us," he says, throwing his bag across his shoulder.

I clench my fists, and Kino looks down at them and shakes his head. If it were just me and Pretty Boy, I might give him the benefit of the doubt, but now he's testing me in front of Kino.

I step toward him, towering over him like a giant. He cowers before straightening up. "Just dropping my brother off to school," I say calmly. "You got a problem with that?"

His eyes narrow, and he grabs Alyssa's hand. To my surprise, she lets him. "With someone like your brother attending our school? Yeah, I do." He pauses now. His eyes grow darker. "Let me know when you're ready for round two."

I grin. Clearly, he's forgotten how our first fight went down. "Anytime."

Throughout all of this, Kino is looking at Alyssa, watching. Waiting. Maybe he's waiting for her to step up and defend him, or to condone Pretty Boy's behavior, but after watching them that night in the club, I know she won't. For whatever reason, she's reluctant to cross him; Kino is on his own.

What looks like hurt crosses Kino's face. He throws his bag across his shoulder and pushes past us, heading in the direction of the school. After a brief look, Alyssa and Pretty Boy follow a few feet behind him, leaving me standing in the parking lot.

I spend the rest of the afternoon applying for jobs. While I wish I could just focus on training, I need to make some extra money, so I need to find a side gig. I keep holding out hope, keep praying that if I train hard enough, if I pray hard enough, my dreams will come true. But coming from here and growing up broke, I've learned that it doesn't matter how hard you pray; nothing ever good happens.

I end up signing up to be a delivery driver and applying for a valet position at some fancy restaurant in The Palisades. When Hayden finishes at the gym, he comes over for a little while, and we settle down to watch a movie and drink some beers while contemplating life.

Despite the fact he's only nineteen, he's got his head screwed on. He's finished his training to be a coach and is now working on building a better gym in a bid to open it up to more kids. He says it gives them something to focus on, a safe space, and he's right. If I'd had a safe space growing up, maybe I'd have turned out better.

"How was training last night?" he asks, chugging back his beer. If I were a better influence, I'd tell him he shouldn't be drinking this early–and not at his age–but I'm not, so I don't.

"It was all right." I think about Alyssa for the first time since dropping Kino off, then wish that I hadn't. Her smile is stuck in my head.

"Listen," Hayden says, and he looks serious. "If you want to go back to training by yourself, I can talk to Maddie. You've been training hard these last few months, and I know you've got that fight coming up. I don't want you to jeopardize that now."

Now is my chance. My chance to tell him that I want to go back to training alone, that I don't want Goldilocks there after hours, but then I remember the way her face lit up when she'd watched me hitting that bag. For whatever reason, she needs this right now. I'm not about to take that away.

"Nah, it's fine," I say. "We do our own thing. I barely remember she's there."

Hayden gives me a look like he doesn't quite believe me, but then shrugs and finishes his beer. "If you say so. What you wanna watch?"

I shrug and pass him the remote. "Whatever."

He flicks through the channels, stopping at Miss Congeniality before clicking it. When he turns to face me, his eyes flash like warning signs. "Don't judge me."

I raise my eyebrows, grinning. "You do you, bro."

We turn to the tv, and even though this is a chick flick and the last thing I'd have picked, I find myself enjoying it.

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