Free Marked. Part I: The missing Link by J.M. Sevilla

thanks. When can I come over and do it?”
    He smirks, “God, Lily, you sure have a way of wording things.”
    I blush and laugh, “And you have a dirty a mind.”
    “ Yeah, well, I'm a guy. We're hard wired that way.”
    I laugh, “Very true.”
    “I would start off three or four days a week for about an hour.”
    “ When?”
    “ When what?”
    “ When should I come here and workout? What's a good time of day?”
    “ Any time after ten. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays I start work at seven. Sundays from four to eleven. You’ll want to come before that. Speaking of work, I keep forgetting I work tonight.”
    My face drops, “But it's a Monday.”
    “Yeah. Some dude's renting the bar for the night for his twenty-first birthday and they want me there for backup. I guess he's invited a lot of people.”
    “ That sucks,” I whisper more to myself than him.
    “ Yup.” He enters the garage and goes over to a machine, adjusting it's weight by a lot, “Let's try everything out so I know you're using it properly and we can find a good weight for you.”
    I try out a few. When I'm at the leg press Jay starts to adjust the weights, then stops to stare at me. “You're worried about me working tonight because I won't be home for you to come over.” It's a statement, not a question, because we both know he's right.
    I don't look at him but I nod my head in agreement.
    “ You've got to get past this, Lily,” Jay moves in front of me and bends down, making our eyes level. He grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. I panic, pulling my head back as anxiety sets in.
    “ Don't do that!” I yell.
    Jay looks stunned and his face has paled a touch, “Don't grab your chin or don't touch your face?”
    “The chin, please don't ever do that!” It was what Will always did, and when Jay just did that it made me panic and feel queasy.
    “ Never again,” he promises, studying my face. “You okay? You look like you're holding back a panic attack.”
    I put on a fake smile, “Nope, I'm cool.”
    I can tell he doesn't believe me.
    “ Those men can't hurt you. I know that doesn’t take away what happened but you can't let them have that kind of control over you; don't give that to them.”
    He sits down on the weight bench across from me, “When I was a kid, I had a recurring nightmare. I'd wake up in cold sweats, scared shitless. My dad would have me close my eyes and go back to the exact point I woke up, no matter how scared I was to do so. Then he had me imagine how it ends as if I had kept dreaming, but I had total control and could make the dream however I wished the outcome to be. Sometimes I would turn it into something humorous or sometimes I would make it a happy ever after story. But it worked...most of the time.”
    “So when I wake up I should just remember how you saved me and I'm safe?”
    “ Yeah, something like that. Or go back and have yourself fight back and win.”
    I give a half-smile, “Okay, I'll try it.”
    Jay leans over, resting on his elbows, and stares at his hands, “When I got to the car and saw it was you I remember thinking, for a runt she sure doesn't go out without a fight. The way your face looked and how you were moving your body, it was clear that you weren't giving up even if it killed you. I was impressed.”
    He looks up to meet my eyes. They are soft and caring, making my insides feel squishy, “You're a fighter, and strong-willed. Don't forget that.”
    I snort and roll my eyes.
    “ Seriously, Lily. You have internal strength not everyone possesses, you just need to believe in yourself.”
    I think of my relationship with Will and know that's not true, but I don't argue with him.
    “You were terrified of me when we first met, but you still came and brought me pie. Anybody else would have never come back.”
    “ Doesn’t that make me an idiot?”
    Jay grins, “It shocked the hell out of me when I saw you there with food in your hands. You seemed real nervous, but not